Question

What comes to your head when thinking of a salesmen/women? What is their function in marketing?

Answer 1

On thinking of a salesmen/women we get an image of a person trying to sell a product or service with his marketing skils. They try to sell the producr by everymeans possible. They make the knowledge of product use and design known to the end customer.

Funtions:

Diagnostic:

This involves a salesperson probing and finding the cause of a problem, i.e., why a customer often changes a brand or why a customer is loyal to a particular brand.

Analyst:

A salesperson analyses customer needs and market trends and identify the linkages.

Information Provider:

A salesperson is also an intelligent agent. He keeps the management informed of any significant development in his territory, i.e., any strategic change of competitor etc.

Strategist:

A salesperson being in the forefront of sales organization can command on time and route plans of sales organization.

Line functions:

i. Achieves volume of sales

ii. Responsible for enhancing market share

iii. Responsible for profitability of the organisation

iv. Attends to customer service