Talk:Sales
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[edit] Revision
I revised the article, added definitions and made it more coherent. I hope ;-} --Charlesemorganiv 18:38, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Removed for POV
So, in summary, a socialist system that has limited competition and reduced product choice does not require a sales effort, therefore demonstrating the superiority of the socialist system even though it has lower overall production and poorer quality goods produced.
If the above sentence should be removed for POV, shouldn't the whole advertisement for socialism also be removed (the socialist critique of sales)? Is there a similar section in the democracy entry on wikipedia called "the totalitarian critique of voting"?
Good point. I would be up for that. 1 vote for the deletion of this section. Any others?
This definitely seems to be a bit of garbage. I was looking for some definitive information on the process of selling. This does not meet my requirements. MindBear 19:53, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] The downside to sales?
My feelings are the act of selling, or salesmanship, often deviates from the supposed purpose of selling: to help a customer realize his or her goals in an economic fashion. On the contrary, I feel customers are often influenced to realize a product or service that initially was not of interest to them. Some salespeople are trained in the art of selling customers things they don't need.
Take for example the purchasing of a car: a consumer may have a set of cars in mind that she feels match her needs, wants and budget. She may seek the advice of a salesperson given that a salesperson can help her realize the right car given those criteria. This can be a socially useful function; salespeople have specialized knowledge of products that can help consumers make an informed decision. However, a salesperson may also talk a consumer into purchasing a more expensive or perhaps larger car then she needs or can afford. In this context, the salesperson may have usefully helped the customer re-evaluate her needs, thereby establishing a new set of appropriate choices among which included the newer or large car. This again would be a helpful and useful service provided by the salesperson. However, it is often the case that customers purchase a product or service that was not initially intended and remains an inappropriate purchase after the fact. The consumer in this scenario be held responsible in part for the sale of an inappropriate product or service; indeed, "A fool and his money are soon parted." (P.T. Barnum)
However, it is often the salesperson who directs and influences this inappropriate purchase.
Thus, I believe that the act of selling is in conflict with other features of the selling process that go unspoken. These include:
- incentives of salespeople to increase their total number of sales, especially where retailers keep track of sales or offer commission-based salaries - incentives from the manufactures of products or the companies of service providers to salespeople to sell their products where other similar products offered by competitors are offered - the incentive to sell a customer a product that is in need of being cleared out, despite the fact that a customer may be better to wait for the new product
Clearly these are just a few of my thoughts on the negative side of salesmanship. Admittedly, I am also new to Wikipedia. However, I do feel that some mention of the down side of sales ought to be mentioned, especially given:
- the increasing propensity for people (especially in the north america) to carry debt- often large and unsustainable amounts of it
- that some people develop compulsive shopping disorders, or are easily persuaded
- the fact that child advertising has risen sharply, especially during the 1980s
- the excesses we enjoy in the consumer-driven western economy
Please feel free to add to my thoughts above...but you already new that! --Charlesjennings 8 July 2005 19:30 (UTC)
I agree with your main points.
My concern is that the article reads like an advertising brochure for a sales job. Clearly, a more objective exposition is warranted. The article needs to explain the economic incentives for a salesperson to sell the product regardless of whether the consumer needs it. Furthermore, there should be more attention to the strategies that the salesperson employs in order to convince the consumer to buy the product. The role of the sales pitch should be included too.
I would do this if I was more qualified and cared more about it.
Rintrah 03:33, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
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- I will quickly add the material. More editing will be necessary to make it more NPOV. mydogategodshat 04:19, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
I have sold many things on many floors, the incentive is always more money or a better position. The only time that this is different is on a non-commission sales floor. Selling cameras and cars is all the same. As far as closing; there are more types of closes than there are people in America, the way that a sales person chooses their canned closes is going to be based on; the type of sales person, the type/s of customer/s, and what they have learned insofar as ways to close. It has been determined by many that there would be no actual way to list every close but some of my favorites are: "How many do you want?" "Can I have this wrapped up for you?" "What if I can do this for you?" "What's it gonna take for me to get you to leave in this/with this tonight?" "What is your favorite color?" Can you see yourself driving/taking this home today?" "Oh, just one more thing..."(a.k.a. Colombo Close)
[edit] Etymology
I have read that the word 'sale' comes from the Greek word for salt ( άλας, alas ). Specifically that Romans acquired the word 'alas' and then rearranged the letters of the word( anagram ), and made the word 'sala', which was the word for salt. Salt was traded much and roman soldiers where paid with it. Furthermore, the word 'sale' was created, meaning the trading of sala (salt). Abresas 01:03, 10 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Qualities of a Good Salesperson
This whole section reads incredibly awkwardly, however I'm not quite sure how to go about even starting to fix it. Crystal 03:41, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
- Hell, it's so terrible it's not even worth saving. And even if it were better written, the subject matter is so, well, subjective that it doesn't even belong in an encyclopedia. Unless anyone has any objections, I'm removing it. -- Johnny Wishbone 05:06, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
This section is not only poorly written but the advice seems sarcastic and even abusive. For example: "Also, try to get a girlfriend named Crystal that you met at a club. It'll make you feel better about yourself." Need I say more? This subject is subjective although there are some basics that could be said. I don't claim to know the subject well but this section seems way off mark and seems to have little practical information. Some of the information is overly generalized. Such as, "Customers also like it when you call them buddy," This assumes that all Customers are the same. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it the object of the sales person to listen and comprehended each individual customer's personality, wants, and needs and apply their product or service to achieving a successful and mutually agreeable solution resulting in a sale? To begin with assumptions about the prospect seems to be a counter productive activity and could result in immediate resistance to the salesperson. I agree the present content should be removed or better yet replaced with a competent discussion of the subject because the qualities of a salesman it is a vitally important part of sales that should be represented here. Michael EF 10:17, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
— —Sales as a function of product bounding–– Contributed by Orignal_Traveler
In specialty product markets or in circumstances where there is a limited product selection for the sales person to be able to sell, it can be said that there is a level of "product bounding". This creates the need for the sales person or organization to put levels of emotional, social, and intelectual pressure on prospective customers to buy their product instead of someone else's product.
A product bound environment demonstrated by the sales effort in a used car lot. A sales person only has a limited inventory and diversity of product to sell. Whenever a protential customer comes on the lot, the sales person often attempts to make a sale regardless of the real needs and assets of the customer. Used car sales is traditionally seen as the place that most often will the use of emotional and social pressure to make a sale.
The use of emotional and social pressure to make sales within a product bound environment is also seen extensively in the computer industry. Large computer companies are noted for "wining and dining" the excutives of companys to make sales of their computer products, hardware and/or software. More often than not, the specific technical capabilites of the products to be sold are not considered, but the social relationship of the sales person to the customer, or the political correctness of the vendor company. For example, it has been said that an excutive has never gotten in trouble for buying a particular well known company's product, even if the project or service that used the product was less than successful because of the product that was purchased. This is particually difficult for the customer base when the product to be sold is inhierently flawed and causes a whole class of problems within the IT serve environment that had not been seen before, or to the scale that the flawed product engenders.
This product bounding also has a major influenc on the information that is made available to protential customers. Large companies have the incentive to generate large amounts of documentation that promotes their product or their approach to solving particular types of problems with their product. Companies and sales people are noted for placating the non-technical executives of a company when the technical personnel that are then forced to use the product chosen are less than pleased with the choice.
