Why Should You Learn Sales

Sales is the bottom line for any business. It drives revenue. It helps a business grow. But what is sales, exactly? Is it just transactions and sales targets? This domain extends to building relationships with clients, understanding customer needs, and persuading a potential customer to know the product's or service's value. Discover what goes behind sales and why it is a highly rewarding domain for professionals. 

What is Sales?

A sale is an activity involving the exchange of services and money between a buyer and seller. It is dependent on demand and supply, market changes, consumer experiences, and product reviews. 

Let us try to explain what sales is in more simple terms. 

Sales is like a challenging puzzle that requires different pieces to fit together. Now, each customer is a unique piece. They come with specific needs, desires, and pain points. Now, a skilled salesperson acts as the puzzle solver. They carefully analyse the pieces, i.e., understanding the customer's perspective. Then they offer tailored solutions that align perfectly. 

They help the customer navigate the vast landscape of choices. Just like completing a puzzle, successful sales bring all the elements together to create a complete picture of customer satisfaction.

Now sales is not just about transactions or making a profit. It's about building trust, creating long-lasting relationships, and delivering exceptional experiences. It's about understanding your unique story and crafting a personalised solution.

Sales also should not be confused with marketing efforts. They go together as combined functions in a company but they are different.  In a company, the sales function is different from marketing, in which, the former convinces the consumer to buy the product to achieve the company’s sales goal. On the other hand, marketing focuses on the consumer’s interests. Both need to work hand-in-hand for meeting business objectives. 

Learn about the difference between sales and marketing to know better. 

Understanding the Sales Process

The sales process involves several steps that convert a prospect into a customer. It is like a roadmap that a sales team uses to close sales in a fast and organised manner. Depending on the organisation, the sales process can include five to seven steps. 

Prospecting

The method of finding potential customers is prospecting. The term used for the customer who is likely to buy is a prospect. It is the first step that the sales team uses in the sales process. 

It is one of the most difficult stages, as it does not guarantee the sale will be closed. In this light, the sales team focuses on determining the ways to meet potential buyers. This can be done both offline and online. 

Salespeople go to industry events and conferences offline, while in the online space, they focus on the social channels their target audience generally uses. 

Preparation

This is the next step when the salesperson is preparing to present the product or service information to the prospect. Preparation is done to pitch the product based on the individual’s wants and demands. 

Approach

It is the initial point of contact with the prospect. The salesperson can give a free product sample, ask a question about the client in regard to the product, etc.

Presentation

Here the salesperson is demonstrating the product but also listening to the customer’s pain points. 

Managing Objections

The potential buyer may only sometimes get the full idea of the product. They may also be unsatisfied with the presentation, as it may not cover the concern of the prospect. The salesperson should be able to persuade the prospect and not abandon them if they disagree. 

Refer to Byju’s BDA interview questions

Closing

Here, the salesperson learns if the prospect decides to purchase. It is important that the salesperson offer the to-be customer something more in terms of payment options, discounts, etc. 

Following up

After closing, the salesperson should follow up with the customer. This is done for a variety of reasons. It is about retaining the customers for future products that the brand may launch. It is also done to find referrals. 

Types of Sales

Sales consists of a couple of varieties. There are different types of sales depending on the industry and customer needs. 

Type	Description
Inside Sales	Process of selling products or services remotely, usually over the phone, email, or video conferencing. It involves building relationships with customers and closing deals without face-to-face interactions.
Outside Sales	Involves sales representatives meeting with customers in person. They may travel to customer locations, attend trade shows, or conduct face-to-face meetings to promote and sell products or services.
Direct Sales	Involves selling products or services directly to customers without the need for intermediaries. It often includes sales strategies like door-to-door sales or home parties.
Indirect Sales	Indirect sales involve selling products or services through intermediaries, such as wholesalers, retailers, or distributors. The intermediaries act as middlemen between the manufacturer and the end customer.

Why is Sales Important?

Sales is the most important function of any organisation. Here are some ways how it helps businesses grow. 

Helps Sustain Positive Relationship with Customer

Sales teams across every industry put the customer’s requirements first. They help the customer understand the product/service better. By resolving any product-related query, the customer begins to trust the salesperson’s credibility. This interaction builds loyalty among customers, thereby, retaining them for the long term. 

Creates Job Satisfaction at Work

By closing sales more, the company profits. This creates a positive work culture as employees are happier with their hard-earned efforts.

List of Important Topics

Here are some of the most commonly used terms that salespeople should know. These are the most important terms when it comes to learning about what sales is. 

• Annual Contract Value (ACV) - It is a sales metric that finds out the average annual revenue that a customer contract generates without the one-time fee.  Its formula is: ACV = Total Contract Value - One Time Fee / Total Contract Years
• Buying Process - The entire chain from finding a product to purchasing it is a buying process. 
• Buyer Persona - It is the type of customer profile that a sales team targets. It is a part of marketing research. 
• Closing Ratio - Also called close rate, it indicates the number of sales closed in relation to the total number of sales proposed.  It is calculated by: Closing ratio = Closed sales / Total sales x 100
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) - It is the indicator of how much cost does a business requires to get new customers in relation to the number of customers acquired already in a specified frame. The formula for it is: CAC = Costs of acquiring new customers / Number of customers acquired
• Discovery Call - It is the initial conversation with a potential customer when s/he shows interest in the product. This is the ideal time to answer the queries customers have. 
• Lead Generation - It is the process of converting customers by attracting or engaging them. 
• Sales Funnel - It is a visual representation charting different stages between how customers found out about the product and then bought it. 

List of Important Frameworks and Technologies

Sales methodologies guide how to approach each phase in the sales process to achieve desired goals. Check out some of the popular methodologies. 

Conceptual Selling - Coined by Robert Miller and Stephen Heiman, Conceptual Selling is the way to convince the customer group about the concept of the product instead of just selling it. It is used for large transactions when several people are involved. This is done by first understanding the requirement of the customer group, how much investment can the group provide, etc. 

Customer-Centric Selling  - Customer-centric selling favours the customers over the product. This modern method personalises the sales approach by resolving the pain points of potential customers. It is a necessary sales framework that is beneficial for businesses for long-term growth and brand reputation. 

BANT - It is the acronym for Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline. It is used as a sales qualification framework. 

SPIN - It is another sales framework abbreviated as:

1. Situation - To understand the buyer’s financial position to buy a relevant product. 
2. Problem - This is to find the pain point of the consumer. 
3. Implication - Finding out the root of the problems the customer previously had. 
4. Need - Showing the customer the product that resolves all issues. 

CRM Software  - CRM is short for Customer Relationship Management. A CRM software keeps a track of sales, manages customer queries and organises customer contact details all in one place. This helps in building relationships with customers. Some of the widely used CRM platforms are

1. Salesforce
2. Freshworks
3. HubSpot
4. Nimble
5. Nutshell

Sales Strategies and Techniques

The sales process can be made more effective to generate revenue. Sales professionals or sales teams use a variety of sales techniques. 

Sales Strategy	Description	Example
Consultative Selling	Acting as a consultant to understand the customer's needs and provide tailored solutions.	A salesperson in a technology company may engage in consultative selling by conducting a thorough analysis of a client's business operations and recommending specific software solutions that address their challenges and improve efficiency.
Relationship Selling	Building long-term relationships and trust with customers	A salesperson who regularly checks in with their clients, offers personalized recommendations, and provides ongoing support even after the sale.
Cross-Selling	Suggesting additional products or services that complement the customer's purchase.	A salesperson at a cosmetics store may recommend a moisturiser to accompany a customer's purchase of a facial cleanser.
Upselling	Encouraging customers to upgrade to a higher-priced version of a product or service.	A salesperson at a car dealership highlighting the benefits of a higher trim level or a vehicle with additional features

How to Get Started Learning in Sales

To excel in the field of sales you can do the following:

1. Take up a sales course to build a foundation in sales frameworks and best practices. 
2. Improve your finance skills. 
3. Take up marketing courses to enhance your learning. 
4. Develop the art of communication and negotiation. 
5. Follow sales leaders on social media. Listen to podcasts and read blogs with their interviews and opinions. 

Free Resources to Learn Sales

Blogs

Every salesperson should ideally follow the sales blog sections of Bloomberg Business, Forbes, as well as dedicated sales blogs including LinkedIn Sales Solution, The Make It Happen, Your SalesMBA®, etc. 

Some of our blogs you may like:

1. Difference between marketing and selling
2. Difference Between Consignment and Sale

Podcasts

The Quotable Podcast, B2B Growth Show, and In The Arena Podcast are among the best podcasts for sales. 

Top Courses and Certifications in Sales

1. Sales Strategy on Coursera
2. Sales Training: Inbound Business Strategy on Coursera
3. Sales and CRM Overview on Coursera
4. Sales and Marketing Alignment on Coursera
5. Professional Sales: The Sales Process on edX
6. Implementing Customer Insights for Your Business on edX

Conclusion

Sales is an art and the discipline requires thorough knowledge of core concepts.  Make your learning convenient with the above courses and resources.