Marketing specialists have come to the conclusion that the special importance of the sales force within an organization cannot be denied. First of all, regardless of the type of organization (commercial or non-profit), it will aim to sell its products, services or ideas as best as possible. As a result, the emphasis will be placed strongly on the sales force, on its ability to identify the target market and sell to consumers. Secondly, the role of the sales force does not stop here. In order to establish long-term relationships with consumers, effective communication with them is needed. Building a solid relationship, based on sincerity and mutual trust, is the prerogative of the sales force.
As a promotional communication technique, the sales force occupies a significant position within the options that an organization can make to achieve its general objectives. The sales force is considered to be a component of the organization's communication system, precisely because of the advantages offered, namely, direct contact with consumers and quick adaptation to their needs, the interactivity of the seller-client relationship, the active participation of the sales force until the sale is completed , assuming the role of consultant in the sales process, etc. Organizations will be interested in perfecting this communication technique, because the targeted objectives can be achieved through sales forces.
The sales strategies and the corresponding tactics are a real challenge for those who adopt and implement them, because being subordinate to the marketing strategies and the corporate strategies of the organization, they require their careful correlation and coordination. The deed of sale can be extremely simple. Everything consists in identifying the person who wants to buy, that is, the offer should correspond to a firm request, based on purchasing power (solvency). In practice, it has been shown that things are not as simple as they seem. Many times, the demand exists for a product/service, but it is not identified in time, or the potential buyers either do not reach the offer, or are not so easily convinced about the real qualities of the product/service offered. Therefore, it is recommended to select capable sales agents with sales skills, as well as their good training in order to obtain maximum results. In the preparation process, the sales force is taught to apply appropriate strategies depending on the real situation encountered with each individual customer. These sales strategies were developed with the aim of convincing customers to accept the offer and, at the same time, to allow the seller to go through, step by step, an entire coherent approach, made up of specific stages of the sales process, until the sale is completed . Considered by some specialists to be true scenarios, sales strategies have the quality of being built on the principles of loyalty and professional ethics, in the sense that they must not deceive the client.
Positioning in such a situation represents a real danger for the sales agent's reputation, because sooner or later he will face a negative reaction from the customers. Dissatisfied customers will avoid buying from this seller and, in addition, they will inform other potential buyers about how they were cheated and the loss they suffered. This Gain-Loss quadrant confers an unstable position which, with the passage of time, will lead to the worsening of the relationship between the seller and the buyer. Approaching this position consciously will lead in the long term to a Lose-Loss situation, in which practically, the relations between the two partners deteriorate irreparably. Approached unconsciously, this situation can be remedied, especially if the seller will permanently refer to the win-win philosophy. An example of a Win-Loss strategy can be the one in which a sales agent of a publishing house presents a book offer to a customer, he pays in advance, following which the package of books is sent by post, but it arrives after 1 year of days.
In the development of the general strategy for the development of economic units, under the conditions of the market economy, special attention must be paid to the commercial function, especially to the sales function; in order to carry out the sales activity with efficiency, action must be taken to achieve the elements contained in the strategy developed for this purpose. The general future activity of the economic unit depends on how the strategy is outlined, evaluated and realized in the sales activity.
The competitiveness of the unit depends on the dynamism of the sales activity, that is, on the ability to exploit the markets that are open to them, to adapt to their evolution, to favor the emergence of others. But, the dynamism in the sales activity is not enough to ensure the company's prosperity. It owes its effectiveness to the supply and production sectors that allow it to satisfy the demands of the clientele in terms of price, quality, term, quantity. From this point of view, the problems are posed differently depending on several factors: the activity profile, the scope of the future users to whom the offered product or service is addressed, the number of producers or service providers of a certain type, the number of users potentials, the degree of complexity of the products and services, the production or absorption potential that can be estimated; the time horizon on the basis of which changes in the structure and size of consumption requests can be predicted; the possible expenses incurred by the scientific research oriented to the field in which the estimate is made.
Elaborating the strategy in the sales field is a complex action, it requires a very large volume of information that is usually updated at short intervals, due to the frequent changes that are recorded in the offer of producers as well as in the requirements of the market for products and services. Once elaborated, the strategy in the field of sales - sales of products and services is systematically adapted in relation to the new elements that appear and which modify those initially considered.
Industry, other sectors of activity, can create products and offer the most diverse services. However, they cannot be assimilated immediately and independently on the market of consumers and users. As a result, the ideas regarding the conception of new products and the initiation of new services must be preceded by the knowledge of the requirements, motivations, preferences and tastes of the future beneficiaries, anticipating at the same time the possible changes in their future options.
