SALES CAREER. By Rashid Anwar

Sales are an excellent career choice for an aspiring marketer. In addition to putting a person at the forefront of company’s competitive effort, sales management acts as a stepping stone to other types of managerial position.Career in sales offer many advantages like three major ones are

1. Financial rewards.
2. Personal satisfaction.
3. Opportunities for career advancement.

 PERSONAL SELLING.

Personal selling is a critical aspect of a company’s strategy. When correctly used and done well, it is a major factor in generating sales volume. It is the part of promotion that brings the human element into marketing transactions. It also increases customer confidence in the company, makes it possible for the customer to act immediately, and simplifies the handling of individual customer problems.

 MODERN SELLING.

The modern view of selling sees sales people as more than accomplished persuaders and negotiators. They are problem solvers able to meet the needs and conditions of individual customers. They must build and maintain relationship with customers. As a result, modern personal selling is flexible and creative, not simply persuasive. Sales people are involved in various marketing process. In pharmaceutical we have to use creative selling in which involves arousing demand and influencing patronage (identify and create need and than satisfy with your product) not service selling like retail sales people. Today, sales people are customer oriented and professional. Selling is more challenging than ever, not only are sales people required to sell their products and services , they are also expected to sell a relationship and give more service , help, and understanding to clients than ever before. Modern sales people must be creative in their efforts to satisfy customers, and they must have thorough understanding of their own products, territory and there customers, each of which is becoming increasingly complex.

SELLING PROCESS

1. PROSPECTING   which involves identification and qualify the potential customer.
2. PREPARING        which involves pre approach and call planning.
3. PRESENTING     which involves your approach, probe for needs and satisfy by matching the need and convince the prospect. It also includes handling objection, closing and follow-up.

To qualify a prospect apply MAN approach, just see  these three elements.

• Money
• Authority
• Need

If your prospect or customer fulfills these 3 criteria than he or she qualifies as potential customer.

SALES CALL BASICS

·         Approach

·         Probe for needs

·         Convince the prospect

·         Handle objection

·         Commitment

·         Close

·         Follow up.

Remember most sales people think that its only the main discussion that matters for sale but I believe that it’s the start and the end that matters most, you are first seen than heard so your first impression is very important, most of the sales people fails before call due to bad first impression. Similarly 96% sales become flop due to bad closing even after wonderful discussion so closing is equally important as it is the nutshell of your call.

 OPENING: Following are effective ways of starting call

• Asking questions
• Using referral
• Offering a benefit
• Complementing a prospect
• Giving something of value.

CLOSING: Following are available closing techniques

• Alternative proposal close
• Assumptive close
• Gift close
• Action close
• One more yes close
• Balance sheet close
• Direct close.

TEAM WORK: To increased emphasis on seminar selling, customer management, other group sales approaches and complex needs with different purchasing requirement of number of customers placed more attention on developing team work in sales.Manager must take the following steps to build and maintain a strong sales team.

• Establish clear cut mission and appropriate goals for the team.
• Give team members an opportunity to get to know one another.
• Provide academic, technical and emotional support to the team and its members.
• Recognize accomplishments and reward performance.

Besides cross training of team members, shared assignments, task forces, group problem solving exercises, incentive based on team performance, participative meetings, and games, sports, and social activities. By providing opportunities for sales people to learn team work , the manager enhances their cooperative skills.

What is transfer pricing?

Unlike consumer products, services and consumer durables, pharmaceutical companies are not allowed to use the mass media for advertising their products. This closes a very important expense center for them, which is traditionally used by all other industries to reduce their profits and show a higher cost in order to evade taxes and paying dividends to the shareholders. Besides this, there is a strict code of ethics applicable which refrains them from spending beyond a certain limit on promoting their products. In this situation, the only area available for manipulation of cost is the actual cost of product. Companies aim to make the cost appear as high as possible by buying the raw material at an inflated price, in most of the cases from their own parent companies. This phenomenon is termed as transfer pricing, the reasons for which will be discussed the following section.

Distribution

The distribution system in context of pharmaceutical marketing is a set of interdependent organizations involved in the process of handling the transportation of medicines from company’s warehouse to the market, or to institutions’ pharmacies, where it will be sold to the end user.

Pricing Structure in Pharmaceutical Products

Assuming a retail price of Rs. 100/-, following will be the price structure:

Retail Price:                                          100.00

Less:Retailer’s margin@15%[1]              15.00

Trade Price:                                            85.00

 Less: Distributor’s margin@10%[2]         8.50

Ex-Factory Price:                                  76.50