Sales Gurukul

Today we will understand how to know the (purchase) intent  of prospects. All of us have done window shopping some time in life. Window shopping means looking and appraising things displayed in shops. Window displays are put up specifically by retailers to display their wares for customers to look at. Window shopping may or may not result in sales of products. A passer by may be Window shopping to kill his) her time or may like the product but may not have purchasing capacity to buy the product/s displayed at shop windows or shop shelves. Interest in a product does not mean an intent to buy. (To get insider comprehension knowledge about FMCG industry buy our book on Flipkart  now by clicking this link:  https://bit.ly/3kkXCDT) Smart sales persons know the difference between prospects who are simply interested in products and the prospects who intend to buy a product or service. This skill to segregate those who intend to buy and those who are simply interested help ...

"Why Most Stores prefer buying from Wholesalers than Distributors"  A company distributor is a bound business person as s/he is bound by company norms like : -Maintaining fixed number of days stocks. -Not dealing in similar products of other companies e. g a Frito Lays distributor can not sell chips or snacks of any other company. -Achieving company sales targets every month. So you see a distributor is a bit restrained in conducting his business. A wholesaler is not restrained by any company norms. A, wholesaler is more free in conducting business the way he or she likes. Wholesalers are free to deal in as many products as possible. Wholesalers are also not bound by any target of company. A Wholesaler deals and trades into multiple items and products unlike a distributor who more or less deals in limited number of products. ( To get insider comprehension knowledge about FMCG industry buy our book on Flipkart  now by clicking this link: http...

Today we are going to explore What is Customer Master Record (CMR) Customers are important for any business. And to help sell more to existing customers it is but important that companies and sellers are well aware and know some or more things about customers. Prior knowledge about customers comes handy while designing and selling new products or building customer loyalty. A customer master record (CMR) contains all details about customers. The CMR may have different details about customer collected over the years depending on the company needs. Most companies CMR contains customer basic details like Name, contact, address, anniversary details, Tax compliance number, Bank account . Depending on company needs in addition to above details a CMR may contain details like  What other businesses customer does, his/her hobbies,  Her social media preferences,  When she talked, to whom she talked,  Her buying history ,  Her preferred mode of payment,  He...

"Sales and Marketing Relationship" Many people confuse between sales and marketing. Sales and marketing are two different depts. Both are independent of each other and yet interdependent. Both these dept are focused on achieving revenue goals of the company. Both complement each other to achieve this common goal. Neither sales run the marketing dept nor marketing run sales dept. Each dept influences the strategies and tactics of the other dept. For example if marketing dept launches some trade scheme or consumer scheme , the sales dept is responsible for launching that scheme in market successfully. Similarly when the sales are down due to some external reasons then the sales dept may ask marketing dept to run some sales promotion or other schemes to increase the sales of the company. So you see both depend on each other and walk on the road to company revenue by holding each other’s hands. But both these silos function in different w...

"Difference between a Vendor and a Distributor" There are many persons who can not differentiate between a vendor and a distributor.  In today's very small post we are sharing the similarities as well as minor differences between a Vendor and a distributor. Let us dive in. Vendor is the one who vends or sells some product or service to customers. Distributor is one who distributes company's products or services ices . Both vendor and distributors are same in the sense that both sell something. The difference between the two happens when some vendors buy products from distributors. Vendors is a global term which includes a fruit seller who sells fruits to an entity who sells raw material to manufacturers. A vendor nay be a small business owner like a packaging machine manufacturer who supplies to his/her customers or it may be distributor of some products required by others or it may be a middleman between a manufacturer and custom...

"What is Non- Pricing Strategy" A pricing strategy is based on generating or maintaining sales predominantly on basis of pricing. This strategy focuses on keeping the prices of the products at par or lower than the competition to get sales. This pricing strategy is followed in most of cases where there is not much differences in the products /services offered by different companies. One of such pricing strategies is cost plus pricing strategy which we discussed in one of previous blogs. But there are some visionary companies which like to price their products and services differently. Such companies love to compete in market not on price but on other variables. Today we will discuss such competitive strategies which are crafted on non- pricing factors. So let us start Non-Pricing strategy on the other hand is a, strategy which focuses on factors other than pricing as mentioned below: Product quality - Under this strategy companies offer go...

What is meaning of Cost Plus Pricing Strategy There are many different pricing strategies that different companies follow to set trade price as well as selling prices for their products/services. Today we discuss one of such pricing strategies which is adopted by some companies to set prices for their products/services. This pricing strategy is referred to as Cost Plus Pricing strategy. A cost plus manufacturing strategy is, where price of any product is decided on basis of manufacturing cost+ expenses to sell+ taxes, if any+ profit margin. The final price arrived at through this method is then kept in line with competition.                                                       Image: super heuristics So if a product’s manufacturing costs = ₹10/-per px Selling cost or selling cost (Including sales st...

Dear All, Any product before it reaches the end consumer passes through a distribution chain. Distribution chain which links the company which manufactures a product with the end consumers who consume that product. Distribution chain is made of different channel partners (CP) who play their own roles to further push the product down the distribution chain for a commission. Some of these terms overlap each other and can be used interchangeably e. g. A company which produces a product and markets it to it's distributors is a seller. A super stockist or distributor of company whom the company sells can be referred to as re-seller of the company. A distributor in turn sells company's products or services through a chain of wholesalers or retailers. So in this sense distributor can be  referred to as a re-seller. Now wholesalers who purchase products from a distributor for re-selling further to retailers or consumers too can be called re-sellers...

"Difference between a Distributor, Wholesaler and Retailer"  In sales trade each member of distribution chain be it distributor or wholesaler or a retailer plays a very important role in taking the product from company to end customer. Today we are going to share with you the role of these important links in distribution chain.  Without beating around the bush let us understand what role these members of distribution chain play in the overall success of any product/service in the market. Wholesaler= Wholesaler is a person or group of persons or a business entity which purchases products from distributors in bulk, stores them and re sells these products to other retailers on profit. After understanding who a wholesaler is in FMCG industry let us move ahead to discuss wholesaler role in the FMCG distribution chain. A wholesaler shop Image 👇👇                       (Image: Self clicked...

Each company in business of marketing and selling products is always focused on increasing the sale of its products, and services. Now there are two easy ways to sell more. The first way involves selling to new customers i.e. those people who do not yet buy company products. And the other way to increase sales is to sell more to its existing customers. Now the existing customers can be sold more only through cross selling i. e selling different products to same customer or the other way to sell more to same customers is through up selling i.e by selling more of the same product or expensive pack-size of the same product to the customers. To up sell i.e more quantity of the same product the companies create Super Saver Packs. That is the whole logic behind this super saver pack strategy of companies to make customer buy more than they need. In sales parlance it is, also one of UP SELLING tactics. Up selling was recreated by marketers in the guise of super save...

Why End Of Season Sales are an Eyewash.  The moment the seasons are about to turn, the end season sales start happening. The gullible customers think of making the most of end of season sales by buying products which they will end up using during the next season.                                                             (Image Courtesy: flickr. com) Deal savvy customers do not know one real law of sales field. Wanna know what that law is ? Well that law is that all "Sales" offers are meant first for the benefit of business persons then for the customers. End of season sales are meant to clear stocks of seasonal products like summer wear at the end of summer season or winter wear products at fag end of winter season. Traders or Manufacturers plan End of season sales for clearing stocks of these seasonal...

What do stores do with excess stocks when the demand for the same product declines in market A ? Or what do companies do with products which are slow moving ? Yes you guessed it right , they turn to a tactic which has been working since ages when the charlatans used to sell ( they still do but now they are called brand ambassadors) all those health tonics and what not from the road side stalls. Tactics are same as were centuries ago, the only thing that changed is the venue of sales. Road side stalls have transformed into flashy showrooms or online markets. Just as old time charlatans used to ascribe unique slogan to sell their ware like "xyz herb is in it or a snake oil is put into it" to sell their wares, now the marketers use phrases like "Exclusive" "small time offer" or aha "Limited Edition product" or a product on the "occasion of blah blah jubilee of the company we are selling these products". And guess what...

Why do 80% of average and below average students like us Open their books a week before exams are to begin? Simple “study now, as only a week is left, otherwise…”. Why there are long queue in front of utility office two days before the last date of depositing bills? Simple. Only two days left to pay bills otherwise we will have to pay fine. Humans are pushed by scarcity of all types.                                                            Image: IMS MBA Since ages the smart companies and smart people are manipulating the greed of customers and persons. Companies play on the mind of customers by running sales of only a few days. This way companies are able to impress on customers to buy now.  Deal hungry customers flock to these sales promotions in drives and end up buying t...

Sales profession is a very demanding profession. The very survival of most of companies is dependent on the revenues that the sales dept of that company generates. Sales numbers are the most visible and measurable performance metrics and because of this very easy visibility of sales numbers, the sales people are always under a lot of stress to meet their month targets. To achieve sales targets, the sales professionals have to visit different markets to develop those markets and develop sales, distribution, and visibility of their products/services in the markets.  They are always time pressed and time management is a constant challenge for them what with people from different departments calling them for their own reasons. Sales professionals have to juggle many demands in their time and to top it all, they have to keep people from different departments in good humor. Add to it the pressure of achieving month sales targets in today’s competitive environment and you can ...

"How To Travel Better on Sales Tours"  Most of working lives of sales people are spent in travelling. To meet channel partners and customers, sales people have to visit different locations to sell or promote their products/services. If as sales people you utilize your travelling time productively then it can help you increase your skills and also use this travel time to distress yourselves. Another major requirement of sales profession is that of staying outside home ,away from friends and family members in hotels.  Hotels become second homes of most of sales people as here again major part of their working month is spent staying in hotels, and hotels are hotels and not homes. Sales people have to accept whatever services are offered by the hotels. This also helps in developing a lot of patience and tolerance in sales people regarding the food quality or room quality or the kind of services provided by different hotels. Today we will explore some of the ...