Recommend some sales books.

What books should I read in sales? What sales management books are worth recommending?

These are two questions that many sales friends often ask me.

Today, let's start with the nature of sales work, the foundation of sales success, and the skills needed for sales, and then talk about why I recommend the book "Sales Management Must Read 12".

The importance of sales management for a company is self-evident. It is also mentioned in sales management required reading 12 that any form of product promotion, no matter how well it is done, is a waste without effective sales and service support. In many industries, promotional activities have little practical effect. This is not to say that it is useless, its job is to create interest. It is the job of the sales department to turn interest into orders, and the job of the sales staff is only the part of marketing that involves direct contact with people. This kind of meeting takes place in many places, at the customer's home or workplace, or in a neutral place. Sales plays an important role in the marketing process, and the service mode is as important as the efficiency of communication with customers.

Nature of sales work

Sales sometimes fail because of inappropriate images. For example, the first impression of an insurance salesman is usually "strong" or "high pressure". Sometimes inappropriate products will be forcibly recommended to reluctant customers.

The most effective sales are achieved by "helping to buy". Many of these vague suggestions must be customer-oriented rather than mandatory if they are to be accepted. Sales is a tricky job. Customers may want this product, but there are many substitutes to meet their needs. Persuading them to do business with a specific supplier is not easy. It is said that IBM trains all sales staff according to the fact that customers are about to abandon products.

The other side of scale selling is simply asking a question. For example, a store selling spirits ensures that employees ask "How many wines do you want to mix?" You can significantly increase sales. Many people will respond positively to this golden Tony effect, which is to associate one product with another. Sometimes the questions are shorter. For example, the bartender says, "Another drink?" This is sales; The waiter at McDonald's said, "A big box of French fries?" It is also increasing sales and trying to get customers to pay more than planned. These practices are easy to implement and only require the guidance of employees.

But sales don't always come from successful interaction with customers. It also involves a series of events: people, time and cumulative effects. In other words, each stage may involve some interviews, suggestions, explanations and more talks, all of which strive to be the best, otherwise, customers are unwilling to enter the next stage.

The necessary practices vary from case to case, but the principle that runs through all stages of sales is * * *.

Sales begin with identifying the target group. The time spent on sales is valuable, so it is very important for salespeople to spend time with real potential customers, especially when the delivery time is long, which is very typical in buying computer systems. In some industries, salespeople spend most of their time dealing with ordinary customers. In another industry, the contact location of both parties may be fixed, but the personnel will change frequently, so it is necessary to establish a new relationship. It is important to maintain a continuous supply to new potential customers. Some customers come from promotional activities. They call or reply to direct mail promotions and websites and ask for "tell me more". Finding more such customers is only the first step in the sales process.

The foundation of successful sales

To be successful, salespeople must do the following:

Planning. They must visit an appropriate and sufficient number of customers and visit them regularly when necessary.

Preparing sales contacts requires comprehensive consideration (so-called "natural sellers" are rare).

Know your customers. They must be compassionate (think from the customer's standpoint), base their work on real needs, and let people see their efforts.

Reasonable planning. Not every salesperson will be popular, and not everyone can position themselves as a consultant or other titles. To be recognized, you need to work hard for it

Hold a meeting. Meetings must ensure that customers can control, guide and enjoy contact. If you want to persuade, you must make your speech easy to understand, credible and attractive.

Listen. This is an undervalued skill in sales.

Handle objections. You need to argue for or against it, but selling is not an activity to win points.

Perseverance. They ask for a promise, and if necessary, they will promise again.

In most professional companies, salespeople must master special skills. For example, in the pharmaceutical field, many factors are very important, and the range of products is very wide (possibly thousands), so it is more difficult to master product knowledge than a company that only sells one product. Time is perhaps the most important thing. Doctors rarely give medical representatives enough time to explain their ideas, only 1 ~ 2 minutes to describe a drug. Without a concise description of the product, a salesperson who lacks persuasiveness will not be qualified for the job.

Other skills

Other skills that may be required include:

1, financial analysis and planning;

2. Write the same convincing suggestions and the writing skills necessary for the quotation documents as the interview.

3. Official report;

4. Computing ability and negotiation ability.

These are all needed for sales work, and people who do this kind of work are sometimes described as or "just selling". In addition, whether customers will buy again and whether they will buy more mainly depends on two other items:

1, service. This is almost self-evident, but the service promise made by the salesperson must be fulfilled to the letter. If not, the customer will notice. Serving a customer well may involve many people. These people must do their jobs well. If customers are promised to receive brochures, two written reports and follow-up calls in the mail at 3: 30 this afternoon, they should get these services. Even a small difference, such as receiving an email at 4 pm, is not good. The commitment to what can be done and to the letter, which occupies a high position in sales, will have a huge difference effect beyond expectations.

2. follow up. Even if you enjoy the first-class service, customers must continue to pay attention after placing an order and keep in touch through various means. This kind of follow-up plan can improve the return business and ensure that the opportunity to sell more products and services will not be missed.

marketing management

For a company, it is obviously not enough to simply drive the sales staff to the market and shout "Come and buy". Salespeople are also managed. Usually, the sales manager is part of the whole marketing team, or, in a small company, this role may be held by the boss or general manager.

People who manage the sales team are usually personally responsible for a certain number of customers, especially those big customers, who need the attention of the company's senior representatives and have the best opportunity to sell to them under any circumstances. This also helps the sales manager to get better product feedback, which is very important for the management team.

A typical sales management task usually has six aspects:

Plan. Take time to plan the scope, content, budget and target of sales. First of all, we should organize around the goal. Setting goals is an important task, which includes not only sales, but also profit rate, product mix and so on. If the product range is wide, it is particularly important to ensure that team activities are guided by the correct focus.

Organization. Calculate the number of salespeople needed (based on cost, customer service and coverage) and how and where to deploy them. We should also solve the problems of various market segments, not only who cares about visiting customers, but also how to deal with big customers and consider the strategies of non-traditional channels, which may need to be considered separately. Organizations that sell to many unrelated customer groups need to separate different sales tasks and have independent sales teams, just as large companies (such as Unilever) do for many of their brands.

Employees. The idea that giving peanuts can drive monkeys to do great things is not good. In order to get the best results, we should invest more time and energy in recruitment and try our best to select a good team.

Development. There is no "right" method in sales. Appropriate methods should be adopted to fine-tune the methods and skills generated in long-term practice year after year. If the team wants to become professional, it must constantly develop and improve, rather than simply introducing ideas.

Incentive. I am sure that people can not only achieve what is required, but also achieve Excellence.

Control. Like other management types, control and fine-tuning are very important.

Generally speaking, the quality of sales management can usually be seen from the performance of sales teams.

Why is sales management required reading 12 worth recommending?

There are so many basic things mentioned above, in fact, what I want to say below is the protagonist of our article.

I believe that many friends who are engaged in sales or company managers have read or are ready to read the book 12 sales management must-read book.

This book is strategic and full of practical arguments. It's the only book I've met for so many years that can really put the sales work into practice. Compared with this book, my understanding of sales work and sales management is really dwarfed.

We know the nature of sales work, the foundation of successful sales and the skills needed, so the next question is how to achieve these.

The classic textbook "sales management required reading 12" just gives us the answer. Moreover, it is far more than that.

Sales is not a tough attitude to promote products, nor is it a blind pursuit of efficiency. Sales means establishing a reasonable system, creating conditions for successful sales, and effectively managing and motivating business personnel.

Whether it is B2B or B2C, you will find the answers to almost all the key questions related to sales management, such as integrating marketing and sales, evaluating the business cycle and its impact on sales, realizing the transition from solution sales methods, exploring new micro-markets and encouraging sales staff.

In just a few words, it depicts the essence of this book, which is absolutely correct. No matter which sales position you are currently in, and whether you are a sales manager or a company manager, this book will become your mentor and a weapon for your promotion.

That's why I recommend this book to you.

Finally, I wish all my colleagues who are fighting in the front line of sales success.