Sales Foundation

A sales transaction is a frontline interface between a seller and a customer. From the moment the sale is agreed, the process is very much a single action involving the salesperson. However, getting to this point involves the combined efforts of many people in the organization and the full support of the Sales and Marketing Departments. The sales and marketing functions have a symbiotic relationship, as the activities of both are interdependent and mutually beneficial. There's no point in marketing a product if there isn't a sales function to do the actual selling. Likewise, it's almost impossible to successfully sell a product without marketing planning and support. Sales is a difficult discipline to master. There are no quick solutions that can guarantee sales success. In today's ever-shifting, globally competitive environment, achieving success in sales is harder than ever. This course discusses the close connection between sales and marketing. In addition, it details key competencies that can benefit a sales professional. It also covers trends that influence the current sales environment and how these have changed the buyer-seller relationship. This course will also give insight into consumer buying behavior, the buying decision process, and the sales process. With increasing competition in a global economy, it's essential to have a good sales strategy. Strategic sales planning helps you understand the needs of your customers, which leads to increased revenue and improved client loyalty. It also helps to shorten the sales cycle and allows you to identify and take advantage of the best opportunities. In this course, you'll learn about the four steps of developing a sales strategy. The first step is analyzing the competition, which allows you to understand your company's place in the marketplace. The next step is segmenting customers, which helps you understand how to group together customers who have similar purchasing desires, needs, challenges, and price sensitivities. The third step is to create clear, concise, and feasible value propositions, which explain to customers the benefit of buying or using your products or services. In the last step, you'll learn how to develop a sales process, which defines what sales activities to undertake, and when. The topics in this course are structured to take you through the steps, and the final topic allows you to demonstrate your knowledge as you put all the steps together. Are you a person who thinks salespeople are born and not made? Well, it's true that some people seem born to sell, but most others have to learn how. Learning how to sell anything can be frightening - the potential for failure is high. However, there are techniques that can make the process of pitching, negotiating, and closing a sale much easier. In this course, you'll learn about activities that are done in steps four, five, and six of the sales process - presenting, discovering, and closing. You'll learn how to prepare and deliver effective sales presentations. This includes organizing content according to the structure of a typical sales presentation, and rehearsing with a coach. Next, you'll learn about how to prepare for a negotiation. You'll learn about the four main types of objections and how to counter them. And then you'll learn how to negotiate a sale. Finally, the course will show you how to close a sale by building momentum, recognizing when to close, and choosing the closing methods that are appropriate for you, your customers, and your sales situation. A sale is a transaction that takes place between two parties. It can involve a selling organization and a buying organization, or a salesperson and a customer. For this transaction to be successful there is one fundamental requirement: respect.