Personal Selling and Sales Management, Essay Example

Burger King counter clerk

A Burger King counter clerk is an example of inside order-taker (Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2011). The primary job of the Burger King counter clerk is to answer basic inquiries, take orders, and process payments. By the time, a customer enters the Burger King joint, he has already made a decision to make a purchase. In other words, he is an established customer and the job of the Burger King’s counter clerk is to help the company preserve the relationship with that particular customer. While a Burger King counter clerk doesn’t really help the company gain new customers, he does play a part in retaining existing clients. Thus, some of the training he may go under would involve helping customers make decisions if they may be having problems especially when it comes to picking the right menu choices they ought to order. I personally agree with this factor as it defines how a counter clerk would be able to boost sales through improving the way he personally relates to the customers and sell to them the products that they might desire. Doing so shall turn the attention of the customers towards products that might e new to them but are interesting to try, relatively, this approach creates new source of sales that could particularly feed future sources of revenue that the business could best benefit from.

Automobile insurance salesperson

An automobile insurance salesperson may either fall within an inside order-getter or within outside order-getter (Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2011) category. When a customer seeks information from an automobile insurance provider, he is obtaining information about different automobile insurance plans and he might have repeated the same process with automobile insurance salespersons at other companies. Thus, it is the job of the automobile insurance salesperson to understand the needs and characteristics of the inquiring consumer and provide a solution that increases the probability of turning the consumer into a company client. In this case, automobile insurance salesperson would be an inside order-getter. Similarly, an automobile insurance salesperson may obtain market data to identify potential new clients and reach to them. the automobile insurances salesperson may also reach to satisfied clients to obtain business leads. In the later case, the automobile insurance salesperson would be an outside order-getter because he is actively reaching out to potential individuals who could be converted to company clients.

Agreeably, being either an outside or inside order taker, an insurance sales person could actually boost sales through knowing more than just the insurance programs that the business recognizes. Relatively, it would help if the person in charge of the said position is able to set his or her personal packages that could sell up the automobiles faster in consideration to what is most convenient for the buyers to take note of. Knowing the customers, an insurance sales agent could provide different options of payment to buyers which could fully help them in completing their purchasing decisions.

IBM computer salesperson

IBM used to be a personal computing company but it sold its PC unit to Lenovo to increase focus on information technology and more lucrative business customers base (Spooner & Kanellos, 2004). Now IBM primarily deals with business clients only and IBM computer salesperson may be both outside order-taker as well as outside order-getter. IBM computer salesperson is an outside order-taker when he is called upon to update the existing client’s computing infrastructure. The salesperson may also be required to identify the client’s additional needs that might have emerged as a result of changing competitive environment and suggest solutions. Similarly, IBM computer salesperson is an outside order-getter when he tries to identify new corporate clients. He make cold calls to corporate clients in order to understand their needs and offer incentive and solutions that may influence the client in switching over to IBM from the competition. Similarly, IBM computer salesperson may also place bids when he would learn on contracting opportunities.

I personally agree that this particular aspect of the individual’s position in the company helps a lot in boosting sales through taking note of what the clients want and what they expect from what the company offers. With such knowledge, formulating new products and services that would serve the convenience of the target clients would be an easier path to take into account.

Life insurance salesperson

A life insurance salesperson maybe both an inside order getter and outside order-getter (Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2011). A life insurance salesperson may be contacted by consumers who would be looking for insurance plans and in the process of comparing offerings from different insurance providers. Thus, it will be the job of the life insurance salesperson to make sure that the inquiring person’s questions are effectively answered and a solution is offered that best meet his unique needs. A life insurance salesperson maybe an outside-getter as he will search for new potential candidates for company’s insurance products. Life insurances salespersons are usually paid commissions which directly vary with the number of new clients they secure (MacDonald), thus, there is a strong incentive to actively find new customers instead of waiting for the potential customers to come to you.

It is also possible that life insurance salesperson may also be an inside order-taker if they are contacted by current customers who may want to revise their insurance policies, either due to changing financial position or a change in one or more of the life circumstances. When it comes to life insurances, increasing sales depends on how much the agent is able to convince the clients to enroll in a policy that would best fit their needs for the future. The agent’s personal understanding of who the clients are and what they want would likely increase sales possibilities. It is then agreeable that inside knowledge would help in achieving such condition of success in closing sales deals with clients in the market.

Shoe salesperson

A shoe salesperson is an example of inside order-taker (Kerin, Hartley, & Rudelius, 2011) because most clients enter a shoe shop with the intention to pay and are already a shoe shop’s client or have already decided to become one. Thus, the shoe salesperson doesn’t have to worry about converting the shop visitor to shop client. A shoe salesperson primarily makes sure the customers’ inquiries, mostly regarding a product availability or shoe size, are answered to customers’ satisfaction. The shoe salesperson, thus, has to maintain a minimum level of customer service standard so as not to alienate the shop’s customer.

We never see a shoe salesperson standing outside the shoe store, trying to persuade customers to come inside the store. The job of a shoe salesperson only starts once the customer has entered the shop. Thus, a shoe salesperson is serving existing clients and not winning new clients. Retaining customer loyalty is then one of the key roles that salespersons take into account. Being able to get the attention and retain the interest of the clients is then a relative skill that these individuals need to have. Agreeable, it is through this that they are able to retain sales rates in either a quarterly or annual schedule.

References

Kerin, R., Hartley, S., & Rudelius, W. (2011). Personal Selling and Sales Management. In Marketing: The Core (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

MacDonald, J. (n.d.). How much does a life insurance agent make? Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://www.bankrate.com/finance/insurance/life-insurance-agent-make-1.aspx

Spooner, J. G., & Kanellos, M. (2004, December 8). IBM sells PC group to Lenovo. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://news.cnet.com/ibm-sells-pc-group-to-lenovo/2100-1042_3-5482284.html