The art of selling
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| The Art Of Selling |
The new commercials have university training, train skills and are skilled with new digital tools. They are essential for companies and that makes their profession unemployed.
Once they were known as sells donkeys. Some charlatans with a lot of lipstick able to sell anything to anyone, even if it was false or not very credible. The commercials have never enjoyed good reputation, but this perception has changed, at least of doors inwards in companies, which increasingly need them due to the fall in consumption caused by the crisis and the shift towards the customer that has also produced in them.
But "how many families are willing to pay for university studies so that your son or daughter can end up as a salesman?" Reflects Rafael Muñiz González, a professor at UDIMA and CEF. "This is a mistake that more than one parent has made. The commercial profession in Spain is one of those that practically has no unemployment; It is one of the largest professional outlets and allows climbing to important positions ", emphasizes the expert.
The relationship with the client has gained a lot of weight in recent years.
Sales professionals are increasingly qualified, today they are key players in the strategic decisions of companies and, in countries like the United States, enjoy a high reputation. Why? In the mecca of capitalism they have it clear: "The objective of any company is to obtain and maintain clients. That is the biggest asset and without customers there is no benefit ", explains Bernardino Aldea, professor at the European University.
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Today's commercials demand much more than self-confidence. University education is essential to develop sales skills and techniques. "Sales managers are real heavyweights in companies. Sales are the only thing that produces income and in countries like the United States - Aldea insists - they know it very well ".
Change of reputation
The reasons for this change in the reputation of the vendors are basically two, says Martin Boehm, dean of IE Business School programs. One is that "the relationship with the client has gained much importance in recent years. This is due to the confirmation that their loyalty increases the profits of the companies.
The sales team has a direct relationship with the client and, therefore, is key in the loyalty process ". The second is that "differentiation in the market is increasingly difficult due to the proliferation of products and services. The arguments and pressure of the sales team are essential to ensure the closing of the sale. "
Until now it has always been said that a good seller is born with a gift, but nothing is further from reality. Today the professional is done in the classrooms and the range to complete this career is very complete.
Wide offer
The ESIC has its own sales school; The European University offers two degrees related to this area: Degree in Marketing and Commercial Management and Superior Technician in Commercial Management and Marketing. In the program portfolio of IE Business School there is the Master in Management, which has a specialization in marketing and sales and another in integrated marketing communication with McCann Erickson.
At Deusto Business School, the training content is very broad, including from negotiation techniques to people management, including e-commerce, communication and strategy, while UDIMA places the focus of training on bringing students closer to the reality of the market and the added value of its faculty, successful professionals in the areas of sales and marketing .
"Sales managers are real heavyweights in companies and in the US they know it very well," says Professor Aldea
For Yolanda MarÃn, marketing executive of the Hays selection firm, "any good professional, whatever the sector, is born with a specific talent, but if it is not accompanied by a curious attitude, learning and continuous improvement, this talent it is almost completely canceled. " The main skill / quality that a sales or marketing professional "has to develop is communication. Knowing your audience, knowing to whom you send your message is essential to succeed, "he concludes.
Often the line that separates marketing and sales is diffuse, at least for the profane, but for experts it is not the same; although as in the song of Alejandro Sanz, in both areas there is "pomada pa 'to' the pains, remedies for all kinds of errors, also recipes for 'disillusionment'. Both in marketing and sales "everything is worked, trained and trained", warns the expert from the European University.
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Traditionally, recalls Noelia de Lucas, director of national sales at Hays, "there was a merger between the professionals and the sales and marketing departments . But, currently and with digital development, marketing has acquired a great specialization. The commercial sells, the marketing creates ". The strategy can be joint in many occasions, but "the marketing now is an entity in itself, totally necessary so that the sales can achieve their objectives".
One role each
"Each area has its role. The marketing professional must create the platform that drives sales, while the sales professional must make them effective, "says Javier Molina Acebo, member of the sales council of ESIC.
For Iñaki Ortega, director of Deusto Business School in Madrid, companies today "want their commercials not only to sell, but also to be their eyes and ears in the market".
"The marketing -says Aldea- is aimed at the consumer, at the product development; Sales are focused more on the customer. The salespeople have a very global preparation in logistics, markets, finances ... "When the marketing and sales professionals " work in harmony - Molina adds - the result is the increase in sales, with shorter cycles, higher margins and greater customer satisfaction. "
EXECUTIVES WITH A LOT OF 'MARKETING'
The new commercials have university, master and multi-experience training, because they tend to rotate through different departments of the company before entering the world of sales, which makes them acquire an integral knowledge of the business.
Their language level is high and they work with large accounts, negotiating large numbers. Its high professionalization is paid and it is a position with an upward price.
For Iñaki Ortega, of Deusto Business School, the new sales executive "must behave like an entrepreneur within the organization". In the company "the important thing is the client and now with social networks, customers say", explains Bernardino Aldea, of the European University, therefore, "these new executives must develop great skills to lead teams".
Everything is worked in the classrooms, nothing is left to improvisation. "Sales techniques are trained; where it is sold -canales- and to whom we have to sell -clients-; communication, argumentation and negotiation are exercised, innate demands in the profession, but empathy or body language is also trained. " Hence, it is said that new commercials "have a lot of marketing ".
Among the most demanded profiles, "KAM ( key account manager , for its acronym in English, or director of large regional accounts) and the national KAM are key figures", and are responsible for one or several clients considered key to a company, explains Noelia de Lucas, of Hays.
In general, to those same positions are added the sales manager ( sales manager ) and especially the export manager ( export manager ). De Lucas notices a fact. "In the years of crisis we have witnessed an export growth in Spanish companies, which until now had not believed in their potential outside our territory.
The international commercial directors have done a great job, very demanded by the companies that have started to export. " Now, with the increase in demand and domestic consumption, "national commercial directors have become very popular again". It should be noted that most of these profiles need to have a base and technical knowledge, concludes Lucas.
THE NETWORK TRAPS BRANDS
The irruption of the digital world, of course, has also modified marketing and sales strategies . The fundamental change, explains Martin Boehm, of IE, "comes through the media and analytical marketing ."
In the first case, it is clear that "nowadays there are more channels to reach the customer" and, with the second, "there are more possibilities to evaluate the efficacy of marketing and sales actions".
Internet and social networks "have helped commercial activity enormously because they have provided tools and information that were previously difficult to achieve," says Rafael Muñiz, from UDIMA. Today we can reach anywhere in the world through e-commerce regardless of the size and infrastructure of the company.
Apple and Inditex are success stories that are studied around the world. "The example of Zara is spectacular, they have changed the way they sell, they have broken campaigns," explains Bernardino Aldea, of the European University.
"Zara is a world leader in the five continents, ahead of H & M and GAP; changes product every 10 or 15 days and it is the store managers, together with the designers, who decide which products to launch; they are the kings of the sale by impulse, the people enter the stores to see what is new ", emphasizes.
"Another clear example of the importance that the commercial task begins to have in the digital world -says- is in the strategy followed by BBVA, which is boosting digital and commercial areas because they are some of the main differentiating elements of companies with success".
No marketing professional can ignore the digital part in their strategy. For Yolanda MarÃn, of Hays, "by multiplying the communication channels, there is a greater probability of penetration in the public of interest and the customers-users-consumers feel closer to the companies with, in addition, the power to carry your brand up the highest or, on the contrary, destroy it almost overnight. "
Remember that in the retail sector ( retail) , 7% of sales already made through channels online , which translates to 16,000 million euros annually.