Principles of Sales Management and Benefits of Sales Structure

This study material provides insights into the principles of sales management and the benefits of sales structure. It covers topics such as sales planning, building customer relationships, and successful selling. The material also explores different modes of selling, the impact of technology on sales, and the ethics of sales behavior. Additionally, it discusses the principles of turning customer information into knowledge and provides insights into sales lead qualification and the advantages of selling through retailers and wholesalers.

Sales management

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
The principles of sales management...........................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
Benefits of sales structure ..........................................................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
Principle of successful selling turning customer information into knowledge...........................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................14
An understanding of the finance of selling...............................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Sales management is the discipline of the business which concentrate on the sales
techniques of an organisations operation of sales. The chosen company for this study is Argos
Ltd. It is the British catalogue retailer operates in UK and Ireland. It sales consumer goods
through physical and online shops. This report will cover the principles of sales management
which includes the importance of sales planning, different modes of selling importance of
building relationship with customers. This will also highlight the importance of selling through
others and choose & analyse the best technique for selling successfully. Consumer ethics and
ethics of behaviour of sales person play an important role in sales management. There is an
importance of implementing and developing sales strategies as it helps the company in
increasing profitability within its structure of the sales (Agnihotri and et.al., 2016).
This presentation will show about the importance of successful selling and different types
of sales lead. Hot, warm and cold sales lead show salesman about the behaviour of customers
regarding purchasing. Ethical sales behaviours also play an important role in selling products
successfully.
TASK 1
The principles of sales management
Sales management is the process of measuring each employee's ability to support in sales
process and to do the actual selling to customers. This process and strategy includes to provide
sales support, training and setting goals etc. Sales manager of Argos play various roles and have
some principles like to manage workforce individually, respect every individual and be goal
oriented.
Manage workforce individually: Sales manager of Argos, mange its employees
individually by providing them training. For motivating them they also provide benefits like
praise in a group and encourage them to do work effectively. This principle help sales manager
help Argos in increasing their sales as employees becomes more confident about their work.
They provide the best services to their employees.
Respect every individual: Sales manager of Argos not only provide training to their
employees but also respect them. It helps them in decreasing labour turnover. Each and every

employees are being treated equally which boosted their morale. With the help of this Argos can
maintain their position in the market.
Be goal oriented: The main purpose of Argos is to achieve their goals by satisfying their
employees and potential customers. For achieving long term goals this company sets various
short term sales target that make them able to achieve their long term goals. So the company
formulate various plans for achieving sales target (Fernie, Fernie and Moore, 2015).
Different tasks of sales person
There are various tasks which are being played by the sales person at Argos. Some tasks
are as follows:
Prospecting: Prospecting cam be defined as the process of searching and calling upon
potential customers. Sales manager of Argos keep maintaining and interacting with its existing
customers rather than searching out new customers. The main aim of prospecting is to satisfy
their old and existing customers because when the company focuses on its new customers then
existing customers feel ignored. So it tries to fulfil their all the needs.
Providing customer services: Sales person meet various people or customers so they get
the idea of processes that their competitors use to solve customers problems. By analysing all the
processes and equipments they provide the better suggestions to their customers regarding sales.
Sales person not only help in selling products to customers but also it provides after sales
services like maintenance, installation etc.
Relationship management: Customers feel happy when sales manager supply them the
best products but the relationship between customers and customers can be maintained and
developed when the sales team demonstrate solve their all the problems and its usefulness on
small matters at frequent intervals (Ross, 2017).
Make strategies: It is the most important task of sales manager is to make strategies of
measuring sales performance metrics. By making the best strategies, it can identify its current
situation in the market. Sales funnel is also play a vital role ion retail industries because it
increases the overall business potential energy. It also measures sales funnel metrics for
increasing the number of potential customers.
Modes of selling
There are different modes of selling products such as business to business and business to
customers. These modes have impact upon seller roles and buyer.

Consumer buying behaviour process: There are some stages involved in consumer
buying behaviour process which may have impact on seller roles of Argos. Problem recognition
is the very first step in which customer make sure about their purchasing as why they want to
purchase (Sinha and Verma, 2018). The desire which they have is different from the reality. It
creates an opportunity for marketer as they provide each details about their products and try to
identify needs and [problems of customers. The next step is information search as potential &
interested customers try to seek information from various sources about products and brands.
After collecting information they evaluate the best brand that can satisfy their all the needs. After
evaluation of price quality & quantity of product they finally make purchasing decisions
Business buying behaviour process: Business buying behaviour process begins with
recognition of wants and needs. Needs and wants can be satisfied by the characteristics of
products. Needs arises because of problems which occur in delivering products, Argos provides
customer goods so it is important for them to provide them safely and on time to the business and
customers. After determining needs business start to collect informations via different sources of
searching. By consumer review and product review sites on retail sites business analyse and get
the information about importance of products. After collecting al,the informations, they evaluate
and their choices. Among various products and options they choose the best products and brand.
The nest step in business buying behaviour is purchasing but there are some factors that may
affect their purchasing decisions like p[purchasing from online and from store. Benefits of
purchasing modes. Business evaluate post purchasing in this step they evaluate about the
product's loyalty and effectiveness. So it is important for sales manager of Argos to satisfy all the
steps of their buying behaviour (Ingram and et.al., 2015).
Impact and importance of technology
Argos sells their products through online and social media and through physical shops.
New technologies like Skype, Argos app, video conferences impacts on its activities and
operations. Some of the benefits of adopting new technologies are as follows:
Argos run adverts and give their advertisement in cinema and national billboards. In
order to contact with its customers it has launched a series of online contents & its Argos mobile
apps. With the help of new technologies it has been accounted for 46% of its total sales including
mobile commerce is raised by 38%. With the help of social media and Skype, it can save their
time and cost. Customers can find the best online deal and also make more informed purchasing

decision. It improves their communication with their customers. It also impacts on its
productivity as it increases overall productivity of the company. It helps them in decision making
process and in connect with their customers effectively.
Examples of promotion
There are various examples of sales promotion which Argos provides to its customers
and user on its Websites. Some examples includes freebies, point of purchase, prizes, premiums
etc. From its Website and click & collect provides benefits to their customers as the company
give them vouchers via E-mail. Customers can redeem E-mail vouchers codes only be redeemed
online (Gale and Gottardi, 2015). Web allow providers in order to deliver events, merchandise
and activities more quickly. The main 2 types of sales incentives are monetary and non
monetary. Monetary incentives includes salary, bonus, commission etc. On the other hand non
monetary includes promotion, supervision, appreciation etc.
TASK 2
Benefits of sales structure
Selling is the main and important concept in
order to fulfil customers prospects in an
effective manner. It is the process in which
sales man uses their knowledge and skills for
successfully sales which helps them in
increasing value of their company. Sales
structure clearly defines the roles and
responsibilities of sale force in respect of
different products.
Supervising, managing and leading the sales
force
Argos sales force consists its members and
staff of salespeople. It depends to a large extent
where the company wants to sell like as it
wants to sell directly to its customer or to
business. For managing sales force it is
essential for sales manager of the company to
have the proper knowledge ans skills of some
areas including goal setting, motivate the sales
force and manage performance. Sales manager
take the decisions for managing sales force
related to the ways of organizing the work.
Reward power or reward sales force can be
defined as the ability to distribute rewards. It

Sales force structure: It is very important for
the company to decide the sales structure in
order to increase sales and revenues. In this
sales structure of the company, employees
decide their roles which they need and have to
be preformed. Sales structure of Argos
distribute the tasks among employees
according to their skills. It creates brand
awareness among customers and also support
them to maintain and develop a strong
relationship with its customers. In this sales
structure they contain various things like
benefits which need to be given to their loyal
customers etc. It can sales on the basis of
products and geography based sales with the
help of its effective sales structure.
Ethics of behaviour
Ethical sales behaviour can be defined as the
purest form of salesman to put their customers
first and honest insight to customers. Some
benefits of creating and maintaining sales
ethical behaviours are as follows:
It creates team oriented culture: With ethics
sales behaviour, sales team feel like a team
rather than just a group of people. All types of
customers at all level expect to treated fairly.
Argos focus on satisfying their employees
needs and treat fairly. It helps them in retaining
their potential customers for long run.
Increase customer trust: When sales man
treat their customers ethically and fairly then
includes gifts, promotion, compensation etc.
Selling through others:
There are some modes of selling products
which Argos can use and make it self
beneficial. Some companies sales their produce
through retailers, whole sellers and through
franchise. There are different types of benefits
of these modes which are as follows
Advantages of selling through retailers:
Value to customers: Selling products through
retailers can increase value to the customers. It
provides the access to an additional customer
base who visits retail outlets in order to
purchase products which the company offers.
Marketing & sales: Retailers are the

they feel respected. This behaviour of salesman
helps them in creating lasting bond with the
company and its products. Customers who feel
that they are not treated fairly then they will
not Be repeat customers. So maintaining
customer trust is very important for Argos.
Increases sales: A company can make its sales
when it has various potential customers.
Customers are more likely to visit and
purchase products when they feel respected
and satisfied. It increases company's reputation
and brand loyalty. Company's reputation
direct;ly impact on the sales of the company.
distributors who have experience in selling and
have knowledge of certainties and
uncertainties. This selling system can help
Argos to have the working and process ideas.
They can also boost their marketing budget by
running joint campaigns with retail members.
Advantages of selling through whole sellers:
Wide customers base: Selling through Whole
sellers have various advantages and benefits.
To maintain and create a wide customer base is
one of the important benefit. By creating
potential customer base, Argos can increase
their sales profitability.
Better understanding the market: For being
in the market it is very important for Argos to
understand the challenging goals and strategies
of its competitors. With the help of whole
sellers it can clearly understand the needs and
demands of its potential customers by which it
can make strategies to satisfy them.
TASK 3
Principle of successful selling turning customer information into knowledge

It is very important skills that the sales person of Argos posses. When they listen their
customers carefully then customers feels respected and they not feel ignored. Customers asks

various questions related their products so for giving answers of their problems it is important to
have the skill of active listening.
There are some negotiation techniques which a sales man need to have while selling its
products. In negotiation skills they need to have the ways of closing sales, handling objectives,
ethics of behaviours and over promising. For making sales closer it is important for sales
manager to ask the right and appropriate questions and be confident in selling products.
There is a requirement to give each and every details to customers. Customers asks
various questions and have some problems related their products so it is important for the sales
man and employees of Argos to provide and satisfy their customers.
For selling successfully it is not only important to sale but also to provide after sales
services like maintenance and solution of other problems. It shows ethical behaviour to
customers which increases loyalty of them.

This hot qualified lead focus to meet to the required criteria. By applying the BANT lead
qualified lead hot lead can be identified. In this type customer shows the interest in buying
products.
B-Budget: Sales manager prepares a budget and ready to provide products to its
customers.
A-Authority: The contact person with whom the salesman speak out is either in charge
or recommender. They can say yes or no as they have the authority.
N-Need: In the marketing script, need of customers remain on the top. It is important to
fulfil needs as gives the signal of a brewing lead.
T-Time frame: The time period from the sales man spoke with its customers to the
planned period of purchasing.
In warm type of lead, customers shows interest in products of the company by following
company's Website or on social media.

Cold lead can be defined as the company sales Rep who want to get in touch with the
help of out reach strategy including cold call, cold E-mail etc. In this customers reach out to cold
lead in because the company focus to meet a determined criteria that leads company to believe
that customers will make a purchase.

TASK 4
An understanding of the finance of selling
There is an importance to understand the importance of finance of selling and to develop
sales of Argos. With the help of sales strategies a manager of Argos Ltd can increase the overall
productivity and profitability.
Developing and importance of sales strategy
Argos Ltd uses various sales strategies including fast track strategy, Argos card, gifts
card and using promotional codes ion order to increase productivity and sales of the business.
Evaluation of core finance principles also help them in increasing profitability and competitive
edge.
Fast track strategy: This is the best sales strategy of Argos in which it delivers and
provides products before time. Customers can get the same day delivery at the cost of £3.95. In
this strategy this company provides various facilities to their customers as to purchase and order
via its Website or its App by 6pm and they deliver their product within 4 hours.
Argos card: Argos provides its customers Argos card same as the credit card. In which it
provides flexibility and opportunity to its potential customers to pay within 56 days. With the
help of Argos card, customers do not require to pay at a time (Badenhorst-Weiss and Weber,
2016). There is a process and ways of getting this card and to borrow money on credit with its
card. When customer pay £50 at Argos then they can spread the cost across 3, 6 or for 12
months. As long they pay back the balance by the end of given time frame then they can borrow
the money for free.
Gift card strategy: It is other sales strategy of this company in order to motivate and
inspire their customers and employees. It also helps them in achieving their objectives. Customer
can use their Argos card to buy gift card in order to buy groceries. Argos E-gifts card can not be
used at Its subsidiary Sainsbury's. This vouchers can not be used as the mode and method of
payment on the Websites.
All these strategies are being used by the company for increasing its sales and
profitability by motivating their customers and employees.
Sales cycle
Sales cycle is a process in which Argos undergo when it sales its products to a customer.
There are various steps involved in sales cycle and it depends on them as how they define it.

Steps in sales cycle of Argos includes prospecting, preparation, presentation, handling objectives
and follow up. Having the best steps in sales cycle make the company able to train new sales
Reps. Having the better and clear understanding of sales cycle empower Argos to structure their
employees and team members in an effective manner (Francis, Samuel and Wu, 2017).
Keeping track of sales cycle also supports sales manager to better evaluate their team
performance. If their average length of sales cycle decreases month on month than it means that
their team members are effectively closing their leads in a shorter period of time. It also help
them in analysing their competitors strategies and profits so they can see that how they are
sacking up.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been concluded that sales management played a crucial role
in an organisation. They helped the company to increase sales and develop relationship with its
customers. It has identifies the principles of successful selling which included the importance of
relationship with customers. Further this report has showed the various modes and their benefits
of selling like selling through whole sellers and selling through retailers. Structure of sales force
consisted every details related sales and distribution of roles for employees. This report also
examined the finance of selling.

REFERENCES
Books & journals
Agnihotri, R. and et.al., 2016. Social media: Influencing customer satisfaction in B2B
sales. Industrial Marketing Management. 53. pp.172-180.
Badenhorst-Weiss, J.A. and Weber, A.N., 2016. Time-based competition as a competitive
strategy for online grocery retailers. Journal of Contemporary Management. 13(1).
pp.433-460.
Fernie, J., Fernie, S. and Moore, C., 2015. Principles of retailing. Routledge.
Francis, B.B., Samuel, G. and Wu, Q., 2017. The Impact of Financial Markets on Payout Policy:
Evidence from Short Selling. Available at SSRN 3038300.
Gale, D. and Gottardi, P., 2015. Capital structure, investment, and fire sales. The Review of
Financial Studies. 28(9). pp.2502-2533.
Ingram, T.N. and et.al., 2015. Sales management: Analysis and decision making. Routledge.
Ross, J.E., 2017. Total quality management: Text, cases, and readings. Routledge.
Sinha, S.K. and Verma, P., 2018. Impact of Sales Promotion’s Benefits on Brand Equity: An
Empirical Investigation. Global Business Review. 19(6). pp.1663-1680.