Salesmanship is the skill of the art of presentation of goods so as to convert neutral or even negative attitudes towards them into positive wants or demands. Salesmanship is the art of so successfully demonstrating the merits of the goods and services of a house that a permanent customer is made.
Characteristics of Salesmanship
Certain essential features of salesmanship are described below:
1. An Art
Salesmanship is an art because it involves the presentation of ideas and sales viewpoints.
It is a skill in persuasion and influencing the customer.
It is acquired by study, observation experience, to sell successfully, it requires a certain born talent, aptitude and human skill to listen and motivate.
2. Buyer-Seller Interaction
It is a fundamental feature of salesmanship that it involves buyer-seller interaction.
The salesperson and the prospect, interacting with each other, constitute one example of a “buyer-seller dyad” It involves in an alive, immediate and interactive relationship between buyer and seller.
Each party observes the others need at close hand and makes an immediate adjustment.
3. Develops Relationship
Salesmanship develops many relationships ranging from selling to a deep personal relationship.
A good salesman always keeps his customers at heart if they want to maintain a long term relationship. He fulfils their interests. Top 12 Techniques of Decision Making (Step by Step).
4. Response
Salesmanship is a two-way process. It attends the responses of customers.
It pays attention to buyers’ reactions feelings, views, complaints and suggestions. It is careful listening to buyers’ responses.
To sell will mean ‘to join’ and salesmanship will and entail a long term relationship with once clients.
5. Seller Initiated Effort
Salesmanship is a seller initiated effort that provides prospective buyers with information and other benefits, motivating or persuading them to decide in favour of the seller’s product or service.
6. Persuasion
Salesmanship is a means for motivating or persuading prospective buyers to buy. It involves the ability to influence.
The salesman should have the skill to handle people. It is only by the power of persuasion that the customer takes a decision to buy.
It is the ability to persuade people to want what they already need.
It is an ability to induce other people to accept you, your enthusiasms and your products with willing, sympathetic or even enthusiastic approval.
Related: 11 Types of Price Quotation (Widely Used in International Marketing).
7. Common Point of View
Salesmanship is a method of arriving at a common point of view with the prospect in regard to the desirability of some article, service or idea.
Indeed, the act of salesmanship consists of ‘one human mind-influencing another human mind.’
8. Serving Attitude
Salesmanship aims at serving the producer, distributor and consumer.
The salesman helps the producer in disposing of his goods at a profit, For the distributor, the salesman makes the distribution process smooth and easy.
For the consumer, the salesman assists to buy wisely.
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Salesmanship is a personal service rendered to the community in connection with the marketing of goods.
9. Winning the Buyers Confidence
Salesmanship aims at winning the buyer’s conference.
It does not use doubtful methods of influencing buyer. Cheating and dishonesty have no place in modern salesmanship.
On the contrary, it aims at winning the confidence of flyer by providing a solution to his buying problems, and by educating him. 7 Major Sales Management Challenges in the 21st Century (Explained).
10. Problem Solving Approach
Salesmanship believes in the problem-solving approach.
It helps solve the buyer’s problems by suggesting suitable products.
It is aiding the prospect to make wise buying decisions – it is helping.
11. Mutual Gain
Salesmanship is not the art of making a profit at the cost of the buyer.
Rather, the buyer obtains a solution to his problem, and satisfaction of his want.
It also enables the producer to produce more to increase his sales and profits.
Salesmanship is the art of understanding approaching, influencing other people for mutual benefit.
Related: 25 Importance of Sales Management (With Examples) – Explained.
12. Need Centred
It is a part of the salesman’s business to create demand by demonstrating that the need does exist, although before his visit there was no consciousness of the need.
Thus, ‘need’ has been a Prime incentive to sell. Its origin is as old as mankind.
13. Creative
The salesmanship “does not sell, but it creates in the other man the urge to buy.
It creates needs and makes the customer aware of these needs.
It is responsible for the creation of demand through a problem-solving approach.
It studies customer needs and problems through customers viewpoint.
Related: 27 Important Functions of Sales Management (With Examples).
14. Educative Process
Salesmanship educates people about their needs. Salesman performs the function of educating the customers about their needs and their satisfaction.
They provide information about the products available, their special features and their utility in satisfying specific needs of customers.
15. Psychological Process
The sale takes place in the mind of the customer.
The sale is effected only if the prospect is convinced in his own mind that it will be beneficial for him to make the Purchase.
In the act of buying, the customer’s mind goes through a number of mental states.
16. Lasting Satisfaction
Salesmanship is showing a prospect of how we can get greater satisfaction from the money he spends – it is aiding the prospect to make wise buying decisions.
Salesmanship creates satisfied customers, not just producing sales.
For a sale Once Made is ended but a satisfied customer Once Made is but the beginning.
Modern salesmanship creates permanent customers and aims at repeat orders.
Related: 8 Advanced Techniques of Motivation Research (Explained).
17. More Than Mere Selling Goods
Salesmanship is more than merely selling goods. It has gradually come to be regarded as a science.
It is another name for the work of distribution. It creates goodwill. It creates demand. It is a relationship with the customers.
It also performs the economic function that keeps up the production and distribution of goods.
18. High-Pressure Selling
The old concept of salesmanship emphasized ‘sales volume’, at any cost.
It employed high-pressure tactics; customers were pressurized by sales talk and dramatic sales presentation.
Now, salesmanship is based on a problem-solving approach. Growth of consumerism as outlived the utility of high-pressure salesmanship.
Today, under the concept of modern marketing, high-pressure salesmanship has no pressure at all.
19. Guiding Element
Cheating the customers has no place in modern salesmanship.
It rather guides the customer in buying something which will give him utmost satisfaction.
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20. Link Between Seller and Consumer
Salesmanship is a link between producer and consumer.
The salesman serves his customers and his company fully by bringing them together in a continuing favourable relationship.
The salesman makes sure that the seller gets a profit as a result of the sale and the consumer must also derive benefits by purchasing the product.
21. The Ideal of Customer is Always Right
Salesmanship is always customer Centred. It follows the principle that ‘customer is always right‘.
It is based on the service to the customers.
The modern salesman is one who places his customer first and himself second.
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22. Other Features
- There is no hugging tendency in salesmanship.
- Salesmanship is different from personal selling and advertisements.
- It is universal.
- It is the art of attracting customers.
- It is converting Desire into a necessity.
- It selling of idea or point of view.
- Machines can never hope to replace red-blooded men in salesmanship.
- It is a basis of all commerce.
- It can be learned.
- It is neither a ‘game’ nor ‘a racket.’
Thus, now you know all the features or characteristics of salesmanship.
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