SALESMANSHIP: A TOOL FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
ABSTRACT
This research study is on the importance of salesmanship in business development. Salesmanship has been described as the act of persuading a prospective buyer to accept an organization’s product, service, or idea while, the consumer market is described as constituting ultimate buyers of a product or service for their personal, non-business use.
The trend toward producer proliferation in the market has culminated in keen competition to the extent that producers find it different to sell theirs produces. It is as a result of this difference that the researcher has attempted to emphasize the importance of salesmanship in the marketing of those consumer products.
Remains of related literature focused on the meaning of selling and salesmanship, the consumer market and characteristic of goods and services… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) as defined by the National Council of Industries (2009) refers to business enterprises whose total costs excluding land is not more than two hundred million nairas (N200,000,000.00) only. Small scale businesses are those businesses that are independently owned and operated requiring limited capital with few employee and non-sophisticated technology and which is not dominant in its field of operation.
Small businesses constitute those sole proprietorships, privately owned corporations, partnerships with fewer employees, and less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Types of small businesses include those engaged in trade and commercial activities, services, and small scale manufacturing. Examples include service or retail operations such as delicatessens, hairdressers or convenience stores, small grocery stores, bakeries tradespeople (e.g., carpenters, electricians), very small-scale manufacturing, and Internet-related businesses.
Small businesses can be started with very minimal capital and without any formality. Many small businesses are operated as a family business and can be combined with regular employment. Personal selling is part of the promotional mix, and the role which it plays in a firm can easily be seen from its importance. Personal selling is an aspect of salesmanship, in which there is a direct face to face interaction between a seller and the buyer to effect the exchange of facts for making buying decisions.
It is through sales representatives that firms know the needs and wants of buyers in order to know what to produce. But it is not enough to produce goods and services that satisfy human wants but also the goods and services must be passed to the user for production to complete. This is where the person selling strategies come in. The salesperson has to communicate to the buyer by persuading and creating awareness for the product to be desired.
The product so advertised has all the potential to satisfy the need of the prospect more than the competitive products in the market. This is because, personal selling is face-to-face communication, which has the potential to convince the buyer and demonstrate the workability of the product in terms of its quality and features… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Statement of the Problem
The management and operations of small business are confronted with some challenges which constitute the limitations hindering the growth of small business in Nigeria. Small businesses can be started with very minimal capital and without any formality.
Many small businesses are operated as family businesses and can be combined with regular employment. Some of that problem includes a lack of huge capital to expand or take advantage of business opportunities… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Research Objectives
To determine salesmanship as a tool for the business development of small and medium scale enterprises. This research study is therefore geared:
- To identify the importance of salesmanship in business development.
- To identify the contribution of a salesman to marketing efficiency and profitability company product… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material) LITERATURE REVIEW
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
- Nature And Significance Of SMEs
Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) as defined by the National Council of Industries (2009) refers to business enterprises whose total costs excluding land is not more than two hundred million nairas (N200,000,000.00) only. Although, there exists no consensus among policymakers and scholars concerning the point at which a business firm is deemed to be small or medium.
Indeed, there is no universally or even nationally acceptable standard definition except that the scale of business needs to be defined for a specific purpose. The problem of SMEs identification is more acute in developing countries because apart from the fact that, small and medium scale business is difficult to count, they are also difficult to measure individually.
Hence statistics on the number, size, geographical distribution, and activities of enterprises and the SME sub-sectors are partial and highly unreliable (USAID, 2004)… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
- What Is Salesmanship
Salesmanship is a seller-initiated effort that provides prospective buyers with information and motivates or persuades them to make favorable buying decisions concerning the seller’s products or service. The salesman of today has to react and interact in any different ways to many different people… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
- Types of Salesmanship
- Sales Personnel: Sales personnel are employees who are tasked with getting new clients, retaining old customers, finding and promoting products, and overseeing regular purchases.
- Salesman/ Saleswoman: A salesman is someone who works in sales, with the main function of selling products or services to others either by visiting locations, by telephone, or in a store/shop… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
SME’S GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT VIA SALESMANSHIP
ACTCAD is involved in Software publishing, consultancy and supply Software publishing include production, supply and documentation of ready-made (non-customized) software, operating systems software, and business & other applications software, computer games software for all platforms… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Sales Performance
Every sales manager’s job is to determine what leads to superior performance which is significant to the continued existence and success of a firm. 20 years ago, authors like Walker, Churchill, and Ford (1977) posited a model which is comprehensive of salesman performance where the antecedents of performance were classified into five categories which are, personal, organizational, and environmental factors, motivation, aptitude, skills level, and role perceptions.
Roberts (2003) posit that sales performance can be measured using sales volume, dollar sales, management evaluations, or self-report measures of self-efficiency. Krishnan, Netemeyer, and Boles (2002) view sales performance as the salesperson’s perception of the number of sales achieved, the quality of customer relationships they maintain, and the information… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
THEORIES OF SELLING
There has been a lot of research by behavioral scientists and marketing scholars to examine whether selling is an art or science and various theories have been developed to explain the buyer-seller buying process.
The process of influencing others to buy may be viewed from four different angles on the basis of different theories: thus there are four theories of selling viz.
- AIDAS theory of personal selling
- “Right Set of Circumstances” theory of selling
- “Buying Formula” theory of selling
- “Behavioral Equation” theory
The first two of the four above-mentioned theories are seller oriented and the third one is the buyer’s oriented. The fourth one emphasizes the buyer’s decision process but also takes the salesperson’s influence process into account.
- AIDAS Theory of Selling:
This theory, popularly known as AIDAS theory (attention, interest, desire, action, and satisfaction), is based on experimental knowledge. This theory is very common.
According to this theory, potential buyer’s mind passes through the following stages:
- Attention-Getting:
It is a crucial step in the AIDAS process. The objective is to put the prospect into the right state of mind to continue the sales talk. The salesperson has to convince the prospect of participating in the face-to-face interview.
A good beginning of conversation may set the stage for a full sales presentation. The salesperson must apply his social and psychological skills to draw the attention of the prospect to his sales presentation.
- Interest Creating:
The second step is to intensify the prospect’s attention so that it involves strong interest. To achieve this, the salesperson has to be enthusiastic about the product. Another method is to hand over the product to the prospect and let him handle it. Brochures and other visual aids serve the same purpose.
Throughout the interest phase, the hope is to search out the selling appeal that is most likely to be effective… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Design of the Study
Due to the nature and complexity of the problem under study and also the desire for a high percentage of accuracy, the approaches employed were both descriptive and survey research techniques. The researcher adopted both the primary and secondary sources of data
Sources of Data
- Primary Sources of Data
The primary sources of data consisted of the design and administration of questionnaires which was used to collate data for the analysis of the research
- Secondary Sources of data
The secondary sources of data consisted of data derived from the review of related literature, publications, and journals
Area of the Study
The area of the study was centered on the appraisal of Medium scale enterprises and salesmanship influence on business performance… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter is aimed at the analysis and interpretation of data collected from consumers and management of SME Nigeria Pie, Kaduna branch office. The responses as collected through the use of questionnaires are presented in tabular form using simple percentages… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Customer Characteristics and Classification
DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF CUSTOMER
| S/No | Variable | Response | Percentage (%) |
| 1. | Sex
Male Female |
100 80 |
75% 25% |
| Total | 180 | 100% | |
| 2. | Age
18-25 26-35 36-45 46 and Above |
– 50 50 80 |
– 30% 30% 40% |
| Total | 180 | 100% | |
| 3. | Marital Status
Single Married Divorced Widow |
80 100 |
30% 70% |
| Total | 180 | 100% |
Presentation and Analysis Of Consumers Questionnaire
Question I (one): How do you come to know about the SME product you are currently using.
Table 4.1
| Options | No. of Respondents | Percentage (%) |
| Through publicity | 18 | 10% |
| Through sales | 6 | 3.3% |
| Through advertising | 72 | 40% |
| Through salesmen | 12 | 6.7% |
| All of the above | 72 | 40% |
| Total | 180 | 100% |
From the above, it can be seen that out of a total number of 180 respondent, 18 said they obtain SME product awareness through publicity, 6 said they did through sale promotion, 72 said they did through advertising, 12 said they did through salesmen, the remaining 72 respondents, pointed out that they obtain SME product awareness through all of the above variables i.e. publicity sales promotion, advertising, and salesmen… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary of Finding
Results obtained from the study revealed that consumers usually gain awareness of SME products through publicity, sales promotion, advertisement, and salesmen. It is also found that most consumers usually get in contact with salespeople on a personal basis.
It also found out that most consumers if not all use all types of consumers’ goods (especially goods unsought goods, convenient goods, and shopping goods). It was also found out that the point of purchase that was mostly used to get in contact with the consumer was on the high Broad Street.
However, a small group also makes purchases in shops… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be stated that Salesmanship as a tool for business development is low. The management and operations of SMEs are confronted with some challenges which constitute the limitations hindering the growth of small business in Nigeria.
Small businesses can be started with very minimal capital and without any formality .many small business is operated as a family business and can be combined with regular employment. Some of that problem includes a lack of huge capital to expand or take advantage of business opportunities.
This also affects the salary of the salesmen who may not be motivated to perform ultimately… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Recommendation
The researchers recommend the management of SMEs to establish specific, short-term, or immediate goals or sales targets that will challenge the salespeople, yet still viewed as achievable and realistic. This is in line with Schunk and Pajares, 2002 who states that improving self-efficacy of a salesperson does not require the setting of sales target that are not realistic and achievable.
The management should boost the capability and confidence of a salesperson, they should match the sales person’s sales achieved to the quota or targeted set for that salesperson, rather than comparing one salesperson against another or comparing one salesperson to the rest of the team… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
REFERENCES
Appelbaum, S. & Hare, A (2006) Self-efficacy as a mediator of goal setting and performance: Some human resource implications. Journal of Managerial Psychology.
Asgari M. H. & Vakili, M. (2012). The Relationship between Locus of Control, Creativity, and Performance of the Educational Department Employees in the west of Mazandaran, International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences. Vol, 3 (S): 2556-2561
Bandura, A. (2004). Cultivate self-efficacy for personal and organizational effectiveness. In E. A. Locke (Ed.), Handbook of principles of organizational behavior (pp. 120-136). Malden, MA:
Blackwell. Bandura, A., & Locke, E. A. (2003). Negative self-efficacy and goal effects revisited. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(1), 87-99. (Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)
Barrick M. R., Laura P and Mount M. K. (2005), “Self-Monitoring as a Moderator of the Relationships between Personality Traits and Performance”, Personnel Psychology, 58, 745- 767. (Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)
Beri, G. (2000), Marketing Research, 3rd Edition, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi. (Salesmanship)(Salesmanship)(Salesmanship)(Salesmanship)(Salesmanship)(Salesmanship)(Salesmanship)(Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)(Business Development)
Colletti, J. and Tubridy, G., (2004), Reinventing the Sales Organization, Scottsdale, AZ: Alexander Group. (Salesmanship)(Salesmanship)(Salesmanship)(Salesmanship)(Salesmanship)(Salesmanship)
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