Typical KBB Area Sales Managers work with manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and contract retailers to generate revenue from an assigned geographical location.
There will be a company strategic flow or best practice advised on how to exceed sales targets. Success is driven from a detailed understanding of historic sales data, contact/call ratio’s, staff training and from carefully targeted new customer prospective visits.
Researching the right customer in a geographical location is so important – typically you want the most established, better credit rated and who sells the most volume to be your dealer. Research methods should include, websites reviews, credit check agencies, LinkedIn posts and speaking to your industry contacts by asking plenty of questions about their experiences and volumes sold.
Demonstrating your product or service as much as practically possible, will increase your chances of success and close that all important sale. Encourage your buyer to visit the manufacturing plant, attend showrooms tours, feel and touch your sample material and if a service, complete a trial but ask to do this together with your support.
It’s imperative to promote best sellers at all times and to relay unique selling points on how the product or service will generate the client more profit.
The best Sales Managers should be `business advisors` and lead the conversation by asking plenty of questions on the frustrations and needs of the client. With knowledge in hand, they are then able to propose their solutions and close the sale.
Sales Managers who present by `feature and benefits dumping` without asking plenty of questions first will be least successful.
Let’s now look at if territory sales are just about the best quality product, the right price and delivered in the right time? While these factors are very important, very often, sales are awarded based on your own knowledge, customer contact frequency, your help when required and developing the business relationship. This can be highly increased by getting to know your customer more personally than the competitor Sales Manager and ideas such as taking your client out to lunch for quality time together and away form distractions, with invitations to evening events work extremely well.
Remember, you’ll be highly successful when you ask more questions than your competitor and then delivering the correct solutions – you will then become known as a true `business advisor.`
Don’t be a brochure dropper, parachute sales person who drops in without an appointment or someone who says they ‘will do’ something in place of ‘what I’ve done is’.