An outside salesperson works away from the office to find new customers and increase sales for existing ones. They must keep up-to-date on products and attend industry workshops. They report to a sales manager and have a sales territory. Cold calling and visiting retailers are common tasks. Preparing for sales calls includes choosing relevant products and gathering information.
An outside salesperson is responsible for bringing sales to a company. He works away from the office talking to potential customers at his stores or other places of business. Outside sellers are usually assigned a geographic area; they are expected to find new customers and increase sales figures for existing customers.
To make and increase sales by meeting with business people, an outside salesperson must keep up-to-date on their represented products or services, as well as their customer industry. Between customer meetings and sales calls, outside salespeople are likely to attend industry workshops. Salespeople are also generally expected to attend regular company meetings.
Outside salespeople usually report to a sales manager. The manager assigns each outside salesperson a sales territory. Achieving sales quotas, or expected values, set by the manager is a primary goal for every salesperson. Salespeople should not turn every sales lead into a new customer or increase the amount purchased by each existing customer. They are expected to achieve a certain percentage of sales deemed reasonable by the sales manager as well as the owner or president of the company they work for.
Visiting retailers in their stores is a common field salesperson’s task. Many outside sellers work for wholesalers whose business is to supply retailers with their products. The salesperson typically meets with the owner or retail buyer and brings product samples and pricing information. Sellers must have a pleasant communication style and a knowledge of their products. Understanding your customers’ needs is crucial to meeting outside sales goals.
Cold calling is part of the job descriptions of many field salespeople. Typically, the seller has a list of potential customers in their area and contacts them by phone. This contact is considered “cold” as there is no sales lead, just a name on a list. The purpose of cold calling is to get an appointment with the buyer or owner to discuss products and hopefully make a sale.
When the outside salesperson receives cold-call appointments, he or she must prepare for them. Preparing for a sales call includes choosing products the customer is likely to need before gathering relevant product information for the new prospect. Brochures and catalogs are common information materials that outside sellers use as supporting information when selling products to customers.
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