Sales Promotion
Sales promotion is one of the elements of the promotional mix used to increase the sales of the products. Sales promotion can be done either through media or non-media marketing. It can be for a predetermined period of time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability. Sales promotion increases the sales by attracting new customers or by retaining the old customers by various promotional techniques.
Definition
Sales promotion is the process of persuading a potential customer to buy a product. It is done to boost sales and build up customer loyalty.
Sales promotion techniques
Sales promotions can provide added value or incentives to consumers, wholesalers, retailers, or other organizational customers to stimulate immediate sales.
Sales Promotion Strategies
Some of the most common methods used in sales promotion strategies include:
☆Coupons
☆Price discounting
☆Gift with purchase offers
☆Sweepstakes
☆Free samples
☆Offers and rebates
☆Refund and premium offers
☆Group promotions
☆Frequent user/loyalty incentives
☆Point-of-sale displays
Sales team structure
The structure of the sales team to a great extent depends on the number of people in the sales force.
The key members of a sales team structure include:
☆The sales manager
☆The assistant sales manager
☆A team leader
☆The sales personnel
Sales manager
The sales manager sits atop of the sales team structure. He/she is the driving force behind this department and is the main person responsible for the success or failure of the team. He/she assigns the various job responsibilities of the sales force and when need be, can also restructure the sales team to function more efficiently. The sales manager is the head of the department and everyone reports to him/her.
Assistant sales manager
The assistant sales manager assists the manager. The assistant sales manager has a number of responsibilities and is second in command. Though his/her responsibilities vary from organization to organization some main duties includes: designating tasks to the team leaders, handling the manager’s affairs, hiring and f iring employees, and ensuring that the tasks assigned are all completed on time and are properly done.
Team leaders
Team leaders are in charge of the sales personnel and fall directly under the management of the assistant sales manager. These team leaders are usually assigned specified team tasks which they have to complete within a stipulated period of time. They head a sales team of 4 to 5 sales people and are responsible for getting the task assigned to them completed.
Sales personnel
The sales personnel are directly answerable to the team leader. They are usually involved in the day to day sales activities of the organization and are assessed on the sales that they can finalize.
