N5 Sales Management


The salesperson and his business must use every opportunity to be of service to the customer. However, they can only help if they are aware of the customer’s needs. Communication and feedback on the customer’s progress are therefore of the utmost importance to the salesperson.


Information sources for planning follow-up activities: The salesperson can make use of the following information sources in order to plan for follow- ups: • Personal observation during visits to the customer will identify many aspects about the business’s business.


• Informal conversations with the customer and his staff may also provide clues for follow- ups.


• Questionnaires to the customer, his staff and his customers provide additional information. • Information obtained from the customer’s other suppliers, financial institutions (banks and building societies) and competitors.


• Formal meetings with the customer and his staff to identify problems that may exist.


Once the salesperson has identified the follow-up activities, he will draw up a plan of action. After the plan of action has been drawn up, it must be presented to the customer for comment, changes and adjustments. If the customer is satisfied with the proposals, it is the salesperson’s duty to see to it that the action plan is executed.


5. Preventing customer complaints


It is imperative that businesses ask for customers’ feedback. That is the only way businesses will know if there are any problems. So which mechanisms can a business have in place to make it easy for customers to give feedback? Obviously, the Internet and social media has made that very easy.


The most successful businesses have constructive mechanisms to facilitate customer feedback: • Social networks


Social networks are very beneficial in interacting with the business’s customers and gaining feedback. The business should know what social media networks their customers are mostly using (depends on target market). The most popular networks for businesses are Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. A business should choose appropriate social networks according to the type of product or service they sell. For example, if the business is a hotel, it should be on TripAdvisor. If it is a restaurant in South Africa, it should be on Zomato as well as TripAdvisor.


• Questionnaires are an important aid to obtaining feedback on products and services Most service businesses in South Africa, such as South African Airways, Avis, Sun International and other hotel groups, banks and retail stores such as Pick n Pay, Woolworths, Telkom, etc., use questionnaires to get feedback from customers about their services and then adjust their services accordingly. These businesses have great value for this feedback information, and the customer’s opinion becomes more important because of increasing competition. Questionnaires are completed and submitted online and the business gets immediate feedback.


• Another source of feedback for businesses is via their salespeople Every salesperson will receive complaints/compliments at some stage during his relationship with his customers. In most cases, he himself has nothing to do with the problems, mistakes and poor service. Nonetheless he is the one who represents the business and must deal with the complaints.


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