4. The commercial adviser

Our experience indicates us that the commercial team realizes his daily work of a mechanical and invariable form during all his years of experience. For it, the companies have to be taught on how to adapt themselves to the times, and it implies that so much every day like the strategic targets.

This chapter is one of the most significant and most extensive of the manual, since it describes in detail every day of the seller, who will be able to consult it when a doubt appears. In general terms, the targets will serve as stela to direct his actions, the functions of practical guide in his daily chore, the challenges will do of motivation to be reached in not very distant future, and the hardware of work of material help.

4.1. Targets of the commercial adviser

When the business address begins establishing targets, it is suitable to involve the human team in the achievement, since, on having known deeply the aspects and concrete peculiarities of his area can facilitate a series of interesting information to us for his execution, as the sellers know that they can contribute his area to the making of the targets with his opinion; only the mere fact of asking already them motivates them.

Also, it is convenient to have a historical analysis of the sales realized in last three or five years to know the evolution of our company and, in turn, to compare it with that of the market and the competition. Once we have compiled all this information and know the guidelines or "recommendations" given by the company, we will be in disposition to fix the targets, both at quantitative and qualitative level.

Our experience indicates us that the ideal thing is to mark the Home target that the commercial team has to achieve as a whole, and that in many cases consists of obtaining in a professional way the biggest market coverage, as well as the best image both for the company and for the product inside his clients' portfolio or area, and always with an engagement attitude with the client.

Secondly, the targets are enumerated with regard to the following variables, and that change according to the trade policy of every company:

With regard to the company.
With regard to the commercial network.
With regard to our products.
With regard to the competition.
With regard to the sale hardware.
With regard to our clients.

It is essential that the targets are formulated in a clear, direct way and that they do not give place to any type of distortion on the part of the seller.

4.2. Functions of the commercial adviser

Before describing the functions of the seller, it is convenient to emphasize the importance that his management has so that the company keeps on being competitive, and to emphasize that his proactividad and implication in the whole commercial process and with the whole team there will be the engines to reach the established targets.

We have considered to be opportune to divide the functions of the commercial adviser according to the phases of his work: earlier, during and after the sale. Some manuals also include other functions as that of the cashing or the throwing of products. Next there is detached chronologically every stage, which will change according to the company for which the manual is realized:

Before the sale. To realize prospects, to organize the time, to try to discover new sectors, establish previous contact with the client, to prepare the routes, to prepare the visits.
During the sale, the visit. Presentation, offer, treatment of objections, closing of the sale.
After the sale, the pursuit. Analysis of fulfillment of targets, daily management report or raport, to attend to claims and incidences.

4.3. Home challenges of the seller of the future

Inside the challenges of the seller, we have had the opportunity to appreciate that it is unavoidable to insist on the changes that at present the market is experiencing, as well as to emphasize the importance of which the seller brings together the interests of the company with those of the client across Business Intelligence. In general, in the manual we raise several challenges to which the seller has to face:

Clients.
Competitors.
Products of the sector in which it produces the company.
New technologies.
Knowledge management.
Flexibility.
Change of model of sale.

4.4. Work hardware

To be effective in the task of pursuit and evaluation of the plant, one is provided with a series of graphic hardware that help to obtain this target. At present, with the new technologies, there exist electronic solutions capable of giving us an exhaustive information of our clients and market, what will redound to a major competitiveness.

Although every company operates in a different way and the content of this paragraph changes, our experience indicates us that there exists fundamentally two hardware that the seller must handle with the maximum familiarity. For it we will use of the following logistic material:

Client's cards. The seller has to continue a few routes every day accompanied by this type of document; in him the following information is gathered:

– Information of the client and his classification.

– Frequency of the visit.

– Form of payment and period.

– Date of the last realized visit.

– Volume of orders of the previous year.

– Volume of orders foreseen for this year.

– Quantity served in the last order.

– The scale of products that works.

– How and at what quantity is it employed with the competition.

– Remarks.

This will allow us to evaluate:

– The time passed from the last visit.

– The rotation of the product in this time.

– The behavior of our product in this period.

– Tendencies of the market.

– Etc.

Raport or management report. It will be delivered every day or will be sent weekly in case of displacement. It takes as a purpose to know the following thing:

– The daily activity of the seller.

– Result of the sales management.

– The grade of coverage of the targets.

– Management of realized cashings.

– Covered kilometers.

– Obtained new clients.

– Sold products.

– Remarks.

It is frequent that the seller is opposed to this type of hardware, but it is necessary to make him see the importance of having a database updated for a professional management and a better knowledge of the needs of the clients. In the same way, the business address has to emphasize the need that it is completed every day and of that there is included all the information that the company wants to know.

4.5. Sale routes

We name area of sale to the set of current, ancient clients and potentials assigned to a certain seller, delegation, distributor, etc. The sales area has to be located in an area that facilitates his suitable and profitable coverage, remaining well definite his geographical limits to facilitate the task of evaluation and control.

We believe that it is necessary to make use correctly of the routes, for which in the manual we exhibit the advantages that the routes definition has in the commercial management. The division remains well-taken in routes to manage:

To offer a positive image as organized company.
To increase the effectiveness of the force of sales.
To facilitate the establishment of quotas of sales.
To assure a better coverage of the market.
To eliminate the negotiations duplicity.
To establish a better definition of the obligations of the seller.
A suitable control and pursuit.
To realize expansion plans.

4.6. The motivation in the environment of the commercial adviser

To promote and to encourage the motivation of the seller has to be a constant intention of the business address. For it, the content of this paragraph has to look after with special dedication, since it has to be eminently encouraging and didactic for the seller. In this sense, we will emphasize the importance that the company gives him to the preparation and motivation of the commercial team, reason for which it cheers them up to that they perfect his professional profile in the following aspects: