| |
| |
|
Sales Information |
|
|
|
UK Sales and Marketing Terminology
Terminology / Acronyms ABC figures: This is the independently audited sales figure for all recognised publications in the UK. By using the ABC figure, you can quickly establish how much the advertising will cost per 1,000 readers. Account Managers: These are sales people who have great skills in getting repeat orders and maximising revenue returns from existing accounts. It is very rare that a good "Account Manager" will be good at winning new clients. Blue Bird: This is an unexpected sales opportunity that has a high chance of turning into profitable business. BRAD: This book lists every UK publication including magazines, newspapers, vertical publications etc. It also contains key information i.e. "ABC figures", advertising deadlines etc and is one of the most useful tools available if you are looking to place advertising or embark on DIY PR. Comfort Factor Statements: Also known as credibility statements they show that you can deliver exactly what you say you can. They must not be emotive i.e. include words like "the best", "fantastic", "amazing", "superior" or contain anything that cannot be proven i.e. "high level of customer satisfaction", "unparalleled support", unless supported by facts. Commission Plans: This is how a salesperson is paid for their efforts. It is strongly advised that you include a minimum contribution and ensure that if you plotted a graph of gross margin and percentage of target it would create an incremental curve. CRM: "Customer Relationship Management" This is software that organises all your sales contacts, schedules activities and is used in targeted marketing campaigns. This is vital to all sales operations and there are many packages to choose from costing anything from Ł80.00 per user upwards i.e. ACT! Goldmine etc. Previously known as TCM. Double Bubble: Sales slang for two people being paid out the full amount of commission on a specific deal / incentive or the same person being awarded double the amount of commission. Elevator Pitch: This term comes from the theory that if you are in a lift on the 10 th floor of a building you should be able to explain what you do before it gets to the ground floor i.e. about 10 seconds. This is often the opening statement of any form of communication and is predominantly used in lead generation and marketing activities. Farmers: These are sales people who have great skills in getting repeat orders and maximising revenue streams from existing accounts. It is very rare that a good "Farmer" will be good at winning new clients. Gross Margin: The difference between your buy price and your sell price. Hunters: These are sales people who are very good at winning new accounts and getting the first order but tend to lose interest when they know that the new customer will continue to buy, this often makes them very bad farmers. Also known as New Business Sales Exec's. Kick Back: This is when a company gets an extra soft margin when they buy sufficient numbers / value of a product. i.e. if you buy 10 cars we will give you / or the company free servicing. Minimum Contribution: This is the account value that all sales staff are required to reach, in gross margin terms, before any commission. This is put in place to ensure that commission is not paid before staff have covered their basic salary plus all other costs i.e. NI, travel, phone, expenses etc. New Business Sales Exec's: These are sales people who are very good at winning new accounts and getting the first order but tend to lose interest when they know that the new customer will continue to buy, this often makes them very bad farmers. Also known as "Hunters". OTE: "On Target Earnings" This is how much the sales person will earn if they hit their sales target. Please note that when the person has achieved 50% of target they should not earn more than 30% of their OTE. By using this method it creates a further incentive for the salesperson to hit the their sales target. Over Ride: This is the term used when a sales person over achieves his target and hence is given a large bonus. Remember the bigger the "over rider", the bigger the incentive and hence this increases the motivation to over achieve the gross margin sales target. PPC: "Pay Per Click" This is a much-targeted method of advertising and enables sponsored links to be placed at the top of search engine results when your particular key words or phrases are encountered. For each sponsored link placed you are charged from as little as 10 pence upwards. Prospect: A company / person that you know will require your services and they are looking to purchase. Particularly if you have been asked to bid for the work RTR: "Ready to Run" This is the term used mainly by advertising agencies or company's for an advert which is ready to be placed. It is then common practice to place the advert on the deadline in order to get the lowest possible price. Sales Forecast: The system that sales people and managers use to look at how much business is likely to be won each month, unfortunately these are often misleading due to sales processes that minimise inaccuracies not being implemented. Sand Bagging: This is a tactic used by sales people who hold back orders so that as many as possible fall in the same month or quarter and hence they over achieve the target to win a large Over Rider. This is not only expensive because extra commission is paid but can also have very negative effects on cash flow. By having a properly implemented Sales Forecast it is very easy to establish if this is occurring. SEO: "Search Engine Optimisation" This is the method of making sure that your website gets lots of traffic and enables your company to be listed higher in the search engines for specific key words and phrases i.e. car hire Newcastle, buy discount fishing rods, mortgage advice etc. The downside of this methodology is that it takes several months for your website to get a good position on the major search engines i.e. Google, Yahoo etc. Soft Margin: This is most commonly found in the reseller market and generally provided by the manufacturer in form of marketing assistance i.e. for every Ł10,000 of product x sold we will provide you with y amount of money that must be spent on promoting our product / service. Suspect: A company / person that you know will require your services but nothing else is known. TCM: "Time Contact Management" This is software that organises all your sales contacts, schedules activities and is used in targeted marketing campaigns. This is vital to all sales operations and there are many packages to choose from costing anything from Ł80.00 per user upwards i.e. ACT, Goldmine etc. Now known as CRM. TMUP: "Target Market User Profile" this is the type of company / person that would be a prime target for your business i.e. single male 30 - 40 and divorced or SME services based companies with staff of between 3-10 people based within 5 miles of central London etc. Finding and Targeting your prime TMUP will reduce the cost of sales and increase marketing and new business efficiency's. Tyre Kicker: This is a company / person who pretends to be interested in your product / service. This term comes from the motor trade when customers would kick the tyres to fain interest when they had no intention of buying a car and were just browsing / looking for a test drive. Sales people who are not performing and wish to give the impression that their sales pipeline is strong often put this type of prospect on their sales forecast. USP's: Unique Selling Points i.e. what makes your company different from its competitors. This is used predominantly in lead generation and marketing activities and therefore is a MUST HAVE for any sales strategy to work. For further information please visit www.bizal.com Paul Scott works for BIZAL Ltd (http://www.bizal.com) who provide sales development services for the UK market
MORE RESOURCES:
Sales - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Your Direct Mail Sales Letters Must Differentiate You For two winters I heated my house with an old fashioned woodstove. I learned the art of reviving a bed of dying coals each chilly winter morning, adjusting the kindling, firewood and dampers just right so that the stove would heat my turn-of-the- century farmhouse for the longest period possible. The Benefits of Buying Used Store Fixtures The difference between antique or vintage store fixtures and used store fixtures is simple: antique fixtures have a classic look and style. In many cases they are brand new but manufactured in a style of the past such as deco or minimalist. Improve Your Sales Closing Ratio Occasionally EGOPOWER readers send me questions or topic suggestions that I feel would be of interest to you. In this issue I give some tips to improve your sales closing ratio in response to a question Rob Smith wrote me from the UK: "I sell IT equipment to schools in the UK over the phone. Dead Silence From Your Prospect: The Worst Sound Of All Could this be the worst moment in your selling cycle?You've done all the right things with your prospect:? You've identified a real need and developed a reasonably solid relationship.? You've determined that your prospect is interested in your solution. Finding a Used Mannequin Many stores on a budget choose to buy a used mannequin. Used mannequins are a good deal for several reasons. A Stupid Question, but it has to be asked This is a stupid question but it has to be asked.Does your sales letter create as many sales as you would like?What proportion of them respond to your advert?What is just as important, how many of those that responded actually purchased your product?How can you improve the response rate?How many new email addresses did you capture?Do you have an 'opt in' strategy so that you can mail them later with more offers without being accused of spamming?Let us look at the sales letter first. Lessons Learned At Gunpoint "If you do anything foolish or try to get out of the car we will shoot you" were the terse words which hung in the air like a bad smell.The small car was being driven at over 120 KPH down the dark roads and highways. The Art Of Cold Calling I know, don't groan. You have to do them if you want to get properties and make money. Breaking Through The Comfort Zone Barrier After completing a workshop on personal productivity or time management, we usually find participants react to the instruction on goal-setting in one of three ways:1. Some workshop attendees really don't want their lives to change nor does a greater level of achievement appeal that much to them. Hate Follow-Up Phone Calls To Hot Prospects Who Won't Call You Back? Stop Calling! We all learned in Sales 101 we must follow up with our prospects until they buy. Unfortunately, while we're busy trying to make all these follow-ups, some very fine prospects who are ready to buy now are flying under our radar. Is Sales Profession an Oxymoron? If you are in Sales, you have probably heard these before:Q: "How can you tell a sales person is lying?"A: "His lips are moving."Q: "Why do lawyers like sales people?"A: "They give them someone to look down on. Your Ad -- Who Cares? Junk mail. We all get it. Challenge Yourself!!! Evaluate Your Selling Skills! This evaluation is not for the "weak-kneed". Real questions to determine Real skills for Real world sales. How to Reach Purchasing Agents of Big Corporations Now business owners and sales professionals can develop a Faster and Easier method of selling to big corporations, Hospitals and Universities, Government Agencies (State, County levels), and other medium enterprises.. Sell With KISS, As In Keep It Simple, Stupid One of the most useful and fundamental communications lessons that has been repeated to me over the years, ever since my earliest days of formal business training, is the fabled, famous, and fabulous "KISS" formula.In my college marketing class we were told "Keep It Simple, Stupid!" When I entered my three-month sales-training orientation at New York Telephone way back in 1968, it was a more refined "Keep It Short and Simple. Going the Extra Mile and Getting Referrals Successful salespeople have the ability to turn the customers they serve into advocates. They don't directly ask for assistance, they do it by going the extra mile when providing service. Top 10 Ways to Sell your Product or Service While you Sleep - Part 1 Have you wasted valuable time and money on promotion that doesn't work? Have your announcements and news releases been ignored? Have you been too quiet about getting the word out how your product or service will help solve people's problems? Most of us are passionate about our work. We put a lot into coaching training; we know that we want to help others to create a better life or business. Program Your Biocomputer For Sales Success Selling isn't something you do to people, it's something you do for them. If you feel as though you're being pushy or twisting arms when you are interacting with prospective customers or clients, you might be doing just that. Another Warm Lead Saturday morning, I sat in my pajamas, sipping strong, black coffee and petting Ms. Kitty Cat. Lazy Man's Way To Get Customers No matter how big or small your business is and no matter how high or low sales are right now, there is something you need, badly. And that is a selling system.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
