Salespeople are expected to stimulate action in the underground world.

salespeople make invaluable contributions by assisting in recovery cycles and by helping to sustain periods of relative prosperity.

Salespeople as Economic Stimuli - The process whereby new products, services, and ideas are distributed to the members of society.

Salespeople are increasingly responsible for improving profitability, not only by producing sales revenues, but also by improving the productivity of their actions.

Salespeople spend so much time in direct contact with their customers, it is only logical that they would play an important role in market research and in providing feedback to their firms.

The need for a top management trained in sales, many firms use the sales job as an entry-level position that provides a foundation for future assignments.

Buyers value the information furnished by salespeople, and expect salespeople to act in a highly professional manner.

Classification of Personal Selling Approaches - salespeople furnish repertoire of words and actions designed to produce the desired response.

Assumes that the buying process for most buyers is essentially identical and that buyers can be led through certain mental states, or steps, in the buying process.

Focuses on the customer rather than on the salesperson.

Goes beyond identifying needs to developing alternative solutions for satisfying these needs.

Process of helping customers reach their strategic goals by using the products, services, and expertise of the sales organization.

The salesperson uses internal and external (outside the sales organization) sources to become an expert on the customer’s business.

The salesperson arranges the use of the sales organization’s resources in an effort to satisfy the customer.

The salesperson supports the customer, even when an immediate sale is not expected.

Characteristics of sales career where in salespeople are frequently seen as knowledgeable, well-trained, educated, and capable of solving customer problems.

Characteristics of sales career where in successful salespeople ultimately find their way into top management is that they display some of the key attributes required for success in executive positions.

Characteristics of sales career where in salespeople are usually the last group to be negatively affected by personnel cutbacks.

Characteristics of sales career where in pay is closely tied to performance, especially if commissions and bonuses are part of the pay package.