Sales Strategies

How can a company improve its sales? One of the keys to more effective selling is for a company to first decide on its “sales strategy”. In other words, what is the role of the salesperson? Is the salesperson’s job narrative, suggestive, or consultive?

The “narrative” sales strategy depends on the salesperson moving quickly into a standard sales presentation. His or her pitch highlights the benefit for the customer of a particular product or service. This approach is most effective for customers whose buying motives are basically the same and is also well suited to companies who have a large number of prospects on which to call.

The “suggestive” approach is tailored more for the individual customer. The salesperson must be in a position to offer alternative recommendations that meet a particular customer’s needs. One key aspect of the suggestive approach is the need for the salesperson to engage the buyer in some sort of discussion. The salesperson can then use the information from the customer to suggest an appropriate product or service.

The final strategy demands that a company’s sales staff act as “consultants” for the buyer. In this role, the salesperson must acquire a great deal of information about the customer. They do this through market research, surveys, and face-to-face discussions. Using this information, the salesperson makes a detailed presentation tailored specifically to a consumer’s needs.

More and more sales teams are switching from a narrative or a suggestive approach to a more consultative strategy. As a result, corporations are looking more at intangibles (无形资产) such as creativity and analytical skills and less at educational background and technical skills.

Choosing the right college can be a difficult task. There are thousands of colleges and universities for you to choose from and many are worthy of being considered. For each potential college, find out the success rate of students' getting their jobs, especially those related to your majors. Here are some strategies（策略）for you to make the right choice.

Colleges which offer practice in some of the fields are worthy of your attention. It can provide you with a large amount of information on job hunting. Companies often prefer employees that perform well. Practice gives you the valuable experience and necessary opportunities. Some practical skills that you learn will really prepare yourself for the certain jobs. Besides, choosing a college that has teacher members with good reputations in their fields can also be very useful since these teacher members can provide you with steps into the working world by practice.

School rankings and a national reputation of academic success are often the important factors（因素）for your potential employers. This type of information can be found easily on the Internet and in magazines. To the employers, graduates from high ranking colleges are often considered more reliable. They have a stronger ability to learn and are more likely to create wealth for the company. Sometimes it can even be a more important factor in looking for a job than the actual quality of education the college provides.

After narrowing down your choices to a few colleges, it's time to visit them. Taking a look at the campus（校园）can change your attitude to a particular school. Plan your tour and then do some research on your own. It is also important to talk to as many students as you can and find out if earning a degree from the school is helpful in getting a job. Meanwhile, you can speak to the students in the majors you're considering to know what the courses are like, what you'll learn, and what your expected outcome will be.

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