More than fifty million people engage in sales around the world selling products, services, ideas and all sorts of stuff. Studies reveal that 80% of salespeople are never trained on sales pitch or customer behaviour or selling skills. Whatever knowledge they possess about sales they acquire on the job.
There are many ways of looking at sales. Most people believe that sales is a relationship building process but I think there is much more to the process of selling than just building relationships. One common thing everyone dealing with sales would agree is that, revenue generation is the ultimate goal of sales. But revenue generation is not possible without gaining the confidence of the customer who in turn would want to gauge if the product or service offered fits within their requirement, the price offered is reasonable and if there will be reliable after- sales-service available meeting up with the timeline parameter. So, if we have to come up with a moderate definition of sales accommodating these norms, the definition will cover elements of the product, service or concept offered, customer, price, and purchase agreement.

Sales is a dynamic process that takes place when a customer and a salesperson come in contact with each other through a medium direct or indirect. Here, the salesperson goes through the complex stages of creating a rapport with the customer, understanding the need, explaining the product or service or concept to the customer, highlighting the features and benefits, gauging the level of interest; and getting the go ahead of the customer to the purchase agreeing to the applicable terms and conditions - all in one go. The end-result of the sales process is a purchase. During this process, which lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes to a couple of hours, a salesperson exercises a lot of mental energy and soft skills in getting a grip on the situation and a fair control over the process while building familiarity and instant bonding with the customer, if the process ends in purchase. The sales representative combines a thorough understanding of the product being sold and their experience in handling people to make sure that the customer buys the product. Once that is achieved, the customer is urged to sign on the purchase order in order to seal the deal. In most cases, discounts or freebies are used to encourage the customer to do so.


POSITIVE SELLING is a handbook of real 1-2-1 sales knowledge, tips and techniques. People working in direct sales, business development, lead gen, appointment fixing, telecalling, customer support and marketing will find this book extremely useful. Through a new approach without the negativity usually associated with sales POSITIVE SELLING offers new possibilities never thought before.

Beginners in sales will find this book very useful since the topics are presented in a manner people can self-learn and master the art of sales step-by-step. Managers and senior professionals can use this book as a ready reckoner or training manual. Entrepreneurs and business owners can use it to promote their business better. Management students can learn sales concepts and customer insight. Trainers & coaches can use it a reference book for sales programs they offer.

Facing Sales
Five major aspects need to be addressed pertaining to the sales scene today:

A large number of sales professionals have only a self-assumed understanding of what sales is. In most organizations, professionals who meet 100% is only around 20% of the total sales workforce.

A large number of sales professionals lack crucial knowledge about customer and market trends; neither are they in touch with their inbuilt sales instincts nor with the real-time market scenarios.

Attrition in sales profession is the highest compared to any other profession due to work the pressure, compensation and performance issues.

Accountability, performance and positive attitude needs to be cultivated.