What is a sales department?

Answer 1

Sales are the activities involved in providing products or services in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity. The "deal is closed", means the customer has consented to the proposed product or service by making full or partial payment (as in case of installments) to the seller.Academically, selling is thought of as a part of marketing, however, the two disciplines are completely different. Sales often forms a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Sales is considered by many to be a sort of persuading "art". Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesperson relates his offering of a product of service in return enabling the buyer to achieve his goal in an economic way. Marketing plays a very important part in sales. If the marketing department generates a potential customers list, it can be beneficial for sales. The marketing department's goal is to bring people to the sales team using promotional techniques such as advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and public relations. In most large corporations, the marketing department is structured in a similar fashion to the sales department and the managers of these teams must coordinate efforts in order to drive profits and business success. Driving more customers "through the door" gives the sales department a better chance by ratio of selling their product to the consumer. There may also be a downside to this phenomenon. Very often (for legal reasons, e.g. in non-store retailing) companies have to provide credit to customers. This may cause a conflict between the sales department on the one hand and the credit department on the other hand
The main function of a sales department is attract and retain customers. Many moving parts are tied to this but the number one objective is to attract and retain customers. That said, sales activities need to been co-ordinated i.e., to meet the customer demand with appropriate supply. The next is to increase the sales volume considering a particular period of time. Then to find appropriate persons/ agencies to carry out the sales activities. To help marketing department in meeting the sales volume fore casted by then. To give motivation by appropriate means to the sales persons and to give appropriate training to them in carrying out the sales activities successfully.. they analyze the demands of markets. they study the consumer's psychology, study market fluctuations, prepare sale budgets, explore new markets and the process begins again - attract and retain customers.