Sales Manager in IT

In the world of information technology, there is an indispensable specialist, without whom the business will stop. And that person is a sales manager.

Actually, everything to sell a service or a product: he consults customers, helps them understand the varieties of goods or services in order to choose exactly what they need. Such a specialist needs to have a good understanding of what he offers clients. Typically, sales managers are given some minimal training or even a full induction course with an exam before they begin their duties.

Skills for sales manager:

1. The ability to communicate with people and have the gift of persuasion.
2. Ideal knowledge of the products or services to be sold. As well as knowledge of competitors.
3. Non-conflict.
4. Ability to make friends and find common ground with different people.
5. Literate written and oral speech.

An unsociable person is better off not making sales. Getting ready to make a call and talking to a client is an ordeal for him. But a communicative employee does everything quickly and easily.

To begin with, most good sales manage, sell completely unconsciously. This is true, even though they will deny this fact. I don’t mean to say that they don’t understand exactly what they are doing. More often than not, though, it is that they don’t understand. My point is that their sales techniques and skills have been formed independently and by accidental factors.

Any manager at heart is a bit of a psychologist with a black belt for communicating with clients. And he must know how to talk to potential customers correctly. A professional never allows himself an informal approach. Formal, businesslike communication is a guarantee that the company will be taken seriously and will responsibly approach cooperation. This is why it is so important to understand how to properly communicate with clients both on the phone and in person. The manager is the first person the potential customer comes into contact with. He is the face of the company and therefore it depends on him what your organization will appear in the eyes of the buyer.

When a manager starts working with a new customer, there are several stages of the job, and one of the most important is the initial contact. This can be an incoming or outgoing call, e-mail correspondence, or anything else. At this stage, the manager must present himself and the company in the best possible light, so you need to be the smartest, most correct and understanding employee.

10 rules for a good sales manager

1. Be polite when you are making a call. Send the person of interest several letters by email.

2. Don’t try to sell by cold calling right away. Your goal in the first step is to make sure that the information you sent before the cold call got through, and to see if the customer was able to take the time to read it. If what you are proposing interests the client in principle, make an appointment to discuss it in more detail. The phone is a good way to say no. At a face-to-face meeting, looking the person in the eyes, it’s not so easy to refuse. So instead of selling over the phone, get a meeting.

3. Listen to your client. Важно услышать что клиент хочет на самом деле, что для него сейчас важно.

4. Be professional. Before making a cold call, make sure you have enough information on the product, prices, and terms of delivery. It’s very unprofessional if you’re lost or searching for the right information on any customer question.

5. Speak with decision makers. Because you can be the most professional manager, but if you make a presentation for the secretary, she or he will not pay for your service or product.

6. Ask if the person is comfortable talking at this time. The person wasn’t expecting your call. Often we are told “No” just because they are busy at the moment and want to get away from you as soon as possible.

7. If you don’t call on time, ask when you can call back. So you get an advantage before the next call: “Hello, we agreed that I’ll call you”.

8. Call the person you’re talking to by their first name more often. This allows you to keep their attention during the conversation. And you must pay enough attention to your client before you call, you must know a lot about him.

9. Write a “script” for cold calls. Put everything on paper: your greeting, how you’ll introduce yourself, your benefits, possible objections, and your answers to them. The script will help you manage the excitement and steer the conversation in the right direction. But don’t try to read it from the paper, it’ll ruin everything.

10. What to do if you were told over the phone, “we’re fine, we don’t need anything, we already work with others. The best thing you can say to this: “And you are completely satisfied with the quality, prices, service, and you think that nothing can be improved?

Sale is a field where a person needs to communicate with customers every day. Sometimes even more often than colleagues. It is the sales manager who interacts with potential customers and explains to them the benefits of the product or service. So a lot depends on a confident and fluent language, especially if you work for a company with offices all over the world, and there are foreigners among the clients.

Business English is not just about interviews and writing resume. When you go into business, you need to make presentations, negotiate, answer the phone, write business letters and correspondence, sign contracts, and much, much more. Anything interesting? You bet. And that’s not all. The list is always open, and you can apply your knowledge and skills in these areas.

International business, business relations with foreign partners are rapidly gaining momentum, and being just a good specialist in the trade and business sphere, today is not enough, because the difference between the monthly income of a manager in the company, whose resume shows the knowledge of one or more foreign languages and a professional manager with work experience, is obvious.

Sales manager is a creative, sensitive, and very patient person who tells clients the same thing every day answers exactly the same questions, and yet maintains a cheerful spirit, body, and excellent mood throughout the week.

Communicating properly with clients, processing deals, and listening to all the complaints is very hard work.

And if you haven’t gone crazy in six months in this position, congratulations!

Now you can safely call yourself a successful sales manager!