Sales Terms

Question 1

Define the following sales term:

Account

Answer 1

A customer, usually a business-to-business organization; a major account is a large organization; a national account is a customer with branches or sites that constitute a nationwide coverage.

Question 2

Define the following sales term:

Active Listening

Answer 2

A high level of listening capability and method in which the sales person actively seeks to understand how the speaker feels, and what their issues are. Goes beyond common inattentive listening and is related to the concept of empathy, trying to understand before attempting to be understood.

Question 3

Define the following sales term:

Added Value

Answer 3

The elements of a service or product that a sales person or selling organiation provides. A customer is prepared to pay because of the benefits obtained. Added value can be real/perceived, tangible/intangible.

Question 4

Define the following sales term:

Advantage

Answer 4

The aspect of a product or service that makes it better than another, or that of a competitor.

Question 5

Define the following sales term:

Appointment

Answer 5

A personal sales visit to a prospect, usually arranged by phone.

Question 6

Define the following sales term:

Benefit

Answer 6

The gain (usually a tangible cost, but can be intangible) that accrues to the customer from the product or service.

Question 7

Define the following sales term:

Buyer

Answer 7

A professional purchasing person in a business; can also mean a private consumer. Major purchases are noramlly prescribed to the buyer from their company.

Question 8

Define the following sales term:

Buying Signal

Answer 8

A comment from a prospect which indicates that he is visualising to whatever extent buying your product or service.

Question 9

Define the following sales term:

Buying Warmth

Answer 9

Behavioural, non-verbal and other signs that a prospect likes what he sees. Very positive from the sales person’s perspective.

Question 10

Define the following sales term:

Call/Calling

Answer 10

A personal face-to-face visit or telephone call by a sales person to a prospect or customer. A Cold Call is a first contact call without introduction.

Question 11

Define the following sales term:

Call Center

Answer 11

A department for outgoing and/or incoming telephone calls to/from customers. Most modern call centers are effectively customer services centers containing staff dedicated to telesales and customer services activities.

Question 12

Define the following sales term:

Cavass/Canvassing

Answer 12

Cold-calling personally at the prospect’s office or more commonly now by telephone. Executed in an attempt to arrange an appointment, present a product, or to gather information.

Question 13

Define the following sales term:

Close/Closing

Answer 13

When the sales person encourages the prospect to say yes and sign the order.

Question 14

Define the following sales term:

Concession

Answer 14

Used in the contect of negotiating, when it refers to an aspect of the sale which has a real or perceived value, that is given away or conceded by seller (usually) or buyer.

Question 15

Define the following sales term:

Consumer

Answer 15

A private or personal customer or user, as distinct from a business, organizational, or trade customer.

Question 16

Define the following sales term:

Customer

Answer 16

The purchaser, organization, or consumer after the sale. Referred to as a prospect before the sale.

Question 17

Define the following sales term:

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Answer 17

The process of managing the entire selling process within a department or organization. Computerized CRM systems enable management of prospect and customer details, contacts, sales history and account development.

Question 18

Define the following sales term:

Decision-maker

Answer 18

A person in the prospect organization who has the power and budgetary authority to agree to a sales proposal.

Question 19

Define the following sales term:

Deliverable

Answer 19

An aspect of a proposal that the provider commits to do or supply, usually and preferably clearly measurable.

Question 20

Define the following sales term:

Demonstration

Answer 20

The physical presentation by the sales person to the prospect of how a product works.

Question 21

Define the following sales term:

Demographics

Answer 21

The study of, or informationa about, people’s lifestyles, habits, population movements, spending, age, social grade, employment, etc, in terms of the consuming and buying public.

Question 22

Define the following sales term:

Distribution

Answer 22

The methods or routes by which products and services are taken to market. Establishing best sales distribution methods - routhes to make - are crucial aspects of running any sales organization.

Question 23

Define the following sales term:

Empathy

Answer 23

Understanding how another person feels and typically reflecting this back to the person. The ability to feel and show empathy is central to modern selling methods.

Question 24

Define the following sales term:

FABs

Answer 24

Features Advantages Benefits - the links between a product description, its advantage over others, and the gain derived by the customer from using it.

Question 25

Define the following sales term:

Feature

Answer 25

An aspect of a product or service.

Question 26

Define the following sales term:

Field

Answer 26

Means anywhere out of the sales office. Field sales people or managers are those who travel around meeting people personally in the course of managing a sales terrioty.

Question 27

Define the following sales term:

Sales Forecast

Answer 27

A prediction of what sales will be achieved over a given period, anything from a week to a year.

Question 28

Define the following sales term:

Gestation Period

Answer 28

The time from enquiry to sale. Awareness and monitoring of Sale Gestationis crucial in sales planning, forecasting and management.

Question 29

Define the following sales term:

Influencer

Answer 29

A person in the prospect organization who has the power to influence and persuade a decision-maker. Influences will also generally be decision-makers for relatively low value sales.

Question 30

Define the following sales term:

Intangible

Answer 30

An aspect of the product or service offering that has a value but is difficult see or quantify (for instance, peace-of-mind, reliabiltiy, consistency).

Question 31

Define the following sales term:

Introduction

Answer 31

Can mean either the first stage of the face-to-face or telephone sales call, or a personal introduction - also called a referral - of the sales person to a someone in the buying organization by a mutual friend or contact.

Question 32

Define the following sales term:

Lead-time

Answer 32

Time between order and delivery, installation or commencement of a product or service.

Question 33

Define the following sales term:

Major Account

Answer 33

A large and complex prospect or customer, often having several branches or sites, and generally requiring contacts and relationships between various functions in the supplier and customer organization.

Question 34

Define the following sales term:

Profit Margin

Answer 34

The difference between cost and selling price of a product or service. Percentage margin is generally deemed to be the difference between cost and selling price, divided by the selling price ex tax.

Question 35

Define the following sales term:

Mark-up

Answer 35

The money that a selling company adds to the cost of a product or service in order to produce a required level of profit.

Question 36

Define the following sales term:

Negotiation

Answer 36

The trading of concessions including price reductions, between supplier and customer, in an attempt to shape a supply contract so that it is acceptable to both supplier and customer.

Question 37

Define the following sales term:

Networking

Answer 37

A method of developing sales opportunities and contacts, based on referrals and introductions - either face-to-face at meetings and gatherings, or by other contact methods such as phone, email, social and business networking websites.

Question 38

Define the following sales term:

Open Plan Selling

Answer 38

A form of selling that is heavily dependent on the sales person understanding and interpreting the prospect’s organizational and personal needs, issues, processes, constraints and strategic aims, which generally extends the selling discussion far beyond the obvious product application.

Question 39

Define the following sales term:

Package

Answer 39

Another term for the product offer; the whole product and service offering at a given price, upon given terms.

Question 40

Define the following sales term:

Preparation

Answer 40

The work done by the sales person to research and plan the sales approach and.or sales call to a particular prospect or customer.

Question 41

Define the following sales term:

Presentation

Answer 41

The process by which a sales person explains the product or service to the prospect, ideally including the product’s features, advantages and benefits, especially those which are relevant to the prospect.

Question 42

Define the following sales term:

Product Offer

Answer 42

How the product and/r serivce is positioned and presented to the prospect or market, which would normally include features and/or advantages and also imply at least one benefit for the prospect.

Question 43

Define the following sales term:

Proposal

Answer 43

Usually a wirtten offer with specifications, prices, outline terms and conditions, and warranty arrangements, from a sales person or selling organization to a prospect.

Question 44

Define the following sales term:

Research Call

Answer 44

The act of gathering information about a market or customer that will help progress or enable a sales approach.

Question 45

Define the following sales term:

Customer Retention

Answer 45

Keeping customers and not losing them to competitors. Companies invest heavily into keeping accounts because it far more expensive to fine new customers than to keep existing ones.

Question 46

Define the following sales term:

Sales Cycle

Answer 46

Generally describes the time and/or process between first contact with the customer to when the sale is made. Sales Cycle times and processes vary enoumously.

Question 47

Define the following sales term:

Sales Funnel

Answer 47

Describes the patter, plan or actual achievement of conversion of prospects into sales, pre-enquiry and then through the sales cycle.

Question 48

Define the following sales term:

Sales Report

Answer 48

A business report of sales results, activities, trends, etc, traditionally completed by a slaes manager but could be done by a sales person as well. A sales report can be reuired weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually, and often includes a sales forecast.

Question 49

Define the following sales term:

Market Sector

Answer 49

A part of the market that can be described, categorized and then trageted according to its own criteria and characteristics.

Question 50

Define the following sales term:

Service Contract

Answer 50

A formal document drawn up by the supplier by which the trading arrangement is agreed upon with the customer.

Question 51

Define the following sales term:

Steps of the Sale

Answer 51

Describes the structure of the selling process, particularly the sales call, and what immediately precedes and follows it.

Question 52

Define the following sales term:

Tangible

Answer 52

An aspect of the product or service offering that can readily seen and measured in terms of cost and value.

Question 53

Define the following sales term:

Sales Target

Answer 53

The issues level of sales performance for a sales person or team or department over a given period.

Question 54

Define the following sales term:

Telemarketing

Answer 54

Any pre-sales activity conducted by telephone, usually by specially trained telemarketing personnel. Typically includes research, appointment-making, and/or product promotion.

Question 55

Define the following sales term:

Telesales

Answer 55

Selling by telephone contact alone, normally a sales funtion in its own right.

Question 56

Define the following sales term:

Tender

Answer 56

A structured, formal proposal in response to the issue of an invitation to tender for the supply of a product or service to a large organization or government department.

Question 57

Define the following sales term:

Territory

Answer 57

The geographical area of responsibility of a sales person or a team or a sales organization.

Question 58

Define the following sales term:

Territory Planning

Answer 58

The process of planning optimum and most cost-effective coverage of a sales territory by the available sales resources, given prospect numbers, density, buying patterns, etc.

Question 59

Define the following sales term:

Uniqueness

Answer 59

A feature that is peculiar to a product or service or supplier - no competitor can offer it.

Question 60

Define the following sales term:

UPB

Answer 60

Unique Perceived Benefit - an extension and refinement of the product offer, based on detailed understanding of the prospect’s personal and organizational needs.

Question 61

Define the following sales term:

Variable

Answer 61

An aspect of the sale or deal that can be changed in order to better meet the needs of the seller and/or the buyer. Typical variables are price, quantity, lead-time, payment terms, technical factors, styling factors, routine maintenance, installation, delivery, warranty.