how to make life easier for sales people by project managers

How product management should build distribution resources that make it simpler for salespeople – creative advice
The resources used by the sales staff are important in the overall success of the team in the pursuit of the sales targets. Like every other person, sales workers also do their best when they are well trained with trading tools and when they are interested in selecting what tools they prefer to use to achieve their sales goals and objectives. It is the duty of a sales manager to understand the sales team they are working with, the industry they are operating in, and the best tools they can apply to ensure there is consistency in their performance to achieve the desired results. Ultimately, the big question for any sales manager should be, what are the must have tools for the sales team to perform beyond the set expectations? This paper seeks to analyze how product managers can find out from the sales team the kind of sales tools they use and the creative recommendations for the sales tools they could use to showcase the products they are selling, in this case, a software. For a sales manager to know what tools their sales team employ to sell their products, it is important that they join their teams on the front line or on the road as they push the products sales, here are some of the ways a sales manager can find out the sales tools that the sales team is using to sell ;Sales meetings A meeting between the product manager and the sales team can be significant in determining the tools that the team is using to sell the product. In the case of promoting a software product, the product manager can get direct feedback on what tools the sales persons are using to sell the product. A meeting helps the sales team present the challenges that they face in the field or marketplace and brainstorm on the probable solutions that can help sell the product to ensure the sales targets are achieved.Listening in on conversations For a manager to establish the real tools that a sales person uses to push sales it is important that they listen in on their conversations, it could be at the counter or on live conversations. Listening in helps identify the lagging and leading indicators, by establishing which indicators are in favor of the salesperson the sales manager is able to recommend the best tools for the team to use to manage cold calls, warm calls, and calls that are repetitive, how to manage quotations and how to manage day to day activities to improve sales. Join the team on a sales journey It is important to have a hands-on experience of what the sales team goes through to sell a product, that way the product manager sees first hand what tools are applied to push product sales. The only way the product manager gets this kind of experience is by joining the team on the road or at the frontline by the counter, that way they get a full expose of what tools are selling particular products. From the road or front counter experience, the product manager is able to give his recommendations on what tools would best suit the sale of a particular product, how to manage inventory or monitor customer usage of the product.Creative recommendations for the sales tools the sales team could use to showcase the products they are selling Selling today needs a sales team that is tech-savvy with the proper comprehension of the product display and creation of product awareness, the sales manager has to ensure his team is creative enough to maximize on product exposure in order to push the sale of the product. The product in question is a software, and what better way to create awareness of the product than to use technology; salespersons and sales managers are always at the forefront to initiate and connect with prospects using technologically advanced gadgets like computers, tablets, and smartphones, the common thing they all connect to is social media.Social media Social media has made it easy to sell products especially software products that are always picked up by customers to try and see whether they fit with what they prefer or are accustomed to. It is easy to display products on social media sites and not pay for doing so, for example, a product posted on Instagram or twitter is easily identified through a hashtag that can be shared widely thus creating awareness about the product that could not have been achieved on a face to face approach. The product manager can work with the sales team to establish which social media sites will best suit the display of the software they are selling, that way it enhances conversation regarding the features of the software, how to install and navigate to better use it.Sync product inventory across the stores The product manager and the sales team can adopt interface application that comes with a multichannel listing option to enable them to upload the software they are selling. The advantage of using online listing applications is that they automatically upload the product to a number of e-commerce stores and keeps updating the inventory about the product continuously and automatically, across the multichannel. A good example of a multichannel listing interface is the application Shopseen which uploads products on e-commerce stores like Woo, eBay, and Shopify; the application comes with a social media selling tool that is easy to apply for both the customer and e-commerce sellers. The advantage of using listing interface applications is that they create a display for the storefront by using the company’s profile link, thus not only marketing the product but the company that is selling it too. With such great exposure, the application will drive customer traffic on the online storefront which is likely to increase sales since the product can be purchased and payment completed online using a credit card.Create a gallery of product images and features The product manager and the sales team can get a catalog of the software they are selling, and create an online clickable gallery of the features and the icon of the product to be the first thing the customers encounter at the online storefront. An online gallery at the storefront is what pulls the interest of the customer, once they click on the software icon they get all the information regarding the product features and how the experience they will get from purchasing it. There are various applications in the market that the product manager can adopt to make the work of the sales team easy. Like2Buy is one such application, a selling tool that uses the company’s bio link to direct customers to the storefront that features images of the product in a gallery or shows the catalog of the product available online.Display on live online chat One of the best tools the product manager can use to make selling easy for the salespeople is live online chat, the manager can create various pages on social media platform like facebook, twitter, and Instagram and engage buyers on live chat. Selling software can be a challenge if the customers cannot get direct feedback from the sales team when they experience difficulties using it. A page on different social applications can create a big difference when clients realize the questions they have regarding the product can be resolved. The page will not only act as a display but will be a platform for problem-solving, thus the product manager gets first-hand feedback on what challenges the customers are facing on using the software. Technology has been significant in revolutionizing selling thus making sales people’s lives easy. Product managers have a pool of selling tools that can enhance the display of their products and at the same time engage them with their target market to ensure the sales targets and objectives are met.