CHAPTER 1:  CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN SELLING TODAY

P1, S2, T1

2/20/00

Introduction

            According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 14.8 million sales jobs in the United States. In addition, the number of sales position is increasing in most industrialized countries.  A close examination of these positions reveals that there is no single “selling” occupation. There are hundreds of different selling careers; a wide diversity of types of selling careers. Classification of selling careers can be divided into four categories:  (a) By Type of Product/Service: (1) Service Selling and (2) Product (Manufacturer Selling and (b) By Type of Customer or “Market” sold to: (3) Retail Selling and (4) Wholesaler Selling.

Classification of Selling Careers By Product/Service Type

One: Service Selling.  Marriott, AT&T, Federal Express, etc. are examples of service selling. Services are primarily “intangible” as opposed to “tangible” offerings for sale. Yet, most are a combination of both intangible and intangible offerings.  Customers for services are found in at two basic levels:

1.         Business-to-Business Markets – companies selling to companies including selling to a “wholesale business.”

2.         Consumer Markets – Services sold “retail” to the individual buyer.

Companies offering careers in service selling include:

1.            Financial Services

2.            Radio and television

3.            Newspaper advertising

4.            Tourism Industries

5.            Real Estate

6.            Insurance

7.            Banking

8.            Business Services such as accounting, consulting, law practice, etc.

            Two: Manufacturing or Product Selling. Manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard, GM, Motorola produce tangible products that are eventually sold to the consumer. So that they can be distributed to the end retail consumer, they sell to several customer markets:

1.         Wholesale Markets – these are “distributors” who, in turn, resell to the retail or consumer markets.

2.         Consumer/Retail Markets – the individual customer will go a retail store to purchase the product.

Three - Wholesale Selling.  Food wholesalers such as Sysco sell to retail outlets such as restaurants.  Golden Eagle Distributors is a beverage wholesaler that sells to restaurants and bars.  Generally, wholesalers sell tangible products as mentioned above, however, in the hospitality industry, there are tour wholesalers who buy (or warehouse) travel products such as hotels, air and ground transport, etc and then resell it to a Travel Agent who is a retailer selling to the consumer market.  Wholesalers sell to both business-to-business markets and consumer/retail markets.

            Four – Retail Selling.  As mentioned above, these are businesses who sell to the individual consumer.  They purchase services or products from either the wholesaler or directly from the manufacturer.  Department stores are well known examples.  Hotels and restaurants that sell to the end-consumer (transient guest) are operating in the role of a “retailer.”  When a hotel sells a meeting, for example, directly to a corporation or other organization it is acting in the business-to-business market.

Summary

            Careers in sales vary widely depending on: (a) the type of organization doing the selling, (b) whether a product or service, and (c) depending on the type of markets in which the customers are found.  While there are basic selling skills used in each of the variations, sophistication of selling skills increases as the product/service increases in complexity, cost or price increases , and the level of decision making rises in the customer organization.  Generally, consumer selling requires the least sophistication while business-to-business requires the most.