Letter of Transmittal

To,
Dr. Shamsun Nahar Momotaz,
Assistant Professor,
Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB)
Bashundhara R/A, Dhaka

Subject: Questions asked to a salesperson regarding his job.

Dear Ma’am,
With due respect, it is our pleasure and honor to be your students and have this opportunity to
present the report on sales related interview. While preparing the report, we have given our best
effort. We have provided all relevant information regarding this report and we believe and hope
that our interview will provide a clear conception about our findings.

We all gave our best to accumulate required information and we will be more than happy to
answer any question and clarify it fully to your understanding. Thank you for all your help and
support which was pivotal in preparing this report.

Yours Sincerely,
Group: Team Brainiacs
Ambreen Sajjad - 1820217
Humayun Kabir Shakil - 1822161
Dilshad Jahan Katha - 1720688
Ashraful Islam - 1831057
 Acknowledgement

We would like to show our gratitude to our faculty Dr. Shamsun Nahar Momotaz, for giving
us a solid guideline for the assignment throughout numerous consultations. We would like to
expand our deepest gratitude to all those who have directly and indirectly guided us in preparing
this assignment. Many people especially our team members themselves and the interviewee;
have contributed on this analysis. This gave us an inspiration to improve our assignment by a
large margin. We once again thank all the people who tried to help us to complete this
assignment.

This interview was taken by Team Brainiacs in which the questionnaire was prepared with the
help of the faculty. The person who was interviewed has tried his level best in answering as
much accurately as he can and for that we would like to thank him. Several questions were asked
to him regarding the job duties and such and these are the answers we were provided with and
they will be discussed as follows.
Contributed by Dilshad Jahan Katha – 1720688 (Questions 1 to 5)

1. Name & details of my company:

My company is Swopno, which is owned by ACI Logistics Limited. Shwapno is Bangladesh's

top retail brand. Shwapno outlets now carry everything from clothing, home décor, appliances
and much more, beginning with fresh produce and everyday household needs. Not only because
of the outstanding quality, value, convenience and service it provides customers, but because
Shwapno has been successful for the first time in the region in building a truly world-class retail
architecture and shopping experience, the company has succeeded in reaching its position as a
market leader.

2. Type of my sales job there:

Although there are various individual types of sales work, most salespeople serve in one of three
categories: as a retail salesperson, salesperson of a wholesaler, or sales representative of a
retailer. These groups are categorized according to the kind of goods sold and the kind of
employer of the salesperson. I ultimately entered the business as a retail sales guy.
Retail Salesperson- Sells products or services for personal, non-business use to customers.
(1) in-store salesperson,
(2) Direct seller who sells face-to-face away from a specific store place.
(3) Phone salesperson are three different types of sellers who sell at retail.
As in-store salesperson I need to do:
• Working with the customer service team to improve and increase customer loyalty.
• And ensure the sales shelves and displays are arranged and items are easy to find, track
the sales floor.
• Support to stock shelves and withdraw expired stock from shelves to be returned to the
retailer.
• Handle consumer queries and address conflicts with customer service.
• Collaborate with sales personnel to highlight promotions on the sales floor or bring
positive energy to seasonal displays.
3. Rewards:

Yes, Our company always motivate employees physiologically.

Types of rewards as a salesperson I receive-
I should look forward to two kinds of incentives as a salesperson: non-financial and financial.
Nonfinancial rewards-
• Take my squad to lunch: There's no need for non-financial benefits to be fancy or
extravagant. It is more likely that the café down the street will be a much better treat.
• Offer Leadership Opportunities: Strong sales representatives and executives recognize
their positions and aspire to produce accordingly. Yet, great members of the team also want the
ability to go above and beyond.
• Employee recognition program: Workers typically want their job to be adequately
recognized with a demonstration of gratitude.
Financial Rewards-
• Profit sharing: companies with profit-sharing plans set aside for workers a share of their
earnings.
• Bonuses: Bonuses take place once a year or per year at a certain number of fixed periods.

4. Characteristics for successful selling:

• Ability to Listen.
• A successful salesperson needs to meet the needs of a customer.
• Empathy.
• A successful salesperson knows how to consider what their clients feel.
• Competitiveness.
• Salespeople who are effective enjoy assessing their abilities against their colleagues.
• Workforce To ensure to Network.
• Confidence.
• Enthusiasm.
• Resiliency
5. Distribution methods:

Retailers are the stores where goods can be purchased by customers. This is our grocery store in
the local city. They can sell through online platforms or via storefront locations. Retailers buy
merchandise from retailers or wholesalers.
• Intensive Delivery:
As many platforms as possible. The target of intensive delivery is to reach as much of the market
as possible.
• Selective Distribution:
In particular places, select outlets. This is also dependent on a specific good in a store and its fit.

Contributed by Humayun Kabir Shakil - 1822161 (6-10)

6. Promotion method
How do you attract the prospects?

Sales promotion is basically marketing technique that attract customer to take a specific action
such as make purchase. Example of sales promotion may include coupons, free trial periods and
discounts. SHWAPNO lifestyle offers great discount for the customers. For this discount offer
SHWAPNO makes some extra promotional tools to know the people their offerings. They are
going to pestering some selected areas (Dhaka and cumilla). Initially they thought about
postering but later on they decided to for leaflet. Poster can create cheap impression upon
customer. They arrange 24 banners. Besides that SHWAPNO giving 80 tk off if any customer
purchase 999+ tk products with free home delivery. By doing this they attract the prospects

7. Levels of relationship marketing

Relationship marketing is creating of customer loyalty. Organization use combination of

products, price, distribution, promotion, and service to archive this goal. Relationship marketing
is based on the idea that important customers need continuous attention.
SHWAPNO sales person tells us they follow relationship marketing and they follow relationship
selling. The sales person informs after the customer buys the products they call the customers
and asked if they are satisfied, whether they have this product they want to see in the future.
They talk to the customer about whatever they want to see a new variety of the products or what
kind of products will meet their demand. They also give a discount to their VIP customers on
occasions like Eid, Puja. To maintain a good relationship with the customer they occasionally
give the customer a variety of coupons that help them to have a good relationship with the
customers to maintain these things and maintain relationship marketing with Shwapno
customers.

8. Moral development

Moral development focuses on the emergence, change, and understanding of morality from
infancy through adulthood. Morality develop across a lifetime and is influenced by an individual
experience and their behavior when faced with moral issues through different period’s physical
and cognitive development. There are 3types of moral development. 1. Preconvention 2.
Conventional 3. Principled
SHWAPNO sales people tell us that he follows the conventional moral development level.
Because he can learn a lot from it. Conventional moral development level an individual
conforms to the expectations of others, such as family, friends, employer, boss, or society and
upholds moral and legal laws. That why he follows the conventional moral development level.

9. Sell sequence (F.A.B)

The SELL sequence is some logical and chronological structure salespeople can use to produce
sales consistently. At each step in the process, the salesperson knows exactly what needs to be
done next. If the customer doesn't buy, the salesperson can begin the process again with the next
customer. There are 4 steps to a SELL sequence and in his case a new smartphone will be used
as an example. The first step is Show Features of the product. The second step is to explain the
advantage of the product. The third step is showing the benefits of the product. The final stage is
letting the customer talk which is also knows as trial close. At this stage I ask the potential
customer what he thinks about the product, he asks questions like this product will better or that
one.
10. Appearances

Appearance plays a huge role in the workplace because it conveys a lot of data on someone’s
personality. First impressions are always crucial and the way a person dresses represents the
organization that he works for. Therefore, a salesperson or anyone working in the organization
must maintain dress code and at the same time styling their hair is as important as the rest.
Salespeople must be clean shaved and have proper conservative hairstyle in the workplace which
rubs off as friendly in the customer’s eyes. Handshake also matters in this scenario as the
salesperson always must extend their hand first appropriately. They should also maintain eye
contact during the handshake and the grip must be first as well which shows honestly and mutual
respect.

Contributed by Ambreen Sajjad - 1820217 (Questions 11 to 14)

11. What are the barriers to communications in your opinion?

There are several barriers which hinder the mindset and creates a barrier between the buyer and
the seller. Difference in perception is a very common barrier and this is when a buyer presents
something but the listener understands something else and perceives it in his way accordingly to
his beliefs and traditions. The buyer may not also recognize the need for the particular product
and may think that the purchase would be unnecessary. If the seller pressurizes a customer in
buying a product, it creates a bad impression and therefore creates a barrier as well. The
salesperson has to be concise as well and should not overload on information when presenting it
to the customer because overload of information distorts most of the things presented. A buyer
wants a salesperson to behave how they would like therefore the salesperson has to act
accordingly. A salesperson should also try his best not to let any disruption interrupt his meeting
with the buyer or else the buyer’s interest and attention wanders somewhere else. The
salesperson must also let the buyer speak and not only be the one to keep talking, in this way he
can make sure that the buyer is actually listening and thus not create a barrier. The salesperson
has to consider every aspect of the buyer and speak to him/her accordingly because talking or
presenting is the most important part of a sale. A salesperson also has to keep in mind that he has
to adapt to the buyer’s style and not adapting is going to create a huge barrier to communication.
If the buyer like to see the product upfront rather than listen about it, the salesperson has to adapt
to that style.
So, the communication barriers faced during interaction with buyers are as follows:
• Difference in perception
• Selling pressure
• Information overload
• Distractions
• Not adapting to buyer’s style

12. What type of a listener he is trained to be?

As a sales person in Shwapno, he tends to fall under two categories in terms of listening which
are - Evaluative listening and Active listening. Evaluative listening means when the listener is
focusing on the speaker's words but is not trying to receive the information from the speaker's
point of view. He acts as such a listener when the customers are unsure of what they want to
purchase. On the other hand, Active listener refers to the type of listener who refrain from
evaluating the message and try to see the speaker's point of view. It means he basically puts
himself in the customer's shoes and see to it that they are benefitted from the sale of a product.
He is likely to be an active listener towards customers who are clear about what they demand.

13. Use of technology?

The most important technology that Shwapno uses in their stores are;
• Computers
• PDQ machine.
Computers are used to store important stock information which are kept up to date both for the
sake of Shwapno and their customers. Also, Shwapno uses their website and Facebook pages
with the help of their computers to update the customer about their latest promotions and
discounts. They provide their daily offer information on their website and through text messages
as well.
14. Prospecting method?

Prospecting is the method by which a salesperson obtains various prospects and various methods
are being used nowadays is gathering information. A lot of information can be obtained from the
internet. For example, Shwapno uses various websites and food and grocery delivery apps such
as Foodpanda to help people find information about products and their availability along with
pricing. Information about products of Shwapno can be accessed by individuals on the internet as
well and people in neighborhood who can come physically to view the retail products and buy
them. Another important prospecting method for Shwapno is SMS and telemarketing, this helps
the organization to inform people about their products.

Contributed by Ashraful Islam - 1831057 (Questions 15 to 18)

15. Reference Cycle

How do you get the reference?

Referral cycle can be defined as transitioning a buyer from pre-approach to service and follow
up. Shwapno has been maintaining the cycle pretty well as they face a lot of competition in the
electronics industry. This means that from introducing a customer to a product (e.g. a Dinner Set)
Mr. Arifin makes sure that the sales team is thoroughly engaging with the customers, giving
them all the information that they require and also influence why they should choose Shwapno's
Dinner Set rather than other shop’s, letting them know about discounts and offers and lastly,
providing them with after sales service properly.

16. Give a brief about your sales interview timing

What exactly do you do to obtain the sales interview timing and how do you manage it?

Usually cold calls are not that effective when making deals with important clients or industrial
buyers. For clients and prospects as important as these, the sales person has to arrange a separate
appointment for them. And sales interview timing is very crucial as this can save loads of time
on both ends. The appointment can be made through phone calls or emails and it will help in
getting to sit down talk about business without any party being absent. It’s not that easy to get
appointments from bigger clients so the salesperson has to be very persuasive as well. However,
after the appointment is made, there are some rules a salesperson has to follow to make sure the
meeting is not wasted. The salesperson has to be confident and believe in himself so he can
represent the organization well. He must also develop friendship in the prospect’s firm so that all
his sayings or suggestions are welcomed. The salesperson has to call at the right time to the right
person as well so the operations are effective. And lastly he must not waste any time in waiting
so the prospect does not take the person less seriously or lose interest or get frustrated as no one
likes their time being wasted.

17. Sales planning

How exactly do you plan your sales and how do you follow up the customer?

Sales planning of Shwapno group is usually done using a Customer Profile and Planning Sheet.
It basically consists of the following information -

1. Name:
Address:
2. Type of business:
Name of buyer:
3. People who influence buying decisions or aid in using or selling our product:
4. Buying hours and best time to see buyer:
5. Receptionist’s name:
6. Buyer’s profile:
7. Buyer’s personality style:
8. Sales call objectives:
9. What are customer’s important buying needs?
10. Sales presentation:
Sales approach:
b. Features, advantages, benefits:
c. Method of demonstrating FAB:
d. How to relate benefits to customer’s needs:
e. Trial close to use:
f. Anticipated objections:
g. Trial close to use:
h. How to close this customer:
i. Hard or soft close:
11. Sales made—product use/promotional plan agreed on:
12. Post–sales call comments (reason did/did not buy, what to do on next call; follow-up
Shwapno makes sure all of these information is carefully gathered so that their sales objectives
are met. This information is used in keeping track of their sales and compare it with their goals
and objectives.

18. Challenges found in the sales career

In truth, most of the sale is done before you even get the first meeting. In all likelihood, your
prospect has narrowed down his/her choices to two or three select vendors before they agree to
meet.
Getting a response from prospects
Sales reps nowadays concur that the foremost common challenge they confront, as compared
with 2 – 3 a long time prior, is getting a reaction from prospects. In spite of all the gadgets that
we have on hand, and all the communication innovation accessible at our fingertips, individuals
nowadays are less responsive than ever some time recently. This may be due to a multiplication
of channels or essentially, communication overload. Sales reps got to recognize their voices from
the swarm and gotten to be trusted specialists that their clients can depend on.
Prospecting good leads
Quality leads are getting to be harder and harder to discover. One of the most complaints we
listen from deals individuals, is that the leads they get from their commerce are destitute truly
quality. Engaging with brands and companies is simple for buyers to do, but how do sales
representatives distinguish the wheat from the chaff? The reply lies within the arrangement of
showcasing and deals with an SLA between the teams. Aligning showcasing and deals groups
with an SLA can help in qualifying quality leads before they are passed onto deals by employing
a strong CRM that can naturally score leads, plugs into LinkedIn for prospect intel, and as it
were passes on leads that are prepared to purchase now. An SLA moreover works the other way
with the deals group frequently giving the showcasing group subtle elements on which leads
were great so they can create more of them.
Avoiding discounting
No trade needs to enter a cost war, it is continuously a race to the foot and no-one wins. In
arrange to bring in modern commerce, sales representatives might consider arranging on their
estimating, but this eventually gets to be a client desire and there's no back-pedaling. Sales reps
ought to consider adding esteem, rather than reducing on cost as an arrangement to finding an
agreement with unused trade prospects.
Connecting via the phone
Our portable gadgets have ended up an indispensably portion of our everyday lives, so how is it
that sales representatives are finding it increasingly troublesome to reach individuals on the
phone? It is genuine that with so numerous implies of communicating, frequently individuals
favor to mail or content over having a discussion on the phone. People's active plans moreover
make them more troublesome to reach. Salespeople can consider elective implies to
communicating which do not require two individuals to be accessible at the same time. But I still
think talking on the phone is basic within the deals prepare. So much is said in between the
reason of a call. So numerous small prompts that can improve you bargain probabilities.
Incorporating Social Media into the sales process
A major challenge for sale reps nowadays is understanding how to utilize social media devices
within the offering handle. It comes down to understanding where your leads are and interfacing
with them on their favored channels. Sales ought to work with the showcasing groups to get it
where clients are giving out online and distinguish best-fit for business procedures to put through
with their group of onlookers. Promoting can at that point utilize pertinent social channels just
like the B2B arrange – LinkedIn to find and target the finest prospects.