The sales office – Part 1
ORGANISATIONS WHICH exist for the purpose of making a profit must generate sales so that they can dispose of goods. These goods may be purchased as raw materials, or as semi-finished goods for processing, or in their finished form.
Sales are the means of obtaining revenue, especially if profit is the main purpose of the business. There must be a large enough volume of sales, in terms of quantity sold and dollars earned, to have profit after disbursement.
I will now identify some functions of the sales office:
1. MAINTAINING SALES
Keep records of all sales. Correspond with customers. Issue price list.
Send quotations and letters in reply to enquiries.
Keep an up-to-date mailing list. Process customers’ orders. Discuss the complaints of customers with the production department with a view to improving the product(s).
Inform factory or shipping department of: a. Goods required. b. Delivery date. c. Address to which goods must be sent.
d. Method of transportation to be used.
2. ADVERTISING
This calls the public’s attention to the good points of a product or service and induces the consumer to buy it, which can result in an increase in sales.
3. ORGANISING PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES
Sales promotion is designed to give a rapid sales boost to a product. Anything that promotes or encourages sales may be considered as sales promotion, for example:
Temporary price reduction.
Free gifts.
Free sample.
Special price sale.
The sales office is responsible for giving upto-date information on sales to the managing director of the company.
4. DEALING WITH ENQUIRIES
There are important factors to be considered:
Some companies add the name and address of every enquirer to their mailing list so that brochures and price lists can be sent to them periodically.
The reply to an enquiry may be a letter or a quotation on a printed form, and should: Be dated.
Be serially numbered.
Include all the details given on the enquiry. State a price.
State the terms of sale (cash, credit/hire purchase) and delivery terms.
5. RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS
For the success of any business, all departments MUST work together. Let’s look now at the relationship of the sales office with other departments.
The sales department must liaise with other departments to ensure that orders are speedily processed. Sales opportunities can be lost, and the firm’s survival threatened if inquiries are not answered and delivery dates are not met promptly.
Copies of the sales order must be distributed to the departments which are involved in the processing of the sale.
The credit manager must be informed of the request for goods by the purchaser. It is his/her responsibility to check whether the purchaser has paid for previous orders as agreed, or in the case of new client, he/she must make enquiries about his/her creditworthiness before approving.
The despatch/shipping department must ensure that the goods are properly packaged and delivered on time.
The accounting department must ensure that bills and invoices sent out are accurate.
A reliable sales clerk is an asset to any business as his/her duties include: Preparing sales documents. Supplying information. Distributing literature, brochures, price lists.
Following up on orders. Liaising with other departments. Answering queries. Maintaining mailing lists.
6. PROCESSING THE SALES ORDER
There are several stages that the sales office uses to process an order. Multiple copies of the order are prepared. Copies for the sales office and the shipping department are essential. In the office, a copy is given to the pricing clerk, who enters the codes, lists prices, and rates of discounts, and calculates totals. The copy is given to the credit manager, who has the authority to approve and state the terms of sale. Obviously, each step in this process requires different documents. These we will discuss in our next lesson.
Continue to work hard and see you next week.