Salesmanship is the art of selling product or services. It is the art of convincing customers to buy a certain product or service. In the competitive modern day world the importance and utility of salesmanship has been increasing day by day. The salesman of today is the key figure in the business world of manufacture and distribution. Salesmanship is universally accepted as an essential service.

According to the National Association of Marketing Teachers of America, “It is the ability to persuade people to buy good or services at a profit to the seller and benefit to the buyers.” It is the ability to induce others to accept a benefit at a fair price, the benefit being service rendered.

Prof. Stephenson defined it as “a concise effort on the part of the seller to induce a prospective buyer to purchase something that has been had not really decided to buy even if he had thought of it favorably”. Therefore, salesmanship is the skill and the ability of a person in convincing another about the proposition of goods or services that the latter is induced to desire them and buy at a price profitable to both. Salesmanship implies increasing sales by certain ability possessed by the person in the charge of selling. It refers to the ability to convert human needs into human wants.

Advantages of salesmanship

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In the competitive modern day world the importance and utility of salesmanship has been increasing day by day. The salesman of today is the key figure in the business world of manufacture and distribution. Salesmanship is universally accepted as an essential service. Many products we see today might not be there in future. One could well imagine its utility which ranges from the producers, society, consumers, Govt. and the salesman himself.

(a) To the producers

Goods salesman helps producers to increase production and earn more profit.

(b) To the society

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As good sales force helps the producer to produce and earn more, it also benefits the shareholders by way of higher dividends, employees get more salary and bonus and ultimately the scope of more employment arises. Standard of the living of the people also improves.

(c) To the consumers

A good salesman helps the consumer to get standard at a moderate rate and also the consumer also very often enjoys a number of services.

(d) To the Government

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Salesmen help producers to produce more and sell more goods and services. With the increase of production and sale, the Government is able to get more revenue by way of various taxes, duties, levies like income tax, sales tax, excise duty etc.

(e) To the salesman

The salesman himself is benefited directly or indirectly:

(i) Generally a salesman is paid both a monthly salary and commission which is linked with sales. A sincere and hard-working salesman therefore increases his income by selling more and earning by way of commission.

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(iii) A travelling salesman enjoys the opportunity of visiting a number of places.