Your field sales force or operatives are often the key source of new business, as well as the primary customer interface.

Field sales involves sending your sales agents in person to your customers and prospects where they can demonstrate the product face-to-face, provide key features and benefits and show what differentiates your product from the competition. It generates awareness and excitement around your brand and will help ensure your product is being shown at the right place and the right time.

The background

If you are in the retail sector, for example, the aim of your field sales team will be to set up point-of-purchase displays in stores where you are looking to stock your product or increase sales, or they can check and improve on shelf presence and positioning and report back on pricing and inventory issues.

The benefits

Your field sales team will be in direct contact with your prospective customers and existing clients, so they can pinpoint times when you can expect the highest demand for your product, and identify cross and up-sell opportunities.

The process

Field sales is also an invaluable tool for market research. Your field sales team can carry out surveys on the spot and provide recommendations to prospective customers which will give you feedback on how best to position your product and service and give you an insight into what the competition is doing. Field sales will also give you the opportunity to train your sales force on the job – they will observe first-hand how and why your product is being recommended and sold.