I have come to realise that there are about as many definitions of sales support as there are people interested in it. You can probably come up with a few yourself...
Anyway, I thought it's about time I defined it for myself (at least for the purposes of this blog!).
So, here goes:
Sales Support is any activity that is specifically intended to directly aid a seller to make a sale.
So, that rules out advertising and PR, which is intended to create a general receptiveness to / demand for the product or service.
Likewise any public offer (e.g.: 30% off this month, buy 3 get 1 free...) falls outside this definition.
It can get a bit ambiguous, in that many activities are not specific to a salesperson, but are used in a personal capacity by the salesperson. For example, presentation decks, sales aids and brochures are generic, but may be customised or used in a personal and specific way by different salespeople, and I will explore them in this blog.
On firmer ground, the activities of the army of sales engineers, pre-sales consultants, cold-callers, appointment bookers, sales literature creators and admin support people are clearly well within this definition.
Direct mail (digital or otherwise), can, depending how it is structured and used, be either sales support or general advertising. Again, it is an area I intend to cover.
I know I have missed out many specific examples, and some will disagree with this definition.
Do you have a view on this? A favourite definition?
Share your thoughts...
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