ng. Further, effective sales programs are as essential to the success of individual profit oriented organizations as they are to the economy and the individuals engaged in selling.
Statement of the Problem
The importance of the sales effort to both the general economy and to profit oriented enterprises is well accepted. Further, it is obvious that the ability to conduct successful sales calls determines, to a great extent, the career success of individuals engaging in sales as a vocation. Nevertheless, a general knowledge of the elements which are essential for a successful sales call is not widely possessed by either sales persons or sales managers.1 This study addressed this lack
1C. Futrell, Fundamentals of Selling (Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc., 1984), p. 6.
1 2 of general knowledge of the elements of a successful sales call through the investigation of the following questions:
1. What are the essential elements for a successful sales call?
2. What roles do these elements play in the conduct of a successful sales call?
Statement of the Purpose
The significance of this research is in the use which may be made of its findings. The knowledge of the elements of a successful sales call, and of the precise roles played by these elements in the conduct of a successful sales call permits pro fit oriented enterprises, sales managers, and sales persons to function more efficiently, thereby creating benefits for the national economy, individual enterprises, and the individuals involved in the sales function.
Definitions of Terms
All of the terms used in this study are well known, and should be familiar to the general reader. Nevertheless, at each point in the text of this study where the use of a speci fic term might create confusion for some readers, that term is explicitly defined at tha...