Some people believe that you have to be a special kind of person to sell a product. But although it is clear that a successful s

Some people believe that you have to be a special kind of person to sell a product. But although it is clear that a successful salesman does need special talents, and a(26)dynamic personality, many of the skills he uses are used by us all: we build and(27)maintain relationships with different kinds of people, and we listen to and(28)take note of what they tell us and don’t just enjoy the sound of our own(29)voices.
    A firm may depend on their own sales team and on the salesmanship of their distributors, wholesalers or(30)retailers. But any company needs to establish a personal relationship with its major clients(key accounts)and potential customers(31)prospects. It is often said that people do business with people. A firm doesn’t just(32)deal impersonally with another firm, but a person in the buying department receives personal visits from people(33)representing the firm’s suppliers on a regular basis or in the case of department stores or chain stores, a team of buyers may travel around visiting suppliers. Keeping sales people "on the road" is much more expensive than employing them to work in the office and much of their time is spent unproductively traveling. Telephone selling may use this time more productively, but a(34)face-to-face meeting and discussion is much more effective. Companies involved in the export trade often have a separate export sales force, whose travel and(35)accommodation expenses may be very high. Servicing overseas customers may consequently often be done by phone, telex or letter and personal visits may be infrequent. Many firms appoint an overseas agent or distributor whose own sales force takes over responsibility for selling their products in another country.