Role of the salesman:

1.       Diagnostic: this involves a salesman probing and finding the cause of a problem. Like an expert doctor, a salesman diagnoses the needs of his or her customers. He or she also diagnosis the competitive forces present in the territory and their impact on his or her product's share. Another area of the diagnosis is the strength and weakness of the competitor sales term and distribution in the territory. Furthermore, he or she also diagnosis the major developments in the territory and their implication to his or her firm's marketing. For example, migration of the people from one area to another, the increasing popularity of cable TV in his or her area; or the opening of a new shopping plaze, are some of the trades which an alert sales person is able to precieve and understand its implications for his or her organization.

2.       Analyst: having diagnosis the market forces the sales person needs to analyze customer needs and the market trends and identify the linkages, if any. For example, he or she needs to analyze the customer situation and its implication for his or her organization.

3.       Information provider: the sales person is expected to play the role of an intelligence agent. In this role he or she is expected to keep the management posted on any significant posted on any significant developments in the territory. For instance - has three been any swift inj the competitor's entered the territory? The management looks upon sales person to provide them with these and several other such customer and competitor information. The customer also wants the sales person to provide the information on the product, competition new developments in the product area, and so forth.

4.       Strategist: another role of the sales man to provide information on the product, competition, new developments in the product area being the "soldier in the field" or the "man in command" has to evolve a strategy that can help him to her to be market leade.

5.       Tactician: a sales person is also a tactician in the sense that he orshe evolves tacties to win over the customer or to enhance dealer satisfaction. Tacties are short term actions plans flowing from the strategy, which is a long term action plan. For example, choice of the words in a face to face negotiation with the customer or how much and when to give in while negotiating a sale. Thus in order to succeed a sales person has to be good at tactics.

6.       Change agent: lastly, we see a sales person as an agent of change in the market or territory in which he or she who introduces new product ideas and influences the life styles ans consumption patterns by making new products by making new products and services available in the territory and influencing opinion leaders to accept them and recommend the same to others.