Among the requisite qualities, the physical quality of a salesman is of crucial importance since it is the most visible aspect of all the qualities. A good physical appearance is a very big asset for the salesman as it creates a favourable initial impression.
A salesman having deficiency in any physical quality is seriously handicapped while dealing with the prospective buyers. Out of various physical qualities, health, posture, voice and appearance of the salesman are very important.
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(a) Health:
It is commonly said and believed that ‘health is wealth’. Just like a person without good health cannot enjoy life, a salesman without sound health cannot be successful in his selling job. A sound health, in fact, helps the salesman to perform his duties perfectly, contributes to the development of mental qualities and provides a lot of self-confidence.
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Salesmen possessing bad health cannot maintain a pleasing and impressive appearance and theretore, cannot carry their duties efficiently. Further, it should be noted that a sound mind lives in a sound body only. A travelling salesman has to travel long distances, meet a number of customers, and deal with them.
The counter salesman has to stand at the counter for hours together while dealing with customers. To withstand such stress and strain, salesmen are required to have a sound health. Nutritious food, regular exercise, adequate sleep, and periodic medical check-up contribute for the maintenance of sound health.
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(b) Posture:
Good and correct posture enhances the appearance and personality of an individual. It constitutes an important aspect of the overall personality of the salesman. It is the position in which one holds his body while standing, walking or sitting.
A good posture of an individual spreads the message of confidence to one and all. Salesmen with good posture are able to create favourable impression on the prospects. Therefore, in order to be successful in a selling job, all salesmen need to maintain a good posture.
(c) Voice:
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Pleasing and clear voice is another important physical quality, needed by the salesman in order to create a favourable impression on the prospects. Therefore, the salesman should take care to have a clear as well as pleasant voice. Hoarse, high pitched, shrill, commanding or nasal voices generally irritate the customers.
The voice of the salesman should not be too loud or too low or unpleasant. Normally, customer should be able to hear as well as receive clearly what the salesman is trying to say. Each and every statement of the salesman should be clear and pleasant to the customers.
(d) Appearance:
As pointed out earlier, a good physical appearance is the biggest asset for the salesman. In fact, the first impression on the prospects is created by the physical appearance of the salesman. A salesman should possess a good, neat and pleasing appearance which provides him a lot of self-confidence to deal with the prospects. In fact, these qualities are essential to be successful in every walk of life. The appearance of the salesman is judged from his cleanliness, grooming and clothes.
An important aspect of appearance is the general cleanliness of the salesman. A salesman having dirty hands, bad breath, unshaven face, unlearned teeth, and uncombed hair can neither attract the attention of the customers, nor convince the prospects.
Rather, such appearances make the customers irritated and uneasy Therefore, clean hands, well brushed hair, shaven face, clean teeth, broad smile, add to the personality of the salesmen and make them alluring and impressive.
The salesman must keep his finger nails clean and smooth so that it does not damage the goods while handling them. They should get rid of foul body odour and bad breath by taking proper medical care and adopting cleanliness measures.
Proper grooming of the salesman also creates a favourable impression on the prospects. Grooming necessarily indicates the facial expression of the salesman. This does not mean use of costly cosmetics or artificial expression but indicates a positive facial expression.
A pleasing and cheerful expression on the face of the salesman is the most appropriate approach to successful salesmanship. It has been rightly pointed out ‘smile and see the world smiling; weep and keep the goods’.
Another important consideration of appearance is appropriate dressing or ‘attire’. This does not mean wearing costly and expensive dress. Rather, the dress that the salesman is wearing should be neat and clean, properly tailored, well-fit and the shoes should be well polished. A well dressed salesman generally carries more weight and is able to influence the customers more easily than otherwise.