A sale can take place through:[10]

Direct sales, involving person to person contact

Channel sales, an indirect sales model, which differs from direct sales. Channel selling is a way for sellers
to reach the "B2B" and "B2C" markets through distributors, re-sellers or value added re-sellers VARS.

Pro forma sales

Agency-based

Sales agents (for example in real estate or in manufacturing)

Sales outsourcing through direct branded representation

Transaction sales

Consultative sales

Complex sales

Consignment

Telemarketing or telesales

Retail or consumer

Traveling salesman

Door-to-door methods

Hawking

Request for proposal – An invitation for suppliers, through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a
specific product or service. An RFP usually represents part of a complex sales process, also known as
"enterprise sales".

Business-to-business – Business-to-business ("B2B") sales are likely to be larger in terms of volume,

economic value and complexity than business-to-consumer ("B2C") sales. Because of this complexity,
there is a need to manage the relationships between the buying and selling organisations, for example
using Peter Cheverton's relationship models[11] and the stakeholder map by Anderson, Bryson and
Crosby[12]

Electronic

Web – Business-to-business ("B2B") and business-to-consumer ("B2C")

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) – A set of standard for structuring information to be electronically
exchanged between and within businesses

Indirect, human-mediated but with indirect contact

Mail-order
Vending machine

Selling technique:

Consultative selling

Sales enablement

Solution selling

Conceptual selling

Strategic selling

Transactional selling

Sales negotiation

Inbound sales

Reverse selling

Upselling

Cross-selling

Paint-the-picture

Take-out or take away

Sales habits

Relationship selling

Sales outsourcing

Cold calling

Guaranteed sale

Needs-based selling

Professional selling skills

Persuasive selling

Hard selling

Price based selling

Target account selling

Sandler selling system

Challenger sales

Action selling
Auctions

Social selling

Personal selling

Sales agents

Agents in the sales process can represent either of two parties in the sales process; for example:

Sales broker, seller agency, seller agent, seller representative: This is a traditional role where the
salesman represents a person or company on the selling end of a deal.

Buyers broker or Buyer brokerage: This is where the salesman represents the consumer making the
purchase. This is most often applied in large transactions.

Disclosed dual agent: This is where the salesman represents both parties in the sale and acts as a
mediator for the transaction. The role of the salesman here is to oversee that both parties receive an
honest and fair deal, and is responsible to both.

Transaction broker: This is where the salesperson represents neither party but handles the transaction
only. The seller owes no responsibility to either party getting a fair or honest deal, just that all of the
papers are handled properly.

Sales outsourcing involves direct branded representation where the sales representatives are recruited,
hired, and managed by an external entity but hold quotas, represent themselves as the brand of the
client, and report all activities (through their own sales management channels) back to the client. It is
akin to a virtual extension of a sales force (see sales outsourcing).

Sales managers aim to implement various sales strategies and management techniques in order to
facilitate improved profits and increased sales volume. They are also responsible for coordinating the
sales and marketing department as well as oversight concerning the fair and honest execution of the
sales process by their agents.

Salesperson: The primary function of professional salespeople is to generate and close business resulting
in revenue. The sales person will accomplish their primary function through a variety of means including
phone calls, email, social media, networking, and cold calling. The primary objective of the successful
salesperson is to find the consumers to sell to. Sales is often referred to as a "numbers game" because a
general law of averages and pattern of successful closing of business will emerge through heightened
sales activity. These activities include but are not limited to: locating prospects, fostering relationships
with prospects, building trust with future clients, identifying and filling needs of consumers, and
therefore turning prospective customers into actual ones. Many tools are used by successful
salespeople, the most important of which is questioning which can be defined as a series of questions
and resulting answers allowing the salesperson to understand a customer's goals and requirements
relevant to the product. The creation of value or perceived value is the result of taking the information
gathered, analyzing the goals and needs of the prospective customer and leveraging the products or
services the salesperson's firm represents or sells in a way that most effectively achieves the prospective
clients goals or suits their needs. Effective salespeople will package their offering and present their
proposed solution in a way that leads the prospective customer to the conclusion that they acquire the
solution, resulting in revenue and profit for the salesperson and the organization they represent.

Internet Sales Professionals: These people are primarily responsible for ensuring immediate response to
the leads generated via social media, website or email campaigns.

Inside sales vs. outside sales

In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act defines outside sales representatives as "employees
[who] sell their employer's products, services, or facilities to customers away from their employer's
place(s) of business, in general, either at the customer's place of business or by selling door-to-door at
the customer's home" while defining those who work "from the employer's location" as inside sales.[13]
Inside sales generally involves attempting to close business primarily over the phone via telemarketing,
while outside sales (or "field" sales) will usually involve initial phone work to book sales calls at the
potential buyer's location to attempt to close the deal in person. Some companies have an inside sales
department that works with outside representatives and book their appointments for them. Inside sales
sometimes refers to upselling to existing customers.[citation needed]