Often, managers of wholesale and retail companies face the same problem: they submitted plans to sales teams, a month has passed, and the plans have not been fulfilled. Within one or two days, the commercial director scolded the supervisors and heard answers from them like: “There were no sales this month, there were outstocks... but next month!!!”

After this, the supervisor says to his sales team: “Let’s finally start selling...”. And the next month everything repeats all over again... Thus, often all the work of a sales management supervisor comes down to a simple statement of facts regarding sales at the end of the month.

If we talk about sales management, then, like any management, it should primarily include 4 functions:

1. Sales planning (what to do);

2. Organization of sales (by whom and how to do it);

3. Motivating the sales team and clients;

4. Control over the sales process (why deviations from the plan occur).

Theoretically, everything seems clear: record deviations from the plan every day, identify the reasons for the deviation and eliminate them.

But not everything is so simple in practice. You begin to understand this especially well when you come across supervisors in their daily practical work. In this article you will find practical experience in managing wholesale and retail sales.

Usually the only question that a supervisor can confidently answer at the end of the month is: “What sales volume did you make?”, and at the beginning of the month (and not always): “What is your plan for this month and for which brands?” “Not always” are those cases when plans are approved by senior management on a monthly basis, and not for a year, and then by the middle of the current month. This will mean that until the middle of the month sales will go on as usual, no one will care about them, least of all sales representatives.

It often happens that supplier companies set plans for brands with the condition that if they are fulfilled, the distributor company will receive a discount on the entire volume of delivery (2-10%), otherwise the distributor will lose this discount.

Therefore, let’s assume that there are plans, and the supervisor and sales representatives know how much and what they will need to sell.

But you rarely get a quick answer to the following questions from any supervisor:

1. What are the average daily sales of your sales representatives (Vicky, Serika, etc.)?

2. What is the average monthly active base for each of them (AB, which corresponds to the number of invoices: let’s not confuse it with the active client base - AKB, which corresponds to the number of clients)?

3. What are the average sales per outlet for each outlet?

The lack of clear answers from the supervisor to these questions indicates, first of all, the lack of not only operational control on the part of the supervisor over the work of the sales team, but also a complete lack of understanding regarding the organization of sales.

Perhaps this is not even a problem of the supervisors themselves, but a problem of the commercial director who does not ask them or does not teach them sales management.

Let me explain this with an example. Let me immediately note that the example will consider a sum plan. We'll talk about the boxed version later.

Let's assume a monthly plan for a trading team with a 6-day working week issued by the supplier company for brand A - 1,000,000 tenge, by the supplier company for brand B - 2,000,000 tenge, total - 3,000,000 tenge. At the same time, we hope to receive a 5% discount (3,000,000*5%=150,000 tenge). To simplify, let’s assume that there are two sales representatives in the sales team: Vika and Serik, and their routes are equivalent.

Let's distribute the plan between them. You can approach the distribution of the plan between them simply: 1,500,000 tenge for each - as they want, let them do so. Now let's take a deeper look at this issue.

1. Based on the results of the previous month, Vicky’s average daily sales are 38,462 tenge (her sales in the previous month were 1,000,000, 1,000,000/26=38,462), and Serika’s are 46,164 tenge (his sales in the previous month were 1,200,000, 1,200,000/26=46,164). If you look at sales for previous months, you will be convinced that the deviations in average daily sales will be insignificant. Those. average daily sales is the level that the sales representative has reached and will maintain regardless of outstocks, bad weather, etc. In order for a salesperson to jump to a higher level in sales, the supervisor needs to make efforts (training, product presentations, change the control system, etc.).
So, with such average daily sales, the sales forecast for the current month for Vika is 40,000 * 26 = 1,040,000, and for Serik - 50,000 * 26 = 1,300,000. So, already at the beginning of the month we know that the maximum we can achieve from them is as a result - 2,340,000 tenge. The underfulfillment of the plan will initially amount to 660,000 tenge, which corresponds to 22% (=660,000/3000000*100).
It turns out that we have already included a discount of 150,000 tenge in the promotions and want to use them within a month, but it turned out that we will incur losses and we will not see this discount!

Now a specific question arises: maybe it would be better to take one more person and redistribute the districts? Or redistribute brands?

Many commercial directors quickly make decisions of this kind in the complete absence of analysis of existing data. And if supervisors do not see the sales picture, it means that the salary they receive is paid to them for the fact that they announced to the sales team about the plan, and to the commercial director that this plan is impossible to fulfill! I'm exaggerating, but sales management is the main function that they do not perform in principle.

So, in order to decide whether another sales representative is needed, as well as to distribute the plan between sales representatives, information is needed on the active base (AB - the number of applications; a quantitative indicator) and average sales per point by each sales representative (a qualitative indicator). Now let's analyze this data to get enough information to make a plan allocation decision:

1. Vika. Despite the fact that her AB is 70% larger (=278/160-1) than Serik’s AB, the average number of triggers per outlet is only 2, i.e. out of 4 planned activations of one point (once a week), they are triggered 2 times a month. This means she wastes half of her time.

Moreover, its average sales per point are 3579, which is almost 2 times lower compared to Serik. With equivalent routes, such sales arise when a sales representative works poorly (superficially, formally) with retail outlets according to the principle: “Hello, I’m Vika from Dandelion LLP, shall we make an application?” Answer: "No." - “Okay, I’ll stop by next week.” It is not difficult to evaluate the assortment that Vika works with if you look at 1-2 of her application sheets: she does not work on more than 5-10 positions, therefore, when there is an outstock for these positions, her sales are significantly “slowed down” on average for the outstock period.

There may be another option for her operating style - the low-price segment. This is the worst option, because working in the low-price segment will almost never allow a sales representative to master the entire price range (the attitude is: “They buy matches from me well, but who needs red caviar? And without it, people have enough problems... ")

2. Serik. If we consider its sales, the response rate of one outlet is 3, i.e. out of 4 visits to a point, most visits are active.

Average sales per outlet are 7,500 tenge. Let's look at his 1-2 application sheets and evaluate how he makes sales: due to volume, i.e. “drains the chassis,” or knows how to work with a full range of outlets? This will allow us to more specifically assess his style of work in the field.

Further, its battery is almost 2.5 times lower than that of Vika (55 and 140, respectively). If he works half a day, he often comes to the office around 13:00-14:00, fills out applications and leaves to do his own thing. Then it is quite possible that this salary is quite enough for him and there is no point in focusing on fulfilling the plan. If he arrives at 16:00-17:00, it means he devotes too much time to one outlet. Here there is already a question of self-organization (after chatting in one place, you don’t have time to go to another).

From the above analysis, it is quite clear that each sales representative has his own style of working in the field, but none of them underutilize their potential. The exception is if the analysis shows that Vika operates in the low-price segment. Then it just needs to be changed. So, it becomes clear that each of them must be assigned their own sales task.

Let's try to formulate them for both Vika and Serik, but initially for ourselves.
To actually achieve the plan at the end of the month, the trading goals set at the beginning of the month must be specific and achievable. Let me make a reservation right away that the indicator “average number of activations of 1 (one) retail outlet” can be obtained at the end of a certain time period (for example, a week, a decade, a month). In order not to depend on it during the month, we will operate with such indicators as: AB and average sales per 1 outlet.

So, definitely, in order to fulfill the plan of 3,000,000 tenge, we focus Vika on the quality of work with the outlet, and Serik on increasing the battery capacity (attracting new outlets). If we, taking into account that the routes are equivalent, divide the plan in half, then we can predict their tasks.

Let’s analyze the achievability of the set goals for each trading location.

1. Vika. Practice shows that an increase in average sales per point by 50% is considered a qualitative leap, and without additional investments in his training, a trader is simply not able to complete this task. The maximum that can be counted on is a 5% increase in average sales per point, i.e. for 270 tenge. Taking this into account, from Vika’s sales we can get a maximum of (3597+270)*278=1075026.

2. Serik. Given that Serik has an average number of activations per point of 2.9, it is easy to calculate that increasing AB by 40 will require attracting 14 clients (= 40/2.9). Moreover, we still have a volume of 425,000 (=1500000-1075026) left, which there is no one but Serik to do. This means that the AB needs to be increased by another 56 (i.e., an additional 19 clients must be attracted). Total we're talking about about additional attraction of 33 clients by Serik.

His plan will be 7500* (160+40+56)= 1920000 tenge. However, in real time, attracting 33 new clients within a month is almost impossible. Practice shows that it is possible to attract 20 retail outlets, and this must be done in the first week of the month and with the help of a supervisor. Then he can safely set a plan of 1,635,000 tenge.

Conclusions.

1. As a result, returning to Vika’s plan, we find that it should be 1,365,000 tenge, average daily sales - 52,500, while average sales per point - 4,910 with AB - 278. At the same time, efforts are required on the part of the supervisor to systematically train her, so as a quality indicator always depends on training.

2. Serik’s plan - 1,635,000 tenge, average daily sales - 62,882, with average sales per point - 7,500 with AB - 218. Moreover, field control by the supervisor over the next 3 weeks will guarantee the implementation of the plan, since quantitative indicators always depend on field control. Moreover, if it is clear from the application sheets that Serik gives preference to “draining goods,” then it is important to work through the assortment with him within a month.

3. If you look closely, the structure of existing sales 45.5% - 54.5% (Vika 1,000,000 tenge and Serik - 1,200,000 tenge, respectively) was preserved when analyzing the sales forecast (Vika - 1,365,000 tenge and Serik - 1,635,000 tenge, respectively). Therefore, usually, subject to an increase in the plan, the existing sales structure is taken into account.

4. Additionally, there is no need to hire an additional sales representative, because, as we say, a “critical mass” has not accumulated, and it is possible to activate the potential of existing employees.

5. The quality of sales management is assessed by analyzing 4 indicators:
- average daily sales (sales volume);
- active base (quantitative indicator);
- active client base (quantitative indicator);
- average sales per 1 outlet (qualitative indicator).

6. However, it is clear to the naked eye that the average daily sales for each trade should increase, which means that additional efforts of the supervisor are simply necessary! He must choose the tools necessary to organize the work of sales representatives, otherwise the plan will remain just on paper.

We will now look at each of these tools in more detail. The only thing I want to focus your attention on is that the consideration of these tools will be carried out exclusively from the point of view of practical application.

I’ll start with control tools, because it is control that needs to be linked with planning, thus ensuring the principle of feedback (control by deviation). If this principle of automatic control is not implemented in the sales system, we risk opening up sales management, which will lead to “overstocking” of the warehouse, on the one hand, and a lack of products in the B2B market, on the other.

An effective tool for implementing the feedback principle is operational (daily) control. This is due to the fact that monthly and weekly monitoring does not allow timely measures to be taken to eliminate the reasons that led to the underfulfillment of the plan. Operational control will provide you with the timely information necessary for making and executing timely decisions, and will give you the opportunity to qualitatively assess the dynamics of sales using the analysis of 3 indicators (the dynamics of these indicators is important):

First indicator- daily sales of a sales representative; corresponds to sales according to the application sheet (and not according to issued invoices (hereinafter referred to as RN). Usually, if in a company the lack of returns is tied to the paid bonus of the sales representative, there are no additions to the application sheets. We are primarily interested in the minimum and maximum sales levels of each sales representative representative. Each sales representative has his own range.

There should not be too large fluctuations in this indicator, and if you notice them during the week, you need to either revise the routes by day of the week, or apply this indicator to planning by day of the week, taking into account the observed fluctuations in this indicator during the week.

Stable daily sales indicate that the trader knows how to manage sales regardless of external factors, adjusts his actions on the route according to the situation, perfectly fulfills the tasks assigned to him. After the training, the level of his daily sales rises abruptly and stabilizes at a new level.

However, there may be another situation when the level of daily sales for a sales representative is low, and no activities contribute to their growth. The reason for this can be found by analyzing the following two indicators: the active base (AB, a quantitative indicator) and average sales per point (a qualitative indicator).

Typically, no one in trading teams pays attention to these indicators and it is believed that it is enough to analyze only daily sales. Then the following happens: the head of the commercial department says to the supervisor: “Your Vicky has weak sales (and does not identify the reason for low daily sales), why don’t you train her?” The supervisor has nowhere to go, he tells Vika: “You’re not selling well, I’ll train you.” He goes with her into the field, supposedly to conduct field coaching, but in reality, he goes with her to retail outlets 2-3 times a week, showing her “how to make sales” by his example. In essence, this means that he himself makes orders for her, Vika’s sales grow on these days, and fall on other days, and a significant impulse appears in the first indicator. Supervisor time is wasted on direct sales instead of sales management.

Second indicator- Active base: corresponds to the number of clients in the application sheets (or the number of RNs). This indicator provides us with information about the degree of elaboration of the route by the merchant, the quality of the route, the ability of the merchant to analyze the balances at the point, the presence/absence of overload of goods at the point of sale.

Positive dynamics for this indicator indicate the sales representative’s ability to work in self-organization mode and the absence of the need for additional field control over his field work.

If the sales representative’s performance on this indicator is negative, there is a need for field control along his route.

For example, Serik’s AB should make 9 requests per day according to the plan (=218/26). In the previous month, its actual AB was 6 applications (=160/26) (see the September issue of Business Courier magazine). This month, observing the dynamics of this indicator, you can determine the need for field control and, if necessary, be sure to carry it out until the dynamics of AB becomes positive, or this indicator reaches the level of at least 9 applications per day.

Let's look at another example. Both Vika and Serik fulfill the average daily AB plan during the week (Vika AB has 10-11 requests, Serik has 8-9 requests daily), but on Saturday Serik has 4 requests. This means that Serik did not work the route on Saturday. Therefore, it is necessary to schedule field control for next Saturday and check Serik’s work on the route.

Third indicator- average sales per 1 outlet, which shows the sales representative’s ability to work with the assortment and sales volume at the outlet. If you see that this figure is low (for example, Vika had 3957 tenge last month, she was given a task of 4910 tenge, but at the beginning of this month it remains at the same level), you need to look at her application sheets and you will immediately you will see what assortment and what price range she does not work with, focus her attention on these products (prices) - maybe she does not know them at all, as follows:
¦ set a task for her: to give a presentation to other salespeople on this product;

¦ control her knowledge of prices, ability to convert different grams into kilograms in order to evaluate what is expensive and what is cheap, etc.
In dynamics, this indicator provides information:

¦ about the quality of social interaction between the sales representative and the head of the point, i.e. his ability to establish long-term relationships with a retail outlet;

¦ about the ability to work within the price range, i.e. with both expensive and cheap positions in the product line;

¦ about increasing the level of knowledge of the sales representative regarding his package, the ability to easily navigate it.

Typically, this indicator grows dynamically after high-quality training (psychological barriers are removed), after the organization of certification of salespeople for product lines, after the organization of in-house product presentations (deeper knowledge of the product). If after these events there is no increase in average sales, it means that the sales representative, knowing the product, is not able to work in the price range, i.e. operates exclusively in the low-price segment. In this case, it is necessary to review his application sheets. If such a trend is detected, it is necessary to look for a replacement sales representative.

By the way, in our practice there was the opposite case, when a girl could not switch from working in the high-price segment to working in the price range, but timely explanation of the need for this work removed her internal limitation, as evidenced by the increase in average sales per point.

Thus, by monitoring sales on these three indicators on a daily basis, the head of the sales department will be able to assess the current sales situation, understand the causes of failures, predict sales and take the measures necessary to level out the situation. The supervisor will be able to purposefully act in the direction of organizing sales, and the sales representative will learn to manage sales, and not helplessly throw up his hands: “They don’t have money, they don’t need anything, etc.”

Fourth indicator- average daily sales (sales volume / number of days) for each sales representative. This indicator allows you to plan subsequent sales. Dynamically it allows:

Firstly , confidently determine thanks to which sales organization tools this indicator was achieved.

Secondly , you can calmly decide on sales planning and the number of sales representatives in the team. As long as a sales representative has a positive growth trend in average daily sales, we can confidently talk about his professional growth. And if its sales have not yet reached the limit, it means that the company’s internal resources are not being used to their full potential.

Third , evaluate the weekly sales dynamics by month: it is constantly growing, fluctuating or declining, which is important for adjusting plans for the next month. For example, if you are introducing a new brand to the market, you can easily see the speed of its introduction and promptly decide on tools to stimulate sales of this particular brand, and not the entire package. Or apply weekly average daily sales to weekly planning, taking into account the observed fluctuations in this indicator during the month.

Fourth , assess the sales potential for each sales representative and the period during which the trainee (in the event of dismissal of one of the sales representatives) for this assortment will reach the level of professional sales.

Usually we regard this indicator as normal if it is in the range of 100,000 -120,000 tenge. If below, it is necessary to train sales representatives in sales management.

Fifth indicator- active client base (ACB), which corresponds to the number of activated clients. This indicator is interesting on a monthly basis. Its dynamics make it possible to estimate the rate of expansion (contraction) of the client base of each sales representative. If the base is shrinking, it is necessary to immediately find out the reasons and eliminate them so as not to lose customers. If the customer base is stable, it indicates sustainability. And if the customer base is growing, it is necessary to evaluate the growth rate. High growth rates are observed when a new brand is introduced to the market. The period of time from the moment the brand is launched on the market until the customer base stabilizes determines the dynamics of the battery. Practice shows that as soon as the customer base stops growing, sales for this brand also stabilize. If you want to achieve continued growth, you need to take action - in this case there is no hope for a miracle.

In the market of homogeneous products, there are also situations where competitors become more active, when some clients stop working with you. This means that you have an imperfect market monitoring tool or don’t have it at all.

It is also possible that several clients in one district or city across the entire product range stop working with you - then we can talk about the presence of an internal organizational problem that needs to be solved.

And finally, the sixth indicator is the average number of operations of the 1st point of sale (AB/AB).
This indicator is also interesting on a monthly basis.

Let's use the example discussed in the last issue of Business Courier magazine. We know that our active customer base is 195 points (140+55). We assume that they should be triggered every week (on average 4 times a month) and the average sales per point are 5022 (last month's sales 2,200,000 / 438 - last month's AB).

Based on these figures, we can assess “our potential” and plan sales at the level of 3,917,160 tenge (=195*4*5022). They set us a plan - 3,000,000 tenge. It would seem that we have a significant sales reserve. But sales analysis (see No. 88 of the Business Courier magazine) and the distribution of the plan showed that not everything is so simple, and we will have to make significant efforts to fulfill the plan of 3,000,000 tenge! And why? Because it was precisely the indicator of the average number of operations of the point that was taken into account, and it is not 4 (as it should be), but only 2.24 (=(278+160)/(140+55). This means that we are guaranteed to be able to get (if more no one will get sick) only 2,200,000 (=195*2.24*5022) These are sales based on the sales level of last month, which we will be able to receive at the end of this month.

Ideally, this indicator should be 4, and normally - 3.2 (cases are allowed when the point could not work).

If this indicator is higher than 4, the sales representative is underloading the outlet with products.

If it is below 3.2, he simply does not place an order based on an analysis of the balances at the point, but acts on the principle: “Hello, such and such a company, shall we place an order?” Answer: “No.” End of the visit: “Okay, I’ll drop by next week.”

So, if we focus on the minimum acceptable level of the average number of operations of 3.2, the expected sales will be 3133728, which is quite enough to fulfill the plan.

Now the supervisor will be able to plan and organize his work when receiving from sales representatives daily information on the first three indicators, weekly information (on the 4th indicator) and monthly information (on the 5th and 6th indicators).

There are not many effective tools for organizing sales by a supervisor:

1. General:

a) optimal distribution of routes between sales representatives by territory and by day of the week;

b) morning planning meetings (distribution of products with minimal balances between trading stores; presentation of goods, checking knowledge of promotions, prices, assortment; checking planned sales at points for compliance with daily sales plans, setting additional tasks for the day);

c) evening planning meetings (filling out cavern plans by sales representatives for the first 3 indicators, analyzing these indicators with trading “hot”, checking application sheets, drawing up trading routes for the next day with sales planning at retail outlets, taking into account the results of the analysis, especially with negative dynamics in the current implementation of the monthly plan or in the 2nd or 3rd indicator).

2. Selectively with negative dynamics in terms of indicators:

a) field control - according to the 2nd indicator;

b) audit of the outlet - according to the 5th indicator;

c) presentation of products by sales representatives, their certification - according to the 3rd indicator;

d) developing the skill of analyzing balances at a retail outlet - according to the 6th indicator;

e) training in sales management through training - according to the 4th indicator.

As you can see, field coaching is not included in the tools, because in order for it to appear among them, the supervisor must at least have training at the trainer level, which is practically not observed at this level of management!

So, in two articles we looked at only 3 functions of sales management: planning, control and organization, without touching on the motivation function. I would like you to independently consider the tools of stimulation and motivation, not material, but intangible (competition, accounting psychological type, timely assessment of professional growth, conditions for career growth, etc.). You can send me your vision of the motivation system at email address: [email protected]- we'll figure it out together. If nothing works out at all, don’t worry, we will help you do this, moreover, together with you we will develop an effective sales management system through the “Sales Management” training.

Member of the interregionalpublictrainers' organizationsand consultants(MOOTiK) "Intertraining",Moscow,Director of LLP"TSORP "Consulting" O.P. Alina

A simple car part can tell a whole story. What can we say about battery. The topic is so vast that it spans almost two centuries. Therefore, on the page of our article about the battery, we will try to at least look a little at the evolution of the battery.
The need for rechargeable batteries (AB) arose with the use of an electric spark in internal combustion engines (ICEs). And this happened in 1860, when Lenoir created an internal combustion engine, for the first time Bunsen galvanic elements were used as part of the power plant. The idea was postponed for several years, not because the principle of battery ignition was not practical, but only because the Bunsen elements were far from perfect. They had a lot of weight and fragility in their work.
At that time, the development of internal combustion engines (ICEs) followed the path of using ignition using an open flame, with which the combustible mixture came into contact at the right moment.
The battery effect itself was discovered back in 1802 by G. Ritter. But let us note that for the first time a battery was needed for an internal combustion engine, only as a source of current for spark discharges.
The first battery is still considered to be the invention of the Frenchman Gaston Plante. In 1859, he made the discovery that when current was passed through lead electrodes immersed in dilute sulfuric acid, the positive electrode became coated with lead dioxide PbO2, while the negative electrode was left unchanged. If such an element was then short-circuited, stopping the passage of current through it from a constant source, then a direct current appeared in it, which was detected until all the lead dioxide was dissolved in the acid.
The first battery consisted of two identical lead strips wound onto a wooden cylinder. They were separated from each other by a fabric lining. All this was placed in a vessel with a 10% solution of sulfuric acid. A significant drawback of the Gaston Plante battery was its small capacity; it discharged too quickly.
Practical Application batteries could not be obtained until 1879 due to the lack of the required number of DC chargers.
First accumulator battery, similar to the current ones, appeared in 1881 (according to other sources in 1882). Camille Faure significantly improved the technique of manufacturing battery plates. The formation of the plates occurred much faster. The essence of Faure's improvement was that he came up with the idea of ​​covering each plate with red lead or other lead oxide.
And then car fever struck. After some short experimentation with various types systems for ignition of the combustible mixture in the cylinders, the designers settled on a spark ignition system, which required an on-board source of electricity - the battery. And here lead-acid batteries came at just the right time. The advantage of being rechargeable battery motorists appreciated it immediately. On cars of that time there was no generator, and all electrical equipment consisted of a battery (or several dry batteries) and a simple ignition system. Later, electric headlights were added here, replacing oil and acetylene burners.
The generator together with the starter appeared only at the beginning of the second decade of the 20th century. The first car equipped with a motor generator was the 1912 Cadillac. On it, in parallel with the 6-volt Exide lead-acid battery, there were still five dry batteries to provide backup power to the ignition system.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Edison and Jungner proposed their batteries with a different electrolyte, alkali. The composition of the battery was as follows: positive plates with active mass - nickel oxide Ni(OH)3, negative iron oxide Fe2O3 alkaline electrolyte - 21% solution of caustic potassium KOH with the addition of 2% caustic lithium LiOH.
In 1903, the production of these portable batteries began, which became widespread in transport, power plants and small ships.
The alkaline battery was not afraid of short circuits, high discharge and charging currents, strong overcharges and deep discharges. It had great mechanical strength, could remain in a discharged state for a long time without undergoing sulfation, had a relatively low weight and was more durable compared to lead-acid batteries.
The disadvantages of an alkaline battery include a very low operating voltage, which negated its advantage over a lead battery in terms of weight. Due to the high internal resistance, it was impossible to use it to power the starter. Therefore, they decided to use lead-acid batteries in the car. At first, battery housings were made of wood, then of hard rubber. Ebonite battery cases, with jumpers sticking out or filled with mastic between the elements, gradually gave way to lighter and more durable polypropylene ones. But this did not happen soon.
On cars before 1910 The battery was used only for the ignition system. This was explained by the fact that the speed of the car was low, and particularly good road lighting was not required; In addition, carbon incandescent lamps, being extremely inefficient, required an excessive increase in the size and weight of the battery itself.
The beginning of the widespread use of electricity for lighting should be considered 1912. This was caused not only by the increase in the speed of cars, but also by the advent of the incandescent lamp with a metal filament, as well as the development of a fairly advanced automobile generator, which could maintain its voltage unchanged at different speeds movement of the car, and not only power all consumers of electrical energy, but also charge the battery.

The statistics for those years were as follows:
- in 1913 Number of cars equipped electric lighting was 37%
- in 1914 – 87%
- in 1915 – 97.5%
- in 1917 – 98.8%
- since 1918 Almost all passenger cars in America had a full complement of electrical equipment.
According to the same statistics, Europe was significantly behind America.
So, in 1913 Not a single European company produced cars with electric lighting. In 1922 in Germany, the number of trucks equipped with electric lighting was 42%, and only since 1926. all cars began to be equipped with electric lights.
Rechargeable batteries of those years provided cars with ignition, lighting, and a sound signal when parked and at low speeds. Electricity consumption in a car has increased due to the use of electric starters powered by batteries to start a car engine.
The batteries were practically the same as they are now. The battery was assembled from individual batteries (3 or 6 batteries) placed in a common housing. Each battery consisted of a set of positive and negative plates. The plates of the same name were soldered into a common set by striping lead bridges. Sets of plates were placed in a vessel made of an acid-resistant material - ebonite; the bottom of the vessel had prismatic ribs, in the spaces between which the active mass falling out of the plates was collected, thereby protecting the battery from a short circuit. Between the plates, separators were installed from perforated wavy microporous ebonite (mipore), microporous plastic (miplast), celluloid glass felt or from wooden plywood, specially treated (in our country, the industrial production of wooden separators was officially stopped only in January 1963). Individual batteries were assembled into a battery in a common wooden case. The gaps between the batteries and the body were filled with a special mass. Each battery was equipped with an ebonite cover with a hole closed with a plug. There was a hole in the plug for the release of gases that were formed while charging the battery while the car was moving.
Almost daily checking of the electrolyte level and constant topping up of distilled water did not cause delight among motorists. And ignoring such operations led to a decrease in the electrolyte level, sulfation of the plates and, ultimately, premature failure of expensive batteries.
Therefore, new solutions are constantly being searched for, new technologies are being introduced that improve existing characteristics batteries aimed at reducing the labor intensity of maintenance battery. This is evidenced only by the fact that by 1937, about 20,000 patents had been registered in the world on acid batteries alone.

Ecology of consumption. Science and technology: The future of electric transport largely depends on improving batteries - they should weigh less, charge faster and at the same time produce more energy.

The future of electric vehicles largely depends on improving batteries - they should weigh less, charge faster and at the same time produce more energy. Scientists have already achieved some results. A team of engineers has created lithium-oxygen batteries that don't waste energy and can last for decades. And an Australian scientist presented a graphene-based ionistor that can be charged a million times without loss of efficiency.

Lithium-oxygen batteries are lightweight and produce a lot of energy and could be ideal components for electric vehicles. But such batteries have a significant drawback - they wear out quickly and release too much energy in the form of wasted heat. A new development by scientists from MIT, Argonne National Laboratory and Peking University promises to solve this problem.

Created by a team of engineers, lithium-oxygen batteries use nanoparticles that contain lithium and oxygen. In this case, oxygen, when changing states, remains inside the particle and does not return to the gas phase. This differs from lithium-air batteries, which take oxygen from the air and release it into the atmosphere during a reverse reaction. The new approach reduces energy loss (the electrical voltage is reduced by almost 5 times) and increases battery life.

Lithium-oxygen technology is also well adapted to real-world conditions, unlike lithium-air systems, which deteriorate when exposed to moisture and CO2. In addition, lithium and oxygen batteries are protected from overcharging - as soon as the energy becomes too much, the battery switches to a different type of reaction.

Scientists conducted 120 charge-discharge cycles, while productivity decreased by only 2%.

So far, scientists have only created a prototype battery, but within a year they intend to develop a prototype. It does not require expensive materials, and production is very similar to traditional lithium-ion batteries. If the project is implemented, then in the near future electric cars will store twice as much energy with the same mass.

An engineer from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia has solved another battery problem - the speed of their recharging. The ionistor he developed charges almost instantly and can be used for many years without loss of efficiency.

Han Lin used graphene, one of the strongest materials available today. Due to its honeycomb-like structure, graphene has a large surface area for storing energy. The scientist printed graphene plates on a 3D printer - this production method also allows you to reduce costs and increase scale.

The ionistor created by the scientist produces the same amount of energy per kilogram of weight as lithium-ion batteries, but charges in a few seconds. Moreover, instead of lithium, it uses graphene, which is much cheaper. According to Han Lin, the supercapacitor can go through millions of charging cycles without loss of quality.

The battery production sector does not stand still. The Kreisel brothers from Austria have created a new type of battery that weighs almost half as much as the batteries in the Tesla Model S.

Norwegian scientists from the University of Oslo have invented a battery that can be completely... However, their development is intended for urban public transport, which regularly makes stops - at each of them the bus will be recharged and there will be enough energy to get to the next stop.

Scientists at the University of California, Irvine are closer to creating an eternal battery. They have developed a nanowire battery that can be recharged hundreds of thousands of times.

And Rice University engineers managed to create one that operates at a temperature of 150 degrees Celsius without loss of efficiency. published

And today we’ll talk about imaginary ones - with a gigantic specific capacity and instant charging. News about such developments appear with enviable regularity, but the future has not yet arrived, and we are still using lithium-ion batteries that appeared at the beginning of the decade before last, or their slightly more advanced lithium-polymer analogues. So what is the matter, technological difficulties, incorrect interpretation of the words of scientists, or something else? Let's try to figure it out.

In pursuit of charging speed

One of the battery parameters that scientists and large companies They are constantly trying to improve the charging speed. However, it will not be possible to increase it indefinitely, not even due to the chemical laws of the reactions occurring in batteries (especially since the developers of aluminum-ion batteries have already stated that this type of battery can be fully charged in just a second), but because of physical limitations. Let's say we have a smartphone with a 3000 mAh battery and support for fast charging. You can fully charge such a gadget within an hour with an average current of 3 A (on average, because the charging voltage changes). However, if we want to get a full charge in just one minute, a current of 180 A will be required without taking into account various losses. To charge the device with this current, you will need a wire with a diameter of about 9 mm - twice as thick as the smartphone itself. And a conventional charger cannot produce a current of 180 A at a voltage of about 5 V: smartphone owners will need a pulse current converter like the one shown in the photo below.

An alternative to increasing the current is increasing the voltage. But it is, as a rule, fixed, and for lithium-ion batteries it is 3.7 V. Of course, it can be exceeded - charging using Quick Charge 3.0 technology comes with a voltage of up to 20 V, but trying to charge the battery with a voltage of about 220 V is useless will not lead to anything good, and it is not possible to solve this problem in the near future. Modern elements The power supply simply cannot use such voltage.

Eternal batteries

Of course, now we will not talk about a “perpetual motion machine”, but about batteries with a long service life. Modern lithium-ion batteries for smartphones can withstand a maximum of a couple of years of active use of devices, after which their capacity steadily decreases. Owners of smartphones with removable batteries are a little luckier than others, but even in this case it’s worth making sure that the battery was manufactured recently: lithium-ion batteries degrade even when not in use.

Scientists at Stanford University proposed their solution to this problem: coating the electrodes of existing types of lithium-ion batteries with a polymer material with the addition of graphite nanoparticles. According to the scientists, this will protect the electrodes, which inevitably become covered with microcracks during operation, and the same microcracks in polymer material will tighten on their own. The operating principle of this material is similar to the technology used in the LG G Flex smartphone with a self-healing back cover.

Transition to the third dimension

In 2013, it was reported that researchers at the University of Illinois were developing a new type of lithium-ion battery. Scientists stated that the specific power of such batteries will be up to 1000 mW/(cm*mm), while the specific power of conventional lithium-ion batteries ranges between 10-100 mW/(cm*mm). These are the units of measurement that were used, since we are talking about fairly small structures tens of nanometers thick.

Instead of the flat anode and cathode used in traditional Li-Ion batteries, scientists proposed using volumetric structures: crystal lattice of nickel sulfide on porous nickel as an anode and lithium manganese dioxide on porous nickel as a cathode.

Despite all the doubts caused by the lack of exact parameters of the new batteries in the first press releases, as well as prototypes that have not yet been presented, the new type of batteries is still real. This is confirmed by several scientific articles on this topic published over the past two years. However, even if such batteries become available to end consumers, this will not happen soon.

Charging through the screen

Scientists and engineers are trying to extend the life of our gadgets not only by searching for new types of batteries or increasing their energy efficiency, but also quite in unusual ways. Researchers at Michigan State University have proposed embedding transparent solar panels directly into the screen. Since the operating principle of such panels is based on their absorption of solar radiation, in order to make them transparent, scientists had to use a trick: the material of the new type of panels absorbs only invisible radiation (infrared and ultraviolet), after which photons, reflected from the wide edges of the glass, are absorbed by narrow strips solar panels traditional type located along its edges.

The main obstacle to the implementation of such technology is the low efficiency of such panels - only 1% versus 25% of traditional solar panels. Now scientists are looking for ways to increase efficiency to at least 5%, but quick solution this problem is hardly to be expected. By the way, a similar technology was recently patented by Apple, but it is not yet known where exactly the manufacturer will place solar panels in its devices.

Before this, by the words “battery” and “accumulator” we meant a rechargeable battery, but some researchers believe that it is quite possible to use disposable voltage sources in gadgets. As batteries that could operate without recharging or other maintenance for several years (or even several decades), scientists at the University of Missouri proposed using RTGs - radioisotope thermoelectric generators. The operating principle of an RTG is based on the conversion of heat released during radio decay into electricity. Many people know such installations from their use in space and hard-to-reach places on Earth, but in the USA miniature radioisotope batteries have also been used in pacemakers.

Work on an improved type of such batteries has been ongoing since 2009, and prototypes of such batteries have even been shown. But we won’t be able to see radioisotope batteries in smartphones in the near future: they are expensive to produce, and, moreover, many countries have strict restrictions on the production and circulation of radioactive materials.

Hydrogen cells can also be used as disposable batteries, but they cannot be used in smartphones. Hydrogen batteries are used up quite quickly: although your gadget will work from one cartridge longer than from one charge of a regular battery, they will have to be changed periodically. However, this does not prevent the use of hydrogen batteries in electric vehicles and even external batteries: these are not mass-produced devices yet, but they are no longer prototypes. And Apple, according to rumors, is already developing a system for refilling hydrogen cartridges without replacing them for use in future iPhones.

The idea that a battery with a high specific capacity can be created based on graphene was put forward back in 2012. And so, at the beginning of this year in Spain, it was announced that the Graphenano company had begun construction of a plant for the production of graphene-polymer batteries for electric vehicles. New type The batteries are almost four times cheaper to produce than traditional lithium-polymer batteries, have a specific capacity of 600 Wh/kg, and such a 50 kWh battery can be charged in just 8 minutes. True, as we said at the very beginning, this will require a power of about 1 MW, so such an indicator is achievable only in theory. It is not reported when exactly the plant will begin producing the first graphene-polymer batteries, but it is quite possible that Volkswagen will be among the buyers of its products. The concern has already announced plans to produce electric vehicles with a range of up to 700 kilometers on a single battery charge by 2018.

Concerning mobile devices, then the use of graphene-polymer batteries in them is currently hampered by the large dimensions of such batteries. Let's hope that research in this area will continue, because graphene-polymer batteries are one of the most promising types of batteries that may appear in the coming years.

So why, despite all the optimism of scientists and regularly appearing news about breakthroughs in the field of energy conservation, are we now seeing stagnation? First of all, the point is our high expectations, which are only fueled by journalists. We want to believe that a revolution in the world of batteries is about to happen, and we will have a battery that charges in less than a minute and has an almost unlimited service life, from which a modern smartphone with an eight-core processor will last at least a week. But such breakthroughs, alas, do not happen. Putting into mass production any new technology preceded by many years of scientific research, testing of samples, development of new materials and technological processes and other work that takes quite a lot of time. After all, it took those same lithium-ion batteries about five years to go from engineering prototypes to finished devices that could be used in phones.

Therefore, we can only be patient and not take news about new batteries to heart. At least until news appears about their launch into mass production, when there will be no doubt about the viability of the new technology.

Promotions aimed at customer loyalty can be divided into several types. Promotions for retail outlets to increase the customer base, increase sales volume, and expand the range.

For example: If I have a client base of 75 clients and this month I carry out the AKB (active client base worked for 1 month, hereinafter referred to as the AKB), then the campaign aimed at expanding the AKB will not be effective. Why do I need extra clients this month? I’d rather save them for next month. That is, the promotion will be effective only for those sales representatives who have not reached the target client base. For those who have set a plan for the client base, the logic will be simple, why should I make more of a plan for the client base this month, if next month they will increase my battery plan based not on the previous plan, but based on the actual battery this month, which will be more.

The campaign to expand the battery is as follows: each new point for an order worth 1000 rubles receives a gift of products worth 200 rubles. It is better to choose a gift from popular products so that it really is a gift. Benefit point 20% of the order. Your expectation that the stores that took the goods from the promotion will work with you will be justified by approximately 80-90%, that is, if 100 stores took the promotion, then 80-90 stores will constantly work with you. The remaining 10-20 stores will again take the product in the next promotion. What to do, everyone is looking for benefits.

Let me give you an example: a manager wanted to increase his active client base in winter. He made a promotion for 4 days 3+1, that is, if a client takes three packs of water, then the fourth is free, but you can’t take more than three packs, and he gave a bonus to sales representatives of 5,000 rubles for best indicator. Imagine earning 5,000 rubles in just 4 days of work, that’s good money on top of your salary.

I joined the action 1 day later, since I worked in another district of the region that was not included in the action. I traveled for three days and offered water to all the stores in a row, giving gift wrapping immediately upon ordering, so that customers could see that the promotion was real; I didn’t worry about the fact that someone would take the package and then not accept the order, because I knew that they very rarely refuse an order after receiving a gift; in the end, I recruited the most clients, about 30, and earned 5,000 rubles. And the manager eventually received an increase in his client base of about 70 clients from all sales representatives, and this in winter, when water is not sold at all. This is how the manager used the promotion correctly.

At the same time, if I do not fulfill the sales plan, then I need action to expand the range and increase sales volume. A promotion to increase sales will look like this. The client takes 5 packages of the product, the 6th package is a gift, and you can take any number of packages.

Again, in winter we held a 5+1 promotion for beer and one client took 25% of my plan from me. The effectiveness of such actions is obvious, I carried out the plan, the main thing is that it is beneficial to the company itself. Usually such promotions are held in winter because in winter it is more difficult to fulfill the plan.