<P> Large business houses involved in import and export often offered additional services including finance, bulk - breaking, sorting and risk - taking . In the 17th century, the public began to make mental distinctions between two types of trader; local traders (Dutch: meerseniers) which referred to local merchants including bakers, grocers, sellers of dairy products and stall - holders, and the merchants (Dutch: koopman), which described a new, emergent class of trader who dealt in goods or credit on a large scale . With the rise of a European merchant class, this distinction was necessary to separate the daily trade that the general population understood from the rising ranks of merchants who operated on a world stage and were seen as quite distant from everyday experience . </P> <P> In 18th century England, large industrial houses, such as Wedgewood, began mass - producing certain goods such as pottery and ceramics and needed a form of mass distribution for their products . Some peddlers were employed by these industrial producers to act as a type of travelling sales representative, calling on retail and wholesale outlets in order to make a sale . In England, these peddlers were known as Manchester men because of the prevalence of the practice in the sale of cotton cloth manufactured in Manchester . Employed by a factory or entrepreneur, they sold goods from shop to shop rather than door to door and were thus operating as a type of wholesaler or distribution intermediary . They were the precursors to the field sales representative . </P> <P> Sales activity can occur in many types of situations . Field representatives call on clients, who are typically business clients; door - to - door sales teams call on householders, sales staff may work in a retail or wholesale environment where sales personnel attend to customers by processing orders or sales may occur in a telemarketing environment where the sales person makes telephone calls to prospects . In terms of number of transactions, most selling occurs at the retail level; but in terms of value, most selling occurs at the high - end business - to - business level . </P> <P> Different types of sales roles can be identified: </P>

Refers to the products available to the sales staff to market promote and sell