Kiwiland Bear Jun 17, 2011:

Yes they are similar But (assuming the terms are used well) there is a difference. To illustrate:

If a sale involves doing a PowerPoint presentation to the prospective customer, it will be a sales department rep. doing the presentation. Typically, someone with glib talking manners, ingratiating, good at establishing personal contacts.

On the other hand, whoever is preparing the PP presentation would be more likely to come from the Sales Support dept. (agree with Vadim here). They would need to be good at working with PP (at design - not usage level), ideally have some artistic flavour in addition to technical knowledge.

So, while the aim is indeed the same, the roles they play are somewhat different.

Inna Edsall Jun 17, 2011:

Here is another resource. http://fasadinfo.com/articles/promotion/847

3. Обеспечение продаж.
К функции обеспечения продаж относятся маркетинг, реклама, подбор персонала, обучение. Основными характеристиками, определяющими эффективность обеспечивающей функции являются наполненность, бесперебойность и достаточность. Для выявления данных характеристик необходимо получить ответы на следующие вопросы:
укомплектован ли штат продавцов - /подбор/
знает ли продавец преимущественные особенности своего товара от товаров конкурентов - /маркетинг, обучение/
- обеспечен ли продавец буклетами, прайс-листами и другими рекламными материалами, которые он мог бы предложить для ознакомления клиенту - /реклама/
- имеет ли продавец информацию о потенциальном клиенте – Ф.И.О. Генерального директора и других лиц, принимающих решение, структуру компании, основных партнеров и т.д. - /маркетинг, обучение/
- есть ли у продавца (менеджера по продажам) возможность привлекать на переговоры специалистов своей компании и/или Генерального директора (при регламентировании данной процедуры)

При анализе данных факторов важно учитывать весь комплекс процессов одновременно. ...

Deborah Kolosova (asker) Jun 17, 2011:

http://www.don-apelsin.ru/service.html I found this link to the company site of an external служба обеспечения продаж. They seem to mostly deal in advertising and marketing. Maybe this will inspire some more ideas.

Vadim Kadyrov Jun 17, 2011:

please have a look at the link http://hh.ua/vacancy/3948993

In the CIS countries there is almost no difference between отдел продаж и отдел обеспечения продаж. These are just two names to denote the same thing. anyone who works in both department is constantly ensuring that products (or goods) are sold well. That`s all. It has nothing to do with warranty servicing, after-sale servicing, etc. The main task of these two departments is to sell products no matter what it takes (quite shocking, I agree).

The reason why these two departments are available in the company is that they probably have some other functions to perform (along with the basic function - ensuring that things are sold well).

Deborah Kolosova (asker) Jun 17, 2011:

No, because it's a division of the distribution department. I also rather doubt it's an after sales service department; the company in question deals with goods for children (baby food, toys, children's clothes, etc.), most of which would not require after sales service.

Inna Edsall Jun 17, 2011:

Could it be distribution department?