Selling and Salespeople Chapter 1

Important Questions about Selling

What is selling? Why should you learn about selling even if you do not plan to be a salesperson? What is the role of personal selling in a firm? What are the different types of sales people? What are the rewards of a selling career?
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Relationship building is definitely the key to business-to-business selling. ~Jeffrey P. Lynn

Selling

The exchange of products for an agreed sum of money Part of the process by which organisations persuade customers to purchase their goods and services Selling is the process of helping someone discover something of value

Sales people

Nowadays buying the cheapest is not important to many companies, they prefer to develop relationships to be able to do business on ethical grounds. Sales people play a pivotal role here.

Sales people identify opportunities to create value and organise resources of their company that the company can
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Time to knock at the door gone

Why Learn About Personal Selling?

The principles of selling are useful to everyone, not just people with the title of salesperson.

Sales means more to give potential solutions to the customers rather than beat the drum of what the company sells

Internet and other latest technologies involved in selling and all the possible
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Why Learn About Personal Selling? Selling is a team activity

Rules of Selling are to be followed by all Very much similar to convincing as we do in our daily lives (with the parents, teachers, employers and friends) The term Selling was not taken to be a good one, while now every one tries to engage directly/indirectly business development personnel to flourish. Developing mutually beneficial, long-term relationships is vital7 to all of us.

echnologies used by Sales Force

Personal selling is oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the intention of making a sale. The personal selling may focus initially on developing a relationship with the potential buyer, but will always ultimately end with an attempt to "close the sale" Personal selling is a
person-to-person business activity in which a salesperson uncovers and satisfies the needs of a buyer to the mutual, long-term benefit of both parties.

Personal Selling

PERSONAL SELLING Definition

Seeking out people who have a particular need. Assisting them to recognize the existence of needs they have that could be met through your offering. Demonstrating how your offering fills that need. Persuading qualified prospects that your product will fill their needs.
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Objectives of Personal Selling

Building Product Awareness Creating Interest Providing Information Stimulating Demand Reinforcing the Brand

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Personal Selling Process

Prospecting Making first contact The sales call Objection handling Closing the sale to flourish

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Comparison to other marketing communications tools

Use fewer resources Products tend to be fairly complex (e.g. financial services or new cars). There is some contact between buyer and seller after the sale so that an ongoing relationship is built. Client/prospects need specific information. The purchase tends to involve large 13

Advantages of using Personal personal selling activity; selling is a face-to-face

The sales message can be customised to meet the needs of the customer The two-way nature of the sales process allows the sales team to respond directly and promptly to customer questions and concerns Personal selling is a good way of getting across large amounts of technical or complex product information The face-to-face sales meeting gives the sales force chance to demonstrate the product
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customers therefore obtain a relatively high degree of personal attention

Main disadvantages of using personal selling

The cost of employing a sales force. Sales people are expensive. In addition to the basic pay package, a business needs to provide incentives to achieve sales A sales person can only call on one customer at a time. This is not a costeffective way of reaching a large audience.

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Selling and Marketing

Marketing cycle is completed once the feedback is received and salespeople play an important role in bring the feedback Efforts of the company to provide solutions to the people could be accomplished through sales people only People are informed about the services and products of a company through the sales people only

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Communication Methods

Strengths and Weaknesses of Communication Methods

Communication Method Personal selling Internet website Mass media advertising Publicity Word of Mouth Control M to H H H L L Flexibility Credibility H M to H L L L
M = Moderate, H = High, L = Low 18

Cost H M to H M L to M L

L L L H H

Integrated Marketing Communications

Many companies use a combination of various communication techniques to be able to communicate better and balance out the pros and cons of each communication technique

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Sales people and Marketing Mix

Sales people are eyes and ears of a company in the marketplace Learning organisations acquire information from the sales people about environment and make organisational decisions based on them

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Types of Organisational Learning

Adaptive Learning To develop knowledge to do present activities better Generative Learning To go beyond the present products, markets, policies and procedures to develop new insights Sales people contribute to both by providing in critical information to the firms strategic system
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Main Roles of the Sales Force

Prospecting Communicating Selling Servicing Information gathering Allocating

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Contribution from Sales people

Strategy development New product development Pricing Channel management

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Qualities of High Sales Performers

Sell to people Know when to close Exchange Information Regularly establish trust Engage in certain behaviors Provide value added to the customer Be perceived as a genuine advocates of prospects needs
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Salespeople are made not They are made with Concentrated born
attention repeated practice goal oriented direction

The skills required to be a successful salesperson can be learned.

Become a student of your profession Learn throughout your career

Innate characteristics such as personality traits, gender, and height are largely unrelated to sales performance. Companies spend billions of dollars each year on training.

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THE SALES EDGE EVERYBODY SELLS

Human relation skills are basic selling skills. Skills are learned and practiced from birth. Everyone has a base upon which to build their selling abilities.

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Activities of Salespeople

Selling Servicing Customer Reporting

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Selling

Prospecting for new customers Increasing sales to existing customers Making sales presentations Demonstrating products Negotiating prices and delivery terms Writing orders and many more

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Servicing Customer

To work with employees of other departments to make sure that the customers get full benefit of what they have bought Coordinate during meetings to resolve the problems of the customers

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Reporting

Time and money spent Future schedules Activities of competitors Business conditions Unsatisfied needs of the customers

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What do Salespeople do?

Client relationship manager Account team manager Vendor and channel manager Information provider to their firm

How Salespeople Spend Their Time Each Week

Types of salespeople

Selling products to the customers over the counter Selling products to the customers in the showrooms Selling parts to producers to make the products Selling material to the producers to make parts this chain could be very long..

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Selling and Distribution Channels

Business to business

Direct sales Sales through distributors

Business to customer

Direct sales Sales through Retailers Sales through Retailers and distributors

A distribution channel is a set of people and organizations responsible for the flow of products and services from the producer to the ultimate user.

Selling and Distribution Channels

Business-to-business channels

Selling and Distribution Channels (continued)

Consumer channels

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CLASSIFICATION OF SALES JOBS

Trade selling Missionary selling Technical selling

Trade selling

Taking orders and field service. Largely involves delivering orders and replenishing inventory. Expected to persuade customers to provide additional shelf space or more favorable placement of stock. Opportunity to increase sales comes most often through assisting the customer to move a larger volume of inventory. Often actually set up product displays in retail stores

Missionary selling

Educate those who ultimately decide what product will be used by the consumer. Often does not see immediate results from their efforts in the way of products sold. Still accountable for sales.

Technical selling

Salespeople must also be competent in some technical specialty related to the products being sold. Usually called in by another salesperson who has already contacted the prospect and stimulated some interest. Often conducted by a sales team. Still need real sales skills because their role is more than just explaining the technical aspects of the product.

The Sales Job Continuum

The Customer is at the Center of the Sales System

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Major Reasons For Choosing A Sales Career

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PERSONAL SELLING Definition

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A Sales Personnel Career Path

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Rewards in Selling

Independence and responsibility Financial rewards Management opportunities Variety and Independence No set routine The variety of prospects and their needs. Professional salespeople are never unemployed.
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Average Annual Compensation for Salespeople and Managers

Source: 2004 Salary Survey, Sales & Marketing Management, May 2004, p. 29.

Opportunity for Advancement

Advancement in Direct Selling Entrepreneurship Promotion to Sales Management Involvement in Sales Training Moving Into Top Management

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DISADVANTAGES OF A SALES CAREER

Variable income Long hours Travel

Success of Selling
S S U

Ssuccess
S S C

E
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Characteristics of Successful Salespeople

Motivation Dependability and trustworthiness Ethical sales behaviour Customer and product knowledge Communication skills Flexibility Administrative Ability Emotional intelligence 52

Enthusiasm Sincerity Goal Direction Pleasant Personality Initiative Ability to Ask Questions

Resourcefulnes

Other characteristics

Willing to do what it takes to attain goals. Ability to find satisfaction in contributing to achievement of the goals set by their company. Enjoy serving the needs of others. Able to stay focused on daily activities. Strong positive self image High ethical standards Sensitivity to the needs of others. Able to win the trust of others

Personal Characteristics Needed to Sell for Building Long-term Relationships

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The Building Partnerships Model

You should study personal selling because we all use selling techniques. Salespeople play a vital role in business activities. Salespeople engage in a wide range of activities. The specific duties and responsibilities of salespeople depend on the type of selling position. Research on the characteristics of effective salespeople indicates that many different personality types can be successful in sales.

Summary

End of Chapter 1

Thank you