Marketing Management: Delivering and Promoting Product: Personal Selling: Personal Selling Process, Managing the SalesForce

1. Personal Selling

2. Definition
 Personal selling can be defined as "the process of
person-to-person communication between a
salesperson and a prospective customer, in which the
former learns about the customer's needs and seeks
to satisfy those needs by offering the customer the
opportunity to buy something of value, such as a
good or service.“
 The term may also be used to describe a situation
where a company uses a sales force as one of the
main ways it communicates with customers.

3. Selling Situations
 Sales activity can occur in many types of situations.
1. Field representatives call on clients, who are typically
business clients;
2. Door-to-door sales teams call on householders,
3. Sales staff may work in
a retail or wholesale environment where sales
personnel attend to customers by processing orders
4. Sales may occur in a telemarketing environment
where the sales person makes telephone calls to
prospects.
5. 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.

4. Types of Sales Roles
 Order takers refers to
selling that occurs
primarily at the
wholesale or retail levels.
Order processing
involves determining the
customer needs, pointing
to inventory that meets
the customer needs and
completing the order.

5. Types of Sales Roles
 Order getters refers to
the in-field sales activity
where a sales
representative travels to
the client's home or work
place to makes a sales
presentation in order to
win new business or to
maintain relations with
existing clients.

6. Types of Sales Roles
 Missionary selling is often
seen as a sales support role.
 The missionary sales person
distributes information about
products or services, describes
product attributes and leaves
materials but does not normally
close the sale.
 The missionary sales person often
prepares the way for a field sales
person.
 For example, a pharmaceutical
sales representative may call on
doctors and leave samples,
manufacturer information such as
results of clinical trials, copies of
relevant journal articles etc. in an
effort to persuade doctors to
prescribe a medication or course
of treatment.

7. Types of Sales Roles
 Cold calling refers to a
situation when a sales
representative telephones or
visits a customer without a
prior appointment.
 Cold calling is often
considered to be the most
challenging of the sales
activities.
 In a cold calling situation, the
sales representative is likely to
be more conscious of the
client's time, and may seek to
condense the sales process by
combining the approach and
the sales presentation into a
single step.

8. Types of Sales Roles
 Relationship selling (also
known as consultative selling)
refers to a sales practice that
involves building and
maintaining interactions with
customers in order to enhance
long term relationships.
 Relationship selling often
involves a problem solving
approach where the sales
representative acts in a
consultative role and becomes
a partner in the client's
problem-solving exercise.
 Relationship selling is often
found in high-tech selling
environments.

9. Types of Sales Roles
 Direct selling refers
to selling products
directly to the consumer
in a non-retail
environment. Instead,
sales occur at home,
work, online, or other
non-store locations.
 Example: A street
hawker in Indonesia is
engaged in direct selling

10. The sales process

11. The sales process
 Prospecting–Identifying prospects or prospecting
occurs when the sales person seeks to identify leads or
prospects (i.e., people who are likely to be in the market
for the offer).
 To identify prospects, sales representatives might use a
variety of sources such as business directories (for
corporate clients), commercial databases or mailing lists
or simply look at internal records such as lists of lapsed
customers.
 The aim of prospecting is to increase the likelihood that
sales staff spend time with potential clients who have an
interest in the product or service.

12. The sales process
 Qualifying leads–After identifying potential
customers, the sales team must determine whether
prospects represent genuine potential customers.
This part of the process is known as qualifying leads,
or leads who are likely to buy.
 Qualified leads are those who have a need for the
product, a capacity to pay and a willingness to pay
for the product, and are willing to be contacted by
the salesperson

13. The sales process
 Pre-approach–Refers to the process of
preparing for the presentation.
 This consists of customer research, goal planning,
scheduling an appointment and any other tasks
necessary to prepare for the sales presentation.

14. The sales process
 Approach–Refers to the stage when the
salesperson initially meets with the customer.
 Since first contact leaves an impression on the
buyer, professional conduct, including attire, a
handshake, and eye contact, is advised.

15. The sales process
 Need assessment–An important component of the sales
presentation is the assessment of the customer's needs.
 Salespeople should evaluate the customer based on the
need for the product.
 Sales representatives typically ask questions designed to
reveal the prospective client's current situation, the source
of any problems, the impact of the problems, the benefits of
the solution, the client's prior experience with the brand or
the category, the prospect's general level of interest and
readiness to purchase.
 In the case of corporate clients, it may be necessary to
ascertain any limitations on the prospect's authority to
make a purchase (e.g. financial restrictions)

16. The sales process
 Sales presentation–Once the salesperson knows the
needs, he or she is ready for the presentation.
 Sales representatives often follow the AIDA model, which
allows them to lead the prospect through the standard
stages of the purchase decision process.
 The steps in the AIDA process are to grab the
customer’s Attention, ignite Interest, create Desire, and
inspire Action (AIDA).
 The salesperson can do this through product
demonstrations and presentations that show the features,
advantages and benefits of the product

17. The sales process
 Handling objections–After the presentation, the sales
person must be ready to handle any objections.
 Customers who are interested will voice their concerns,
usually in one of four ways.
 They might question the price or value of the product,
dismiss the product/service as inadequate, avoid making a
commitment to buy, or refuse because of an unknown
factor.
 Salespeople should do their best to anticipate objections
and respectfully respond to them.

18. The sales process
 Closing–When the sales person feels that the
prospect is ready, they will seek to gain
commitment and close the sale.
 If the sales person is unsure about the prospect's
readiness to buy, they might consider using a 'trial
close.'
 The salesperson can use several different
techniques to close the sale; including the
‘alternative close’, the ‘assumptive close’, the
‘summary close’, or the ‘special-offer close’, among
others

19. The sales process
 Follow-up–Finally, the salesperson must
remember to follow up after the sale has been
concluded. Following up will ensure customer
satisfaction and help establish a relationship with
the customer.