Overview of Selling

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Overview of Selling
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Learning Objectives

• Define personal selling and describe its unique
  characteristics as a marketing communications
  tool.
• Distinguish between transaction-focused
  traditional selling and trust-based relationship
  selling, with the latter focusing on customer
  value and sales dialogue.
• Describe the evolution of personal selling from
  ancient times to the modern era.

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Learning Objectives

• Explain the contributions of personal selling to
  society, business firms, and customers.
• Discuss five alternative approaches to selling.
• Describe the three primary roles fulfilled by
  consultative salespeople.
• Understand the sales process as a series of
  interrelated steps.

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Key Thoughts

• Selling has been around since there were goods
  to trade.
• The role of the salesperson has evolved . . .
  becoming more professional.
• Salespeople play an important role in creating
  and maintaining a strong economy.
• Salespeople are solution providers.
• Sales is a process focusingon initiating,
  developing, and enhancing customer relationships.

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Personal Selling Defined
An important part of marketing that
relies heavily on interpersonal
interactions between buyers and
sellers to initiate, develop, and
enhance customer relationships.
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Trust-Based Relationship Selling
Requires that salespeople earn customer
trust and that their selling strategy
meets customer needs and
contributes to the creation,
communication, and delivery of customer value.
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Customer Value

• The customers perception of what they get for
  what they have to give up.

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Importance of Sales Dialogue

• Allows for more thorough qualifying.
• Demonstrates sincere interest in the prospective
  customer.
• Helps Determine prospective customers unique
  needs.
• Ensures meaningful presentation of value-added
  solutions.
• Promotes opencommunication andsatisfaction
  feedback.

Sales Dialogue business conversation
between buyers sellers thatoccur as
salespeople attemptto initiate, develop,
enhance customer relationships.
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Transaction-Focused Sellingvs. Trust-Based
Relationship Selling
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Transaction-Focused Sellingvs. Trust-Based
Relationship Selling
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Evolution of Personal Selling
Selling function became more structured
Peddlers selling door to door . . . served as
intermediaries
1800s
1900s
2000s
IndustrialRevolution
Post-IndustrialRevolution
War andDepression
ModernEra
Business organizations employed salespeople
Selling function becoming more professional
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Evolution of Personal Selling (The past several
decades)
From reliance on
Canned Sales Presentation sales presentations
that include scripted sales calls, memorized
presentations, and automated presentations.
To greater focus on
Sales Professionalism a customer-oriented
approach that uses truthful, non-manipulative
tactics to satisfy the long-term needs of both
the customer and the selling firm.
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Continued Evolutionof Personal Selling
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Is Sales a Profession?

• Knowledge base
• Contribution to Society
• Defined Culture and Organization
• Professional skills
• Autonomy
• Code of Ethics

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Contributions of Personal Selling Salespeople
and Society

• Salespeople help stimulate the economy.
• Salespeople help with the diffusion of innovation.

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Contributions of Personal SellingSalespeople
and the Employing Firm

• Salespeople generate revenue.
• Salespeople provide market research and customer
  feedback.
• Salespeople become future leaders in the
  organization.

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Contributions of Personal SellingSalespeople
and the Customer

• Salespeople provide solutions to problems.
• Salespeople provide expertise and serve as
  information resources.
• Salespeople serve as advocates for the customer
  when dealing with the selling organization.

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AlternativePersonal Selling Approaches

• Stimulus Response Selling
• Mental States Selling
• Need Satisfaction Selling
• Problem Solving Selling
• Consultative Selling

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Stimulus Response Selling
Simple indesign assumes conditionedresponse
improves likelihood of success a risky and
unreliable strategy.
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Mental States Selling
Assumes buyercan be led through mental states
promotes one-way communication a risky and
unreliable strategy.
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Need Satisfaction Selling
Interact with buyer to determine existing needs
present solutions to needs solutions limited to
sellers products.
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Problem Solving Selling
Interact with buyer to determine existing and
potential needs present multiple solutions not
limited to sellers products.
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Consultative Selling
The process of helping customers reach their
strategic goals by using the products,
services, and
expertise of the selling
organization.
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The Sales Process An Overview
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The Sales Process - Overview
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The Sales Process Selling Foundations
In order to be successful in todays global
business environment, salespeople must have a
solid relationship building foundation. They
must
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The Sales Process Selling Strategy
In order to be successful in todays global
business environment, salespeople must also think
and act strategically. The must develop
strategies for
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The Sales Process
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Sales Careers

• Module One Appendix

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Characteristics of Sales Careers

• Job Security
• Advancement Opportunities
• Immediate Feedback
• Prestige
• Job Variety
• Independence
• Compensation

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Job Security
Selling skills are readily transferable from
industry to industry.and the need for good
salespeople will never go away.
Accordingly, good salespeople have opportunities
within and across industries.
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Advancement Opportunities
Salespeople are familiar with the market, the
customers, and the products. In addition, good
salespeople have great interpersonal
skills. These attributes help to make salespeople
good candidates for leadership in the
organization.
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Immediate Feedback Prestige
Customer responses to the salespersons efforts
are typically immediateproviding the salesperson
performance feedback and the opportunity to
adjust on the fly. The role of the professional
salesperson is not well known by the general
public and is eclipsed by negative stereo types .
. . but that is slowly changing.
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Job Variety and Independence
Professional selling is rarely the same from
day-to-day. The word routine doesnt
apply. Usually, salespeople are accountable for
attaining certain goalshow they get there is up
to them. There is no time-clock and no
taskmaster.
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Compensation
Good salespeople usually earn an income well
above the national average. Many salespeople
earn six figure incomes (or higher). Income is
most often tied directly to performance.
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Characteristics of Successful Salespeople

• Empathy
• Ego Drive
• Ego Strength
• Interpersonal Communication Skills
• Enthusiasm