Principles oi Personal Selling

Personal selling is an ancient art. It has spawned a large literature and many principles, infective salespeople have more than ifiStinct; they are (rained in methods of analysis and customer management. Today's companies sfiend hundreds of millions of dollars each year lo train salespeople in (heart of selling. Sales training approaches try to transform a salesperson from a passive order taker into an active order getter who engages in customer problem solving. An active order getter learns how lo listen and question in order lo identify customer

Piraspccting im) qualifying

PfWpproatli needs and come up with sdtind product solutions. This approach assumes that customers have latent needs that constitute opportunities and that they will be loyal to sales reps n'ho tan analyze (heir needs and who have their long-term intcrests at heart. "Marketing Insight: Principles of Customer-Oriented Selling" offers some guidelines.

Most sales training programs agree on the major steps involved in any effective sales process. We show these st eps In Figure 19.-1, and discuss their application to industrial sell' frig next.1*

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Owttoning objections

Closing

Follow-up and naintHHnce

FIG. 19,4 Motor Slcps in Ellectiw: Sealing

The Six Steps

PROSPECTING AND QUALIFYING The first step in selling is to identify and qualify prospects. More companies are taking responsibility Tur finding and qualify!tig leads so ihai the salespeople can use their expensive time doing what they can do best: selling. Companies can qualify the leads by contacting them by thai) or phone to assess their level or interest and financial capacity, The leads can be categorized, with "hot* prospects turned over to the field sales force and "warm" pros peel s turned over to rite telemarketing unit for ful low-up, live n i hen, il usually lakes about four calls on a prospect to consummate a business transaction.

F REAP F ROACH The salesperson needs to learn as much as possible about the prospect company (what it needs, who is involved in the purchase decision) anil its buyers (personal characteristics and buying styles). The salesperson should set call objectives: to qualify the prospect, gather in for mai ion, make an immediate sale. Another task is to decide un the best contact approach, which might be a personal visit, a phone call, ora Lettflfe Finally, the salesperson should plan an overall sales strategy for the account.

PRESENTATION AND DEMONSTRATION The salesperson now tells the product "story" to i be I? u ycr. fo How iúgthcAJ 1>A lorm u!¿t o f ga I n ing rr fieri lion, hold ing in tenst, a rous i ng desire, and obtaining action. The salesperson uses a fen tit res, f/ftiwntages. benefits, and ftthte approach (l-AHV). Features describe physical characteristics of a market offering, such as citip processing speeds or memory capacity. Advantages describe why the Features provide an advantage to the customer. Benefits describe the economic, technical, service, and social benefits delivered by the offering. Value describes the worth (often in monetary terms) of the offering. Too oflen, salespeople spent! loo much linn; dwelling on product features [a product orienta i ion) and not enough stressing the offering's benefits and value (a customer nrie nlnt i on).

OVERCOI ■ O :j;L';. : :■ Customers typically pose objections during the presentation or when asked for the order. Psychological resistance includes resisiance io interference, preference for established Supply sources or brands, Eipathy, reluctance io giving up something, unpleasant associations created by the sales rep. predetermined ideas, dislike of making decisions, and neurotic attitude toward money. Logical resistancemight consist of objections to the price, delivery schedule, or certain product or company characteristics.

To handle these objections, die salesperson maintains a positive approach, asks die buyer to clarify the objection, questions the buyer in a way lhat the buyer has to answer his or her own objection, demies the validity of the objection, or turns the objection inio a reason for buying. Handling and overcoming ohjeclions is a part of i lie broader skills of negotiation.

One potential problem is for salespeople to give in too often when customers demand a discount. One company recognized this as a problem when its sales revenues went up by percent but its profit had remained flat. The company decided to retrain its salespeople to "sell the price." father than "sell through price." Salespeople were given richer information about each customer's sales history and behavior. They received training to recognize value-adding opportunities rather lhau price-Cutting opportunities. As a result, the company's sales revenues climbed and so did its margins.'11

Now the salesperson attempts to close ihc sale. Salespeople need to know how to recognize closing signs from the buyer, including physical actions, statements or comments, and questions. There are several closing techniques. They can ask for ihe order, rccapiiulaie the points of agreement, offer to help the secretary write op the order, ask

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