Personal Selling Selling Skills Chapter 2 Dr Senem

Personal Selling & Selling Skills Chapter 2 Dr. Senem SÖNMEZ SELÇUK

2 A product that is well conceived and produced through the Combination of the most modern technologies and the best of inputs cannot sell itself. There is the need for the existence of such product to be made known to the target market. INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

3 A good or service should respond favorably to the marketing mix which will result to the full performance of any good or service in the market. However, an important element of the marketing mix is promotion, promotion otherwise known as marketing communication. This is the element that brings the existence of product or service to the awareness of consumers or clients. It clients. further educates potential and actual buyer of a product on the usage, usage benefits, benefits availability, availability price and other features of the product. features INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

4 Personal Selling is …. Personal presentation by the firms’ sales force for the purpose of making sale and building customer relationship Personal selling consists of interpersonal interactions with customers and prospects to make sales and with customers maintain customer relationships. INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

5 Personal Selling is …. Personal selling is a promotion via sales pitch by a sales via sales pitch representation to a prospect or by a retail assistant to a customer, guaranteeing exposure to self-selected member of a target market. Personal selling is oral communication with potential oral communication 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 relationship ultimately end with an attempt to "close the sale". INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

6 Personal selling is one of the oldest forms of promotion. It involves the use of a sales force to support a push strategy (encouraging intermediaries to buy the product) or (encouraging intermediaries to buy the product) a pull strategy (where the role of the sales force may be limited to supporting retailers and providing aftersales service). sales service)

7 What Do Customers Care About? THEMSELVES!! Wants, Needs, Desires INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

8 What Do They Buy? SOLUTIONS!! Not Products! INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

9 Customer Orientated Selling …. Customer orientated selling is ‘the degree to which salespeople practice the marketing concept by trying to help their customers make purchase decisions that will satisfy customer needs’. The model for personal selling advocated here is that of a salesperson acting as a need identifier and problema need identifier solver INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

10 Customer orientated selling can be characterised as: selling 1) The desire to help customers make satisfactory purchase decisions. 2) Helping customers assess their needs. 3) Offering products that will satisfy those needs. 4) Describing products accurately. 5) Avoiding deceptive or manipulative influence tactics. 6) Avoiding the use of high pressure sales techniques. INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

11 In order to foster customer orientated selling, companies to foster customer orientated selling need to develop a corporate culture that views understanding customers and creating value for them as being central to their philosophy, and to use evaluation procedures that include measurement of the support given to customers, customer satisfaction with salesperson interactions, and the degree to which salespeople are perceived by customers to behave ethically. In addition, companies should include ethics in sales ethics training courses, and employ sales managers who are willing to promote and enforce ethical codes and policies. ethical codes INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

12 Research studies have shown that successful selling is successful selling associated with the following: asking questions; providing product information, making comparisons and offering evidence to support claims; acknowledging the customer’s viewpoint; agreeing with the customer’s perceptions; supporting the customer; releasing tension; having a richer, more detailed knowledge of customers; increased effort; and confidence in one’s own ability.

13 When developing their personal selling skills, salespeople personal selling skills should also be aware of the characteristics desired of salespeople by buyers Research has shown a number of key factors and these are; Expertise in their company’s products and the market Good communication skills Ability to solve problems Ability to understand satisfy the buyer’s needs Thoroughness Ability to help in ensuring the reliable and fast delivery of orders INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

14 Buyers’ Likes and Dislikes about Salespeople Likes Dislikes Knowledgeable Unprepared Empathy Uninformed Well-organized Aggressive Promptness Undependability Follow-through Poor follow-through Solutions Presumptuousness (Going beyond what is right or proper) Punctuality Walk-ins Hard-work Compulsive talkers Energetic Problem-avoiders Honesty Lack of personal respect INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

15 Personal Selling: Scope Personal Selling involves selling through a person-toperson communications process. person communications The emphasis placed on personal selling varies from firm to firm depending on a variety of factors, including the nature of the product or service being marketed, size the nature of the product or service of the organization, and type of the industry. of the organization INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

16 The Nature of Personal Selling Wotruba has identified five distinct stages of personal selling evolution: 1) Provider Stage: Activities are limited to accepting orders Provider Stage: for the suppliers available offering and conveying it to buyer. 2) Persuader an attempt to persuade Persuader Stage: Selling involves Stage: market members to buy the supplier’s offerings. market members 3) Prospector stage: Activities include seeking out selected Prospector stage: buyers who are perceived to have a need for the offering buyers as well as the resources and authority to buy it. INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

17 4) Problem-solver stage: Selling involves obtaining Problem-solver stage: obtaining the participation of buyers to identify their problems, participation of buyers which can be translated into needs, and then presenting a selection from the supplier’s offerings that corresponds with those needs and can solve those problems. 5) Procreator stage: Selling defines the buyer’s Procreator stage: problems or needs and their solutions through active buyer-seller collaboration and then creates a market buyer-seller collaboration offering uniquely tailored to the customer. offering uniquely tailored INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

18 Types of Personal Selling According to the classification of Derch Newton, the four types of personal selling are: 1) trade selling, 2) missionary selling 3) technical selling 4) new business selling INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

19 1) Trade Selling is selling products to wholesalers and retailers for resale purposes. Trade selling involves the increase in the volume of the company’s sales by providing promotional assistance to the intermediaries. Ex. Organic food, natural products, fertilizers, etc. v Trade Show - an exhibition or fair at which Trade Show manufacturers display their products for the benefit of display visiting wholesalers and retailers. wholesalers retailers

20 2) Missionary Selling A missionary type of sales job involves convincing someone who has never used a product to buy it The missionary involves educating someone about an idea or concept and convincing them to have faith in that concept. Ex. Selling financial planning or life insurance and other financial products typifies the missionary sales job. INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

21 3) Technical Selling emphasizes the technical knowledge; trying to highlight certain features of a product or service, in the hopes that it will connect with the buyer on that level. INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

22 4) New Business Selling New business selling is used to obtain new accounts for the producer. This involves the salesmen looking for new opportunities or new users for his company’s product in his territory. Ex. Car shopping usually starts with online research. Consumers perform research on makes, models and car prices. They also read reviews written by model owners. INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

23 Selling Approaches A company should have a standard sales method. However, because customers make buying decisions differently, there will obviously be variations in the selling techniques successful salespeople use. Research shows that there are four basic models of selling: Transactional Problem solving (consultative) Affiliative Enterprise selling INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

24 Selling Approaches Transactional § Finish sale as quickly and as easily as possible § Key to success is making as many calls as possible to as many people as possible Affiliative § Based on the friendship between the salesperson Based on the friendship and the individual buyer § Identify and solve a client’s problems Problem Solving § Also called needs-satisfaction selling or or Consultative problem/solution selling Enterprise § Business-to-business (B 2 B) concept § Based on not only person-to-person relationships but on company-to-company relationships

25 The Personal Selling Process

26 1) Prospecting involves identifying potential customers Prospecting for a particular product or service. A prospect is a MAD buyer, someone with prospect MAD buyer the Money to spend, the Authority to buy, the Desire to buy it.

27 2) Pre-Approach During Pre-Approach, the salesperson tries to learn Pre-Approach everything he can about the account. Can take a significant amount of time. Preperation signals that the salesperson is knowledgeable, competent, and cares about the customer.

28 3) Approach: salesperson asks buyer to commit to a Approach: meeting Opening statement must get buyer’s attention. A good opening statement causes the buyer to focus on the salesperson.

29 4) Needs identification: salesperson confirms prospect is Needs identification: MAD (Money, Authority, Desire) Comprised of 3 elements; 1 Questioning 2 Identification 3 Pre-commitment

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32 5) Presentation: salesperson describes product and how Presentation: it meets buyer’s needs Feature Evidence Benefit Agreement

33 6) Handling Objections: reasons a buyer offers to not buy your Objections: product Can occur at any time Salesperson should find out root of concern and resolve it

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35 7) Closing The Sale Close: when salesperson asks buyer for the sale Close: Good close Reinforce decision to buy Confirm implementation schedule Thank the buyer Ask for referral

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37 8) Implementation/Follow-Up Follow-Up: After delivery, ensure that the customer has Follow-Up: good experience with product Training, service, policies and procedures

38 Selling Approach vs. Selling Process Transactional Prospecting Affiliative Problem Solving or Consultative Closing Presenting Enterprise INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

39 Selling Approach vs. Selling Process The selling process is a constant cycle of prospecting, presenting, and closing. Whether the model is transactional, transactional consultative, consultative affiliative, or enterprise, the basic process is similar. affiliative enterprise In a transactional situation, little time is spent on needs situation identification. The emphasis in the selling process is on identification the presentation and a key to being successful is to make as many presentations as possible. INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

40 Selling Approach vs. Selling Process Affiliative needs Affiliative selling, may not require a long selling identification process. Yet, there is a relation-building identification process that is ongoing, within which the selling process takes place. More emphasis is given to follow-up because it is during this step that the relationship with the customer is built. Consultative needs-identification Consultative selling emphasizes the selling needs-identification stage. The complexity of the buyer’s situation will make it necessary for the salesperson to spend a great deal of time, relatively speaking, on understanding the situation and needs. INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

41 Selling Approach vs. Selling Process With enterprise selling, the seller will engage in selling consultative, transactional consultative affiliative, and affiliative transactional selling at selling different times and with different products. The result is that the emphasis shifts, depending on the situation shifts within the account. INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

42 Personal Selling Skills The skills involved in personal selling have also been explored in this part of the chapter. The necessary skills are: 1. The opening. 2. Need and problem identification. 3. Presentation and demonstration. 4. Dealing with objections. 5. Negotiation. 6. Closing the sale. 7. The follow-up. INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

43 Personal Selling Responsibilities Or Types of Sales Jobs The responsibilities of a salesperson are categorized under different head by different authors. One classification divides this responsibilities into two groups- Service Selling & Service Selling Developmental Selling. However, the most widely accepted is the one suggested by Anderson, which is as follows: Anderson INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

44 1) Order Taking Once the initial sale has taken place, the creative seller may be replaced by an order taker, whose role is much more casual 2) Creative Selling/ Order Getting Creative selling jobs may require the most skill and preparation. In addition to prospecting, the salesperson preparation. must assess the situation, determine the needs to be met, present the capabilities for satisfying these needs, and get an order. INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation Techniques INTF 356 - International Sales & Negotiation

45 3) Order Supporting They are not directly involved in selling products but acts as a support staff for the front-line sales personnel. They are of two support staff for the front-line sales personnel. types: Missionary Salespeople The missionary reps introduces new products, new promotions and/or new programs, with the actual order to be taken by the company’s order taker or by a distributor representing the company’s goods. e. g. Medical Sales Representatives Technical Specialists assists the order-oriented salespeople in selling products by providing technical information about the product and technical assistance for installation, design of the product etc.

46 Advantages & Disadvantages of Personal Selling