Personal Selling Skills According to Schuster Danes1986 successful

Personal Selling Skills According to Schuster & Danes(1986), successful selling should include: ¨Asking questions ¨Providing product information, making comparison, offering evidence to support claims ¨Acknowledging customers’ viewpoints ¨Agreeing with customers’ perceptions ¨Supporting the customers ¨Releasing tension Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills The personal selling process The opening Follow-up Need & problem identification Presentation & demonstration Closing the sale Lecturer 5 Dealing with objections Negotiation

Personal Selling Skills 1. The Opening ¨ Tidy appearance (hair/dressing) ¨ Open with a smile, a handshake ¨ Introduce yourself and company ¨ Wait for the buyer to indicate you sit down/ask if you can sit down ¨ Start with talking some social matter, if buyer is in a hurry, state your reason of visiting promptly Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 1. The Opening 2. E. g. 3. 4. 5. 6. “How is your business going? ” “Your company is a well-known company, is there any other branch in HK, or elsewhere? “I can see that you appear to be interested in our product. What kind of style or design had you in the mind? ” “Can I help you? ” “ No, thank you, I’m just looking” Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 2. Need and problem identification 3. Salespeople should avoid making a sales presentation in the same rigid way, without finding out the needs of customers: ¨Preference ¨Budget ¨Purpose of using ¨Special requirement Use open question(require more than one word answer) to guide the customer to give information on the need or problem: “Why do you select this model? ” “Is it for your personal use? Or you buy for others” “Why did you dissatisfy with the old one? ” Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 3. Presentation and Demonstration Understanding of customer’s needs enables the salesperson to choose the most appropriate products from his/her range to meet customer requirement. ¨The salesperson knows which product benefits to stress. (different customers place different priority on the features of the same product). A salesperson should associate the product feature with customer benefits. ¨Benefits can be at two level: –Products –The supplier of the products(brand) Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 3. Presentation and Demonstration ¨Only mention features is not appropriate: Too much features mentioned of highly technical product may confuse customers who are not familiar with the product. ¨Salesperson should: –“the house is situated 4 miles from the company where you work(product feature) which means that you can easily at work within 15 mins(benefit)” –This watch has installed the alarm function(product feature) which enables you to set time whenever you wish(benefit). Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 3. Presentation and Demonstration Keep on asking questions to customers during presentation. ¨ The questioning procedure allows the salesperson to adjust the speed and content of the presentation. ¨It also allows the salesperson to communicate more effectively as the seller know how to vary the presentation to different buyers. When a buyer is reluctant to buy, or change the old supplier to the new one, the salesperson can try to offer: 1. 2. 3. 4. Reference selling Demonstrations Guarantees Trial orders Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 4. Dealing with objections Objections mean: ¨ ¨ ¨ The buyer is interested in the product Highlights the issue which are important to buyers The buyers are not yet convinced Five approaches to deal with objections 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Listen and do not disturb Agree and counter Straight denial Question the objection Forestall the objection Turn the objection into a trial close Hidden objections Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 4. Dealing with objections (con’t) 1. Listen and do not disturb ¨ Salesperson disturbs usually because: wrong ¨ 2. ¨ ¨ objection, trivial, impatient Should: listen carefully and respectfully, buyer may appreciate if the claim is dealt seriously/ reasonably. Agree and counter Salesperson first agrees that buyer is sensible and reasonable, then put forward the alternative view: “yes, …. but…. ” technique Create a climate of agreement rather than conflict Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 4. Dealing with objections (con’t) E. g. Agree and counter “I can appreciate your concern that the product is more expensive. However…. ” “That’s absolutely right. The price is a bit more expensive, that’s why I want to show you that…” 3. Straight Denial 4. This method should be handled carefully as it potentially creates direct conflicts with customers. It can be used when the buyer is clearly seeking factual information. 5. Buyer: “I expect now is the low season so prices are cheap” 6. Seller: “No, it’s not correct. Now is just the starting of peak season” Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 4. Dealing with objections (con’t) 4. Question the objection 5. Salesperson could ask the nature of the objection to clarify the specific problem. 6. Buyer: “ I am sorry I don’t like this model” 7. Seller: “ Really? Could you tell me why you don’t like? Is it because of the color or the design or the price? ” 8. 5. Forestall the objection ¨Anticipate an objection and plans its counter ¨Raise as part of the sales presentation ¨Pro: salesperson can control the time, unexpected question to buyer may be more convincing ¨Con: unexpected question to buyer may be risky. Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 4. Dealing with objections (con’t) 6. Turn the objection into a trial close ¨ A salesperson attempts to conclude the sale without harming the selling process ¨ Usually it will be used after the selling process is well under way, the salesperson judges that only one objection remains “If I can satisfy you that the price of this model is no higher than that of the Shop XX, would you buy it? ” 7. Hidden objections ¨ ¨ Buyers may prefer not to raise objection to avoid offence or prolong the sales interaction(in the no-buy situation, buyers always keep no comment or say be back again) The salesperson should uncover buyer’s hidden objection or concern, by asking questions like: “Is there anything so far you are not sure about” Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 5. Negotiation ¨ ¨ 1. 2. Sellers and buyers may negotiate price, credit terms, delivery time, trade in value, etc. It’s all depends on the bargaining power and the negotiation skills of both parties. Start high but be realistic- when the seller expect the buyer ask for huge concession for purchasing. So price is high but must be realistic. Attempt to trade concession for concession- Seller give concession to secure the sale. “if you are prepared to pay by cash, I can offer additional 2% on the price” 3. Buyers’ negotiation techniques- Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 6. Closing the Sales ¨ ¨ ¨ Asking the buyers to say “yes” or “no” Some buyers are inevitably give negative response, salesperson should not avoid closing sales because of the feeling of being rejected. A major consideration is timing. Salesperson should be aware of the “buying signal” of buyers (whether buy or not) Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 6. Closing the Sales--Techniques Examples: ¨ Simply ask for the order: “Shall I reserve you one? ”, “Would you like to buy it? ” ¨ Summarize then ask for the order: “well, Miss, we have agreed that this model meets your requirements of low price, multi-function, maintenance guarantee, shall I place an order for this model? ¨ The concession close: “if you are willing to place an order now, I will offer an extra 1% discount” ¨ The alternative close: “would you like the red or blue one? ” ¨ The objection close: “if I can convince you that this model is the most economical, would you buy it? ” ¨ Action agreement: when the sales cycle is long (industrial product) it is not appropriate to close the sale immediately. “May be you need time to consider the product again, I hope we can make a deal next time. ”Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills 7. Follow-up ¨ Ensure the customer is satisfied with the purchase ¨ Put off follow-up call (industrial/trading product) Lecturer 5

Personal Selling Skills Conclusion: ¨Buyers buy from their friends, not from their enemies ¨Be persistent, be sensitive, be polite ¨Failure today doesn't mean failure tomorrow Lecturer 5