personal selling process personal selling process
TRANSCRIPT
Personal Selling Process
Face-to-Face interaction
Persuasion
Flexibility
Promotion of sales
Supply of Information
Mutual Benefit
Personal Selling
o Goals range from:
o finding prospects
o convincing prospects to buy
o keeping customers satisfied--help them
pass the word along
Nature of Personal Selling
o Goal of the process is to find new customers
and sell them something
o Salespeople spend their time
o Maintaining existing accounts
o Building long-term customer relationships
Personal Selling Process
Steps involved in Personal Selling Process
Prospecting
Pre- approach
Approach
Need Assessment
Presentation
Meeting objections
Gaining commitments
Follow -up
o Finding new
o People who recognize their needs and are ready to
buy
o Two steps
o Identifying leads
o Qualifying leads
Prospecting
Prospecting
Identifying leads/potential customers
oReferrals from customers
oReferrals from internal company sources
oReferrals from external referral agencies
oPublished directories
oNetworking by salespersons
oCold canvassing
Qualifying leads-Identifying those who are most likely to buyThree criteria
oNeed for the productoCan afford to buy
productoCustomer is receptive
to be called upon by salesperson
1. Customer research
o Information gathering about size,
purchasing practices
o Companies’ databases
o Chamber of commerce
o Newspaper articles
Pre-Approach-Planning the sale
2. Planning sales presentation
o Use information gathered in pre call
customer research
o Plan how to approach the questions buyer
may ask
Pre-Approach-Planning the sale
o Appointment to see buyer
o To gain prospects’ attention, stimulates
interest & make transition to presentation
o Can make or break entire presentation
o First impression is last impression
o At the end salesperson must gain buyer’s
agreement to move into need assessment
stage
Approach
o Deals with discovering, clarifying and
understanding buyer’s needs and wants
o Best way is to ask questions
o Situational questions
o Problem discovery questions
o Problem impact questions
o Solution value questions
o Confirmatory questions
Need Assessment
o Discussion of those product and/or service
features, advantages, benefits
o May be oral or supported by written, or visual
aids
o Features: Characteristic of a product or service
o Advantage: How the feature changes the
performance
o Benefits : How the advantage is useful for the buyer
Presentation
Presentationo Benefits should be those which address
specific needs mentioned by the customer
o Convince the customer that their company’s products or services meet their needs and wants much better than competition
o Polypill consisting of aspirin, statin, three blood pressure lowering agents
Product Feature Advantage Benefit
Poly pillFive-in-one tablet
Affordable, once in a day
Patient compliance
o Product demonstration
o Prepared sales presentation
o Advantages
o Gives new sales people confidence
o Can utilize tested sales technique that have proven
effective
o Gives some assurance that company story will be told
o Greatly simplifies sales training
Presentation
o Objections should be welcomed
o Indicate prospect’s interest in presentation
o Techniques to be followed
o Actively listen to buyer
o Clarify objections
o Respect the prospect’s concern
o No defensiveness
o Respond to objection
Meeting Objections
o Types of Objections
o Price/ Value Objections
o Product/ Service Objections
o Procrastinating Objections
o Hidden Objections
Meeting Objectives
o “I don’t need this” or “it costs
too much”
o Convince buyer of importance
of problem and of value of
solution
o Go back to need assessment
stage and ask problem impact
and solution value questions
o Offer some price value
comparisons if buyer is still
reluctant
Price/Value Objections
o Buyer doubts whether
the product or service
can solve his problem, or
improve his operations.
o Salesperson convinces
buyers that the product
will do what is being said
about it
o Demonstrate that
product is capable of
fulfilling buyer’s needs
Product/Service Objections
o Proof-providing tactics are used
o Case-histories
o Testimonials
o Clinical Reports, technical Reports and data
o Expert Opinions
o Independent tests
o A demonstration
o Trial use
Solution to Product/Service Objections
o Difficult to overcome
o Let me think about it a while,
o I have to talk over it to my boss,
o Let me see/I will see
o I have some other reps to talk before I make my decision.
o Made to avoid immediate action on the proposition
o Seek commitment for future action
o Meeting with the buyer or his boss
Procrastinating Objections
o Prospects often hide their real reasons for not
buying or stated objections may be fake
o Determine real barriers to the sales
o Adapt presentations as per the buyer’s
feedback
o Asking questions is a good remedy
o At any cost, arguments should be avoided
o A sales rep can win an argument only to lose
sale
Hidden Objections
o Salesperson must ask the buyer to commit to
move sales forwardo Can I place an order for you today?
o Buyer may take an action to close saleo We’ve decided that we need to make a change and
we think your company is in best position to serve
our needs.
o If sale is not closed;o Objective of sales call is to get the buyer to agree to
some action which moves buyer closer to the sale
o He may agree to see the demonstration
o Agree to try the sample of the product
Gaining Commitment
o Sales is not over when order is obtained
o Required as shift is from transactional selling
to relationship selling
o It is much more expensive to acquire new
customers than it is to retain existing
customers.
Follow up