Personal Selling Process

1. Personal Selling Process

2. Personal Selling • Face-to-Face interaction • Persuasion • Flexibility • Promotion of sales • Supply of Information • Mutual Benefit

3. Nature of Personal Selling • Goals range from: • finding prospects • convincing prospects to buy • keeping customers satisfied--help them pass the word along

4. Personal Selling Process • Goal of the process is to find new customers and sell them something • Salespeople spend their time • Maintaining existing accounts • Building long-term customer relationships

5. Steps involved in Personal Selling Process

6. Prospecting • Finding new • People who recognize their needs and are ready to buy • Two steps • Identifying leads • Qualifying leads

7. Prospecting • Identifying leads/potential customers • Referrals from customers • Referrals from internal company sources • Referrals from external referral agencies • Published directories • Networking by salespersons • Cold canvassing • Qualifying leads-Identifying those who are most likely to buy • Three criteria • Need for the product • Can afford to buy product • Customer is receptive to be called upon by salesperson

8. Pre-Approach-Planning the sale 1. Customer research • Information gathering about size, purchasing practices • Companies’ databases • Chamber of commerce • Newspaper articles

9. Pre-Approach-Planning the sale 2. Planning sales presentation • Use information gathered in pre call customer research • Plan how to approach the questions buyer may ask

10. Approach • Appointment to see buyer • To gain prospects’ attention, stimulates interest & make transition to presentation • Can make or break entire presentation • First impression is last impression • At the end salesperson must gain buyer’s agreement to move into need assessment stage

11. Need Assessment • Deals with discovering, clarifying and understanding buyer’s needs and wants • Best way is to ask questions • Situational questions • Problem discovery questions • Problem impact questions • Solution value questions • Confirmatory questions

12. Presentation • Discussion of those product and/or service features, advantages, benefits • May be oral or supported by written, or visual aids • Features: Characteristic of a product or service • Advantage: How the feature changes the performance • Benefits : How the advantage is useful for the buyer

13. Presentation • Benefits should be those which address specific needs mentioned by the customer • Convince the customer that their company’s products or services meet their needs and wants much better than competition • Polypill consisting of aspirin, statin, three blood pressure lowering agents

14. Presentation • Product demonstration • Prepared sales presentation • Advantages • Gives new sales people confidence • Can utilize tested sales technique that have proven effective • Gives some assurance that company story will be told • Greatly simplifies sales training

15. Meeting Objections • Objections should be welcomed • Indicate prospect’s interest in presentation • Techniques to be followed • Actively listen to buyer • Clarify objections • Respect the prospect’s concern • No defensiveness • Respond to objection

16. Meeting Objectives • Types of Objections • Price/ Value Objections • Product/ Service Objections • Procrastinating Objections • Hidden Objections

17. Price/Value Objections Product/Service Objections • “I don’t need this” or “it costs too much” • Convince buyer of importance of problem and of value of solution • Go back to need assessment stage and ask problem impact and solution value questions • Offer some price value comparisons if buyer is still reluctant • Buyer doubts whether the product or service can solve his problem, or improve his operations. • Salesperson convinces buyers that the product will do what is being said about it • Demonstrate that product is capable of fulfilling buyer’s needs

18. Solution to Product/Service Objections

19. Procrastinating Objections • Difficult to overcome • Let me think about it a while, • I have to talk over it to my boss, • Let me see/I will see • I have some other reps to talk before I make my decision. • Made to avoid immediate action on the proposition • Seek commitment for future action • Meeting with the buyer or his boss

20. Hidden Objections • Prospects often hide their real reasons for not buying or stated objections may be fake • Determine real barriers to the sales • Adapt presentations as per the buyer’s feedback • Asking questions is a good remedy • At any cost, arguments should be avoided • A sales rep can win an argument only to lose sale

21. Gaining Commitment • Salesperson must ask the buyer to commit to move sales forward • Can I place an order for you today? • Buyer may take an action to close sale • We’ve decided that we need to make a change and we think your company is in best position to serve our needs. • If sale is not closed; • Objective of sales call is to get the buyer to agree to some action which moves buyer closer to the sale • He may agree to see the demonstration • Agree to try the sample of the product

22. Follow up • Sales is not over when order is obtained • Required as shift is from transactional selling to relationship selling • It is much more expensive to acquire new customers than it is to retain existing customers.