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ABC’s of Relationship Selling, 8/e by Futrell is written by a sales person turned teacher and is filled with practical tips and business-examples gleaned from years of experience in sales with Colgate, Up-john, and Ayerst and from the author’s sales consulting business. Charles Futrell focuses on improving communication skills and emphasizes that no matter what career a student pursues, selling skills are a valuable asset. This affordable, brief paperback contains a wealth of exercises and role plays is perfect for a selling course where professors spend considerable time utilizing other resources and projects. The text also makes a nice companion to a sales management text in Marketing programs that offer a sales management course, but do not offer a separate selling course.
www.mhhe.com/futrell05 : For Instructors: Instructor’s Manual, PowerPoints, and link to PageOut. For Students: self-quizzes, annotated links, and career resources. OLCs can be delivered multiple ways-through the textbook website, PageOut, or within a course management system (i.e. WebCT & Blackboard.)
Chapter 1: The Life, Times, and Career of the Professional Salesperson
Chapter 2: Social, Ethical, and Legal Issues in Selling
Chapter 3: The Psychology of Selling: Why People Buy
Chapter 4: Communication for Relationship Building: It’s Not All Talk
Chapter 5: Sales Knowledge: Customers, Products, Technologies
Chapter 6: Prospecting: The Lifeblood of Selling
Chapter 7: Planning the Sales Call Is a Must!
Chapter 8: Carefully Select Which Sales Presentation Method to Use
Chapter 9: Begin Your Presentation Strategically
Chapter 10: Elements of a Great Sales Presentation
Chapter 11: Welcome Your Prospects Objections
Chapter 12: Closing Begins the Relationship
Chapter 13: Service and Follow-Up for Customer Retention
Chapter 14: Time, Territory, and Self-Management: Keys to Success
Charles M. Futrell is the Federated Professor of Marketing at Texas A & M University in College Station, Texas. He has a B.B.A., M.B.A., and Ph.D. in marketing. Dr. Futrell is a former salesperson turned professor. Before beginning his academic career, Professor Futrell worked in sales and marketing capacities for eight years with the Colgate Company, The Upjohn Company, and Ayerst Laboratories.
Dr. Futrell serves as a frequent reviewer for several academic journals. He is on the editorial board of The Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management and the editorial advisory board of The Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. His research in personal selling, sales management, research methodology, and marketing management has appeared in numerous national and international journals, such as the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Marketing Research. An article in the summer 1991 issues of the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management ranked Charles as one of the top three sales researchers in America. He was also recognized in Marketing Education,Summer 1997, as one of the top 100 best researchers in the marketing discipline. His work has earned him several research awards.
Professor Futrell served as the American Marketing Association's Chair of the Sales and Sales Management Special Interest Group (SIG) for the 1996-97 academic year. He was the first person elected to this position. Charles was elected Finance Chair for the Sales SIG's 1998-99 term. In 1999, the Association of Former Students awarded him the Lowry Mays College and Graduate School of Business Distinguished Teaching Award. Mu Kappa Tau, the National Marketing Honor Society, recognized Charles for exceptional scholarly contributions to the sales profession in 2000. This is only the fourth time this recognition has been bestowed since its creation in 1988.
In the spring of 2001, Dr. Futrell was chosen as a Fish Camp (Texas A&M University's Freshman Orientation Camp) Namesake. Fish Camps are named after faculty members who have made a significant impact on Texas A&M, and nominations for the award are made by students, which makes it a very prestigious honor for instructors.Dr. Futrell has written or co-written eight successful books for the college and professional audience. Three of the most popular books are Sales Management: Teamworks, Leadership, and Technology, sixth edition, Harcourt College Publishers; Fundamentals of Selling: Customers for Life, seventh edition, and ABC's of Relationship Selling, seventh edition, both published by Irwin/McGraw-Hill publishers. These books are used in hundreds of American and international schools. Over 300,000 students worldwide have benefited from Professor Futrell's books.
In 1997 Dr. Futrell began using his Website and group E-mails in sales classes that often have 100 students in each section. Students sign up for both a lecture period and lab time. In each semester's six labs, students are videotaped in activities such as making a joint sales call, panel interview, selling oneself on a job interview, product sales presentations, and various experiential exercises.
TAMU's College of Business Administration and Graduate School of Business is one of the largest business programs in America, with more than 6,000 full-time business majors. Approximately 50 percent of the Marketing Department's 800 majors are in Charles's personal selling and/or sales management classes at various times. He has worked with close to 10,000 students in sales-related classes.
Professor Futrell's books, research, and teaching are based on his extensive work with sales organizations of all types and sizes. This broad and rich background has resulted in his being invited to be a frequent speaker, researcher, and consultant to industry.
Available as e book at
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ABCs of Relationship Selling Charles Futrell (c) 2007 |
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Chapter Objectives Chapter Outline Chapter Summary Flashcards |
This chapter introduces you to the professional and rewarding career of selling. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| What Is the Purpose of Business? |
| Essentials of a Firm’s Marketing Effort |
| What Is Selling? |
| Personal Selling Today |
| A New Definition of Personal Selling |
| The Golden Rule of Personal Selling |
| Everybody Sells! |
| What Salespeople Are Paid to Do |
| Why Choose a Sales Career? |
| Is a Sales Career Right for You? |
| Success in Selling—What Does It Take? |
| C—Characteristics for the Job Examined |
| Do Success Characteristics Describe You? |
| Relationship Selling |
| Sales Jobs Are Different |
| What Does a Professional Salesperson Do? |
| The Future for Salespeople |
| E-Selling: Technology Used by Salespeople |
| Selling Is for Large and Small Organizations |
| The Plan of This Textbook |
| Building Relationships through the Sales |
| Process |
Personal selling is an old and honorable profession. It has helped improve this country’s standard of living and provided benefits to individual buyers through the purchase of products. Millions of people have chosen sales careers because of the opportunity to serve others, the availability of sales jobs, the personal freedom sales provides, the challenge, the multitude of opportunities for success, and the nonfinancial and financial rewards.
A person can become a successful salesperson through company and personal training and by properly applying this knowledge while developing skills and abilities that benefit customers. Also important are believing in the product or service being sold, working hard, wanting to succeed, and maintaining a positive outlook toward both selling and oneself. In addition, a successful salesperson should be knowledgeable, able to plan, and efficient in using selling time. Effective salespeople are good listeners who provide service to customers. En route to success, salespeople develop a range of skills through study and practice, enhancing their ability to think strategically, relate to others, and understand the technical aspects of their business.
For the future, salespeople will need to be well versed in diverse international markets, able to ethically develop customer partnerships, and ready to utilize technology. The remainder of this book expands on these topics to provide you with the background either to improve your present selling ability or to help you decide if a sales career is right for you.
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This chapter is one of the most important in this book. Social, ethical, and legal issues for sales personnel are often personal and technical in nature, yet they are essential for understanding how to be an outstanding professional. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| Social, Ethical, and Legal Influences |
| Management’s Social Responsibilities |
| What Influences Ethical Behavior? |
| Are There Any Ethical Guidelines? |
| Management’s Ethical Responsibilities |
| Ethics in Dealing with Salespeople |
| Salespeople’s Ethics in Dealing with Their Employers |
| Ethics in Dealing with Customers |
| The International Side of Ethics |
| Managing Sales Ethics |
| Ethics in Business and Sales |
| The Tree of Business Life |
Ethics and social responsibility are hot topics for managers. Ethical behavior pertains to values of right and wrong. Ethical decisions and behavior are typically guided by a value system. For an individual manager, the ability to make correct ethical choices will depend on both individual and organizational characteristics. An important individual characteristic is one’s level of moral development. Corporate culture is an organizational characteristic that influences ethical behavior.
Corporate social responsibility concerns a company’s values toward society. How can organizations be good corporate citizens? The model for evaluating social performance uses four criteria: economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary.
Social responsibility in business means profitably serving employees and customers in an ethical and lawful manner. Extra costs can accrue because a firm takes socially responsible action, but this is a part of doing business in today’s society, and it pays in the long run.
What should an individual base her or his values upon? Could the Golden Rule serve as a universal, practical, helpful standard for salespeople’s conduct? What about your ethical and moral conduct?
Salespeople and managers realize that their business should be conducted in an ethical manner. They must be ethical in dealing with their salespeople, their employers, and their customers. Ethical standards and guidelines for sales personnel must be developed, supported, and policed. In the future, ethical selling practices will be even more important to conducting business profitably. Techniques for improving social responsiveness include leadership, codes of ethics, ethical structures, whistle-blowing, and establishing control systems. Finally, research suggests that socially responsible organizations perform as well as—and often better than—organizations that are not socially responsible.
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What do people really buy? They buy the benefits of a product. This chapter examines why and how individuals buy. It emphasizes the need for salespeople to stress benefits in their presentations. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| The Tree of Business Life: Benefits |
| Why People Buy—The Black Box Approach |
| Psychological Influences on Buying |
| A FABulous Approach to Buyer Need Satisfaction |
| How to Determine Important Buying Needs—A Key to Success |
| The Trial Close—A Great Way to Uncover Needs and SELL |
| SELL Sequence |
| Your Buyer’s Perception |
| Perceptions, Attitudes, and Beliefs |
| The Buyer’s Personality Should Be Considered |
| Adaptive Selling Based on Buyer’s Style |
| You Can Classify Buying Situations |
| Technology Provides Information |
| View Buyers as Decision-Makers |
| Satisfied Customers Are Easier to Sell to |
| To Buy or Not to Buy—A Choice Decision |
As a salesperson, be knowledgeable about factors that influence your buyer’s purchase decision. You can obtain this knowledge, which helps to increase the salesperson’s self-confidence and the buyer’s confidence in the salesperson, through training and practice.
A firm’s marketing strategy involves various efforts to create exchanges that satisfy the buyer’s needs and wants. The salesperson should understand the characteristics of the target market (consumer or industrial) and how these characteristics relate to the buyer’s behavior to better serve and sell to customers.
The individual goes through various steps or stages in the three buying situations of routine decision making, limited decision making, and extensive decision making. Uncover who is involved in the buying decision and the main factors that influence the decision. These factors include various psychological and practical buying influences.
Psychological factors include the buyer’s motives, perceptions, learning, attitudes, beliefs, and personality—all of which influence the individual’s needs and result in a search for information on what products to buy to satisfy them. Established relationships strongly influence buying decisions, making satisfied customers easier to sell to than new prospects. Customers evaluate the information, which results in the decision to buy or not to buy. These same factors influence whether the buyer is satisfied or dissatisfied with the product.
Realize that all prospects will not buy your products, at least not all of the time, due to the many factors influencing their buying decisions. You need to uncover buyers’ needs, solve buyers’ problems, and provide the knowledge that allows them to develop personal attitudes toward the product. These attitudes result in positive beliefs that your products fulfill their needs. Uncovering prospects’ needs is often difficult because they may be reluctant to tell you their true needs or may not really know what and why they want to buy. You can usually feel confident that people buy for reasons such as to satisfy a need, fulfill a desire, and obtain a value. To determine these important buying needs, you can ask questions, observe prospects, listen to them, and talk to their associates about their needs.
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The ability to effectively communicate both verbally and nonverbally is crucial to sales success. This chapter introduces this important sales skill. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| The Tree of Business Life: Communication |
| Communication: It Takes Two |
| Nonverbal Communication: Watch for It |
| Communication through Appearance and the Handshake |
| Body Language Gives You Clues |
| Barriers to Communication |
| Master Persuasive Communication to Maintain Control |
Communication is defined as transmission of verbal and nonverbal information and understanding between salesperson and prospect. Modes of communication commonly used in a sales presentation are words, gestures, visual aids, and nonverbal communication. A model of the communication process is composed of a sender (encoder) who transmits a specific message via some medium to a receiver (decoder) who responds to that message. The effectiveness of this communication process can be hampered by noise that distorts the message as it travels to the receiver. Asender (encoder) can judge the effectiveness of a message and media choice by monitoring the feedback from the receiver.
Barriers, which hinder or prevent constructive communication during a sales presentation, may develop or already exist. These barriers may relate to the perceptional differences between the sender and receiver, cultural differences, outside distractions, or how sales information is conveyed. Regardless of their source, these barriers must be recognized and either overcome or eliminated if communication is to succeed.
Nonverbal communication has emerged as a critical component of the overall communication process within the past 10 or 15 years. Recognition of nonverbal communication is essential for sales success in today’s business environment. Awareness of the prospect’s territorial space, a firm and confident handshake, and accurate interpretation of body language are of tremendous aid to a salesperson’s success.
Overall persuasive power is enhanced through development of several key characteristics. The salesperson who creates a relationship based on mutual trust with a customer by displaying true empathy (desire to understand the customer’s situation and environment), a willing ear (more listening, less talking), and a positive attitude of enthusiastic pursuit of lasting solutions for the customer’s needs and problems increases the likelihood of making the sale.
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Successful salespeople are knowledgeable individuals. Many salespeople are experts in their field. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| The Tree of Business Life: Knowledge |
| Sources of Sales Knowledge |
| Knowledge Builds Relationships |
| Know Your Customers |
| Know Your Company |
| Know Your Product |
| Know Your Resellers |
| Advertising Aids Salespeople |
| Sales Promotion Generates Sales |
| What’s It Worth? Pricing Your Product |
| Know Your Competition, Industry, and Economy |
| Personal Computers and Selling |
| Knowledge of Technology Enhances Sales and Customer Service |
| Sales: Internet and the World Wide Web |
| Global Technology Provides Service |
| Technology Etiquette |
Company knowledge includes information about a firm’s history, development policies, procedures, products, distribution, promotion, and pricing. A salesperson also must know the competition, the firm’s industry, and the economy. This knowledge can even be used to improve one’s self-concept. A high degree of such knowledge helps the salesperson build a positive self-image and feel thoroughly prepared to interact with customers.
Wholesalers and retailers stock thousands of products, which often makes it difficult to support any one manufacturer’s products as the manufacturer would like. This situation may result in conflicts between members of the channel of distribution. To reduce these conflicts and aid channel members in selling products, manufacturers offer assistance in advertising, sales promotion aids, and pricing allowances. Additionally, many manufacturers spend millions of dollars to compel consumers and industrial buyers to purchase from channel members and the manufacturer.
National, retail, trade, industrial, and direct-mail advertising create demand for products and are a powerful selling tool for the salesperson in sales presentations. Sales promotion activities and materials are another potential selling tool for the salesperson to use in selling to consumer and industrial buyers. Samples, coupons, contests, premiums, demonstrations, and displays are effective sales promotion techniques employed to help sell merchandise.
Price, discounts, and credit policies are additional facts the salesperson should be able to discuss confidently with customers. Each day, the salesperson informs or answers questions customers pose in these three areas. Customers always want to know the salesperson’s list and net price, and if there are any transportation charges. Discounts (quantity, cash, trade, or consumer) represent important buying incentives the manufacturer offers to the buyer. The buyer wants to know the terms of payment. The salesperson needs to understand company credit policies to open new accounts, see that customers pay on time, and collect overdue bills. See the appendix at the end of this chapter for additional discussions on pricing.
Finally, success in sales requires knowledge of the many technologies used to sell and service customers. Computers, word processing, e-mail, faxes, pagers, cellular phones, the Internet, and the World Wide Web have quickly become part of the professional’s sales kit. Proper knowledge of the courteous manner in which these many technologies should be used is a necessity.
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Here we begin to discuss the steps within the sales process. This chapter examines the first step—prospecting. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| The Tree of Business Life: Prospecting |
| The Sales Process Has 10 Steps |
| Steps before the Sales Presentation |
| Prospecting—The Lifeblood of Selling |
| Where to Find Prospects |
| Planning a Prospecting Strategy |
| Prospecting Methods |
| Prospecting Guidelines |
| The Referral Cycle |
| Call Reluctance Costs You Money! |
| Obtaining the Sales Interview |
| Wireless E-Mail Helps You Keep in Contact and Prospect |
The sales process involves a series of actions beginning with prospecting for customers. The sales presentation is the major element of this process. Before making the presentation, the salesperson must find prospects to contact, obtain appointments, and plan the entire sales presentation.
Prospecting involves locating and qualifying the individuals or businesses that have the potential to buy a product. A person or business that might be a prospect is a lead. These questions can determine if someone is qualified: Is there a real need? Is the prospect aware of that need? Is there a desire to fulfill the need? Does the prospect believe a certain product can be beneficial? Does the prospect have the finances and authority to buy? and Are potential sales large enough to be profitable to me? Several of the more popular prospecting methods are cold canvass and endless chain methods, public exhibitions and demonstrations, locating centers of influence, direct mailouts, and telephone and observation prospecting. To obtain a continual supply of prospects, the salesperson should develop a prospecting method suitable for each situation.
Once a lead has been located and qualified as a prospect, the salesperson can make an appointment with that prospect by telephone or in person. At times, it is difficult to arrange an appointment, so the salesperson must develop ways of getting to see the prospect. Believing in yourself and feeling that you have a product the prospect needs are important.
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Planning the sales call is the second step in the selling process. It is extremely important to spend time planning all aspects of your sales presentation. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| The Tree of Business Life: Planning |
| Strategic Customer Sales Planning—The Preapproach |
| The Prospect’s Mental Steps |
| Overview of the Selling Process |
Most salespeople agree that careful planning of the sales call is essential to success in selling. Among many reasons why planning is so important, four of the most frequently mentioned are that planning builds self-confidence, develops an atmosphere of goodwill, creates professionalism, and increases sales. By having a logical and methodical plan, you can decide what to accomplish and then later measure your accomplishments with your plan.
There are four basic elements of sales call planning. First, you must always have a sales call objective—one that is specific, measurable, and beneficial to the customer. Second, as a salesperson, you must also develop or review the customer profile. By having relevant information about your customer, you can properly develop a customized presentation. You can find information on the background, needs, and competitors of your potential buyer by reviewing your company’s records or by personally contacting the buyer and the company.
The third step in planning your sales call involves developing your customer benefit plan. To do this, look at why the prospect should purchase your product and develop a marketing plan to convey those reasons and the benefits to your prospect. Then, develop a business proposition by listing your price, percent markup, return on investment, and other quantitative data about your product in relation to your prospect. Lastly, develop a suggested purchase order and present your analysis, which might include suggestions on what to buy, how much to buy, what assortment to buy, and when to ship the product.
Finally, plan your whole sales presentation. Visual aids can help make your presentation informative and creative. In making your call, think in terms of the phases that make up a purchase decision—the mental steps: capturing the prospect’s attention, determining buying motives, creating desire, convincing the person that your product is best suited to her or his needs, and then closing the sale. By adhering to these guidelines for planning your sales presentation, you may spend more time planning than on the actual sales call. However, it will be well worth it.
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To know the best way to begin the sales presentation, first determine the type of sales presentation to use for each prospect or customer. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| The Tree of Business Life: Presentation |
| Sales Presentation Strategy |
| Sales Presentation Methods—Select One Carefully |
| Sales Presentations Go High-Tech |
| Select the Presentation Method, Then the Approach |
| Let’s Review before Moving On! |
To improve your chances of making a sale, you must master the art of delivering a good sales presentation. An effective presentation will work toward specifically solving the customer’s problems. The sales presentation method you select should be based on prior knowledge of the customer, your sales call objective, and your customer benefit plan.
Because prospects want to know how you and your product will benefit them and the companies they represent, you must show that you have a right to present your product because it has key benefits for them. Many different sales presentation methods are available. They differ from one another depending on what percentage of the conversation is controlled by the salesperson. The salesperson usually does most of the talking in the more structured memorized and formula selling techniques, while more buyer–seller interaction occurs in the less structured methods. In the memorized presentation, or stimulus–response method, the salesperson does 80 to 90 percent of the talking, with each customer receiving the same sales pitch. Although this method ensures a well-planned presentation and is good for certain nontechnical products, it is also somewhat inflexible, allowing little prospect participation. The formula presentation, a persuasive selling presentation, is similar to the first method, but it takes the prospect into account by answering questions and handling objections.
The most challenging and creative form of selling uses the need-satisfaction presentation. This flexible method begins by raising questions about what the customer specifically needs. After you are aware of the customer’s needs, you can then show how your products fit these needs. You must be cautious because many people don’t want to open up to the salesperson.
When selling highly complex or technical products like computers or insurance, a problem–solution presentation consisting of six steps is a good sales method. This method involves developing a detailed analysis of the buyer’s specific needs and problems and designing a proposal and presentation to fit these needs. This customized method often uses a selling team to present the specialized information to the buyer.
In comparing the four presentation methods, there is no one best method. Each one must be tailored to meet the particular characteristics of a specific selling situation or environment.
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You have selected your prospect, planned the sales call, and determined the appropriate presentation method. Now, you must determine how to begin the sales presentation. This step in the selling process is called the approach. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| The Tree of Business Life: The Beginning |
| What Is the Approach? |
| The Right to Approach |
| The Approach—Opening the Sales Presentation |
| Technology in the Approach |
| Is the Approach Important? |
| Using Questions Results in Sales Success |
| Is the Prospect Still Not Listening? |
| Be Flexible in Your Approach |
As the first step in your sales presentation, the approach is a critical factor. To ensure your prospects’ attention and interest during a memorized or formula mode of presentation, you may want to use a statement or demonstration approach. In more technically oriented situations in which you and the prospects must agree on needs and problems, a questioning approach (SPIN, for instance) is in order. Generally, in developing your approach, imagine your prospects asking themselves, “Do I have time to listen to, talk with, or devote to this person? What’s in it for me?”
Words alone will not ensure that you are heard. The first impression that you make on a prospect can negate your otherwise positive and sincere opening. To ensure a favorable impression in most selling situations, dress conservatively, be well groomed, and act as though you are truly glad to meet the prospect. Your approach statement should be especially designed for each prospect. You can choose to open with a statement, question, or demonstration by using any one of the techniques. You should have several alternative approaches ready in case you need to alter your plans for a specific situation.
Carefully phrased questions are useful at any point in a sales presentation. Questions should display a sincere interest in prospects and their situations. Skillfully handled questions employed in a sales approach can wrest a prospect’s attention from distractions and center it on you and your presentation. Questions are generally used to determine prospect wants and needs, thereby increasing prospect participation in the sales presentation. Four basic types of questions discussed in this chapter are direct, nondirective, rephrasing, and redirect questions.
In using questions, ask the type of questions that you can anticipate the answer to. Also, remember to allow prospects time to completely answer the question. Listen carefully to their answers for a guide as to how well you are progressing toward selling to them. Should you determine that your prospect is not listening, do something to regain attention. Techniques such as offering something or asking questions can refocus the prospect’s attention long enough for your return to the presentation.
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The fourth step in the sales process is the presentation. Here, you discuss with the buyer the product’s features, advantages, and benefits, your marketing plan, and the business proposition. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| The Tree of Business Life: Presentation |
| The Purpose of the Presentation |
| Three Essential Steps within the Presentation |
| The Sales Presentation Mix |
| Visual Aids Help Tell the Story |
| Dramatization Improves Your Chances |
| Demonstrations Prove It |
| Technology Can Help! |
| The Sales Presentation Goal Model |
| The Ideal Presentation |
| Be Prepared for Presentation Difficulties |
The sales presentation is a persuasive vocal and visual explanation of a proposition. While there are numerous methods for making a sales presentation, the four common ones are the memorized, formula, need-satisfaction, and problem-solution selling methods. Each method is effective if used for the proper situation. In developing your presentation, consider the elements of the sales presentation mix that you will use for each prospect. The proper use of persuasive communication techniques, methods to develop prospect participation, proof statements, visual aids, dramatization, and demonstrations increases your chance of illustrating how your products will satisfy your prospect’s needs.
It is often not what we say but how we say it that results in the sale. Persuasive communication techniques (questioning, listening, logical reasoning, suggestion, and the use of trial closes) help to uncover needs, to communicate effectively, and to pull the prospect into the conversation.
Proof statements are especially useful in showing your prospect that what you say is true and that you can be trusted. When challenged, prove it by incorporating facts in your presentation on a customer’s past sales—guaranteeing the product will work or sell, testimonials, and company and independent research results.
To both show and tell, visuals must be properly designed to illustrate features, advantages, and benefits of your products through graphics, dramatization, and demonstration.This allows you to capture the prospect’s attention and interest; to create two-way communication and participation; to express your proposition in a clearer, more complete manner; and to make more sales. Careful attention to development and rehearsal of the presentation is needed to ensure it occurs smoothly and naturally. Always prepare for the unexpected, such as a demonstration that falls apart, interruptions, the prospect’s questions about the competition, or the necessity to make your presentation in a less than ideal place, such as in the aisle of a retail store or in the warehouse.
The presentation part of the overall sales presentation is the heart of the sale. It is where you develop the desire, conviction, and action. By giving an effective presentation, you have fewer objections to your proposition, which makes for an easier sale close.
If you want to be a real professional in selling, acquire or create materials that convey your message and convince others to believe it. If you try to sell without using the components of the sales presentation mix, you are losing sales not because of what you say but how you say it. Exhibits, facts, statistics, examples, analogies, testimonials, and samples should be part of your repertoire. Without them, you are not equipped to do a professional job of selling.
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When you learn how to skillfully handle your prospect’s questions, resistance, and objections, you are a professional. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| The Tree of Business Life: Objections |
| Welcome Objections! |
| What Are Objections? |
| When Do Prospects Object? |
| Objections and the Sales Process |
| Basic Points to Consider in Meeting Objections |
| Six Major Categories of Objections |
| Techniques for Meeting Objections |
| Technology Can Effectively Help Respond to Objections! |
| After Meeting the Objection—What to Do? |
| In All Things Be Guided by the Golden Rule |
People want to buy, but they do not want to be misled, so they often ask questions or raise objections during a sales presentation. Your responsibility is to be prepared to logically and clearly respond to your prospect’s objections whenever they arise. Sales objections indicate a prospect’s opposition or resistance to the information or request of the salesperson. Basic points to consider in meeting objections are to (1) plan for them, (2) anticipate and forestall them, (3) handle them as they arise, (4) listen to what is said, (5) respond warmly and positively, (6) make sure you understand, and (7) respond using an effective communication technique.
Before you can successfully meet objections, determine if the prospect’s response to your statement or close is a request for more information, a condition of the sale, or an objection. If it is a real objection, determine whether it is minor or major. Respond to it using a trial close, and if you have answered it successfully, continue your presentation based on where you are in the sales presentation. For example, if you are still in the presentation, then return to your selling sequence. If you have completed the presentation, move to your close. If you are in the close and the prospect voices an objection, then you must decide whether to use another close or return to the presentation and discuss additional benefits.
Be aware of and plan for objection. Objections are classified as hidden, stalling, no-need, money, product, and source objections. Develop several techniques to help overcome each type of objection, such as stalling the objection, turning the objection into a benefit, asking questions to smoke out hidden objections, denying the objection if appropriate, illustrating how product benefits outweigh the objection drawbacks, or developing proof statements that answer the objection.
Welcome your prospect’s objections. They help you determine if you are on the right track to uncover prospects’ needs and if they believe your product will fulfill those needs. Valid objections are beneficial for you and the customer. A true objection reveals the customer’s need, which allows a salesperson to demonstrate how a product can meet that need. Objections also show inadequacies in a salesperson’s presentation or product knowledge. Finally, objections make selling a skill that a person can improve constantly. Over time, a dedicated salesperson can learn how to handle every conceivable product objection—tactfully, honestly, and to the customer’s benefit.
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If everything has been done to properly develop and give a sales presentation, then closing the sale is the easiest step in the presentation. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| The Tree of Business Life: Closing |
| When Should I Pop the Question? |
| Reading Buying Signals |
| What Makes a Good Closer? |
| How Many Times Should You Close? |
| Closing under Fire |
| Difficulties with Closing |
| Essentials of Closing Sales |
| Prepare Several Closing Techniques |
| Prepare a Multiple-Close Sequence |
| Close Based on the Situation |
| Research Reinforces These Sales Success Strategies |
| Keys to Improved Selling |
| The Business Proposition and the Close |
| Closing Begins the Relationship |
| When You Do Not Make the Sale |
Salespeople increase sales by obtaining new customers and selling more product to current customers. Customer referrals are the best way to find new prospects. Thus, it’s important to provide excellent service and follow-up to customers. By building a relationship and partnership, you can provide a high level of customer service.
Customers expect service. When you deliver service, customers are satisfied and continue to buy; this results in retention and loyalty. Providing service to customers is important in all types of selling. Follow-up and service create goodwill between salesperson and customer that allows the salesperson to penetrate or work throughout the customer’s organization. Account penetration helps the salesperson to better service the account and uncover its needs and problems. A service relationship with an account leads to increases in total and major brand sales, better distribution on all product sizes, and customer cooperation in promoting your products.
To serve customers best, improve account penetration. Contact each customer frequently and regularly; promptly handle all complaints. Always do what you say you will do, and remember to serve customers as if they were royalty. Finally, remember to sincerely thank all customers for their business, no matter how large or small, to show you appreciate them.
Should customers begin to buy from a competitor or reduce their level of cooperation, continue to call on them in your normal professional manner. In a friendly way, determine why they did not buy from you, and develop new customer benefit plans to recapture their business.
Always strive to help your customers increase their sales of your product or to get the best use from products that you have sold to them. To persuade a customer to purchase more of your products or use your products in a different manner, develop a sales program to help maximize sales to that customer. This involves developing an account penetration program; increasing the number and sizes of products the customer purchases; maintaining proper inventory levels in the customer’s warehouse and on the shelf; achieving good shelf space and shelf positioning; clear communication with persons who directly sell or use a product; a willingness to assist wholesale and retail customers’ salespeople in any way possible; a willingness to help customers; and an overall effort to develop a positive, friendly business relationship with each customer. By doing these eight things, your ability to help and properly service each customer increases.
Today’s professional salesperson is oriented to service. Follow-up and service after the sale maximize your territory’s sales and help attain personal goals.
| Quizzes |
|
Multiple Choice Quiz |
| More Resources |
|
Chapter Objectives Chapter Outline Chapter Summary Flashcards |
Providing service to the customer is extremely important in today’s competitive marketplace. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| The Business Tree of Life: Service |
| The Importance of Service and Follow-Up |
| Building a Long-Term Business Friendship |
| Relationship Marketing and Customer Retention |
| The Product and Its Service Component |
| Customer Satisfaction and Retention |
| Excellent Customer Service and Satisfaction Require Technology |
| So, How Does Service Increase Your Sales? |
| Turn Follow-Up and Service into a Sale |
| Account Penetration Is a Secret to Success |
| Service Can Keep Your Customers |
| You Lose a Customer—Keep on Trucking |
| Returned Goods Make You a Hero |
| Handle Complaints Fairly |
| Is the Customer Always Right? |
| Build a Professional Reputation |
| Do’s and Don’ts for Business Salespeople |
| The Path to Sales Success: Seek, Knock, Ask, Serve |
Salespeople increase sales by obtaining new customers and selling more product to current customers. Customer referrals are the best way to find new prospects. Thus, it’s important to provide excellent service and follow-up to customers. By building a relationship and partnership, you can provide a high level of customer service.
Customers expect service. When you deliver service, customers are satisfied and continue to buy; this results in retention and loyalty. Providing service to customers is important in all types of selling. Follow-up and service create goodwill between salesperson and customer that allows the salesperson to penetrate or work throughout the customer’s organization. Account penetration helps the salesperson to better service the account and uncover its needs and problems. A service relationship with an account leads to increases in total and major brand sales, better distribution on all product sizes, and customer cooperation in promoting your products.
To serve customers best, improve account penetration. Contact each customer frequently and regularly; promptly handle all complaints. Always do what you say you will do, and remember to serve customers as if they were royalty. Finally, remember to sincerely thank all customers for their business, no matter how large or small, to show you appreciate them.
Should customers begin to buy from a competitor or reduce their level of cooperation, continue to call on them in your normal professional manner. In a friendly way, determine why they did not buy from you, and develop new customer benefit plans to recapture their business.
Always strive to help your customers increase their sales of your product or to get the best use from products that you have sold to them. To persuade a customer to purchase more of your products or use your products in a different manner, develop a sales program to help maximize sales to that customer. This involves developing an account penetration program; increasing the number and sizes of products the customer purchases; maintaining proper inventory levels in the customer’s warehouse and on the shelf; achieving good shelf space and shelf positioning; clear communication with persons who directly sell or use a product; a willingness to assist wholesale and retail customers’ salespeople in any way possible; a willingness to help customers; and an overall effort to develop a positive, friendly business relationship with each customer. By doing these eight things, your ability to help and properly service each customer increases.
Today’s professional salesperson is oriented to service. Follow-up and service after the sale maximize your territory’s sales and help attain personal goals.
| Quizzes |
|
Multiple Choice Quiz |
| More Resources |
|
Chapter Objectives Chapter Outline Chapter Summary Flashcards |
A salesperson’s ability to manage time and territory is important to success. After studying this chapter, you should be able to
| The Tree of Business Life: Time |
| Customers Form Sales Territories |
| Elements of Time and Territory Management |
How salespeople invest their sales time is a critical factor influencing territory sales. Due to the increasing cost of direct selling, high transportation costs, and the limited resource of time, salespeople have to focus on these factors. Proper time and territory from the salesperson. This helps to reduce sales expenses by avoiding duplicated effort in traveling and customer contacts. Finally, territories allow better matching of salespeople to customer needs and ultimately benefit salespeople and the company.
There also are disadvantages to developing sales territories. Some salespeople may not be motivated if they feel restricted by a particular territory. Also, a company may be too small to segment its market or management may not want to take time to develop territories.
Time and territory management is continuous for a salesperson; it involves seven key elements. The first major element is establishing the territory sales quota. The second element is account analysis, which involves identifying current and potential customers and estimating their sales potential. In analyzing these accounts, salespeople may use the undifferentiated-selling approach if they view accounts as similar; or, if accounts have different characteristics, they use the account-segmentation approach.
Developing objectives and sales quotas for individual accounts is the third element. How salespeople allocate time in their territories is another key element. Salespeople have to manage time, plan schedules, and use spare time effectively. The fifth element of time and territorial management is developing the sales-call objective, profile, benefit program, and selling strategies for individual customers. Salespeople have to learn everything they can about customers and maintain records on each one. Once this is done, they can create the proper selling strategies to meet customers’ needs.
Another major element is scheduling sales calls at specific times and places and routing the salesperson’s movement and travel pattern around the territory. Finally, established objectives and quotas are used to determine how effectively the salesperson performs. Actual performance is compared to these standards for evaluation purposes.
| Course-wide Content | ||
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