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Overview of
Selling
Personal Selling – Defined
An important part of marketing
that relies heavily on
interpersonal interactions
between buyers and sellers to
initiate, develop, and enhance
customer relationships.
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Trust-Based Relationship Selling
Requires that salespeople earn
customer trust and that their
selling strategy meets
customer needs and
contributes to the creation,
communication, and delivery of
customer value.
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Customer Value
The customer’s perception of
what they get for what they
have to give up.
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Importance of Sales Dialogue
Sales
Dialogue:
business
conversation
between buyers
& sellers that
occur as
salespeople attempt
to initiate, develop, &
enhance customer
relationships.
• Allows for more thorough qualifying.
• Demonstrates sincere interest in the prospective
customer.
• Helps Determine prospective customer’s unique
needs.
• Ensures meaningful
presentation of valueadded solutions.
• Promotes open
communication and
satisfaction feedback.
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Transaction-Focused Selling
vs. Trust-Based Relationship Selling
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Transaction-Focused Selling
vs. Trust-Based Relationship Selling
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Evolution of Personal Selling
Peddlers selling door
to door . . . served as
intermediaries
1800s
Industrial
Revolution
Selling function became
more structured
Post-Industrial
Revolution
Business organizations
employed salespeople
1900s
War and
Depression
2000s
Modern
Era
Selling function
becoming more
professional
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Evolution of Personal Selling
(The past several decades)
Canned Sales Presentation: sales
presentations that include
scripted sales calls, memorized
presentations, and automated
presentations.
Sales Professionalism: a customeroriented approach that uses
truthful, non-manipulative tactics to
satisfy the long-term needs of both
the customer and the selling firm.
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Continued Evolution
of Personal Selling
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Contributions of Personal Selling:
Salespeople and Society
• Salespeople help stimulate the economy.
• Salespeople help with the diffusion of
innovation.
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Contributions of Personal Selling:
Salespeople and the Employing Firm
• Salespeople generate revenue.
• Salespeople provide market research
and customer feedback.
• Salespeople become future leaders in
the organization.
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Contributions of Personal Selling:
Salespeople and the Customer
• Salespeople provide solutions to problems.
• Salespeople provide expertise and serve as
information resources.
• Salespeople serve as advocates for the customer
when dealing with the selling organization.
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Ethical Dilemma
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Alternative
Personal Selling Approaches
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•
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Stimulus Response Selling
Mental States Selling
Need Satisfaction Selling
Problem Solving Selling
Consultative Selling
Adaptive Selling:
the ability of a
salesperson to alter
his/her sales messages
and behaviors during a
sales presentation or as
they encounter different
sales situations and
different customers.
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Stimulus Response Selling
Simple in
design;
assumes
conditioned
response improves
likelihood of success;
a risky and unreliable
strategy.
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Mental States Selling
Assumes
buyer
can be led
through mental
states; promotes
one-way
communication; a
risky and unreliable
strategy.
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Ethical Dilemma
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Need Satisfaction Selling
Interact with
buyer to
determine
existing needs;
present solutions
to needs; solutions
limited to seller’s
products.
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Problem Solving Selling
Interact with
buyer to
determine
existing and
potential needs;
present multiple
solutions not
limited to seller’s
products.
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Consultative Selling
The process of helping
Long-Term
customers reach their
Ally
strategic goals by using
the products,
Business
services, and
Consultant
expertise of the
Strategic
selling
Orchestrator
organization.
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The Sales Process - Overview
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Role Play
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Sales
Management and
Sales 2.0
Sales Management Process
Defining the
Strategic
Role of the
Selling
Function
Developing
the
Salesforce
Directing the
Salesforce
Determining
Salesforce
Effectiveness
and
Performance
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Sales Management Process
• Defining the Strategic Role of the Sales Function
– Salesforce structure
– Sales strategies
• Developing the Salesforce
– Recruiting and selecting sales talent
– Establishing training strategies/programs
• Directing the Salesforce
– Setting salesforce goals and objectives
– Implementing incentive programs
– Overseeing and coaching salesforce
• Determining Salesforce Effectiveness and
Performance
– Establishing and administering
evaluation measures & systems
– Providing feedback for future
development
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Sales Management Positions (Example)
Vice President
of Sales
Regional Sales
Manager
Regional Sales
Manager
Field Sales
Manager
Field Sales
Manager
Field Sales
Manager
Field Sales
Manager
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Sales Management Best Practices
• Create a customer-driven culture throughout the
sales organization and firm.
• Recruit and hire the best sales talent.
• Train and coach the right skill set.
• Focus on key strategic issues
by segmenting accounts in
meaningful ways and
providing differentiated
offering to find, win,
and retain customers.
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Sales Management Best Practices
• Implement formal sales and relationship-building
processes.
• Use information technology effectively to learn
about customers.
• Integrate sales with other business functions,
especially marketing.
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Developing and Implementing Effective
Sales Strategies
Account
Targeting
Strategy
Classification of
accounts into
categories
Relationship
Strategy
Type of
relationship
sought for each
category
Selling
Strategy
Develop selling
approach for
each type or
relationship
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Developing and Implementing Effective
Sales Strategies
Selling Strategy – Involves the planning of sales
messages and interactions with customers.
Selling strategy can be defined and executed at
three levels.
Customer
Individual
Customer
Groups of
Customers
Individual
Customer
Encounters
Customer
Encounters
Customer
Encounters
Customer
Encounters
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Selling and Relationship Strategies
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Sales Channel Strategy
Determination of how the organization will
reach its customers when executing the sales
effort. Options include a company salesforce
(individual or teams), industrial
distributors, independent
representatives, internet,
telemarketing, and so forth.
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Sales Structure Issues
Specialization
• The degree to which each salesperson could perform
all the selling tasks.
Centralization
• The degree to which authority and responsibility are
placed at higher management levels.
Span of Control
• The number of individuals who report to each sales
manager
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Staff vs. Line Positions
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Sales Organization Alternatives
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Recruiting and Selecting Sales Talent
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Recruitment and Selection Process
– Planning –
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Recruitment and Selection Process
– Locating –
• Career/Job Fairs
• College Career Centers
• On-line Career Sites
(e.g., Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com)
• Internal (e.g., employee referral)
• Employment Agencies
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Recruitment and Selection Process
– Evaluating –
• Resume Screening
• Interviews
• Assessments
– Role Plays
– Written
Questionnaires
– Ride-Alongs
• Background Checks
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Sales Training Process
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Ethical Dilemma
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Directing the Salesforce
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Directing the Salesforce
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Directing the Salesforce
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Directing the Salesforce
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The Role of Power
Legitimate
• Don’t be reluctant to use any form of
power.
Coercive
• Be careful not to overuse the power of
position or punishment.
Reward
• Avoid rewarding all desired job
outcomes or behaviors.
Expert
• Enhance power through learning and
establishing a good working relationship
with subordinates.
Referent
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Communication and Coaching
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Coaching:
Focus on
continual
development of
salespeople
through provision
of feedback and
serving as a role
model.
Encourage open communication.
Seek feedback.
Use persuasion and promises.
Establish a team approach.
Encourage self-evaluation and correction.
Ensure salespeople diagnose success as
well as failures.
• Recognize salespeople
are individuals.
• Follow-up on coaching
sessions.
• Serve as a role model.
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Ethical Dilemma
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Determining Salesforce
Effectiveness and Performance
Sales organization structure, strategies, deployment, management, and
uncontrollable environmental influences also impact sales organization
effectiveness.
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Evaluating Sales
Organization Effectiveness
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Evaluating Sales
Organization Effectiveness
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Evaluating Sales
Organization Effectiveness
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Evaluating Salesperson Performance
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Criteria for Evaluating
Salesperson Performance
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Behavior-Based
Evaluation of the activities salespeople perform in
the generation of sales and in completing non-selling
responsibilities (e.g., training, product
demonstrations, sales calls, etc.).
Evaluation
Methods
Should
Possess:
• Reliability
• Validity
• Standardization
• Practicality
• Comparability
• Discriminability
• Usefulness
Outcome-Based
Evaluation of the actual sales results
salespeople achieve (e.g., sales quota,
market share gain, etc.).
Sales 2.0
The use of customer-driven processes enabled by
the latest Web technology to co-create value with
customers.
CRM
Social Networking
Cloud Computing
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Sales 2.0
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Role Play
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