2.09 Vocabulary
VOCABULARY TERM & DEFINITION
1. Approach - Second step of the approach stage of the sales
process; salesperson makes the first in person contact with
a potential customer.
2. Assumptive Close - when the salesperson acts as if the
prospect has already decided to purchase, involves a
leading statement to get a commitment from the customer.
3. Assumptive Questions – questions and statements are
phrased to eliminate subjective words such as “if,” “were,”
“would,” “could,” and to replace them with active words
such as “when,” “where,” and “will.” Assumptive sales
language assumes the customer will buy; it does not leave
room for ifs or buts. Allows salespersons to quickly
determine if a prospect is serious about purchasing a
product. When used properly, assumptive questions can
prevent customers from giving the salesperson canned
responses in objection to making a purchase.
4. Bank Credit Card - Credit extended by a bank, credit union,
or finance company; can be used at any business that
accepts the card.
5. Boomerang Method – Turning an objection into a selling
point.
6. Business to Business Selling – May take place in a number
of locations, manufacturer’s or wholesaler’s showroom
(inside sales) or a customer’s place of business (outside
sales).
7. Buying Motives – reasons a customer is influenced to
purchase good or service.
8. Buying Signals - Verbal & nonverbal signals that a customer
is ready to buy; ie – a customer smiling & holding onto the
product.
9. Call Center – An office where many employees are located
& work doing telemarketing, can be inbound or outbound
calls.
10. Charge Card - Type of credit extended by a store; looks like
a credit card, but can be used only at the store that issued
the card. Providing customers with this way to pay for a
purchase enables the store to sell more and to develop a
database of regular customers. This database can then be
used to develop customer loyalty through special
promotions.
11. Close -This is the third stage of the selling process. It has
three stages; close the sale, complete the transaction,
follow up.
12. Close - (this term has 2 definitions) The moment when a
customer agrees to buy a product; (also the third stage in
the selling process).
13. Cold Canvassing/Calling - Method of selling where a
salesperson contacts a large number of people conveniently
located without knowing a great deal about each person
contacted.
14. Consultative Selling – Providing solutions to customers
problems by finding products to meet their needs.
15. Consumer Sales – Business to consumer sales, aka retail
sales.
16. Credit - Payment arrangement that enables a customer to
take possession of a product now, but pay for it later.
17. Credit Card - Enables a customer to take possession of a
product now, but pay for it later; businesses must make
arrangements with credit card companies in order to accept
them for payment & pay a fee to the credit card company.
18. Credit Contract - Document that spells out the rights and
responsibilities of the credit grantor and the credit user;
also called credit agreement. Once a credit card receipt
(aka credit agreement) is signed by the customer
(cardholder), it becomes a credit contract (legal promise to
pay).
19. Customer Benefits – Advantages or personal satisfaction a
customer will get from a product.
20. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – Involves
strategies used to stay close to customers.
21. Decided Customers - Customers who know what they want
to buy.
22. Debit Card - Card that deducts the amount of your
purchase immediately from your checking account; looks
like a credit card, but functions like a cash payment.
23. Direct Close – Closing technique in which salesperson asks
for the sale.
24. Electronic Funds Transfer - National computer system that
links banks and businesses; it works by transferring funds
electronically from one account to another.
25. Emotional Motive – Feelings experienced by the customer
such as: social approval, recognition, power, love,
affection, prestige, etc.
26. Empathize - To show that you understand another person’s
feelings, to see things from another person’s point of view,
stand in their shoes. Using the phrase, “I know what you
mean.” shows that you can empathize with the customer.
27. Empathy - Ability to see things from another person’s point
of view, awareness of another’s feelings and the ability to
understand those feelings.
28. Endless Chain Method – a prospecting method in which a
salesperson asks each customer called upon to suggest the
names of other likely purchasers of the same product.
29. Exchange -The transaction, when money & merchandise
(product) change hands.
30. Excuses - Insincere reasons given by customers to delay
making a purchase or avoid becoming involved in a sale.
31. Extended Product Features – Although not always
physically part of the product, important in the purchase
decision.
32. Extensive Decision Making – Used when there has been
little or no previous experience with the item because it is
infrequently purchased.
33. Feature Benefit Chart - A chart showing the features and
benefits of a product so that they can use this technique of
selling.
34. Feature Benefit Selling - Sales technique that consists of
translating product features into customer benefits. This
technique of selling shows the customer how the physical
features of a product will benefit the customer.
35. Greeting Approach - Type of sales approach that consists of
a friendly welcome to your store or department, begins
conversation & establishes a positive rapport.
36. Incremental Sales - Suggestive selling increases the
amount of the sale through add on or complimentary
items.
37. Industrial Sales – Business to business sales.
38. Inside Sales – Salespeople work in an office & telephone
their customers.
39. Interpretive Questions – Have more than one answer, but
still need to be supported with evidence; customers can
have different equally valid answers, effective for starting
an inquiry based conversation.
40. Jargon – Specialized language of a profession that is
meaningless to outsiders; i.e. technical computer language
41. Just Looking Customers - Customers who may be decided
or undecided but do not want the assistance of
salespeople.
42. Layman’s Terms – Simple language that everyone can
understand, words that someone who is not an expert can
understand.
43. Lead – a person or organization that has shown an interest
in a particular product or service, can also be used to
describe a person or organization that sales or marketing
staff feel may have a need for a particular product or
service
44. Limited Decision Making – Used when a person buys goods
& services that he/she has purchased before but not on a
frequent basis.
45. Mental Ownership - During the sales process, the attitude
of the customer when he or she acts and speaks as if the
product is already his or hers.
46. Merchandise Approach - Type of sales approach in which
you start with a comment about a product customer is
looking at; most effective approach because it immediately
focuses attention on the merchandise.
47. Money Order - Legal document that pays a specific amount
of money to a specific person or business.
48. Non Verbal Communication - Body language, messages
sent without words.
49. Objection – Honest reasons a customer has for not making
a purchase; customer’s concern or hesitation when
considering the purchase of a good or service.
50. Open Ended Questions - Type of questions that allow
customers to develop their own answers without
information about possible choices.
51. Order Getting – Process of finding customers then
influencing them to buy your product.
52. Order Taking - Answers customer’s request for a product &
completes the sale.
53. Outside Sales - Salespeople travel to customers businesses
to sell products personally.
54. Over Selling - Promising more then the product or business
can deliver, might result in an angry customer that never
wants to buy from you again, can ruin customer
relationships.
55. Paraphrasing - Restating what someone said in different
words, using your own words to restate what the customer
says; one of the sales techniques to determine customer
needs.
56. Personal Selling - process of helping customers find
solutions to problems created by their needs & wants, any
form of direct contact between a salesperson & a
customer.
57. Preapproach - First step of the approach stage of the sales
process; consists of tasks that are performed before
contact is made with a customer.
58. Preapproach – (this term has 2 definitions) First stage in
the selling process, the stage in which a salesperson
prospects for new accounts, qualifies them and prepares to
make contact with the prospect.
59. Product Features – Physical Characteristic or quality of a
product that explains what it is.
60. Product Substitution – When the product a customer wants
is either not available or not carried by the business and
the salesperson offers a different product in place of the
requested product.
61. Professionalism - Treating the customer with courtesy,
honesty, & sincerity; ethical treatment of customers.
62. Prospect - Person or business that may need the goods and
services you offer. An individual or organization with a
need for a particular product or service, the potential for or
existence of an understanding of that need and the
potential to ultimately purchase the product
63. Prospecting – This process is used most often in B2B sales
as a method of finding new costumers, activity of seeking
out potential customers.
64. Prospective Customer - Another term for potential
customer.
65. Qualifying Questions - Asked to determine customers
needs/wants; good qualifying questions ask who, what,
where, when, & how.
66. Question Method - Getting Customers to examine their own
objections by asking them questions that explore their
objections.
67. Rational Motive – conscious factual reason for a purchase
such as: product dependability, time or monetary savings,
convenience, comfort, recreational value.
68. Reassurance - Giving confidence to someone else.
69. Referrals – The strongest form of advertising & one of the
best forms of a lead, used to describe a prospect that is
given to a salesperson by a current customer or prospect,
requests for referrals are often forgotten by even the best
salespeople.
70. Relationship Marketing - Approach to marketing that
focuses on building long term relationships with customers;
sees the selling process as beginning with the approach,
through the presentation & close, continuing indefinitely &
including many purchases.
71. Repeat Customers - Consumers who frequently return to
purchase goods/services from a business.
72. Retail Sales - Sales to the final consumers, usually refers to
store sales, customers come to the store, aka consumer
sales.
73. Routine Decision Making – Used when a person needs little
information about a product because of the high degree of
prior experience with it.
74. Salary Plus Commission - A type of compensation for
salespeople where pay is a combination of a base salary +
amount of product sold.
75. Sales Quota - the expected level of sales for a territory or
sales person in a given period, a sales quota may include
dollar volumes, unit volumes, gross margin, net profit, or
activity levels.
76. Sales Opening – Initial contact with the customer.
77. Sales process – Series of steps a salesperson goes through
to help the customer make a satisfying buying decision.
78. Sales Representatives – Salespeople in business to business
sales, sales rep for short.
79. Sales Support – Tasks salespeople do when they are not
involved in selling to a customer
80. Selling Process - systematic approach to selling a good or
service
81. Selling Points - The two or three features and benefits of a
product that most likely will convince a customer to buy the
product.
82. Service Approach - The approach that offers service or
assistance to the customer, often starts with the phrase
“How may I help you today?”
83. Service close – Explains services that overcome obstacles
or objections.
84. Standing Room Only Close – Used when a product is in
short supply or the price will go up in the near future;
closing technique that encourages customers to buy based
on the idea that customer demand for the product is high &
supply of the item is limited.
85. Straight Commission – A type of compensation for
salespeople where pay is based on the amount of product
sold.
86. Straight Salary – A type of compensation for salespeople
where pay is based on a set rate regardless of the amount
of product sold.
87. Suggestion Related Merchandise Close - Closing technique
that encourages customers to buy through showing them
how related items can enhance or protect the original item.
88. Suggestion Selling – Selling additional goods or services to
the customer. Sales technique of suggesting additional
items to go with the product the customer has already
purchased or requested, used because customers often
really do need two or more complementary items to go
with the one selected. If done incorrectly, some customers
do not like this technique because they feel like they are
being manipulated or pressured into buying things they do
not need.
89. Superior Point Method - Handling objections by listening to
the customer’s objection * then offering a superior point to
overcome the objection.
90. Tangible Product Features – Physical characteristics of a
product.
91. Telemarketing – Selling over the phone.
92. Third Party Method - Handling objections by using the
testimonial of another person.
93. Trading up - technique of showing products of better
quality or with more features than the customer requested;
goal of this technique is to get the customer to buy the
more expensive item.
94. Trial Close- Attempt to close a sale.
95. Transaction - Exchange of payment for products. In
telemarketing this consists of taking the ordering &
arranging for payment.
96. Telemarketing – typically done at a call center, selling over
the telephone, both inbound & out bound calls.
97. Timing – Allowing the customer to come into the store
before a salesperson makes an approach
98. Trading Down – When the product a customer wants is not
available or the customer cannot afford the product and
the salesperson offers a lower priced less superior product.
99. Undecided Customers - Customers who do not know what
to buy.
100. Welcome Approach - Approach used to greet customers
on an informal basis; it’s purpose is to welcome the
customers to the store.
101. Which Close – Encourages customer to make a decision
between 2 items.
WORD WALL
SCORING SHEET
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