Unit 5: Selling
12.1: What is Selling?
Types of selling:
Personal Selling: Any form of direct contact between a
salesperson and a customer.
2. Retail Selling: The salesperson should be available to
answer any questions about the product or its features
the customer asks.

1.

3.
4.
Types of Selling Cont.
Business-to-Business Selling: Sales that take
place in a manufacturer’s or wholesaler’s
show room or in a customer’s place.
Telemarketing: The process of selling over the
phone.
Goals of Selling: To help customers make satisfying
buying decisions, which create ongoing, profitable
relationships between buyer and seller.
A.

B.
Easier and less expensive to keep current customers happy than
to make new customers.
Consultative Selling: Provides solutions to customers’
problems by finding products that meet their needs.
C.
Feature Benefit Selling: Matching the characteristics of a
product to a customer’s needs and wants.
1.
Product Features: Basic, physical, or extended attributes of the
product or purchase.
2.
Customer Benefits: The advantages or personal satisfaction a
customer will get from a good or service.
D.
Customer Buying Motives: Salespeople must know what motivates
customers to buy and what decisions customers make before the
final purchase.
Hi Sarah
E.
Customer Decision Making: Some customers need no help from
salespeople, and others require significant time and effort

Types of customer decision making:
Extensive Decision Making: Used when there has been little or no
previous experience with an item.
1.
Ex: goods and services that are expensive and have high value to customers.
Hi Erin

2.
Types of customer decision making cont.
Limited Decision Making: Used when a person buys
goods and services that he or she has purchased
before but not regularly.
Ex: a second car, certain types of clothing, furniture, a vacation, and
household appliances.

3.
Types of customer decision making cont.
Routine Decision Making: used when a
person needs little information about a
product.
Ex: grocery items, newspapers, and dry cleaning
services.

A.
1.
2.
3.
Pre-Approach: the preparation for the face-to-face encounter
with potential customers.
Product Information:
Salespeople find information through direct experience,
written publications, other people, and formal training.
Businesses offer discounts to employees so they can buy
and use their merchandise.
Labels provide information for clothing items and
prepackaged goods.
Industry Trends: sales representatives read periodicals related
to their trade to gain insight into the industry.
Prospecting: looking for new customers.
B.
C.
1.
2.
3.
Employer leads: some firms employ entire telemarketing teams to
generate leads for their sales staff.
Directories: lists businesses that may be potential customers for
certain industrial goods and services.
Newspapers: provide good leads for some salespeople.
Commercial Lists: salespeople buy lists of potential
customers from companies specializing in
categorizing people.
5. Customer Referrals: satisfied customers give
salespeople the names of other people who might
buy the product.
6. Cold canvassing: potential customers are selected at
random.
4.
Preparing for the Sale in Business-to-Business Selling:
pre-approach activities depend on whether the sales call
is with a previous customer or a new one.
E. Preparing for the sale in retail selling:
1. Straightening, rearranging, and replenishing the stock.
2. Adjusting price tickets before and after special sales.
D.
E.
Preparing for the sale cont.
Learning where stock is located and how much
is available.
4. Arranging displays.
5. Vacuuming the floor, dusting the shelves, and
keeping the selling and display areas neat and
clean.
3.
Company Policies and Training:
Training: a four-step process is often used by sales
managers who are responsible for training new
sales personnel.
2. Compensation and Sales Quotas: salespeople are
compensated by straight commission, straight
salary, or salary plus commission.
F.
1.

3.
Sales quotas: dollar or unit sales goals set for
the sales staff to achieve in a specified period
of time.
Legal and Ethical Issues: sales associates
may engage in hard-selling tactics pr may
lie to a prospective customer.


Take out your chart!
Tell me:
▪ The product or service you chose
▪ List 3-4 features and benefits associated with your item
▪ What people are more concerned with (IYO) regarding
this item
▪ What you learned about this good that you did not know

Popcorn to move around the room

Think about a poor sales experience you have
had or witnessed.
 Step #1: Share with the class!
 Step #2: Brainstorm how we can flip this script so
the bad experience becomes a good one…

Selling process: process of matching customer needs
and wants to the features and benefits of a product or
service.

Seven Steps of the Selling Process:
1.
2.
Approaching the customer-greeting the customer face to
face.
Determining needs-learning what the customer is looking
for in order to decide what products to show and which
product features to present first in the next step of the sale.
Presenting the product- educating the
customer about the product’s features and
benefits.
4. Overcoming objections-learning why the
customer is reluctant to buy, providing
information to remove that uncertainty, and
helping the customer to make a satisfying
buying decision.
3.
5.
6.
7.
Closing the sale-getting the customer’s positive
agreement to buy.
Suggestion selling-suggesting additional
merchandise or services that will save your
customer money or help your customer enjoy
the original purchase.
Relationship building-creating a means of
maintaining contact with the customer after the
sale is completed.

Approaching the customer

Has three purposes: begin
conversation, establish a relationship
with the customer, and focus on the
product.
A.
B.
The Approach in Business-to Business Selling:
depends on you prior dealings with the customer
or the work you did in the pre-approach.
The Approach in Retail Selling: customers in a
hurry=quick approach, undecided
customers=encourage them to look around.
The Three Methods of Approach in Retail
Selling
I.
II.
III.
1.
2.
3.
Service approach
Greeting approach
Merchandise approach
Service Approach: the salesperson asks the
customer if he or she needs assistance.
Greeting Approach: the salesperson simply
welcomes the customer to the store.
IV.

Merchandise Approach Method: the salesperson
makes a comment or asks questions about a
product in which the customer shows interest.
Using Conversation Skills: the salesperson walks
up to the customer and starts talking about the
merchandise without asking whether the
customer wants assistance.

Read the case study on page 280 and answer
the following questions: (Due at the end of
class!)
 Why is sales training important?
 Why are live-action drama and role playing good
sales training methods?
 What are ways that you can practice sales
techniques today?

Using adjective describe different types of
customers…Consider:
 Different habits
 Different needs and wants
 Different shopping styles

How can you identify these different types of
customers!

How should you approach them differently?
I.



When to Determine Needs:
Example of what can happen when a salesperson does NOT
determine needs early on…
Salesperson: “This is one of our most popular tennis
rackets. It’s perfect for you- the grip is the correct size
and the large sweet spot can improve your game.”
Customer: “That’s very interesting; but, I’m not buying
the racket for myself. It’s actually a gift for my nine-yearold daughter.”
II.

How to Determine Needs: there are three
methods used to determine customer needs:
observing, listening, and questioning.
Observing: look for buying motives that are
communicated nonverbally.
Nonverbal communication: is expressing yourself
without the use of words.
III.

Listening: helps you pick up clues to the
customer’s needs. You can use this information
for the product presentation.
Questioning and Engaging the Customer: when
you begin determining needs, first ask general
questions about the intended use of the product
and any previous experience with it.
Use words like: who, what, when, where, why,
and how.
IV.

How to Refine Your Questioning:
Open-ended questions: are those that require
more than a yes or no answer.
Do’s and Don’ts Guidelines:
1. Do ask open-ended questions that encourage
customers to do the talking.
2. Do ask clarifying questions to make sure you
understand customers’ needs.
3. Do not ask too many questions in a row. This
will make customers feel as if they are being
cross-examined.
4. Do not ask questions that might embarrass
customers or put them on the defensive.

Choose a partner and act out the following scenario:
 One person is a shopper, one is a salesperson (you pick the store!)
 Salesperson should approach the shopper and inquire about his/her
needs.
 Salesperson practices LISTENING skills and tries to determine how
to satisfy the customer.
 Work through the conversation until you get the sale or the turn
down.
 Then switch roles!
▪ Note: Try the three different approach methods: Service, Greeting, and
Merchandise. Create different/new situations and conversations with every
approach. Be ready to “show & tell” with the class. I will be watching and
listening and evaluating you on your performance!