1. 9 Selling Your Product Section 9.1 Principles of Successful Selling
Section 9.2 Estimating Sales

2. Principles of Successful Selling
9.1
Principles of Successful Selling
Explain the importance of personal selling
List the characteristics of successful salespeople
Describe the main parts of the selling process
Understand the key documents and forms used in selling
Section 9.1: Principles of Successful Selling

3. The Importance of Personal Selling
Personal selling is a promotional technique used by a company’s sales force.
Personal selling has several advantages over other types of promotion:
Helps Build Personal Relationships. Personal selling involves contact by means of face-to-face meetings, telephone calls, and videoconferences
Allows for Customized Communication. Because personal selling is an interactive form of communication, salespeople have the opportunity to adapt their message to each potential customer.
Helps Reach Business Customers. Personal selling’s two-way method of communicating is especially effective for selling to business customers.
Section 9.1: Principles of Successful Selling

4. Characteristics of Successful Salespeople
Most successful salespeople have the following characteristics:
Positive Attitude. Successful salespeople focus on the positive, even when times are tough.
Good Listener. Successful salespeople learn how to ask their customers quality questions and then listen closely without interrupting.
Persistent. Patience and persistence are needed by all salespeople who wish to become successful.
Hard Worker. Salespeople must take responsibility for their own success, make goals for themselves, and form strategies to reach them.
Truthful. Be honest with customers. Establish trust for a positive, long-term business relationship.
Consistent. To become successful, you need to be dependable. Consistency builds trust, which leads to better customer relationships.
Section 9.1: Principles of Successful Selling

5. The Selling Process The main steps in the selling process are:
Finding and qualifying sales leads
Preparing for a sales call
Making the sales call
Closing a sale and following up
A sales lead is a person or company that has some characteristics of your target market. Leads are obtained in several ways:
Promotional Responses
Referrals
Data Mining
Cold Calls
Section 9.1: Principles of Successful Selling

6. The Selling Process Before making a sales call, you should:
Set Up an Appointment
Learn About the Prospect
Know Your Product or Service
Develop an Overall Selling Strategy
Write a Presentation Outline
To make your sales calls more successful:
Be on Time
Try to Build Rapport
Ask Questions and Take Notes
Answer Objections
Ask for a Commitment
Follow up with new customers to make sure that process met their expectations.
Section 9.1: Principles of Successful Selling

7. The Mechanics of Selling
Commonly used sales forms include:
Sales Call Logs
Sales Proposals
Order Forms
Sales Receipts
Sales Contracts
Call Log
Section 9.1: Principles of Successful Selling

8. Section 9.2: Estimating Sales
Consider who may be needed in your sales force
Identify costs related to a sales force
Explore methods used to estimate sales
Section 9.2: Estimating Sales

9. Sales Force Planning
You need to plan for your sales force as you develop and refine your marketing plan.
Your sales force planning should answer such questions as:
What selling methods do you plan to use?
Who do you need in your sales force?
How much and what type of training do you need for your sales force?
How large a sales budget do you need so you can pay your sales force?
What estimated amount of sales can you expect the sales force to achieve over a specific time period?
Section 9.2: Estimating Sales

10. Sales Force Planning
External sales are obtained by hiring another company to do the selling for you.
Internal sales are obtained by you or your employees who sell your products or services exclusively.
Sales force roles include:
Order Getting
Order Taking
Sales Support
Section 9.2: Estimating Sales

11. Expenses Related to a Sales Force
After you decide what selling methods you’d like to use and what kind of sales force you’ll need, the next step is to estimate the costs related to your sales plan.
There are three basic expenses related to a sales force:
Compensation
Training
Expenses
Section 9.2: Estimating Sales

12. How Salespeople Are Paid
There are three main options for compensating salespeople:
Salary Only. A salary is a fixed amount of money that an employee is paid on a regular basis.
Commission Only. A commission is an amount paid based on the volume of products or services that a salesperson sells.
Base Salary Plus Commission. Most often, salespeople are paid with a combination of salary and commission.
A sales quota is a target amount of sales per month or quarter that a salesperson is expected to achieve.
A sales territory is the specified geographical area for which a salesperson is responsible.
Section 9.2: Estimating Sales

13. Sales Training
Most businesses that employ a sales force provide extensive training for new salespeople.
Some subjects taught in company training programs are:
Company Information
Product or Service Knowledge
Target Market Characteristics
Information on the Competition
General Selling Techniques and Mechanics
Technology Skills
Section 9.2: Estimating Sales

14. Sales Forecasting
A sales forecast is a prediction of the amount of future sales
your company expects to achieve over a certain period of time.
There are four general steps in preparing a sales forecast:
Analyzing current conditions
Reviewing past sales
Making educated predications about the future
Estimating your future sales for a specific time period
Section 9.2: Estimating Sales

15. Sales Forecasting Techniques
Common forecasting techniques:
Full Capacity
Observational Data
Industry Standards
Industry/Seasonal Cycles
Team Effort
Number of Customers versus Distance
Market Share
Proportional Scaling
Number of Number of Average Amount of
Customers Purchases per Year Each Purchase x x
Section 9.2: Estimating Sales