Personal Selling (Part-II)

 What is the personal selling process? (Advance steps in the selling process  How is personal selling managed and how does it relate to an IMC program? Lecture Outline

Presentation APPROACH  First impressions are essentials.  Wear neat, conservative clothes  Be clean and carefully groomed  Know the prospect’s name and pronounce it correctly  Be alert and pleasant  Let the prospect offer to shake hands  Forget about yourself and concentrate on the prospect  Avoid smoking or chewing gum

Presentation… APPROACH…  Beginning the presentation.  Ask questions  Use a reference  Offer a benefit  Offer a service  Compliment the prospect  Give something of value  Probing for needs  SPIN selling S(Situation question) P(Problem question) I(Implication question N(Need assessment)

Presentation… APPROACH…  Benefits of questions  Learn about prospect’s needs  To maintain control  To involve the prospect  To build relationship  To establish trust

Presentation… APPROACH…  Types of questions  Open ended questions  Broad questions that are asked early in the presentation  Reflective questions  Questions asked in response to prospect’s comments  Directive questions  Leading questions designed to point the prospect towards areas of agreement

Convincing the prospect  Seek agreement  Read signals  Emphasize benefit relating to customer  Narrow choice

Presentation technique  Visual Aids/Exhibits  Testimonials  Examples  Guarantees  Demonstrations

Identifying and handling objections  Sales resistance: Actions or statements by a prospect that postpone, hinder or prevent the completion of a sale.  Objection: Outwards expression of a prospect’s doubts or negative feelings about a sales proposal.  Objections represent sales opportunities.

Types of Objections  Timing  Price  Competition  Source

Confronting an objections  Listen carefully:  Make sure you know what has been said  Ask Questions:  Clarify the objection so there is no misunderstanding  Respond to the objection:  Use an appropriate technique be tactful and honest  Yes.....But method  Boomerang method  Comparison method  The compensation method  Case history method

Closing  When to close  Looking & listening for buying signals  Verbal buying signals  Non verbal buying signals

Closing  How to close  Alternative proposal close  Choice between details….truck or rail shipment  Assumptive Close  Prepare all documents and ask the prospect to sign  Gift Close  Added inducement for taking immediate action

Closing  How to close  Action close  Follow up with other people and do the needful yourself  One-more-yes  Restate the benefits in a series of question that will result in positive response and final question ask the person to complete the sales  Balance Sheet  List reasons for action now and delaying and out weight the reasons for delay

Sales funnel  Qualification  Preparation  Presentation  Closing

Follow up  Post Sale Action  Customer Relations  Handle Complaints Promptly and Pleasantly  Maintain Contact with Customers  Keep Serving the Customers  Show Appreciation  Self Analysis  Were the plan sales objectives achieved?  What could I have done better?  What did I learn from this sales call that will contribute to my future success?

Provides Salespeople With an Automated System for Organizing Their Sales Activities CRM Databases Integrate Organization and Client Data Provides Salespeople With an Automated System for Organizing Their Sales Activities Strategies such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) CRM

Insight: Use of CRM by Sales People CRM can be divided into 5 categories of primary use: 1. Sales force automation (44% of all CRM use) 2. Customer service and technical support (27%) 3. Help desk for supporting channel members (20%) 4. Tracking of field service technicians (6%) 5. Support for planning, executing, and tracking marketing campaigns (3% but the fastest growing)

An Example of Sales Literature + +

Salesperson’s Call-to-sales Ratio 5-1 = 1 sale for every 5 calls Number of Referrals Made by a Salesperson’s Accounts Sales and Profitability of Salesperson’s Accounts Sales Management Issues Measuring Success

Public Relations Direct Response Sales Promotion Advertising Sales Promotion Direct Response Public Relations Other MC Functions Support Sales MC Functions MC Functions

Tales From the Real World It’s amazing, but true, that many sales people feel totally disconnected from the remainder of the MC functions. In fact, in many organizations, “sales” is a separate department, and views marketing communications as a rival. As a result, in the real world, there is sometimes very little coordination between a salesperson’s pitch and what the organization is saying in its advertising, direct marketing, or public relations.

Vs. Strengths Customized two-way communication Very measurable Very flexible about pricing and customer needs Customized two-way communication Very measurable Very flexible about pricing and customer needs Strengths Customized two-way communication Very measurable Very flexible about pricing and customer needs Customized two-way communication Very measurable Very flexible about pricing and customer needs How Does it Relate to An IMC Program? Limitations High cost Image of being high-pressure High cost Image of being high-pressure

Final Note: The critical balance of personal sales: It’s the most costly way to reach customers… …It has the most powerful one-on-one impact

Bibliography  Principles of Advertising & IMC by Tom Duncan 2 nd Edition, Published by McGraw-Hill Irwin.  Event Management For Tourism, Cultural, Business and Sporting Events by Lynn Van Der Wagen Brenda R. Carlos Published by Pearson Prentice Hall.  Advertising Principles and Practice by W. Wells, S. Moriarty and J. Burnett, Published by Prentice Hall International.  Integrated Marketing Communications by David Pickton & Amanda Broderick Published by Prentice Hall.

The End: “If you maintain politeness in authority & observe silence in anger, then be sure that nobody can break you or bend you.”