1. CHAPTER 10
Approaching the Customer with Adaptive Selling 1

2. Presentation Strategy Defined
The presentation strategy is a plan that includes three prescriptions:
Establishing objectives
Developing presale presentation plan to meet objectives
Renewing one’s commitment to outstanding customer service
Presentation strategy adds value
The presentation strategy is a well-conceived plan that combines elements of the relationship, product, and customer strategies.
It includes the following three prescriptions:
Establish one or more objectives for each sales call, such as collecting information about the prospect’s needs, and developing, building, or sustaining a relationship with those who make the buying decisions.
Carefully prepare a presentation plan to ensure that salespeople are well organized during the sales presentation and prepared to achieve their objectives. A six-step presentation plan is introduced later in this chapter.
Establish objectives for the sales presentation and preparation of the presentation plan. Achieving excellence is the result of careful needs analysis, correct product selection, clear presentations, informative demonstrations, win-win negotiations, and a strong desire to offer outstanding customer service before and after the sale.
A well-planned presentation adds value when it is customized and adapted to meet the needs and time constraints of the prospect.

3. Strategic/Consultative Selling Model
As we see here, the development of a presentation strategy is the final step in the Strategic/Consultative Selling Model.
FIGURE
10.1

4. Preapproach and Approach Planning
Preapproach involves preparing presale objectives and presentation plan.
Approach involves making a good impression, securing attention, and developing interest.
Preparation for the actual sales presentation is a two-part process:
Part 1 is referred to as the preapproach, which involves preparing presale objectives and developing a presale presentation plan.
Part 2 is called the approach, which involves making a favorable first impression, securing the prospect’s attention, and transitioning to need identification.
Here’s a tip: Maximize your time and travel investment by using CRM to plan your in-person sales calls to multiple customers within close geographic range. Read the feature box on p. 214 and then try the CRM application exercise on p
Think for a minute about the video role-plays you’ve seen this far, and compare Alim Harani’s approach to his sale of the electronic tape measure with Amy Vandaveer’s approach to selling advertising for Texas Monthly magazine. Consider what each of them said and did and how their approaches were similar or different.

5. First Call Presentation Objectives
Establish rapport and begin building a relationship with the customer
Obtain permission to ask need identification questions
Obtain personal and business information to establish the customer’s file
When calling on a consultative or strategic alliance buyer, you usually cannot cover all the stages of the buying process during a single sales call.
Multi-call sales presentations are especially common in complex sales.
- Therefore, it’s best to develop presentation objectives suitable for each stage of the buying process.
The first stage—need awareness—is the investigation stage, because customers may or may not be aware of their needs and problems.
Uncovering and clarifying needs requires the use of appropriate questions.
Three presentation objectives that would be appropriate during the first call to a new prospect include:
Establishing rapport and beginning to build a relationship with the customer
Obtaining permission to ask need identification questions
Asking for personal and business information to establish the customer’s file

6. Presentation Objectives for Stage Two
Involve the customer in a product demonstration
Provide value justification in terms of cost reduction and increased revenues
Example:
Compare and contrast the features a truck fleet lease plan with a fleet purchase plan
During stage two of the buying process—the evaluation of solutions—the customer is ready to consider one or more possible problem resolutions.
Presentation objectives for stage two might include:
Involving the customer in a product demonstration
Providing value justification in terms of cost reduction and increased revenues
Comparing and contrasting the features of, for example, a truck fleet lease plan versus a fleet purchase plan
Every sales call should have an action objective, which is something that you want the customer to do during the sales presentation.
Action objectives might include:
- Providing specific financial information
- Scheduling a visit to your manufacturing plant
- Agreeing to a trial use of your product
- Agreeing to a follow-up meeting, or
- Placing an order.

7. Team Selling Objectives
Team selling is suited to organizations that sell complex or customized products.
Sales teams often uncover problems and solutions that individuals might not.
Team sales presentations require a more detailed precall plan.
Each team member must know his/her role.
Team selling has been a major development.
-It is ideally suited to organizations that sell complex or customized products and services that require direct communication between customers and technical experts.
-Sales teams often uncover problems, solutions, and sales opportunities that no individual salesperson could discover working alone. In some situations, the involvement of technical experts can shorten the selling cycle.
The team approach often results in more precise need identification, improved selection of the product, and more informative sales presentations.
-Team sales presentations require a more detailed precall plan than individual sales calls. Each team member must have a clear understanding of the role he or she will play during the sales call.
-Team members should be given detailed information about the customer, understand the basics of a consultative sales presentation, and be prepared to add value.
Recall the “Communications Styles” video introduced in Chapter 4, in which Lana and sales team members Sandra and Raymond each played a part in presenting a product solution to Ron, one of Lana’s top clients. How did each team member add value to the sale?

8. Selling to a Buying Group
Must satisfy both the individual and collective concerns of each participant.
Determine the roles of decision makers and their amount of influence
Make sure all are involved. Do not ignore anyone.
Discover any silent team members.
Sometimes, salespeople must address and satisfy both the individual and collective concerns of each participant in a multi-buyer situation.
-These decision makers may be members of a well-trained buying team, a buying committee assembled for a one-time purchase, or a board of directors.
As in any type of selling situation, the salesperson should:
Attempt to determine the various buying influences.
When possible, the role of each decision maker, the amount of influence he or she exerts, and each decision maker’s needs should be determined before the presentation.
Careful observation during the presentation can reveal who may use the product (the user influencer), who controls the finances (the financial influencer), and who can provide the expertise necessary to make the correct buying decision (the technical influencer).
When making a group selling presentation, make sure all parties feel involved.
Any member of the group who feels ignored could prevent closing the sale.
Direct questions and comments to all potential decision makers in the group. As early as possible, identify the most powerful influencers.
Find out if there are any silent team or committee members. A silent member is one who can influence the buying decision but does not attend the presentation, such as a senior manager.
If a silent member exists, you must find a way to communicate, directly or indirectly, with this person.
Here’s a tip: Get to know members of the selling and buying teams better through social media tools, like “Chatter” on Salesforce.com. Read more in the feature box on p. 207 of your textbook.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

9. Six-Step Presentation Plan
Here we see an outline of the six-step Presentation Plan Strategy.
FIGURE
10.3

10. Approach Objectives Initial contact with customer Three objectives
Build rapport
Capture full attention
Transition to need discovery stage
Often a phone call
After ample preparation, it’s time to communicate with the prospect, either face-to- face, by telephone, or through another appropriate method.
We refer to the initial contact with the customer as the approach.
A high-quality and professional approach is a powerful way to add value and differentiate yourself from your competitors.
The effort you have put into developing relationship, product, and customer strategies can now be applied to the presentation strategy.
If the approach is effective, you may be given the opportunity to make the sales presentation. If not, you may lose the chance to present your sales story. Without a good approach, chances for a sale diminish.
The approach has three important objectives:
You want to build rapport with the prospect, using telephone and/or social contact.
You want to capture the prospect’s full attention. Never begin your sales story if the prospect seems preoccupied and is not paying attention.
You want to transition to the need discovery stage of the sales presentation.
The first contact with the customer is often by telephone call.

11. Credibility: Establish Early
Credibility is an impression that people form about you.
Do not erode your credibility by:
Arriving late, staying too long, not following up
Credibility grows when the customer realizes you are competent and can add value.
In this slide, we see the impact of establishing your credibility early and increasing it by adding value.

12. Telephone Contact To set first appointment Practices to employ
Plan in advance
Identify self and firm
State purpose of call
State estimated length
Confirm via note
A telephone call provides a quick and inexpensive method of scheduling an appointment.
Appointments are important because many busy prospects may not meet with a salesperson who drops in unannounced.
By scheduling an appointment, the prospect knows about the sales call in advance and can prepare.
Plan in advance what you will say. Use a written presentation plan as a guide during the first few seconds of the conversation.
What you say is determined by the objectives of the sales call.
Have a calendar available to suggest and confirm a date, time, and place for the appointment, and be sure to write it down.
Politely identify yourself and the company you represent. Set yourself apart from other callers with a friendly tone and impeccable phone manners, which help avoid being shut out by a wary gatekeeper— that is, a secretary or receptionist.
State the purpose of your call and explain how the prospect can benefit from a meeting. In some cases, a powerful benefits statement gets the prospect’s attention and whets her appetite for more information.
-Present only enough information to stimulate interest.
Show respect for the prospect’s time by telling the person how much time the appointment may take.
Once the prospect agrees to meet with you, ask, “Do you have your appointment calendar handy?”
Be prepared to suggest a specific time, saying, for example, “Is this Monday at 9:00 a.m. convenient?”
Confirm the appointment with a brief note, message, or letter with the date, time, and place of your appointment. Enclose your business card and any printed information of interest to the prospect.
- Anticipate resistance from some prospects because most decision makers are very busy.
- Be persistent and persuasive if you genuinely believe a meeting can be mutually beneficial.

13. Using Voice Mail Be prepared Be brief Give likely benefits
Give best time to call back
Slowly repeat your phone number
State any referrals
The growing popularity of voice mail presents a challenge to salespeople.
What type of message sets the stage for a second call or stimulates a return call?
It’s important to anticipate voice mail and to know exactly what to say if you reach a recording.
-The prospect’s perception of you is based on what you say and on your voice quality.
The voice mail message should be similar to the opening statement you would make in face-to-face contact with the prospect.

14. Effective Use of Email Meaningful subject line
Tell reader what you want, then encourage a response
Put important information near beginning
Always use grammar and spell check tools
Use “signature” file
Many prospects and established customers find correspondence convenient and prefer it to telephone contact.
Always make it easy for your correspondents to read and handle your .
Use a meaningful, specific subject line. People who receive large amounts of often scan the subject lines to choose which ones to read and delete those of no interest.
The message should tell the reader what you want and then encourage a response.
Identify the main point of your within the first or second paragraph.
Format the so it’s easy to read. This may require the use of headings, with capitals or boldface print, to identify the main elements of the memo.
Proofread all s for proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Always use the grammar and spell check tools, because errors misrepresent your competence.
Finally, use a signature file—a small block of text that automatically follows each . A typical signature file includes your full name, title, affiliation, phone number, and sometimes a slogan.

15. Social Contact First few minutes are key in first impressions
Develop conversation by:
Here-and-now observations
Sincere compliments
Search for mutual interests, acquaintances
According to many image consultants, “first impressions are lasting impressions,” and sales personnel have only a few minutes to create a positive first impression.
Some profitable business relationships never crystallize because some trait or characteristic of the salesperson repels the prospective customer.
Building rapport should lead to credibility, which leads to trust. Once trust is established, the customer is likely to open up and share information that provides clues regarding ways to create value.

16. Business Contact Convert prospect focus from social to business part
Seven effective approach methods to capture attention and focus are:
Agenda
Product demonstration
Referral
Customer benefit
Question
Survey
Premium
Converting the prospect’s attention from the social contact to the business proposal is an important part of the approach. Without this step, the door is closed on completing the remaining steps of the sale.
-Some salespeople use a carefully planned opening statement or a question to convert the customer’s attention to the sales presentation.
-A statement or question that focuses on the prospect’s dominant buying motive is more likely to achieve the desired results. Buyers must feel that it’s worthwhile to hear more.
Seen here are seven of the most effective approach methods to capture the prospect’s attention, arouse interest, and transition into the next step of the presentation.

17. Business Contact Approaches
Referral approach
Third party opinion or statement adds credibility
Include name/direct reference to third party
Customer benefit approach
Immediately point out at least one benefit of your product
Present key benefits in order of importance
The referral approach is quite effective because a third party, such as a satisfied customer who believes the prospect can benefit from your product, adds credibility. In your opening statement, include a direct reference to the third party.
The customer benefit approach gains a prospect’s attention by immediately pointing out the benefits of purchasing your solution or value proposition.
As we talked about in Chapter 7, the benefit can focus on the product, the company, or the salesperson.
Begin with the most important issue, or problem, facing the client, and use the most important buyer’s benefit in the initial statement.
Recall the approaches that Alex Homer, from the Tom James Company, and Alim Hirani, from Hilti Corporation, used in the role-play videos we talked about in previous chapters. Which contact approach did each of them use? How effective was each?

18. Business Contact Approaches
Agenda approach
Review meeting goals
Shows that you value the customer’s time
Agendas should be flexible
Product demonstration approach
Give actual product demonstration
Use computer or other audio/visual aids to provide “virtual” demonstration
The agenda approach is one of the most effective methods for transitioning from the social contact to the business contact.
First, thank the customer for taking time to meet with you and then review your goals for the impending meeting.
For example, you might say, “Thank you for meeting with me this morning. I would like to accomplish three things during the time you have given me.” This statement shows you value the person’s time and you have preplanned a specific agenda.
Always be open to changing the agenda based on input from the customer. Buyers in multi-call situations welcome this approach.
The product demonstration approach is a straightforward way to get the prospect’s attention. It is used by sales representatives who sell many types of products, from technology to services.
“Seeing the product in action” can help close a sale.
If the actual product cannot be demonstrated, salespeople can use audiovisual technology—such as computer-generated graphics, slides, videotapes or web-based demos—to illustrate.

19. Business Contact Approaches
Question approach
Ask direct question
Get prospect thinking about problem your product will solve
Listen to response
Survey approach
Prospect completes questionnaire before contact
Analyze results to assess needs and benefits
Avoid early price discussion
The question approach has two positive features:
An appropriate question almost always triggers prospect involvement because very few people avoid answering a direct question.
A question gets the prospect thinking about a problem that the salesperson may be prepared to solve.
The survey approach, also know as the needs discovery approach, is an important component of the problem-solving philosophy of selling. It often is used in selling products where the need cannot be established without careful study. The Survey Approach offers many advantages, such as:
It’s generally a nonthreatening way to open a sales call. You are only asking permission to acquire information that can be used to determine the buyer’s need for your product.
Because the survey is tailor-made for a specific business, the buyer is given individual treatment.
Finally, the survey approach helps avoid an early discussion of price. Price cannot be discussed until the survey is completed.
[Role-Play]
Now practice your sales approach in the role-play exercise on p. 226, in conjunction with the Park Inn role-play on p.459 in Appendix 3.

20. Business Contact Approaches
Premium approach
Provide free sample of product
Provide prospect with gift, such as monthly appointment calendar
Combination approach
Use multiple approaches
Provide flexibility
The premium approach gives the customer a free sample or an inexpensive item, which is an effective way to get the customer’s attention.
The combination approach—which draws on the agenda, product, referral, customer benefit, question, survey, and premium approaches—offers the salesperson countless ways to set the stage for the presentation strategy.
With experience, salespeople learn to select the most effective approach for each selling situation.
[Role-Play]
Now it’s time to practice what you’ve been learning about approaches by completing the role-play exercise on p. 224 at the end of this chapter. Then, in the next three slides, we’ll take a look at the criteria used to evaluate the role- play performance.

21. Combination Approaches
Allow for smooth transition to need discovery
A hallmark of adaptive selling is flexibility.
Therefore, a combination of approaches sometimes provides the best way to need identification.
Sales personnel who have adopted the consultative style may use the question and survey approaches most frequently.
However, some selling situations require other approaches, used either alone or in combination with the question and survey approaches.
Here we see how a combination approach transitions very smoothly to need discovery.
FIGURE
10.4

22. Sales Call Reluctance
Thoughts, feelings, and behavioral patterns that limit accomplishments
Can be caused by:
Fear of taking risks
Fear of group presentations
Lack of self-confidence
Fear of rejection
Reluctance to make sales sometimes blocks the transition from the preapproach to the approach. Fear of making initial contact with the prospect is one of the biggest obstacles to sales success and, for new salespeople, can be career threatening.
Sales call reluctance includes the thoughts, feelings, and behavioral patterns that limit what a salesperson can accomplish. It is an internal, often emotional, barrier to sales success, which can be caused by several different thought patterns:
-Fear of taking risks
-Fear of group presentations
-Lack of self-confidence
-Fear of rejection

23. Coping with Reluctance
Be optimistic about the outcome
Practice approach before making contact
Know that being anxious is normal
Develop a deeper commitment to your goals
The good news is that sales call reluctance can be overcome. Here are some suggestions:
Be optimistic about the outcome of the initial contact. Martin Seligman, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the best- seller Learned Optimism, says that success in selling requires a healthy dose of optimism. Anticipation of failure is a major barrier to making the initial contact.
Practice your approach before making the initial contact. A well-rehearsed effort to make the initial contact increases your self-confidence and the odds that you will handle the situation well.
Recognize that it’s normal to feel anxious about the initial contact. Even the most experienced salespeople experience some degree of sales call reluctance, which can surface anywhere in the sales process.
Develop a deeper commitment to your goals. Abraham Zaleznik, professor emeritus at Harvard Business School, says, “If your commitment is only in your mind, then you’ll lose it when you encounter a big obstacle. If your commitment is in your heart and your mind, you’ll create the power to break through the toughest obstacles.”
[Role-Play]
Now that you know how to approach a prospect and prepare effectively for your sales call, put into practice what you learned from watching the Reality Selling Today video of Alim Hirani at Hilti Corporation by completing the role-playing exercise on p. 400 in Appendix 1. You may also want to refer to background information on pages 202 and 225 in your textbook.
On the next slide, you will see part of the Evaluation Sheet with criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of your role-play.

24. Selling to the Gatekeeper
Assistants or secretaries who manage the decision maker’s schedule
Treat the gatekeeper with respect
Can be an important source of information
May help make a preliminary qualification before reaching the decision maker
A decision maker’s “gatekeeper”—the assistant who manages your prospect’s schedule—can become a strong ally and source of information if treated respectfully.