1. PRINCIPLES OF PERSONAL SELLING
Dr.Sanjeev Verma
NITIE, Mumbai

2. Selling is only the tip of the iceberg

3. Principles of Personal Selling
Managing the Sales Force: Improving Effectiveness (Source : Rolph Anderson and Bert Rosenbloom, “The World Class Sales Manager: Adapting to Global Megatrends,” Journal of Global Marketing, 5, No. 4, 1992: 11-22)

4. Principles of Personal Selling
Professionalism
Sales-oriented approach : Stresses high pressure techniques
Customer-oriented approach : Stresses customer problem solving
Rackham’s questions for prospects (SPIN Selling)
(Neil Rackham, SPIN SELLING Field book (New York: McGraw Hill, 1996))
Situation questions
Problem questions
Implication questions
Need-payoff questions
Sharon Drew Morgan- Buying facilitation Method
(Sharon Drew Morgen, Selling with Integrity: Reinventing Sales Through Collaboration, Respect, and Serving (New York: BERKLEYU Books, 1999))
Q1-Whether Company’s performance can be improved
Q2-Whether the seller’s offering would provide a solution

5. Major Steps in Effective Selling (Source: W. J. E. Crissy, William H
Major Steps in Effective Selling (Source: W.J.E.Crissy, William H.Cunninggham and Isabelle Cunninggham, Selling: The Personal Force in Marketing (New York : John Willey, 1977), pp )

6. Prospecting and Qualifying
The first step in selling is to identify and qualify prospects.
Companies can generate leads by :
Examining data sources (newspapers, directories, CD-ROMs, Web sites)
Exhibiting at trade shows to encourage drop-bys
Inviting customers to suggest the names of prospects
Cultivating referral sources (suppliers, dealers, and bankers)
Contacting organizations and association
Engaging in speaking and writing activities that will draw attention
Telecommunications (phone, mail, Internet)
Dropping in unannounced (cold canvassing)
Leads can be categorized as
Hot Prospects
Warm Prospects
Cool Prospects

7. Pre approach The sales person needs to learn :
Prospect company
Needs
Involved in the purchase decision
Buyers
Personal characteristics
Buying styles
The sales person should set call objectives :
To qualify the prospect
Gather information
Make an immediate sale
The best approach
Personal visit
Phone call or letter
Best timing
Finally, the salesperson should plan an overall sales strategy for the account

8. Approach
The salesperson decides how to get the relationship off to a good start
The salesperson might consider :
Wearing clothes similar to what the buyers typically wear
Show courtesy and attention to the buyer
Avoid distracting mannerisms
When meeting with the prospect :
Open with a positive statement
Concentrate on understanding the buyer’s needs (questioning and active listening)

9. Presentation and Demonstration
Tells the product “story” to the buyer
Following the AIDA formula :
Gaining attention
Holding interest
Arousing desire
Obtaining action
To presentation use FABV :
Features : physical characteristics of market offering
Advantages : why the features provide an advantage to customer
Benefits : the economic, technical, service, and social benefits delivered by the offering
Value approach : the summative worth (monetary term) of the offering

10. Presentation and Demonstration
3 different style of sales presentation :
Canned approach (oldest presentation)
Formulated approach
Need-satisfaction approach

11. Presentation and Demonstration
Canned approach
Memorized sales talk covering the main points
Based on stimulus-response thinking
The buyer is passive
Can be moved to purchase by the use of the right stimulus (picture, word, term, and actions)
Formulated approach
Identifies the buyer’s needs and buying style
Need-satisfaction approach
Search the customer’s real needs (encouraging)
Use role of a knowledgeable business consultant

12. Presentation and Demonstration
Sales presentations can be improved with demonstration aids such as
Visual Aids-booklets, brochures, flipcharts, slides, movies
Audio and videocassettes
Computer Animation shows etc.

13. Overcoming Objections
Customers almost always pose objections during the presentation or when asked for the order
Types of Objections
Psychological Resistance
Logical Resistance
To handle these objections :
maintains a positive approach
asks the buyer to clarify the objection
asks questions that lead the buyer to answer his or her own objection
denies the validity of the objection
turns the objection into a reason for buying

14. Closing
Salespersons need to know how to recognize closing sign from the buyer
Physical actions
Statements or comments
Questions
Closing techniques
Ask for the order
Recapitulate the points of agreement,
Offer to help the buyer write up the order
Ask whether the buyer wants A or B
Get the buyer to make minor choices such as the color or size
Indicate what the buyer will lose if the order is not placed now

15. Follow-up and Maintenance
After closing
Salesperson should cement any necessary details :
Delivery time
Purchase terms
Other matters
Salesperson should schedule a follow-up call
To detect any problem
Assure the buyer interest
Reduce any cognitive dissonance
Sales person should develop a maintenance and growth plan for the account

16. Negotiation
My father said: "You must never try to make all the money that's in a deal. Let the other fellow make some money too, because if you have a reputation for always making all the money, you won't have many deals.” J. Paul Getty

17. Negotiation
Much business-to-business selling involves negotiating skills
The two parties need to reach agreement
Price
Others term of sale
Salesperson need to win without making deep concessions that will hurt profitability
There are 2 exchange in marketing
Routinized exchange : administered program of pricing and distribution
Negotiated exchange : price and others term area set via bargaining behavior

18. Negotiation
Although price is the most frequently negotiated issue, other issues include
Contract Completion Time
Quality of Goods and Services Offered
Purchase Volume
Responsibility of Financing
Risk Taking
Promotion
Title
Product Safety etc.

19. Negotiation Traits and Skills for a effective Negotiator
Preparation and planning skills
Knowledge of Subject Matter
Ability to think clearly and rapidly under pressure and uncertainty
Ability to express thoughts verbally
Listening skills
Judgement and general intelligence
Integrity
Ability to persuade others
Patience etc

20. Principles of Personal Selling
Negotiation
When to negotiate (Dobler)
When factors bear not only on price, but also on quality of service
When business risk cannot be accurately predetermined
When a long period of time is required to produce the items purchased
When production is interrupted frequently because of numerous change orders

21. The Zone Agreement (Howard Raiffa)

22. Principles of Personal Selling
Formulating a Negotiation Strategy
Hard Strategy
Soft Strategy
Principled Negotiation

23. Formulating a Negotiation Strategy
Principled Negotiation (Fisher and Ury, 1992)
Separate the people from the problem
Focus on interests, not positions
Invent options for mutual gain
Insist on objective criteria
BATNA : Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (Fisher and Ury, 1992)

24. Classic Bargaining Tactics
Acting Crazy
Be Patient
Lets spilt the Difference
Trial Balloon
Surprises
Wet Noodle
Big Pot
Get a Prestigious Ally
The Well Is Dry
Limited Authority
Whipsaw/Auction
Divide and Conquer
Get Lost/Stall for Time

25. Relationship Marketing
The principles of personal selling and negotiation thus far described are transaction oriented because their purpose is to close a specific sale
The company must build a long-term supplier customer relationship by demonstrating that it has the capabilities to serve the account’s needs in a superior way over the long run
The company must build relationship marketing rather than transaction marketing, because larger customers are often global and prefer suppliers that can :
sell and deliver a coordinated set of products and services to many locations
quickly solve problems that arise in different locations
work closely with customer teams to improve products and processes

26. Relationship Marketing
To succeed in winning and maintaining accounts in today’s demanding environment, company must :
Encourage sales teamwork
Reward it with appropriate compensation for work on shared accounts
Establish better goals
Measures for their sales force
Reinforce the importance of teamwork in their training programs
The organization will begin to focus as much on managing its customers as on managing its products

27. Relationship Marketing
When and How to Use Relationship Marketing
Short Time Horizons and Low Switching Cost e.g. Commodities
Long time Horizon and High Switching Cost
e.g.. Office Automation System