MKTG Ch. 12

New-Business Salespeople

Sales reps who are responsible primarily for finding new customers and securing their business (often clients of competing firms)

Technical Specialists

Sales reps who contribute expertise in the form of product demonstrations and trials, offer recommendations for equipment and setup of machinery, and provide systems integration support

Consultative Sellers

Sales reps who focus on developing long-term relationships by developing a deep knowledge of the customer's industry, business issues, and needs

Key-Account Sellers

Sales reps who focus on establishing and maintaining partnership relationships with a small set of 3-5 named accounts; able to add value to the relationship by developing a deeper understanding of the customer's business

Missionary Salespeople

Sales reps who generate sales by promoting the firm and encouraging demand for its products (don't actually get or take orders from customers)

Order-Taker Salespeople

Sales reps who primarily process orders that a customer initiates -Most commonly found within retail and inbound call-center settings

Delivery Salespeople ("route salespeople")

Sales reps whose chief role is product delivery -Often employees of manufacturers and wholesalers

Pre-Approach

Salesperson does research and preparation before contacting the customer -Research the company and the environmental forces at work in the customer's life or in the organization's industry

Farmer (salesperson)

Salesperson who cultivates existing accounts and current customer relationships to drive revenue growth and minimize churn

Hunter (salesperson)

Salesperson who focuses on acquiring accounts new to the selling firm

What is arguably the most important, and most difficult, step in the sales process?

Setting the first appointment

Once a prospect has been qualified, the salesperson can adjust the amount of _____________ directed toward securing a sale. What is it based on?

effort; based on probability of obtaining the sale and on the amount of expected revenue

What elevates the most highly successful sales professionals above other who are equally knowledgeable and skilled?

In rough times they're able to muster the necessary mental and emotional discipline to stay focused and constructive

What is a common cost-based approach to sizing for sales organizations?

Incremental Productivity Method

Benefits (FAB approach)

Individual values attached to the advantages offered by various product features

Sales 2.0

Refers to how salespeople are using Web 2.0 tools and social media to sell more effectively

Selling-Related Knowledge

Sales abilities and understanding of selling techniques

Feature-Advantage-Benefit (FAB) Approach

Sales approach that conveys the product's major features, describes its advantages compared with alternatives, and details the benefits it'll provide the customer

The width of the span of control has certain advantages for a sales organization, such as?

-A flat sales organization (one with a wide span of control) creates greater efficiency -On the other hand, multiple levels of management, each with a narrower span of control, allow managers to spend more time with each employee and key customers

Assumptive Close

-Act like buyer has already decided to purchase -"What date would you like the product delivered?" If customer responds with a specific date, the salesperson knows the customer has decided to make the purchase

Describe the technique of acknowledging the objection.

-Allows salesperson an additional opportunity to stress the benefits of the product -"Yes, our prices are higher because our product is better"

What are problem questions?

-Ask about buyers' problems, difficulties, or dissatisfactions with an existing situation -Clarify and make more explicit buyers' implied needs -Provide the raw material upon which to build the rest of the presentation

What are implication questions?

-Ask about the consequences or effects of the buyer's situation -Show that the buyer's problem is significant enough to justify action -Help transform problems into explicit needs in the mind of the buyer and expand the perceived value of finding a solution

Describe the specialization by selling activity dimension of a specialist sales force.

-Best illustrated by the delineation between the "hunter" and "farmer" types of salespeople

Describe the specialization by industry dimension of a specialist sales force.

-Calls for the creation of a separate sales operation for each major industry a company is selling into -Assuming products of equivalent quality, this dimension is recommended when hiring a sales professional with deep industry knowledge will provide a competitive edge over a generalist representative

Specialist Sales Force

Sales force structure in which sales reps are grouped along 1 of 3 dimensions: product, selling activity, or industry vertical

Describe the follow-up stage of the personal selling process.

-Checking in after the sale to ensure customer satisfaction -Critical step in creating customer satisfaction and building long-term relationships with customers

Give some examples of how various selling job roles use sales playbooks.

-Corporate marketing develops the content in a playbook to maintain consistency around a company's brand and other promotional elements -Salespeople use assets (collateral info sheets, proposals, and contracts for individual prospects or customer accounts) in the playbooks to customize and configure their presentations -Some even allow sales reps to provide ratings/comments that provide peer-driven guidance about the most effective marketing and sales messaging

What are need-payoff questions?

-Designed to get the buyer thinking about the value of finding a solution to the problem -By focusing on the solution, these questions reduce objections, moving the discussion toward action and commitment

Generalist Sales Force

Sales force structure in which sales reps sell all of the company's market offerings within their assigned territory -Often cover smaller areas, spend more time with customers & are more efficient

Describe how sales managers have oversight of selling efforts at varying levels of the organizational hierarchy.

-Establish sales objectives, and forecast and develop annual sales quotas for their assigned territories -Work with HR personnel to recruit, select, train, supervise, and evaluate sales employees -Often work directly in the field with their assigned reps -Serve as a conduit for info received from the front lines to senior management about ongoing market trends and competitive actions

Describe the technique of denial (objections).

-If a customer mentions something that is completely false, the salesperson should strongly deny the point, but only in a way that isn't offensive or insulting to the customer -"That is not accurate. Here's what the situation actually is..."

Describe the product specialization dimension of a specialist sales force.

-Most effective when vast knowledge is required to sell the good/service you're taking to the market (like in high-tech and medical fields)

Alternative Close

-Offer more than 1 clearly defined alternative to the customer -Works well in many different situations when you're seeking agreement, not just selling products

What are some factors that make B2B sales more complex?

-Often larger financially and take longer to complete -Often multiple decision makers -Buyers are often knowledgeable and experienced negotiators

Summary Close

-Repeating what has already been agreed to in the course of the presentation, typically via earlier trial closes -Summarize key benefits and how they meet customer's stated needs before asking for the sale

Describe the technique of postponing (objections).

-Salespeople should postpone addressing objections if the full context of an appropriate answer hasn't been developed -Works best if salesperson plans to address objection shortly; postponing too long frustrates customers and reduces trust

Customer-oriented sales approaches are most effective when the salesperson has what 3 resources/abilities?

1) A positive self-concept 2) Market-related knowledge 3) Sales-related knowledge

Ideally, the sales presentation will do what 3 things?

1) Accurately convey the product's major features 2) Describe its advantages in comparison with alternatives 3) Detail how it'll provide benefits for the potential customer

What are 3 common techniques of overcoming objections?

1) Acknowledging the objection 2) Postponing 3) Denial

What are 3 characteristics that a new-business sales person needs to exhibit high levels of?

1) Credibility 2) Creativity 3) Professionalism

What are 2 common market-based approaches to sizing for sales organizations?

1) Equalized workload method 2) Competitive benchmarking

What are the two types of sales force structures?

1) Generalist 2) Specialist

A sales force's need for generalists or specialists is guided by what 2 factors?

1) Market consideration 2) Firm's overall marketing strategy

What are the 5 factors that influence the degree to which a firm uses personal selling (what makes it more effective)?

1) New-to-the-world (like a self-driving vehicle) 2) Infrequently purchased (like a young couple buying a new home) 3) Highly technical or complex (require salesperson to educate customer on benefits & proper use) 4) Viewed as risky (salesperson builds trust; investments) 5) Customizable (salesperson helps configure to match customer needs)

What are 3 important by-products of the follow-up stage?

1) Positive word of mouth 2) Customer testimonials 3) Direct referrals

What 2 steps of the personal selling process take place before the sales call?

1) Prospecting 2) Pre-Approach

What are the 7 steps to the personal selling process?

1) Prospecting and qualifying 2) Preapproach 3) Approach 4) Presentation 5) Handling Objections 6) Gaining commitment 7) Follow-up

What are 2 common nonquantitative forecasting approaches?

1) Sales Force Composite 2) Survey of Buying Intentions

SPIN is an acronym that refers to the questions that feature most prominently in successful sales calls, which are?

1) Situation questions 2) Problem questions 3) Implication questions 4) Need-payoff questions

What are 3 common closing approaches?

1) Summary close 2) Alternative close 3) Assumptive close

What are some techniques salespeople use to qualify prospects?

1) Talking with the target customer 2) Doing market research to better understand the target customer's needs, wants, and ability to pay

What 4 steps of the personal selling process take place during the sales call?

3) Approach 4) Presentation 5) Handling Objections 6) Gaining Commitment

Which step of the personal selling process takes place after the sales call?

7) Follow-up

Sales Managers

Sales personnel who have oversight of selling efforts at varying levels of the organizational hierarchy

Approach

Sales rep meets the customer for the first time

Incremental Productivity Method

A cost-based sales force sizing approach that compares the cost of adding one salesperson to expected additional sales revenue -company will keep adding salespeople as long as the revenue exceeds the added cost

Customer Advocacy

A form of customer service in which companies focus on what's best for the customer -For a salesperson, it builds credibility with the customer

Competitive Benchmarking

A market-based sales force sizing approach in which sales managers match the size of competitors' sales forces

Equalized Workload Method

A market-based sales force sizing approach in which sales managers use sales-activity calculations to determine proper staffing levels -Determine segment's market potential, tally average number of sales calls need to close each sale

Sales Forecast

A projection of achievable revenue over an identified future period

Relationship Selling

A sales approach that involves building and maintaining customer trust over a long period of time (not just meeting periodic sales quotas)

Personal Selling Process

A sequence of 7 steps that salespeople follow to acquire new customers and obtain orders

Prospect

An individual (or group) capable of making the decision on a good/service a salesperson is selling

Market-Related Knowledge

An understanding of the goods, services, and processes within one's firm and of key business issues that affect the customer's success -How products/services can create value for customers

Lead Scoring

Analytics-based sales approach in which a company numerically rates its best prospective customers -Runs internal and external data through statistical models to identify traits that make the customer more likely to purchase

What is a drawback of a generalist sales force?

As the complexity of a firm's portfolio of products develops, and as the needs of customer segments grow more diverse, a single generalist salesperson may not be able to perform the job effectively

Gaining Commitment

Asking a sales prospect to move forward with the sales process, ultimately leading to a purchase -Requires salesperson to overcome basic human fear of rejection

Features (FAB approach)

Attributes or facts relating to the product being sold or demonstrated

Describe the trial closes approach used in sales training programs.

Sales reps ask questions throughout the sales presentation that test the buyer's readiness to commit -These questions enable salesperson to ascertain 1) where the buyer is in the process and 2) the right time to ask for the sale

Personal selling has emerged as arguably the most important decision factor in the large, complex sales that are common in ___________ settings.

B2B

Team Selling

Sales reps organizes experts from across the extended firm to support new-customer acquisition and ongoing customer relationship management -Team differs from situation to situation, depending on the specific needs of the customer

What are situation questions?

Designed to obtain background facts about the buyer's current circumstances -Answers provide a starting point for deciding which potential problems and dissatisfactions to explore

Advantages (FAB approach)

General statements about what the features do; may or may not be connected to an expressed or actual customer need

What are some bases on which sales territories can be defined?

Geography, sales potential, history

______________ and ______________ sales prospects in search of new business opportunities is the lifeblood of most businesses.

Identifying & qualifying

Qualifying

Identifying potential customers within the firm's target market who have a desire for the product, the authority to purchase it, and the resources to pay for it

Feature Dumping

Listing features without tying them to benefits

Quantitative Forecasting

Methods that apply algorithms to estimate sales in future periods -Use historical data or data from sales of similar products/services

Nonquantitative Forecasting ("Subjective forecasts")

Methods that rely heavily on the expert judgement of knowledgeable individuals inside and outside of the organization

Channel Sales Representatives

New-business sales reps who focus on securing new distribution channel outlets

Sales Force Composite

Nonquantitative forecasting method that asks each member of the sales force for his/her best estimate of sales for their individual territories over the coming year, which sales manager then adjusts and aggregates into an overall forecast

Survey of Buying Intentions

Nonquantitative forecasting method that develops a forecast based on how much of a product a sample of customers intend to purchase

Whether they sell directly to customers or seek to secure new distribution intermediaries, all new-business sales people may be accurately described as ___________________.

Order-getters

Sales Playbooks

Technology-enabled tools and processes that provide guided selling assistance to various selling job roles

Personal Selling

The 2-way flow of communication between a salesperson and a customer that is paid for by the firm and seeks to influence the customer's purchase decision

Customer-Oriented Selling

The adoption of the marketing concept at the level of the individual salesperson and customer

Adaptive Selling

The altering of sales behavior during a customer interaction based on perceived info about the selling situation

Objections

The concerns or reasons customers offer for not buying a product

What is a major drawback of professional selling?

The cost involved (sales visits are very expensive)

Sales Territories

The customer groups or geographic districts to which an individual salesperson or a sales team sells

Lifetime Value

The net present value of a customer's business over the span of their relationship with an organization; emphasis on keeping customers for long periods by focusing on customer relationships

Span of Control

The number of salespeople who report to a common manager

Sales Force Management

The planning, direction, and control of personal selling activities, including recruitment, selection, training, motivating, compensation, and evaluation as they apply to the sales force

Prospecting

The search for potential customers

Social Selling

The use of online, mobile, and social media to engage customers, build strong customer relationships, and increase sales

T/F: The cost of acquiring a new customer is up to 5 times more than retaining an existing one.

True

Sales organizations use a number of sizing approaches, which can be broadly categorized as ___________-based or ______________-based.

cost; market

Once the salesperson has succeeded in obtaining a meeting, the next goal is to build ___________ - a friendly relationship - with the decision maker or key influencers.

rapport

To reduce the uncerainty and tension associated with a final close, many sales training programs emphasize the use of ____________ closes.

trial