Personal Selling Final

Sources of Prospects

- Loyal Customers Referrals from existing loyal customers in order to get new customers. 80% of people willing to give a referral, only 20% of salespeople willing to ask for one. Customer advocacy - customer is satisfied, loyal and willing to spread the word they're pleased with you, word-of-mouth. - Endless Chain Referrals Salesperson asks an open-end question during each customer contact. Ex. "Who else do you know Ms. Buyer that would benefit from our products? --> Mr. Buyer, Ms. Buyer mentioned to me you might have a need for one of our products." - Networking Contacts to develop leads via: --Friends and relatives --Centers of Influence People are centers of influence if they are in a position to persuade a salesperson's potential customers. --Bird dogs People who come in contact with an unusually large number of people in their daily routine. --Civic and professional groups -Directories Usefulness of directories depends heavily on the type of business. -Trade Shows Major industry events in which companies in a particular business get together to display their product/service. -Conferences Combine information sessions with social outings, usually held in attractive locations. - Internet: Email, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. - Telemarketing Outbound & Inbound Telemarketing - Written Correspondence Letter, proposal. Could be mass email campaign. - Cold Calls Calling or going in person to see potential prospects without invitation. - Prospecting by Others in Firm (not salespeople) - Other Prospecting

Approach

-Begins by content and delivery of the presentation -First Impression: Before you meet the prospective customer, greet the customer, first three minutes of the presentation. -Never make the customer wait -Make sure customer knows your arrived, run over last minute notes, update yourself on whats going on with the company. Approach: what sales professionals call the first part of the sales presentation. It's a transition point from the greeting to the main body of the presentation. 1. Get customer's attention 2. Create enough interest in you, the company, the product in order to continue the presentation -Referral -Customer benefit -Question -Assessment -Product demonstration

Objection Handling Chapter 7/pg 46

1. Question: Take the customer's concern, turn it into a question, and refocus on one or more strengths of your value proposition. Ex. Buyer: Your product in 10% more than your competitor's. Seller: Yes its slightly more expensive but don't you agree its higher quality and has lower service costs? 2. Direct denial: Involves an immediate and unequivocal rejection of the customer's statement. When a customer states a clearly false and damaging statement about you Ex. Buyer: I was told you had to recall all of your production because of a faulty switch. Seller: I'm not sure where you heard that, we haven't had a recall in over 10 years. 3. Indirect denial: Salesperson begins by agreeing with the customer, validating the objection before explaining why it is untrue, concern should have some validity. Ex. Buyer: Demand for your product is strong, I'm not sure you'll be able to meet my order on time. Seller: You are correct; however, we pride ourselves on not missing order deadlines, our customers can verify that. 4. Compensating for deficiencies: Move the customer from focusing on a feature his product performs poorly to one in which that excels. Acknowledge validity of customer concern then point out trade-off by moving to new product. Ex. Buyer: Response time on is too slow. Seller: I agree, it is 2/10 of a second slower. However, please note it also costs 25% less per unit. 5. Feel-felt-found: Customer objections more connected to their attitudes/opinions than facts. Ex. Buyer: In my opinion, your products are overpriced and not worth the extra cost. Seller: I can see why you feel that way, other customers have felt that way at first. However, when they take time to examine our product's higher quality, the have found it to be worth the investment. 6. Third-party endorsements: Can be used with FFF or other strategies. Should only be used when you know the relationship between you and the customer. Ex. Buyer: Your customer service is questionable. Seller: I agree our customer service is not what it should be several years ago, but we have made significant investment since and GE felt as you did and is one of our most satisfied customers. 7. Bounce-back: Turn a customer concern into a reason for action. Effective when buyer has objections in regards to price or needing more time. Ex. Buyer: I need more time to consider. Seller: I can appreciate that this is a big decision for your company. However, delaying this commitment only costs your company money. As we agreed earlier, this will save you 40% compared to your existing supplier. 8. Defer: Concern they mention that you'll address later in the presentation, defer it after you explain other material. Ex. Buyer: What is the cost of your product? Seller: I appreciate you wanting to know the price but is it ok if I expand upon that after I know what you need? Then I'm happy to tell you. 9. Trial offer: One of the best strategies to calm customer objections, allows customer to use the product without commitment. Doesn't take in place of a good sales presentation. Ex. Buyer: I'm not willing to make a commitment, seems hard to use. Seller: I appreciate your concerns, how about I install it at your office for one week and show you how to use it.

Adaptability Selling/Improv

Altering of sales behaviors during a customer interaction or from one situation to another based on information the sales rep gathers about the nature of the selling situation. -Good at relationship selling

Closing Techniques

Closing - Using active listening by listening to dialogue and picking perfect time to close. Silence is another tool, let them talk. Give prospect maximum leeway to respond to your close. 7 Closing Methods: 1. Assumptive Close: Allows the salesperson to verbalize this assumption to see if its correct. Ex. "I can ship it to you on Monday. I'll go ahead and schedule that." 2. Minor Point Close: Salesperson focuses the buyer on a small element of the decision, agreeing to something small reflects commitment to purchase. Ex. "What color do you prefer?" 3. Alternative Choice Close: Focuses the buyer on deciding relatively minor points. Giving prospect options that they'd most likely accept. Ex. "Would you like this delivered tomorrow, or would Monday be better?" 4. Direct Close: Most straightforward, simply ask for the order. Ex. "It sounds to me as though you are ready to make the buy. Let's get the order into the system." 5. Summary-of-Benefits Close: Formal way to close by going back over some or all of the benefits accepted, reminding buyer why those benefits are important, then asking a direct closing question. Ex. "We've agreed that our product will substantially upgrade your tech abilities and save you money, isn't that right? (Buyer agrees) Given your time table, lets place the order today. It will be delivered in two weeks" (Silence wait for response). 6. Balance Sheet Close: Gets salesperson directly involved in helping the prospect see the pros and cons of placing the order. "Reasons for Buying" on the top left, "Questions Remaining" on the top right. Ex. "Lets make a list and summarize the reasons this purchase makes sense and a list with any questions remaining, this will help us make the right decision" (Pull out paper, have dialogue with buyer to develop points then use an appropriate closing method). 7. Buy-Now Close: Creates a sense of urgency with the buyer that if he or she doesn't act today, something valuable will likely be lost. Ex. "We have a price increase on this product effective in two weeks. Orders today guaranteed at the current price."

Benefits

Employee Benefits: A foundation of most compensation plans is a package of benefits - designed to satisfy salesperson's basic needs for security such as medical insurance. Customer Benefits: Customers achieve a certain bundle of benefits in return for these investments (time, money, human resources).

FAB

Features: Any material characteristic or specification of the company's products and services. (say, antilock brakes on a car) -No matter the buying situation, customers don't buy product features, they buy product benefits that meet their needs. Advantages: Particular product/service characteristic that helps meet the customers needs. (antilock brakes stop the car faster and in a more controlled fashion) -Customers want benefits, but they also want to know how your product is better. Benefits: Beneficial outcome to the buyer from the advantage found in the product feature. (the car will provide greater safety for the driver and passengers) -Customers expect salespeople to have a thorough knowledge of their competitors products and their benefits.

Pre-approach

Planning the sales call: 1. Establish goals for the initial sales call 2. Learn all you can about the prospect 3. Plan to portray the right image 4. Determine your approach 5. Prepare a sales proposal

SPIN Selling Approach

Situation Questions: Provide basic information/find facts about the customer's circumstances/existing situations. -Way of establishing rapport but customers get tired of these questions & salespeople often already know the answers to these broad questions -Are used more in failed sales calls -Are overused by inexperienced salespeople Problem Questions: Based on salesperson's research to the situation questions, salesperson is able to learn about customer's problems or dissatisfaction via directed questions. -Two Goals: 1. Customer's responses offer critical info the salesperson will use in discovering the customer's needs. 2. In answering a carefully planned set of questions, customers will admit they have a problem. -Are used more in calls that succeed (especially for smaller sales) -Are asked more by experienced salespeople, more useful than situation questions when identifying a customer's needs Implication Questions: Once a problem has been defined, salesperson must help the customer recognize its implications. -Are strongly linked to success, help customers realize the seriousness of the problem and begin to search for solutions -Must get agreement on the problem before asking implication questions Need Payoff Questions: Transition from problem identification and clarification to problem solution. -At some point salesperson must move customer to the solutions offered by the company -Need payoff questions directly connect the problem with the value proposition