Power of Professional Selling Midterm

Communication Style Model

- 4 Styles based on two dimensions - Dimensions: dominance and sociability

Sales person's Role in Product Differentiation

- Differentiation refers to your ability to separate yourself, your product, and/or your company from that of your competitors...the key to a competitive advantage. • Sources of differentiation include quality, price, convenience, economy, service, and other factors. • A value proposition is the set of benefits and values the salesperson configures to meet and exceed customers' specific needs.

Consultative Selling

- Emerged from the marketing concept - Emphasizes the need identification, which is achieved through effective communication between the sales person and the customer - Dynamic but demanding

Empathy and Ego Drive

- Empathy is the ability to imagine yourself in someone else's position and to understand what that person is feeling. - Ego drive is an inner force that makes the salesperson want and need to make the sale. - Closing the sale provides a powerful means of enhancing the salesperson's ego - Empathy and ego drive reinforce one another.

Consultative Sales help solve problems by...

- Listening - Defining the customers problem - Collaborating on solutions

Quantifying the Value Proposition

- Quantifying the value proposition is important in many situations, especially when the customer is a business buyer (B2B) - The value quantification process raises customers' comprehension level as they discover the merits of buying your product or service - It requires communicating how your solution will impact business results, such as providing increased reliability or lower maintenance costs.

Business Ethics

- The principles and standards that guide behavior in the business world - Translate values intobehaviors that buildstrengthen relationships

Solution Sales Process

- Uncovers and clarifies a customer's problem - Works with the customer to create a vision of how things could be better - Develops a plan for implementing the vision

win-win philosophy

- first step in developing a relationship strategy - both the buyer and seller come out of the sale understanding that their respective best interests have been served, so both win. - starting point: to compare the behaviors of persons who have adopted the win-lose approach with the behaviors of persons who have adopted the win-win approach.

Major Features of Consultative Selling

-Customer is person to be served -Communication is two-way -Problem-solving is offered, negotiation not manipulation -Service is emphasized at every phase

4 ways of E.I for leaders

1. Be an active listener, so people know you value what they think 2. Be empathetic, so people know you care 3. Take time to understand what motivates your employees 4. Get perspective by discovering where your employees are "coming from," how their lived experiences can benefit your team and organization

4 key groups for relationship strategies

1. customers (external) 2. secondary decision makers (external) 3. company support staff (internal) 4. management personnel (internal) ---- Salesperson is on top

Product Positioning Options

1. new and emerging products versus well-established products 2. Position products with value-added strategies

Marketing Concept

A principal that holds that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired products.

Emotive Style

Appear quite active Take social initiative Encourage informality Express emotional opinions (ex: Coach Prime)

Supportive Style

Appearance of being quiet Listens attentively to other people Tends to avoid use of power Makes decisions in a thoughtful and deliberate manner (ex: kelly clarkson)

E.I for leaders

Becoming a leader who brings out the best in people. Thathappens when you really "connect" with people - and whenit does, it can impact both engagement and productivity.

Relationship challenges in sales

Building: Building NewRelationships(rapport) Moving: Moving from a personal to business relationship Managing: Managing relationships

relationships add value

Business is defined by customer relationships,and sales success depends on adding value

Key Influences onPartnerRelationships

Character integrity

3 C's of Emotional Intelligence

Consciousness Confidence Compassion

Reflective Style

Controls emotional expression Displays a preference for orderliness Tends to express measured opinions Seems difficult to get to know (ex: Shark tank judge)

Product Positioning

Creating and maintaining a certain concept of a product in customers' minds

Emotional intelligence

EI or EQ is the capacity for monitoring our own feelings and those of others, for motivation ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships

Buying Motives

Emotional versus Rational Buying • Patronage versus Product Buying

Four Styles of Communication

Emotive Directive Reflective Supportive

Why is emotional intelligence Important?

Greater predictor of success in business and leadership

Product Configuration

If the customer has complex buying needs, then the salesperson may have to bring together many different parts of the company's product mix in order to develop a custom-fitted solution. The product selection process is often referred to as product configuration.

Selling a Solution versus Product

In sales a solution is more than a specific product... it often provides measurable results such as greater productivity, increased profits, or less employee turnover

knowledge workers

Individuals whose work effort is centered around creating, using,sharing, and applying knowledge

Sales/Personal Selling

Is 2 ways

The information economy

Is about the growing value of knowledge, making it the most important ingredient of what people buy and sell

Using the 3-DProduct Solutions Selling Model

Key question areas to engage the customerand identify the problem: • Product Questions • Company Questions • Salesperson Questions

These skills translate to 4 key groups ofknowledge workers

Managerial personnel• Professionals• Entrepreneurs and SBOs• Marketing

directive style

People who prefer simple, clear-cut solutions to problems (ex: Hillary Clinton)

Promotion, 3 buckets

Personal selling, advertising, Public Relations (PR), sales promotion (BOGOS, discounts)

non-sales selling

Persuading, influencing, and convincing others in ways that don't involve anyone making a purchase

Bottom Line

Profits

Marketing Mix (4 P's)

Sales goes into Promotion (integrating marketing communication)

The Dominance Continuum (horizontal)

Someone low in dominance may be reserved, unassertive, and easygoing. • Someone high in dominance may be decisive, opinioned, self-assertive, and vocal.

Building Strong Relationships through Style Flexing

Style flexing is the deliberate attempt to adapt one's communication style to accommodate the needs of the other person. • In selling situations, determine customer's most preferred style and flex your own accordingly.

Ethics

The foundation for partnering style interactions that create value

personal selling

The two-way flow of communication between a buyer and a seller that is designed to influence the buyer's purchase decision.

Understand theCustomer's Buying Strategy

To fully understand the customer's buying strategy, the salesperson must conduct a careful needs discovery or assessment

Trust

Trust is the most important precondition ofpartnering relationships that add value

value driven leadership

Values(Deep Personal Beliefs)----Attitude(Destructive vs. Constructive)----Behavior (Ethical vs. Unethical)

Adding Value with Nonverbal Messages

When two people communicate, nonverbal messages convey much more impact than verbal messages.

Buyer Resolution Theory

Why should I buy? What should I buy? Where should I buy? What is a fair price? When should I buy?

Value-added selling

a series of creative improvements in the sales process that enhance the customer experience.

Partnering

a strategically developed, high-quality, long-term relationship that focuses on solving the customer's buying problems

product strategy

a well-conceived plan that emphasizes becoming a product expert, selling specific benefits, and configuring value-added solutions

adaptive selling

altering sales behaviors in order to improve communication with the customer

Self concept

bundle of facts, opinions, beliefs, and perceptions about yourself that are personal in your life - formed throughout childhood, adolescene and adulthood from events/others - both consciously and unconsciously aware of these events

What is a Customer Strategy?

carefully conceived plan that results in understanding the customer's perceptions and maximizing customer satisfactions and responsiveness

Communication style bias

develops when we have contacted with another person whose communication style is different from our own

Customer Focus/Value

paths to sales and profits

Communication style

pattern of behavior that others observe

inside salespeople

perform selling activities at the employer'slocation or remotely

Thought Processes that EnhanceYour Selling RelationshipStrategy

positive self-concept• Focus on the future and stop being overly concerned with past mistakes or failures.• Develop expertise in selected areas.• Learn to develop a positive mental attitude.

The Sociability Continuum (vertical)

reflects the amount of control we exert over our emotional expressiveness. - Higher sociability: those who tend to express feelings freely• Lower sociability: those who tend to control their feelings.Figure

Top Line

revenue

consultative process buyer

salespeople focus attention on needs awareness, help customer evaluate solutions

Dimensions of Service Quality

tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy

Outside salespeople

travel tomeet prospects and customers inperson at their place of business

figure 4.2

win-lose people vs win-win people

The three keys to a partnering relationship include:

• A relationship built on shared values. • Everyone having a clear understanding of the purpose of the partnership and committed to the vision. • The role of the salesperson must move from selling to supporting.

minimizing communication style bias

• Communication style bias is a barrier to success in selling. • A highly adaptable salesperson can usually build a rapport with customers regardless of their communication style. • The term versatility describes a salesperson's ability to minimize communication style bias. • Adapting to the customer's preferred communication style can enhance sales performance.

Key Elements ofEmotional Intelligence inSales

• Self-awareness• Self-confidence• Trustworthiness• Adaptability• Initiative• Optimism• Empathy• Social skills