Personal Selling Exam 1

Order-takers

Also called farmers, these salespeople specialize in maintaining current business.

Order-Getters

Also called hunters, these salespeople actively seek orders, usually in a highly competitive environment.

AIDA

An acronym for the various mental states the salesperson must lead customers through when using mental states selling: attention, interest, desire, and action.

Mental States Selling

An approach to personal selling that assumes that the buying process for most buyers is essentially identical and that buyers can be led through certain mental states, or steps, in the buying process; also called the formula approach.

Need Satisfaction Selling

An approach to selling based on the notion that the customer is buying to satisfy a particular need or set of needs.

Stimulus Response Selling

An approach to selling where the key idea is that various stimuli can elicit predictable responses from customers. Salespeople furnish the stimuli from a repertoire of words and actions designed to produce the desired response.

Continued Affirmation

An example of stimulus response selling in which a series of questions or statements furnished by the salesperson is designed to condition the prospective buyer to answering "yes" time after time, until, it is hoped, they will be inclined to say "yes" to the entire sales proposition.

Problem solving Selling

An extension of need satisfaction selling that goes beyond identifying needs to developing alternative solutions for satisfying these needs.

Personal Selling

An important part of marketing that relies heavily on interpersonal interactions between buyers and sellers to initiate, develop, and enhance customer relationships.

Mental States View of Selling

Attention: Build rapport with the prospect, ask questions to generate excitement for the sales offering Interest: Discover buyer needs; uncover purchase decision process; gain precommitment to consider purchase of seller's product Desire: Build a sense of urgency; demonstrate the product; persuade the buyer to try the product Action: Overcome buyer resistance and make the sale; multiple attempts to close the sale are sometimes used

Technical Support Salespeople

Technical specialists who may assist in the design and specification process, installation of equipment, training of customer's employees, and follow-up technical service.

Adaptive Selling

The ability of salespeople to alter their sales messages and behaviors during a sales presentation or as they encounter different sales situations and different customers.

Successful professional salesperson of today and the future is

a better listener than a talker; more oriented toward developing long-term relationships with customers than placing emphasis on high pressure short-term sales techniques; and has the skills and patience to endure lengthy, complex sales processes. They strive to furnish valuable info based on unique customer needs

Customers who are likely to be early adopters of an innovation often rely on salespeople as

a primary source of information

Consultative selling method focuses on

achieving strategic goals of customers, not just meeting needs or solving problems. Salespeople confirm their customers' strategic goals, and then work collaboratively with customers to achieve those goals.

Professional buyers have little tolerance for

aggressive, pushy salespeople

To be successful in problem-solution selling, salespeople must be able to get the buyer to

agree that a problem exists and that solving it is worth the time and effort required

in a fluctuating economy, salespeople making invaluable contributions by

assisting in recovery cycles and helping to sustain periods of relative prosperity.

Mental States aer typically referred to as

attention, interest, desire, and action

In selling, we discuss strategy at four levels:

corporate, business unit, marketing department, and overall sales function

________ is always determined by customers' perceptions of what they get in exchange for what they have to give up.

customer value

What approach is typically associated with a "Product Push" strategy

delivering a message or making a pitch in which customers were pressured to buy without much appreciation for their real needs.

As personal selling continues to evolve, it is more important than ever that salespeople focus on

delivering customer value while initiating, developing, and enhancing customer relationships.

In need satisfaction selling, the customer responses dominate the early portion of the sales interaction, and only after relevant needs have been established _________

does the salesperson begin to relate how their offering can satisfy these needs.

The problem solving method typically requires

educating the customer about the full impact of the existing problem and clearly communicating how the solution delivers significant customer value.

Salespeople can benefit tremendously by

embracing high ethical standards, participating in professional organizations, and working from a continualy evolving knowledge base.

Personal selling also recognizes that customers would like to be heard when ____________

expressing what they want suppliers and salespeople to provide for them.

Two areas in the study indicated that sales needs additional progress to be viewed as a profession on a par with law, medicine, and other long-recognized professions. What are the two areas

first area has to do with how much autonomy salespeople have to make decisions and the amount of public trust granted to salespeople. Although many business-to-business salespeople have considerable decision-making autonomy, others have very little. Public trust could be improved by a widely accepted certification program such as the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designation for accountants. At present, however, very few salespeople have professional certification credentials. Although many salespeople do have considerable autonomy, public trust in certification programs is modest; thus, the results are mixed as to whether the sales profession meets this professional criterion. The final area where sales needs to improve is adherence to a uniform ethical code. Many companies have employee codes of conduct and some professional organizations have ethical codes for salespeople, but there is no universal code of ethics with a mechanism for dealing with violators. Until such a code is developed and widely accepted in business, some members of society will not view sales as a true profession.

Salespeople are increasingly responsible for improving profitability not only by producing sales revenues but also by

improving the productivity of their actions

The three major phases of the sales process are

initiating, developing, and enhancing customer relationships.

Personal Selling is distinguished from other marketing communications like advertising, sales promotions, direct and electronic marketing, etc. because

interpersonal communications; salespeople are engaging with buyers before, during, and after the sale allowing a higher degree of immediate customer feedback which becomes a strong advantage

What is a positive feature of the mental states selling method

it forces the salesperson to plan the sales presentation prior to calling on the customer. It also helps the salesperson to recognize that timing is an important element in the purchase decision process and that careful listening is necessary to determine which stage the buyer is in at any given point.

What is a problem with the mental states method?

it is difficult to determine which state a prospect is in. Sometimes a prospect is spanning two mental states or moving back and forth between two states during the sales presentation. Consequently, the heavy guidance structure the salesperson implements may be inappropriate, confusing, and even counterproductive to sales effectiveness. It is also not customer oriented.

Personal Selling is the_____________ of marketing communications for businesses particularly in the business-to-business marketing

most important part

According to The Brooks Group, the problem solving selling method is not so much about convincing someone to buy, but rather it is about

offering a logical solution to a problem faced by the client

In Need Satisfaction Selling, the salesperson uses a _________

questioning, probing tactic to uncover important buyer needs

Considering the advantages and disadvantages of the of the stimulus response method, it appears most suitable for

relatively unimportant purchase decisions when time is severely constrained and professional buyers are not the prospects

Salespeople contribute to their firms as

revenue producers, sources of market research and feedback, and candidates for management positions.

What constitutes value will likely vary from one customer to the next depending on the customer's

situation needs and priorities

Customers seem to appreciate this selling method and are often willing to

spend considerable time in preliminary meeting to define needs prior to a sales presentation or written proposal

Five basic approaches to personal selling:

stimulus response mental states need satisfaction problem solving consultative selling

Of the five approaches to personal selling, which is the simplest

stimulus response selling

In consultative selling, salespeople fulfill three primary roles

strategic orchestrator, business consultant and long-term ally

The problem solving approach appears to be most successful in

technical industrial sales situations in which the parties involved are usually oriented toward scientific reasoning and processes

Need satisfaction selling method avoids

the defensiveness that arises in some prospects when a salesperson rushes to the persuasive part of the sales message without adequate attention to the buyer's needs.

While acting as an agent of innovation, the salesperson invariably encounters a strong resistance to change in

the latter stages of the diffusion process. The status quo seems to be extremely satisfactory to many parties even though change is necessary for continued progress or survival.

direct-to-consumer sales

the most numerous type of salespeople. There are approximately 4.1 million retail salespeople in this country and nearly 1.5 million selling real estate, insurance, and securities directly to consumers.

Stimulus response sales strategies when implemented with a canned sales presentation have some advantages for the seller. What are they?

the sales message can be structured in a logical order questions and objections from the buyer can usually be anticipated and addressed before they are magnified during buyer-seller interaction. Inexperienced salespeople can rely on stimulus response methods in limited settings and this may eventually contribute to sales expertise

The problem solving approach can take a lot of time. In some cases,

the selling company cannot afford this much time with each customer. In others customers may be unwilling to spend the time.

What two basic ways do salespeople contribute to their nations' economic growth?

they stimulate economic transactions and further the diffusion of innovation

What criterion of a true profession was sales found to meet

1. sales meets the criterion of operating from a substantial knowledge base that has been developed by academics, corporate trainers and executives, and professional organizations. 2. sales meets the criterion of making a significant contribution to society, which is discussed in the next section of this chapter. 3. through professional organizations such as the Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA) and through a common sales vocabulary such as that found in textbooks and training materials, sales meets the professional criteria of having a defined culture and organization of colleagues. 4. sales does have a unique set of professional skills, although these skills vary depending on the specific nature of a given sales position.

In examining the status of sales as a true profession, one study found that sales meets

4 out of the 6 criteria that define professions, and that progress is still needed on the other two dimensions.

Detailer

A category of sales support personnel in the pharmaceutical industry working at the physician level to furnish information regarding the capabilities and limitations of medications in an attempt to get the physician to prescribe their product.

Missionary Salespeople

A category of sales support personnel who are not typically involved in the direct solicitation of purchase orders. Their primary roles are disseminating information, stimulating the sales effort to convert prospects into customers, and reinforcing customer relationships.

Sales Professionalism

A customer-oriented approach that uses truthful, nonmanipulative tactics to satisfy the long-term needs of both the customer and the selling firm.

Trust-Based Relationship Selling

A form of personal selling requiring that salespeople earn customer trust and that their selling strategy meets customer needs and contributes to the creation, communication, and delivery of customer value.

Revenue Producers

A role fulfilled by salespeople that brings in revenue or income to a firm or company.

strategic orchestrator

A role the salesperson plays in consultative selling where they arrange the use of the sales organization's resources in an effort to satisfy the customer.

long-term ally

A role the salesperson plays in consultative selling where they support the customer, even when an immediate sale is not expected.

business consultant

A role the salesperson plays in consultative selling where they use internal and external (outside the sales organization) sources to become an expert on the customer's business. This role also involves educating customers on the sales firm's products and how these products compare with competitive offerings.

Combination sales job

A sales job in which the salesperson performs multiple types of sales jobs within the framework of a single position.

Sales Process

A series of interrelated steps beginning with locating qualified prospective customers. From there, the salesperson plans the sales presentation, makes an appointment to see the customer, completes the sale, and performs postsale activities.

Sales Dialogue

Business conversations between buyers and sellers that occur as salespeople attempt to initiate, develop, and enhance customer relationships. Sales dialogue should be customer-focused and have a clear purpose.

virtual selling

Collection of processes and technologies by which salespeople engage with customers remotely with both synchronous and asynchronous communications.

Purpose of sales dialogue conversations are to

Determine if a prospective customer should be targeted for further sales attention. Clarify the prospective customer's situation and buying processes. Discover the prospective customer's unique needs and requirements. Determine the prospective customer's strategic priorities. Communicate how the sales organization can create and deliver customer value. Negotiate a business deal and earn a commitment from the customer. Make the customer aware of additional opportunities to increase the value received. Assess sales organization and salesperson performance so that customer value is continuously improved

In most situations, customers define value in a complex manner by addressing questions such as:

Does the salesperson do a good job in helping me make or save money? Is this salesperson dependable? Does this salesperson help me achieve my strategic priorities? Is the salesperson's company easy to work with? Does the salesperson enlist others in their organization when needed to create value for me? Does the sales representative understand my business and industry?

What are the limitations of stimulus response methods

Most buyers like to take an active role in sales dialogue, and the stimulus response approach calls for the salesperson to dominate the flow of conversation. The lack of flexibility in this approach is also a disadvantage, as buyer responses and unforeseen interruptions may neutralize or damage the effectiveness of the stimuli.

inside sales

Nonretail salespeople who remain in their employer's place of business while dealing with customers.

Trust-Based Relationship Selling is different from traditional selling how

Rather than trying to maximize sales in the short run (also called a transaction focus), trust-based relationship selling focuses on solving customer problems, providing opportunities, and adding value to the customer's business over an extended period

Pioneers

Salespeople who are constantly involved with either new products, new customers, or both. Their task requires creative selling and the ability to counter the resistance to change that will likely be present in prospective customers.

economic stimuli

Something that stimulates or incites activity in the economy.

Customer Value

The customer's perception of what they get for what they have to give up, for example, benefits from buying a product in exchange for money paid.

Consultative Selling

The process of helping customers reach their strategic goals by using the products, services, and expertise of the sales organization

diffusion of innovation

The process whereby new products, services, and ideas are distributed to the members of society.

Comparison of Transaction-Focused Traditional Selling with Trust-Based Relationship Selling

Transaction Focused: Skills: selling skills ex, finding prospects, making sales presentations Primary Focus: Salesperson and the selling firm Desired Outcomes: Closed sales, order volume Role of Salesperson: Make calls and close sales Nature of communication with Customers: One-way, from salesperson to customer; pushing products Degree of salesperson's involvement in customer's decision: isolated from customer's decision Knowledge Required: Product knowledge, competitive knowledge, identifying opportunities, account strategies Postsale Followup: little or none; move on to conquer the next Trust-Based Relationship: Skills: selling skills, information gathering, listening and questioning, strategic problem solving, creating and demonstrating unique, value-added solutions, teambuilding and teamwork Primary Focus: The customer and their customers Desired Outcomes: Trust, joint planning, mutual benefits, enhance profits Role of Salesperson: business consultant and long-term ally, key player in the customer's business Nature of Communication with Customers: Two-way collaborative, strive for dialogue with the customer Degree of Salesperson's involvement in customer's decision: Actively involved in customer's decision Knowledge Required: product knowledge, selling company resources, competitive knowledge, account strategies, costs, identifying opportunities, general business and industry knowledge and insight, customer's products, competition, and customers. Post-Sale Followup: Continued Follow through to ensure customer satisfaction, keep customer informed, add customer value, manage opportunities