Sales Project: Shadow/Business & Customer Profile/Sales Call

Strategy Worksheet Component

AEB 3341 Selling Strategically
Spring 2011 Semester

Value: 25% of your Sales Project grade (10% of the course grade)
Due Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 in class

Assignment Overview
Consider yourself a new salesperson just entering your sales territory. This report will be written for your direct
sales supervisor. You are to make the assumption that you have had time to review the performance of the
previous salesperson, visit with some customers, and finally, have received enough training to write this report.

This report is for YOUR specific territory or area of responsibility and NOT an overall marketing plan for the
company. Specifically, your report will include:

1. A summary of your shadowing experience.

2. A business card for the salesperson you shadowed.
3. A background of your specific position, the specific product(s) or service(s) you will handle, and the
competitor/alternative environment.
4. A customer profile that you will use for this project. This customer can be either real or hypothetical,
but must be realistic and consistent with the type of customer you would sell to in your industry.
5. A sales call strategy worksheet, which should outline your strategy for a successful sales call. The
outline for a sales call strategy worksheet can be found in your course notes packet.
6. A copy of the thank you letter you sent to your sales professional.

Use appropriate headings and numbering (for the sales call strategy worksheet) for each element. Be as specific as
possible with all aspects of this assignment. There is a requirement of at least two and a maximum of four
complete selling points as discussed in class. As a reminder, the four steps to making a complete selling point are
as follows:
1. Show the feature, 2. Explain the benefit, 3. Lay out the proof of the benefit, and 4. Let the customer
agree with the benefit.

Assignment Outline
The outline for the paper should be as follows:
1. Summary of your “shadow” experience. (Suggested length: minimum of one page)
a. Turn in a business card from your sales representative.
b. Sales professional’s name, company, position, and type of business they are in.
c. Explanation of how you learned of your sales professional.
d. State at least three things you learned (relating to sales) as a result of interacting with this
sales professional.
e. State what the sales professional did well.
f. State what the sales professional could improve upon.
g. Discuss whether or not the concepts you are learning in AEB 3341 apply to what you
witnessed during your shadowing experience. Suggested length for this section is at least one
paragraph.
h. Attach a copy of the thank you letter you sent to the sales professional (use proper letter form
and sign your letter)
2. Company Background. This should be general information on the company you will be representing
in the Sales Project (Suggested length: approximately one page)
a. Information about the product, product line, and/or service that you will be selling in your
sales territory. Few salespeople are the sole salespersons for a company. Therefore, your
territory is not the same as the company’s territory.
b. Define your geographic or customer-based sales territory.
AEB 3341 Sales Project Assignment Shadow Component — Spring 2011 — Page 1 of 5
 c. Identify the competitors/alternatives in your sales territory (not the company’s). Do not say
that there is no competition or alternatives. We live in a society where there are always
competitors and alternatives.
d. Define your company’s market share in your sales territory (not the company’s). If you
cannot find this exact information, please give your best estimate. Market shares are
expressed as a percentage. For example, 10%.
3. Business/Customer/Prospect Profile. This is to be constructed around your prospect, not your sales
company. (Suggested length: one to two pages)
a. Business name (family name if a person or family)/department, contact name, complete
address, and phone number.
b. Situation (size, past history, needs, etc.)
c. Qualification status (discuss qualifications using each element of the NAME criteria)
d. Key contact information (name of your prospect, physical description, communication style,
hot buttons, interests/hobbies, buying behavior, etc.)
4. Sales Call Strategy Worksheet. This will form the basis in which you will construct your one-on-
one sales calls. (Suggested length: three to six pages)
a. Follow the sections of the grading rubric on page 9 of this handout. Please note, the specific
requirements of this section have changed from earlier semesters. Lay out your paper in the
following order
Opening: address or state how:
 You will greet your prospect and state how you will build rapport.
 What will you say to establish your company’s credibility.
 What will you say to build your personal credibility.
 What will you say to uncover your prospect’s needs.
 What you will say as your transition statement into the presentation.

Presentation: address or state how:

 You will introduce your first selling point. Provide one complete selling point that
satisfies that a need identified in the opening. LABEL each element of the selling
point (Feature, Benefit, Proof, Conviction). The proof on this selling point does
not need to be a value analysis (the Value Analysis should be presented under the
second selling point). You can use a testimonial or another form of proof as
discussed in class.

Trial Close: address or state how:

 After you complete your first selling point (gain conviction on your benefit
statement you are to attempt a trail close. That is, you are to ask for the order. Your
customer will not be ready to close so you may handle an objection or return to your
presentation and provide your second selling point.

Presentation continued: address or state how:

 You will introduce your second selling point. It must be a complete selling point (do
not put this at the end of the document and LABEL each element of the selling
point: (SELL). The proof part of this complete selling point must be a detailed,
numerical value analysis. This value analysis must compare your product or service
to a competitor or alternative. Comparing your product or service to “doing nothing”
is not acceptable. This value analysis must include the price of your product and the
price of your comparison. Remember that price selling is strictly forbidden. The
price of your product must be higher initially. In addition to your written value
analysis, include a table summarizing the comparison to a competing product and
your product’s value. In addition to it being clearer for the reader, a table can be
easily “copied” and “pasted” into a PowerPoint presentation, which is the
recommended format for the upcoming one-on-one Sales Call assignment. We will
cover several different approaches for constructing a value analysis in class. You are

AEB 3341 Sales Project Assignment Shadow Component — Spring 2011 — Page 2 of 5
 expected to use one of these methods.
 Be sure to state how you will let the customer agree with your benefit on each selling
point. Use this wording in your write-up: “I will let the customer agree with my
benefit by asking Mr. Smith if he agrees that my product can increase his profits by
15%.”
 Be sure to have at least two, and not more than four, complete selling points. Again,
these selling points are to be placed under the presentation section of the sales call
strategy worksheet, not at the end of the document.

Handling Objections (provide two): address or state how:

 For each question or objection you receive that you properly used the four general
steps for handling them: Listen, Restate, Handle, and Verify. You will randomly
draw two handling objection strategies before you begin your one on one sales call.
You are expected to use these specific handling objection strategies as part of step
three of handling objections (Handle).
 Objections may come at any time from your customer and the instructors will assist
in coordinating the “best” time that your customer should ask you questions so you
can effectively use the specific handling objection strategy you draw.
 Specifically, for this write up state an objection the customer may give you and write
out how you would use the four general steps for answering the question. For the
write up, you do NOT need to apply a specific handling objection strategy, but
simple state how you would answer their objection. For the one on one presentation,
you will be required to use the specific handling objection strategy you draw.

Closing the Sale: address or state how:

 You will use each of the five steps for an effective close.
 Specifically state:
o How you will ask if there are any more questions. If there are questions, you
need to answer them, otherwise proceed to step two.
o How you will review the problem the prospect had in the opening.
o How your presentation outlined solutions to that problem.
o How you will use a specific closing strategy to reach your sales call objective.
For the purpose of this assignment you can simple summarize the benefits from
your selling point. For the one on one, you will summarize the benefits from
your selling points and apply a specific closing strategy that you randomly
picked when you selected your handling objection strategies.
o How you will then ask for the order (reach your sales call objective) In addition
to stating the sales call objective, I am expecting you to tell me how it meets the
SMACT criteria. Your sales call objective should be your objective for the one-
on-one sales call.

Assignment Guidelines/Grading Criteria

The worksheet should be prepared with the one-on-one sales call in mind. The sales call strategy worksheet will
form your strategy for the remainder of your Sales Project, so take the time to formulate it correctly. The profile
should be prepared with one prospect in mind. Again, prospects can be hypothetical, but must be realistic. Clear
and concise answers are always preferred to flowery ones. Remember the acronym KISS (Keep It Simple
Salesperson). Grammar, neatness, formatting, and spelling will be considered in the evaluation of this assignment.
The exact grading sheet that will be used to evaluate this assignment is included in this packet. Some graphics are
recommended since “a picture is worth a thousand words,” especially in the business environment. This
assignment should be word-processed, preferably in an 11 or 12-point font, and laser printed. This is to be
considered a professional document.

AEB 3341 Sales Project Assignment Shadow Component — Spring 2011 — Page 3 of 5
The use of a cover page for this assignment is required. You should place your name, assignment, and course
title on that cover page. When including your page numbers, do not include your name with the page number (ex.
Smith page 7). These requirements will help to conceal the identity of the student from the grader during
evaluation. This allows the grader more objectivity during the evaluation process.

Please remember that this is not a marketing plan. Do not construct advertising campaigns, determine pricing,
develop major promotions, product innovations, add more salespeople, etc. This is not your job! Your job is to
sell your product in your sales territory under the marketing activities of your company.

Additional Resources
There are several examples of this completed assignment by previous AEB 3341 students on the course website.
It is advantageous for you to view these assignments as it might give you ideas on how to construct your
assignment. Please keep in mind that some of the examples on the class website were constructed before Spring
2011, and this assignment is continually being updated. As always, if you have any questions regarding this
assignment, your instructor is very willing to help.

Late Assignments
Late assignments will be penalized 10 points for the first day, and 5 points for each subsequent business day. No
assignments will be accepted after Friday March 31, 2011

AEB 3341 Sales Project Assignment Shadow Component — Spring 2011 — Page 4 of 5
 Shadow/Customer Profile/Strategy Worksheet
Selling Strategically
Section Possible Actual
Summarize Sales Professional Interaction
(5) Contact name, company, and position and business card attached
(3) 3 lessons learned
20
(4) Things done well & Things to improve
(2) Relevance to AEB 3341
(6) Proper Thank you letter
Company Background
(3) General company information
(2) Define territory 10
(2) Product or service in territory
(3) Competitors/alternatives
Business/Customer Profile
(2) Appropriate choice of customer (name, etc.)
(2) Situation 10
(4) Do they meet the name criteria? (Needs, Authority, Means, Eligibility)
(2) Key contact information (buying behavior, hot buttons)
Sales Call Strategy Worksheet
(2) Appropriate relative to shadow, company and customer profile?

(5) The opening (Build Rapport, Establish Company & Personal Credibility, Uncover
needs, transition)

(10) Selling point #1

Each element labeled?
Feature Benefit Proof Conviction

(10) Selling point #2

Each element labeled?
Feature Benefit Proof Conviction

(12) Proof with value analysis and side-by-side comparison

60

(5) Handling Objection #1

Each element labeled?
Listen, Restate Handle Verify

(5) Handling Objection # 2

Each element labeled?
Listen, Restate Handle Verify

(6) Closing
Each element labeled?
Ask for Questions, Review problem, Solution, Use strategy, Reach objective

(5) Sales call objective (stated and explains how it meets the SMACT criteria)

Subtotal 100
Deductions Misspellings, grammar, spacing, printing, no page numbers, etc.
Final Total 100

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