Introduction to selling

Difference between marketing and selling

Important role of personal selling
Consultative selling
Evolution of strategic selling
Selling Process

Personal Selling Today

Personal Selling in the

Information Age
Major Developments (1960-2020)
1) Major advances in information technology
2) Information is a strategic resource
3) Business is defined by customer
relationships
4) Sales success depends on creating and
adding value for the customer
INCREASES IN RELATIONSHIP SELLING AND RELATIONSHIP MARKETING

Industrial Economy
1860-1960

Information Economy
1960-2020

Definition
Personal Selling involves
person-to-person communication
with a customer, or prospect

Personal Selling
It is a process of developing
relationships, discovering needs,
matching appropriate products to
these needs, and communicating
benefits through informing,
persuading, and reminding

Value Personal Selling

Large investments in personal
selling are made due to
increased:
Sophistication and complexity of products,
Competition, local and global, and
Customer demand for value.

Evolution of Personal Selling (1950 to Present)

Marketing Era
Organizations
determine needs
and wants of target
markets and adapt
themselves to
deliver desired
satisfaction.
Product orientation
is replaced by a
customer
orientation.

Middle 1950s-1960s

Selling Emphasis:
More
organizations
recognize that the
salesperson is in a
position to collect
product, market,
and service
information
regarding the
buyers needs.

Evolution of Personal Selling (1950 to Present)

Consultative Selling
Era
Salespeople are
becoming
diagnosticians of
customers needs as
well as consultants
offering wellconsidered
recommendations.
Mass markets are
breaking into target
markets.

Late 1960s-1970s

Selling Emphasis:
Buyer needs are
identified through
two-way
communication
Informationgiving and
negotiation tactics
replace
manipulation.

Consultative Selling
Extension of the marketing concept
Looks at a customer as a person to be
served
Need
Discovery

Selection
of Product

NeedSatisfaction
Presentation

Servicing
the sale

Evolution of Personal Selling (1950 to Present)

Strategic Selling
Era
The evolution of a
more complex
selling environment
and greater
emphasis on market
niches creates the
need for greater
structure and more
emphasis on
planning.

1980s

Selling
Emphasis:
Strategy is
given as much
attention as
selling tactics.
Product
positioning is
given more
attention.

A Strategic Market Plan

Outlines the methods and resources
required to achieve an organizations
goals within a specific target market,
taking into consideration all the major
functional areas of the business that
must be co-ordinated, such as
production, marketing, finance, and
human resource management

Evolution of Personal Selling (1950 to Present)

Relationship Selling
Era
Salespeople are
encouraged to think of
everything they say or
do in the context of
their long-term, highquality partnership
with individual
customers. Sales force
automation provides
specific customer
information.

1990s-present

Selling Emphasis:
Customer
supplants the
product as the
driving force in
sales.
Greater emphasis
is placed on
strategies that
create customer
value.

Tactics vs. Strategies

Tactics are techniques, practices, or
methods salespeople use during face-toface interactions with customers
Strategies are what salespeople employ
as a result of precall planning to ensure
that they call on the right people, at the
right time, and with the right tactics to
achieve positive results

Relationship Selling
Salespeople who have
adopted relationship selling
work hard to build and
nourish long term
partnerships
They rely on a personal,
customized approach to each
customer

Transactional Selling
A sales process that most effectively
matches the needs of the value-conscious
buyer, who is primarily interested in price
and convenience

Relationship Selling Enhancements

Relationship selling is enhanced by:

Ethical Standards
Sales Force Automation
National Account Programs
Customer Relationship Management

Value Creation
New selling imperative
What value does the sales person offer

Value-added selling does not replace

consultative selling, or strategic selling, or
relationship selling it encompasses them
all

Steps in the Selling Process

Step 1. Prospecting and Qualifying

Identifying and Screening For

Qualified Potential Customers.

Step 2. Preapproach

Learning As Much As Possible About

a Prospective Customer Before
Making a Sales Call.

Step 3. Approach

Step 4. Presentation/ Demonstration

Knowing How to Meet the Buyer to

Get the Relationship Off to a Good
Start.
Telling the Product Story to the
Buyer, and Showing the Product
Benefits.

Steps in the Selling Process

Step 5. Handling Objections

Step 6. Closing

Step 7. Follow-Up

Seeking Out, Clarifying, and

Overcoming Customer Objections to
Buying.

Asking the Customer for the Order.

Following Up After the Sale to

Ensure Customer Satisfaction and
Repeat Business.