Module One

Welcome to the world of Sales

Why I took this course ?
Why I don’t like being a Salesman ?
Why I like being a Sales Man !
Who is a Salesman ?
What does he do?
What are his qualities ?
What is his role in an organization ?
 A Day in a Sales Manager’s Life
An Expert’s Viewpoint:
Von Oliver is currently national sales manager for a
division of Lockheed Martin Corp. Von’s typical day starts
at 7:30 A.M. going through e-mail and prioritizing the days
events. During the morning he will review reports, and
spend time with his sales reps. He will have lunch with
customers and spend the afternoon making sales calls
with his sales reps. He spends late afternoon reconciling
the days activities and setting his agenda for the next day.

Action
 A Day in a Sales Manager’s Life
An Expert’s Viewpoint:

Result

Von Oliver is involved in a variety of different activities.

He spends much of his time interacting with
individuals, especially salespeople and customers.
But, he also plans strategies and continuously
monitors performance. In other words, he performs all
the major sales management functions.
 Sales Management
• Sales Management- is the attainment of sales force
goals in an effective and efficient manner through
planning, staffing, training, leading, and controlling
organizational resources (Futrell1998)
• Sales Management means “the planning,direction and
control of personal selling,including recruiting
selecting,equipping,assigning,routing ,supervising,
paying,and motivating as these tasks apply to personal
sales force ( American Management Association)
 Sales Management Trends

Transactions Relationships

Individuals Teams

Sales Volume Sales Productivity

Management Leadership

Local Global
 Sales Teamwork Approaches
Core Selling Team Selling Center

Relatively permanent, Relatively temporary,

customer-focused group transaction-focused group

Membership determined by Membership determined by

job assignment to a specific involvement in sales
buying organization transaction

One selling center per

One team per buying unit
sales opportunity
 Sales Teamwork Approaches
Core Selling Team Selling Center

Membership Membership
relatively stable very fluid

Characteristics of team Characteristics of team

depend on characteristics depend on characteristics
of buying organization of sales opportunity

Mission is strategic with Mission is tactical

respect to the buying with respect to the
organization sales opportunity
 Leadership Trends

Yesterday Today
Natural resources Knowledge
defined power is power
Leaders commanded Leaders empower
and controlled and coach
Leaders Leaders
were warriors are facilitators
Managers Managers
directed delegate
Effective Sales Managers:

Utilize a Strategic Perspective Focused

on Customers

Attract, Keep, and Develop Sales Talent

Leverage Technology
 Customizing the Sales Approach
An Expert’s Viewpoint:
Lisa Gregg, Director of Sales Development for American Express had
this to say about customizing the sales approach: “Depending on the
application, the card may have hundreds of different benefits. A
supermarket manager has different needs than a client in the furniture
business. We wanted to create a message to fit the specific needs of
our customers.” Sales representatives now input specific customer
information, then the database produces sales materials ranging from
industry data sheets to Power Point slides that can be used in the
sales presentation.

Action
 Customizing the Sales Approach
An Expert’s Viewpoint:

Result

Customers now receive sales presentations based on their

unique needs, and American Express has greatly improved the
efficiency of its sales organization.
 Evolution of Personal Selling

Peddlers selling door Selling function

to door . . . served became more
as intermediaries structured

1800s 1900s 2000s

Industrial
As we begin Post-Industrial
the 21st century, selling
War and
continues toModern
develop,
Revolution
becomingRevolution
more professional
Depression
and more relational
Era

Selling function
Business organizations
became more
employed salespeople
professional
Continued Evolution of Personal Selling
Change Salesforce Response
More emphasis on developing
Intensified and maintaining trust-based,
competition long-term customer
relationships

Increased use of technology

More emphasis Increased use of lower-cost-
on improving per-contact methods
sales productivity More emphasis on profitability
objectives
Continued Evolution of Personal Selling
Change Salesforce Response

Demand for in-depth, Team selling

specialized knowledge
as an input to purchase More emphasis on customer-
decisions oriented sales training
 Role of a sales manager

• Sales forecaster
• Strategic planner
• Market analyst
• Observer of buyer behavior
• Leader
• Cost and profit analyst
• Budget manager
• communicator
 Responsibilities of a sales manager

• Hiring
• Training
• Coaching
• Motivating
• Leading
• Setting targets and tracking results
• Rewarding performance
• Sales support
• Organizing
• Conducting sales meetings
• Allocation of scarce resources
 Responsibilities of a sales executive

• Identify potential clients from available datebase

• Prioritize sales calls
• Deciding the selling approach
• Administering sales order
• Provide service
• Information gathering and reporting
• Skill upgradation
• Administrative responsibilities
 Sales

• Buyer seller Dyads

• -interaction
• Similarity among buyer and seller
• Initial conditioning
• Consumer perception of sellers behaviour
Contributions of Personal Selling:
Salespeople and Society

• Salespeople help
stimulate the economy

• Salespeople help with

the diffusion of innovation
 Contributions of Personal Selling:
Salespeople and the Employing Firm

• Salespeople generate revenue

• Salespeople provide market

research and customer feedback

• Salespeople become future

leaders in the organization
 Contributions of Personal Selling:
Salespeople and the Customer

• Salespeople provide solutions to

problems

• Salespeople provide expertise

and serve as information
resources

• Salespeople serve as advocates

for the customer when dealing
with the selling organization
 Contributions of Personal Selling:
Buyer Preferences
Industrial buyers prefer to deal with salespeople who:
• Are honest
• Understand general business and economic
trends, as well as the buyer's business
• Provide guidance throughout the sales process
• Help the buyer to solve problems
• Have a pleasant personality and a good
professional appearance
• Coordinate all aspects of the product and service
to provide a total package
 Classification of
Personal Selling Approaches

• Stimulus Response
• Mental States
• Need Satisfaction
• Problem Solving
• Consultative Selling
 Classification of
Personal Selling Approaches

Stimulus Response
– The key idea is that various stimuli can
elicit predictable responses.
– An example of the stimulus response view
of selling would be continued affirmation.
 Stimulus Response Selling

Continue
Salesperson Buyer
Process until
Provides Responses
Purchase
Stimuli Sought
Decision
 Classification of
Personal Selling Approaches

Mental States
– Assumes the buying process is essentially
identical for most buyers
– Buyers are led through certain mental states
– AIDA (attention, interest, desire, and action)
 Mental States Selling

Attention Interest Conviction Desire Action

 Classification of
Personal Selling Approaches

Need Satisfaction
– Based on the notion that the customer is
buying to satisfy a need
– Salesperson uses questioning, probing
tactic to uncover important buyer needs
 Need Satisfaction Selling

Present Continue
Uncover and
Offering to Selling until
Confirm Buyer
Satisfy Buyer Purchase
Needs
Needs Decision
 Classification of
Personal Selling Approaches

Problem Solving
– An extension of need satisfaction selling
– Sometimes competitors’ offerings are
included as alternatives
 Problem Solving Selling

Continue
Generate Evaluate Selling
Define
Alternative Alternative until
Problem
Solutions Solutions Purchase
Decision
 Consultative Selling

Business Consultant
The process of helping
customers reach their
strategic goals by using
Strategic Orchestrator
the products, service,
and expertise of the
selling organization.
Long-term Ally
 The Sales Process: An Overview
Salesperson
Attributes

Selling
Foundations
Initiating Developing Enhancing
Customer Customer Customer
Relationships Relationships Relationships
Selling
Strategy
 The Sales Process:
Salesperson
Attributes
Selling Foundations

In order to be successful in today’s global business

environment, salespeople must have a solid relationship
building foundation. They must:

Be Trustworthy and
Behave Ethically
Possess Excellent
Communication Skills

Understand Buyer Behavior

 The Sales Process:
Selling Strategy
In order to be successful in today’s global business
environment, salespeople must also think and act
strategically. The must develop strategies for:

Their Sales Territory

Each Customer

Each Sales Call

 Salesperson The Sales Process
Attributes

Initiating Developing Enhancing

Customer Customer Customer
Relationships Relationships Relationships

• Prospecting
• Preapproach
• Presentation Planning
• Approaching the Customer
 Salesperson The Sales Process
Attributes

Initiating Developing Enhancing

Customer Customer Customer
Relationships Relationships Relationships

• Sales Presentation Delivery

• Earning Customer Commitment
 Salesperson The Sales Process
Attributes

Initiating Developing Enhancing

Customer Customer Customer
Relationships Relationships Relationships

Adding Value through Follow-up,

Self-leadership, and Teamwork