Personal Selling:

Preparation and Process

3rd Oct 2016
LBSIM, New Delhi

Agen
da
To understand psychology in selling,
buying decision process and buying
situations
To learn communication skills, sales
knowledge, and sales related marketing
policies
To understand personal selling process

Psychology in Selling: Stimulus

Response Model
Stimulus
(Sales Presentation)

Buyers decision
making process

Response
(buy or no buy)

If a sales person makes a presentation, the

prospect may or may not buy
The above buyer behaviour model does
not tell us the reasons of buying or not
buying
To understand the psychological aspects of
selling or buying, salespeople should study
consumer or buyer behaviour, including
buying process and situations

Buyer- Seller Dyadic Interaction:

Study by Jadish Seth
Two Major Factors as the basis for buyerSeller interaction.
Content/s ------- of Information
Product features, price, services, and also
individual needs of buyers and sellers

Style of Interaction
Task Orientation
Interaction orientation
Self Orientation
The study suggests that if both buyer and seller are
compatible the chances of sales are high.

Buying Process of Consumers and Business

Buyers
Five stage model for household
customers

Eight stage model for business

buyers

1. Problem / need recognition

1. Problem / need recognition

2. Characteristics and quantity
determination
3. Specification development

2. Information search / collection

4. Supplier search and qualification

5. Obtain and analyse supplier
proposals

3. Evaluate alternatives

6. Evaluation and selection of

suppliers

4. Purchase decision

7. Selection of purchase order routine

5. Post purchase behaviour

8. Performance feedback and postpurchase evaluation

Brand/Supplier
Evaluation System
Attributes

Weight

Brand/Supplie
r Belief

Brand/Supplie
r Score

Piece

30

0.8

30X0.8 = 24

Quality

25

0.6

25X0.6 = 15

Safety

25

0.6

25X0.6 = 15

Life

20

0.5

20X0.5 = 10

Total

100

64

Buying Situations Faced By

Household customers

Business Buyers

Routine decision-making

New task / New purchase

Limited decision-making

Modified rebuy / change in

supplier

Extensive decision-making

Straight rebuy / Repeat purchase

Buying process and situations differ for household

consumers and business buyers.
Consumers / Buyers may skip or reverse some stages in
buying process. E.G. A consumer buying toothpaste

Knowledge of Sales and Sales-related

Marketing Policies
Sales Knowledge

Marketing Policies

Company knowledge

Pricing and Payment policies

Product knowledge

Product policies

Customer knowledge

Distribution policies

Competitor knowledge

Promotional policies

Major reasons for giving above information / knowledge

through training programmes to salespeople are:
increase their self-confidence
Meet customers expectations
Increase sales
Overcome competition

The Sales
Process

As a part of selling activities, if salespeople follow

the steps or phases shown below, their chances of
success are far better.
Prospecting &
Qualifying

Preapproach /
Precall planning

Approach

Presentation &
Demonstration

Follow-up &
Service

Trail close /
Closing the sale

Overcoming
Objections

The sequence of above steps may change to meet the

sales situation in hand.
Some of the above steps may not be applicable for selling
to the trade

Prospecting
It is identifying or finding prospects i.e. prospective or
potential customers.
Methods of prospecting or sales lead generation are:
(1) referrals from existing customers, (2) company sources
(website, ads., tradeshow, tele prospecting), (3) external
sources (suppliers, intermediaries, trade associations), (4)
salespersons networking, (5) industrial directories, (6) cold
canvassing, (7) standard industrial classification (SIC) system.

Qualifying
Companies qualify sales leads by contacting them by mail or
phone to find their interests (or needs) and financial capacity.
Leads are categorized as: Hot, Warm, and Cool
Impact of follow up : sales people get more than 80%
of buyers business when they FOLLOW UP a sales
enquiry as compared to 40% when not followed up.

Standard Industrial
Classification
..\..\Standard Industrial Classification.p
df

Preapproa
ch
Information gathering about the prospect.
Business(Type and in what), purchasing
practices, location of plant, background of
people who will
make buying decisions, major
problems faced by them..etc.
Sources of information: the Internet, industrial
directories,
government
publications,
intermediaries, etc.
Precall planning
Setting call objectives
Tentative planning of sales strategy: which
products, features and benefits may meet the
customer needs

Approac
h
Make an appointment to meet the prospect
Make favourable first impression
Select an approach technique:
Introductory
Customer benefit(discuss the buying motive)
Product(when new product or some changes
have taken place)
Question
Praise(when we will design something, we
will follow yours)
The approach takes a few minutes of a
call, but it can make or break a sale

Presentation and
Demonstration
There are four components:
Understanding the buyers needs
Knowing sales presentation methods /
strategies
Developing an effective presentation
Using demonstration as a tool for selling

Understanding the buyers

needs

Firms and consumers buy products / services to

satisfy needs
To understand buyers needs, ask questions and listen

In
business
situations(1),
problem
identification(2) and impact questions(3) are
important
E.G.
Situation Questions: who are involved in buying
this product or you buying for the first time or
changing the supplier.
(2)Have you experienced any problems on quality and
delivery from the existing supplies?
(3)What impact the quality and delivery problems will
have on your costs and customer satisfaction?

Understanding the
buyers needs
Solution Value Questions: if we
can offer you with a solution that can
reduce the rejection rate by 0.5%
Conformation Based Questions: if
I can show you ..0.5% decrease in
rejection rate.

How to Determine Important Buying

NeedsA Key to Success
L-O-C-A-T-E

L isten
O bserve
C ombine
Ask questions
Talk to others
Empathize
3-17

Knowing Sales Presentation

Methods/Strategies

Firms have developed different methods / styles / strategies

of sales presentation
Stimulus response method / canned approach.
It is a memorised sales talk or a prepared sales
presentation. (Script)
The sales person talks without knowing the prospects
needs. E.G. Used by tele-marketing people
Used when the time for sales presentation is short and
product is non technical in nature.
Formula method / formulated approach.
It is also based on stimulus response thinking that all
prospects are similar.
The salesperson uses a standard formula AIDA
(attention, interest, desire, and action).

Sales Presentation Methods

(Continued)
Need satisfaction method

Interactive sales presentation

First find prospects needs, by asking questions
and listening
Use FAB approach: Features, Advantages,
Benefits
Effective method, as it focuses on customers
An Example: Our Fan has two bearings(Feature),
so it hardly makes any noise and have longer
life(Advantage) and because of it, they may even
be used in the class room(Benefit)

The Products Features: So

What?
Feature a physical
characteristic
Many salespeople emphasize
features
Examples:
Size
Color
Price
Shape
3-20

The Products Advantages: Prove It!

Advantage a performance characteristic
The chances of making a sale are
increased by describing the products
advantages.
How a product can be used
How a product will help the buyer
Examples:
Fastest-selling
Stores more information
Copies on both sides of the paper
3-21

The Products Benefits: Whats in it

for Me?
Benefit a result of advantage
People are interested in what the
product will do for them.
Benefits can be both practical and
psychological.
Benefits should be specific
statements, not generalizations.
Emphasizing benefits increases
sales.
3-22

Lets Review FABs, cont

The king size (Feature)
will bring
you additional profits (benefits)
because it is the fastest growing
( advantages) and a more
economical size ( Feature).

3-23

 Consultative
selling
method
Problem-solving approach

Salespeople use cross-functional expertise

Firms adopt team selling approach
It is used by software / consulting firms

Sales
Team

Major Account
Executive
Tech. Support
Engineer
Logistics
Executive
Information
System
Executive
Finance
Executive

Exchange/
Relationshi
p
Processes

Buying
Centre
Purchase/
Materials
Executive
Operations
Executive
Logistics/S
CM
Materials
Manager
Finance
Executive

SELL Sequence
SELL Sequence

S - Show Feature- physical characteristic

E - Explain advantage
- performance characteristic
L - Lead into benefit
- result of advantage
L - Let customer talk
- ask opinion question

3-26

Developing an Effective
Presentation
Some of the guidelines are:
Plan the sales call
Adopt presentation to the situation and
person
Communicate the benefits of the purchase
Present relevant and limited information at
a time
Use the prospects language
Make the presentation convincing give
evidence
Use
technology
like
multi-media
presentation

Using
Demonstration
Sales presentation can be improved by
demonstration
Demonstration is one of the important
selling tools EGs: Test drive of cars;
demonstration of industrial products in
use
Benefits of using demonstration for
selling are:
Buyers objections are cleared
Improves the buyers purchasing interest
Helps to find specific benefits of the
prospect

When to use which presentation

Method
Method

When

Stimulus
Response/
Canned
Formula
Method
Need
Satisfaction

When selling time is

short, product is simple
and non technical.
In straight rebuy or
repeat purchase
Creative form of selling ,
suitable for industrial
products or consumer
durables
Selling High cost
technical products or

Consultative

Overcoming Sales Objections /

Resistances
Objections take place during presentations /
when the order is asked
Two types of sales objections:
Psychological / hidden
Logical (real or practical)
Methods for handling and overcoming
objections:
(i)
For Psychological objections: ask
questions.
(ii) For logical objections: (a) ask questions,
(b) turn an objection into a benefit, (c)
deny objections tactfully, (d) third-party
certificate, (e) compensation.

 Ask Questions:
Buyer: it seems your prices are higher than competitors
Salesperson: I accept your concern. Do you want to know
why my prices are slightly higher than competitors
Buyer: yes!
Turn an objection into benefit:
Prospect: The delivery period of 4 weeks seems too long
and then one week for installation and commissioning ,
the project will be completed in 5 weeks by now.
Salesperson: sir, the equipment will be specially designed
and manufactured keeping in mind your needs, with our
delivery of 3 weeks and installation and commissioning of
1 week it would be almost 4 weeks, is that OK with you.

 Deny objections tactfully:

Buyer: I dont want to buy your car, because a friend
of mine told me that he had a lot of problems when
we purchased a newly launched car two years ago.
Salesperson: Yes, I agree, two years ago when we
launched the car we had few problems, but we
solved all of them in six months not only at our
factory but at customers premises as well. And yes,
in last one and half year our sales are highest, you
can now check with your friend, if he now offers
some positive and good opinion, would you buy our
car?
Compensation: Depute . Someone for..

Trial
close
Trial close checks the attitude or opinion of
the prospect, before closing the sale (or
asking for the order)
Salesperson
Makes a
Presentation

Salesperson answers
prospects
objections

Salesp
erson
Uses a
trail
close

Go back to the
presentation
(if the prospects
response in
unfavorable)

Close the Sales

Closing the sale

If the response to trial close question
is favourable, then the salesperson
should close the sale
Some of the techniques used for
closing the sale are: (a) alternativechoice,
(b)
minor
points,
(c)
assumptive, (d) summary-of-benefits,
(e) T-account, (f) special-offer, (g)
probability, and (h) negotiation

Alternative Choice
Which of the three models do you prefer?
Yes I prefer the second or some objections on
all.. Then try to understand again the
needs. And pitch back..
Minor Points Close:
if you are buying solar heater, which model
are you preferring, would you like to pay in
installments, how soon would you like it to be
delivered.. etc

Assumptive Close
The salesman assumes that the
prospect will buy and conveys his
assumptions through comments such
as would you like to take it along or
we should get it arranged for the
home delivery and non verbal
actions like starting to wrap or
getting credit card machine. etc.

Summary of benefits
FAB Approcah..
SELL Sequence : Show features,
Explain advantages, Lead into
benefits and Let customers talk.
T Close: ___________________________
To act Not to Act

Special Offer
Special Offer based Close
Probability Close: I will let you know,
find out. And offer some.. And
clos.

Negotiati
on
Salespeople, particularly in business to business
selling, need negotiating skills
When to negotiate?
(a) When the buyer puts certain conditions for
buying to the seller, (b) When agreement
between the buyer and the seller is needed on
several factors, (c) When the product is
customised, (d) When the final price is to be
decided
How to prepare for negotiation?
(a) planning, (b) building relationship, (c) purpose
Styles of negotiation
(a) I win, you lose, (b) Both of us win (or win-win
style), (c) You win, I lose, and (d) Both of us lose

Follow-up and
Service
Necessary for customer satisfaction
Successful salespeople follow-up in
different ways: For example,

Check order details

Follow through delivery schedule
Visit when the product is delivered
Build long-term relationship
Arrange warranty service