Personal Selling

Personal selling
Interpersonal influence process
involving a promotional
presentation conducted on a
One-to-One basis with the buyer.
The process of:
Developing customer relationships,
Discovering customer needs,
Matching appropriate products with
these needs, and communicating
benefits.”
 Old Attitude towards Selling

High Pressure Selling –

trying every means to get the prospect to
buy, regardless of whether it is in the
prospect’s best interest.

Salesmanship - The art of selling

someone something that they
don’t want, don’t need,
and certainly can’t afford.
 Evolution of Personal Selling
Peddlers selling door Selling function
to door . . . served became more
as intermediaries structured

1800s 1900s 2000s

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

Selling function
Business organizations
became more
employed salespeople
professional
 Modern Selling Philosophy

Based on trust and mutual agreement

Customer-driven

Act as if on customer’s payroll

After-sales service is key

Professionalism and integrity are essential

 Relationship Selling

Salesperson focuses on developing a trusting

partnership in which the salesperson seeks to
provide long-term customer satisfaction by
listening, gathering information, educating, and
adding value for the customer.
 Transaction- vs. Relationship Focused

Transaction-Focused Relationship-Focused
• Short term thinking • Long term thinking
• Making the sale has • Developing the
priority over most relationship takes priority
other considerations over getting the sale
• Interaction between • Interaction between
buyer and seller is buyer and seller is
competitive collaborative.
• Salesperson is self- • Salesperson is customer-
interest oriented oriented
 What buyers want from salespeople

 Knowledge  Solutions
 Empathy  Punctuality
 Organization  Hard work
 Quick turnaround  Energy
 Follow-through  Honesty
 What buyers DON’T want

 Lack of preparation  Presumption

 Lack of knowledge  Walk-ins
 Aggressiveness  Hot air
 Lack of dependability  Problem avoidance
 Poor follow-through  Lack of personal respect
 Selling Philosophy of ‘Good’ Salespeople:
1. Selling is problem solving
2. Selling is a caring activity
3. A customer is a person to be served, not a
prospect to be sold
4. Treat people as human beings, not $ signs
5. Be customer driven, not product driven
6. Long-term success depends on customers
relations
7. Selling is a ‘win-win’ activity
8. Adherence to ethics, mutual trust, and honesty
is essential
Course Introduction

The foundation of good selling is the desire

to help people.

Professional salespeople typically view

themselves as problem solvers and selling as
problem solving.

People tend to respond better to being treated as

human beings than as dollar signs.
Course Introduction
A salesperson is no longer a vendor out to sell a product,
but rather a consultant out to help their customer’s
business.

There is no such thing as ‘soft sell’ and ‘hard sell’, there

is only ‘smart sell’ and ‘stupid sell’.

Selling should be a friendly act. It is something we do

WITH and FOR people, not TO them.

People don’t care what you know until they know that
you care.
Course Introduction
Forget about the sales you hope to make and
concentrate on the service you want to render. The
moment people’s attention is centered on service to
others, they become more dynamic, more forceful and
harder to resist. How can you resist someone who is
trying to help you solve a problem? . . . Start out each
morning with the thought, ‘I want to help as many
people as possible today,’ instead of ‘I want to make as
many sales as possible today . . . ‘

The object of a salesperson is not to make sales, but to

make customers.
 The
The Essence
Essence of
of Marketing
Marketing

The customer first , last

and always !
 Argument -- Discussion
Throws Heat
Throws light
Stems from Ego and closed mind
Open mind
Exchange of Ignorance
Exchange of Knowledge
Expression of temper
Expression of Logic
Tries to prove who is right
Tries to prove What is Right