A-Selling
Overview of Professional Selling
• What is Professional Selling?
– Personal communication by a rewarded (usually financially) individual(s) with another individual(s) with the express purpose of eventually persuading the other party/parties to (1) believe the communicator’s message comes from his/her organization, and (2) exchange something of value (usually money) for the product, service or idea being offered. – Or….Getting people to buy stuff
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A-Selling
• Remember the 4 P’s? (Product, Place, Price and Promotion)
– Sales falls into promotion
• Creativity, skill levels and pay vary depending on the complexity and importance of the type of sales job
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Communicating with Customers
Impersonal
Advertising
Personal
Professional Selling
Publicity
Word of Mouth
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A-Selling
Overview of Professional Selling
• What do salespeople do?
– Locate and qualify prospective buyers – Convert potential buyers to customers – Understand customers’ needs, wants, and goals – Help customers question their needs, wants, and goals – Provide solutions to customers’ problems – Translate customers’ needs to own company – Help customers resell their products to their customers – Help customers use products – Collect and provide company and customer with market
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A-Selling
Overview of Professional Selling
• Types of sales jobs:
– Inside sales--(1) the customer comes to you (usually order-takers), or (2) manage daily interaction with long-term buyers
• Retail sales • Catalog sales / teleseller • Industrial sales (sales service)
– Outside sales--you go to the customer (more likely to be order getters)
• wholesale selling • selling for a manufacturer – Account Representative / National Account Manager – Sales Engineer – Manufacturer's representative – Service Support – Sales trainee
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A-Selling
Seven Sales Job Categories
Inside Retail Sales
Outside Delivery
Entry Level Consumer Missionary Goods
Sales Engineers
Creative Sales of Tangibles
Creative Sales of Intangibles
Order Takers
(Increasing Complexity and Difficulty)
Order Getters
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A-Selling
Some Necessary Skills
• • • • • • Motivation Verbal communication (including presentation) Ambition Problem recognition and resolution skills Self discipline Ability to work both independently and in teams
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Professional Selling is a form of communication that is HIGH in:
• • • • • •
Cost per contact Flexibility Ability to make quick adjustments Amount of information conveyed Ability to demonstrate product Ability to hold customer’s interest
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A-Selling
The Selling Process
Prospecting Pre-Approach Approach Presentation
Determine Objections Address Objections Trial Close Close
Trial Close
Follow-up
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Where do Sales People Spend Their Time? It’s all about golf, right?
Weekly Time Expenditures
Traveling / Waiting 18% Admin. 15% Selling over the Phone 25% Service Calls 11% Selling Face-toFace 31%
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A-Selling
Typical American Sales Person Profile
33 years old 71% male 29% female 18% black, Hispanic, Asian 81% some college or degree 9% graduate degree Most likely to leave after 4.3 years
Average length of service— 6.3 years Mostly paid: 20% salary 30% commission 50% combination Trainee makes $33,000; experienced makes $80,000 Costs $22,000 to train
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A-Selling
Profile of the American Salesperson
Length of training—3 months Sales call cost—$95.00 to $400.00 Sales calls per day—6.5 Number of calls to close—5 Field expenses cost— $30,000 Value of benefits—$16,000 Average sales volume— $600,000
Spends 41 hours per week in selling activities within the territory Spends 18 hours per week in nonselling activities, such as paperwork and planning sales calls Turnover rate: 20% per year
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A-Selling
A Sales Career Path
President Vice president of marketing National sales manager Divisional sales manager Regional sales manager
District sales manager
Key account salesperson Salesperson Sales trainee
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A-Selling
Compensation and Expenses by Industry
Travel and entertainment expenses† $16,606 16,880 15,000 $28,000 29,200 28,198
Compensation* Top-level salesperson Consumer goods $ 80,000 Industrial goods 110,000 Services 85,000 Sales superior Consumer goods Industrial goods Services $ 82,000 112,000 87,000
Total $ 96,606 126,880 100,000 $110,000 141,200 115,198
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Main Elements in the Customer Relationship Process
Analyze customer needs Maintain and grow the relationship Implement the recommendation Recommend solution and gain commitment
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A-Selling
Benefits and Drawbacks of Selling Career
• Benefits
– – – – – – – Compensation potential Challenge Responsibility Flexibility in work activities Rewards from making a tough sale Learning the business Opportunity for senior management positions
• Drawbacks
– – – – Limited supervision Potential conflict between company and customer demands Depression form lost sales Discomfort from asking people to buy
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A-Selling
Trends
• • • • • • • • • Springboard to leadership Every sales job is different Competition is intense for top sales positions Sales doesn’t necessarily last forever Technology is having an impact May require extensive travel Entry level jobs moving from F500 to growing companies Financial services and franchise sales are areas of growth Often cited good companies to sell for: – AT&T (NY) HP (Palo Alto, CA) – Coca-Cola (Atlanta) Kimberly Clark (Irving, TX) – Westinghouse (Pittsburgh) Adolph Coors (Golden, CO) – Cummins Engine (Columbus, IN) P&G (Cincinnati, OH) – Du Pont (Wilmington, DE) 17
A-Selling
Trends
• From Transactions to Relationships
• From Individuals to Teams (in some areas)
• From Sales Volume to Sales Productivity • From Management to Leadership • From Local to Global
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Questions to think about
• Myth or not?
– – – – – Salespeople do not serve a useful role in society. Sales people are born, not made. Selling is just a big bag of tricks. A salesperson should never take no for an answer. A good salesperson can sell anything to anyone.
• What are some rewards of a selling career? • Why are some outstanding sales people poor managers? • Why do many people have a negative opinion of salespeople?
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So What Do I Need To Know?
• • • • • • You need to know about your own company! You need to know about your own products/services! You need to know how your channel of distribution works! You need to know other parts of the promotion strategy! You need to know your competition and your industry! You need to know what you can and cannot do in pricing!
– Discounts
• Quantity discounts – Cumulative – Non-cumulative • Cash discounts • Trade discounts • Consumer discounts
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