Nature and Scope of the Selling Function
Selling is direct, personal communications with prospective customers in order to assess needs and satisfy those needs with appropriate products and services. The objective of any business is to sell products and services to make a profit, and if the products and services are not sold, there is no sales generated by the company which will result in no profit. Salespeople represent a company to communicate directly with customers to pursuade them to purchase a product. It is a marketing function and is a part of the promotion element in the marketing mix. The selling is mostly one-on-one in at a location or done over the phone. The salesperson needs to access the needs of the customer to satisfy their needs. Salespeople need to take the necessary steps to satisfy a customer's needs and wants. One example of doing this would be to substitute a product for a customer if the original product does not satisfy the customer's needs.
Role of Customer Service as A Component of Selling Relations
Customer service for any business and personal selling is a large portion of this. There are many advantages to personal selling such as providing more informaiton for the customer, having more time to provide information and convince a customer to purchase a product, flexible time to work with a customer, instant feedback where the salesperson will know if they need to clarify something or know that the customer is interested, persuasion to persuade the customer used key pieces of information, and follow-up after the purchase for the salesperson to help the customer further. Disadvantages include cost per customer as salespeople get paid in many cases even if they are unable to close the sale, time required to make a sale, less control over the situation as to if a customer will actually purchase a product, and skills required because salespeople must be trained well to know the various selling techniques to make a sale. Customer service is important when using personal selling if the product is complex or expensive, has a large market, new or unique and unfamiliar prouducts, locations geographically, complicated and long decision-making process, and with customers who need personal attention.
Important Qualities of A Professional Salesperson
Important qualities of a professional salesperson are qualities of good managers. The most important areas are self-management, customer management, and information management. Self-management requires motivation and an effective use of time. They spend a lot of time doing non-selling activities like paperwork, research, studying customer needs, and solving customer problems. They also need to be emotionally and physically healthy. Lastly they need to be well educated and informed on the competition around them. Customer management must be able to schedule customers well because of the amount of time one customer needs compared to another customer. They need to minimize travel costs. Information management is used because salespeople need to utilize information like product information, price changes, distribution schedules, service records, and company information. Salespeople can't afford to make bad mistakes.
How Effective Salespeople Qualify Prospective Customers and Use Their Decision Making Process to Plan Sales Presentations
Qualifying involves gathering information to determine which people are most likely to buy. The three characteristics needed to be considered a prospective customer are: a need for the product, the resources to purchase the product, and the authority to make a decision to purchase. Money and credit are necessary because resources must be had to purchase a product. The customers that are most likely to purchase a given product will get the most time dedicated to them to make the sale and the most effort put forth by the salesperson. Sales presentations are usually better when they aren't memoried or scripted, but they must include the neccessary information to convice the customer to purchase the product. They use the decision making process because certain steps aren't necessary for some customers in some situations. Also, AIDCA is used because the salesperson must decide which stage the customer is in to know what type of product information to provide.
Why Salespeople Need to Know Their Product Thoroughly and How Product Features Will Benefit Their Customers
Choosing a product for a customer to satisfy their needs isn't an easy task. Products are not always easy to figure out for the customer if they should make a purchase, so salespeople must know their products and be able to access information quickly and effectively to answer unique questions. They need to know the all parts of the marketing mix for their product to fit the customer's needs. Salespoeple that don't sell the product correctly to the customer either by lack of knowledge or in a timely manner will lose their respect, confidence, and ultimately the sale. Information sources are made by the company to provide extra information. Salespeople need to communicate features, descripitions of a product characteristic, and benefits, advantages provided to a customer as a result of the feature.
Why It Is Important to Understand Competitor's Product Marketing Plans
It is important to understand the competition's marketing plans in order for the salesperson to help the customer pick out a product that reaches their demands such as price, value, or quality. For some products, there is not a lot of information on the product, so this makes it hard for the customer to make an educated decision. Also, it doesn't help customers to talk only negatively about the competitions' prouducts because they start to lose credibility, a customer will not like the salesperson downgrading one of their final choices for a product. Customers study several brands to make a decision, so the salesperson must give necessary information to the customer to make a final decision. You need to understand that the goal is to give the customer a product that will satisfy them, so the business would benefit the most from this. The customer does not want to have to reconsider buying a different product previously because the salesperson could not satisfy the customer's needs.
Mental Stages of Consumer Decision Making
The mental stages are summarized with the letters AIDCA.
-A- Attention. A salesperson known that the customer must first focus attention on the salesperson and the sales presentation.
-I- Interest. It is important to get the customer's interest in the product early in the presentation.
-D- Desire. A customer moves from interest to desire when it is clear that the product is a good value and the best choice.
-C- Conviction. The desire turns to conviction when the customer determines that the products is a good value and the best choice.
-A- Action. That leads to action, or the purchase of the product.
-A- Attention. A salesperson known that the customer must first focus attention on the salesperson and the sales presentation.
-I- Interest. It is important to get the customer's interest in the product early in the presentation.
-D- Desire. A customer moves from interest to desire when it is clear that the product is a good value and the best choice.
-C- Conviction. The desire turns to conviction when the customer determines that the products is a good value and the best choice.
-A- Action. That leads to action, or the purchase of the product.
Steps of the Selling Process
1. Approach- The approach is the first contact with the customer when the salesperson gets the customer's attention and creates interest in the product. Contact customers, gain their attention and interest, and create a favorable first impression. There is both retail and business-to-business selling. You need to be prepared.
2. Determine needs- The preapproach includes gathering preliminary information and preparing a preliminary sales presentation for a customer. Gather information to determine customers' needs and how they can be met. You need to listen to the customer.
3. Demonstrate- The demonstration is a personalized presentation of the features of the product in a way that emphasizes the benefits and value to the customer. Present the product in a way that emphasizes customer benefits. You need to inform the customer yet tailer the purchase product to the customer.
4. Answer questions- Overcome objections and ensure the marketing mix meets customers' needs. You need to listen, restate, provide information, and check for understanding.
5. Close the sale- The close is the step in the sales process when the customer makes a decision to purchase. A trial close is where you provide the customer the opportunity to buy during the sales presentation. Obtain a decision to purchase. You need to emphasize the value of the product to prevent customer purchasing doubt.
6. Suggestion selling- Suggestion selling is offering additional products and services after the initial sale in order to increase customer satisfaction. Suggest other products customers may see as valuable. You need to offer products a customer could be interested in without being irritating.
7. Follow-up- Making contact with the customer after the sale to ensure satisfaction is known as follow-up. Continue contact to ensure satisfaction, determine other needs, and build relationships. You need to be able to problem solve to fix any problems a customer might have.
2. Determine needs- The preapproach includes gathering preliminary information and preparing a preliminary sales presentation for a customer. Gather information to determine customers' needs and how they can be met. You need to listen to the customer.
3. Demonstrate- The demonstration is a personalized presentation of the features of the product in a way that emphasizes the benefits and value to the customer. Present the product in a way that emphasizes customer benefits. You need to inform the customer yet tailer the purchase product to the customer.
4. Answer questions- Overcome objections and ensure the marketing mix meets customers' needs. You need to listen, restate, provide information, and check for understanding.
5. Close the sale- The close is the step in the sales process when the customer makes a decision to purchase. A trial close is where you provide the customer the opportunity to buy during the sales presentation. Obtain a decision to purchase. You need to emphasize the value of the product to prevent customer purchasing doubt.
6. Suggestion selling- Suggestion selling is offering additional products and services after the initial sale in order to increase customer satisfaction. Suggest other products customers may see as valuable. You need to offer products a customer could be interested in without being irritating.
7. Follow-up- Making contact with the customer after the sale to ensure satisfaction is known as follow-up. Continue contact to ensure satisfaction, determine other needs, and build relationships. You need to be able to problem solve to fix any problems a customer might have.
Sales Presentation
Nike5 Elastico Sales Presentation by Jared Kroll on GoAnimate
Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate.
Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate.
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Sales Paper
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