Personal Selling

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CHAPTER
1
Developing a
Personal
Selling
Philosophy

2. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 1-2
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
Learning Objectives
To Understand:
 The definition of personal selling
 The 3 prescriptions for a personal selling
philosophy
 The emergence of relationship selling in the
Age of Information
 The rewarding aspects of a sales career

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Learning Objectives
To Understand:
 Different employment settings in selling today
 How personal selling skills:
– Have become one of the master skills in the
Information Age
– How personal selling skills contribute to
knowledge workers’ work.
 The four major sources of sales training

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Personal Selling: A Definition
 Person-to-person communication with a
prospect
 Personal selling is a process of
• Developing relationships
• Discovering needs
• Matching products with needs
• Communicating benefits
 A process that adds value

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Personal Selling: A Philosophy
 Involves 3 prescriptions:
– Adopt the marketing concept
– Value personal selling
– Assume the role of problem solver or partner
 These are part of the Strategic/Consultative
Selling Model

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Shift in Emphasis: The Information Age
FIGURE 1.2

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Shift in Emphasis: The Information Age
 Last 50 years economy shifting:
– From emphasis on industrial activity
– To emphasis on information processing
 Four major developments:
– Major advances: information technology and
electronic commerce
– Strategic resource is information
– Business defined by customer relationships
– Sales process depends on adding value

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Considerations: Future in Personal Selling
 Wide range of employment opportunities
 Wide range of tasks = need variety of skills
 Freedom to manage time & activities
 Above average financial & psychic income
 Opportunity for advancement
 Opportunities for women

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Employment Settings in Selling Today
 Inside salespeople
– Inbound
– Outbound
 Outside salespeople
 Both inside & outside salespeople often
work closely together

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Selling Through Channels
 Salespeople selling to consumers =
“B2C” or business-to-consumer sales
 Salespeople selling to businesses =
“B2B” or business-to-business sales

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Career Opportunities: Service Channel
 Involve both “B2C” and “B2B” sales
 About 80% of US labor force is employed in service
sector.
 Examples of service channel careers:
– Hotel, motel, convention center
– Telecom services
– Financial sales
– Media sales
– Real estate
– Insurance
– Business services

12. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 1-12
Career Opportunities:
Business Goods Channel
 Involve both inside & outside sales
 Examples of business goods channel careers:
– Industrial salespeople
– Sales engineer or application engineer
– Field salespeople
– Missionary salespeople

13. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 1-13
Career Opportunities:
Consumer Goods Channel
 “B2C” sales
 Includes both retail sales and direct selling
 Abound in a number of product areas
 Examples of consumer sales careers:
– Automotive sales
– Jewelry sales
– Clothing sales
– Computer sales
– Any sales position to sales
directly to the consumer

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The Marketing Concept: New Selling Models
 Personal selling has evolved over the last
50 years.
 Sweeping changes:
– From peddling to long-term relationships
– To consultative selling and value-added
partnering
– Prompted by emergence of marketing concept

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Evolution: The Marketing Concept
 A principle that holds that achieving
organizational goals depends on:
• Knowing the needs and wants of target markets
• Delivering the desired product
 Paths to sales and profits are:
• Customer focus
• Value

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Evolution of Personal Selling: 1950 - Present
Sales and Marketing Emphasis Selling Emphasis
Marketing Era Begins (1950’s)
Organizations determine needs & wants of target markets.
Adapt to delivering desired satisfaction
Product orientation replaced by a customer orientation
More organizations recognize
salesperson is in a position to
collect product, market, &
service information concerning
the buyer’s needs
Consultative Selling Era Emerges
(Late 1960s to Early 1970s)
Salespeople become diagnosticians & consultants of customer’s needs
Well-considered recommendations. Mass markets break into target
markets
Buyer needs identified thru two-
way communication. Information
giving & negotiation tactics
replace manipulation
Strategic Selling Era Emerges (Early 1980’s)
Evolution of more complex selling environment. Greater emphasis on
market niches create need for greater structure & more emphasis on
planning
Strategy given as much attention
as selling tactics
Product positioning given more
attention. Greater emphasis on
acct management & team selling
Partnering Era Emerges (1990 to Present)
Salespeople encouraged to think in the context long-term, high-quality
partnerships with customers; sales force automation provides specific
customer info
Customer supplants product as
driving force in sales. Greater
emphasis on strategies that
create customer value. Adaptive
selling is greater emphasis.

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The Strategic/Consultative Selling Model
FIGURE 2.3

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Developing a Relationship Strategy
 Relationship strategy = well-thought-out plan
for establishing, building, and maintaining
relationships
 Must encompass all aspects of selling
 Integral part of relationship selling
 Primary goal = rapport, trust, and mutual
respect. Results in long-term relationship

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Developing a Product Strategy
 Product strategy = Plan that helps salespeople
make correct decisions concerning selection &
positioning of products to meet customer needs
 Begins with thorough product knowledge; use
feature-benefit analysis approach
 Requires with thoughtful decision-making

20. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 1-20
Developing a Customer Strategy
 Customer strategy = Plan that results in
maximum responsiveness for customer’s
needs.
 Collection & analysis of specific information
for each customer
 Dictated by needs of customer
Patricia Seyold, best-selling author
of The Customer Revolution says,
“We are in the midst of a profound
revolution: the customer revolution.”

21. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 1-21
Developing a Presentation Strategy
 Presentation strategy = Plan that includes:
– Sales presentation objective
– Presentation plan to meet objectives
– Renews commitment to provide outstanding customer
service
 Usually develops one or more objective for each
sales call
 Presale planning = Ensures organization

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Interrelationship of Basic Strategies
FIGURE 2.4

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Evolution of Partnering
 Buzzword of 1990s; business reality in 2000s
 “Strategically developed, long-term relationship
that solves the customer’s problems”
 Relationship selling = customized approach to
each client
 Enhanced with :
– High ethical standards
– Customer relationship management

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Value-Creation: The New Selling Imperative
FIGURE 2.6