BLOCK 2

SELLING SKILLS
BLOCK 2 SELLING SKILLS
The second block of the sales Management course is on “Selling Skills”. To
all field sales staff, the most important aspect of their job is to sell. The skill
required to do so are discussed in this block. The block has three units, each
with a clear focus.
The first unit in this block is on ‘Communication Skills’, since most sales
interactions are interpersonal interactions, basics of interpersonal interactions
are taken as the foundation of sales communications. Further, in all interpersonal
interactions we do communicate with body language and other non-verbal forms.
In this unit, some specific dimensions of non-verbal communication are taken
up; both form the point of sales person as well as the prospective customer.
Writing sales letters and other sales material has also been discussed in this
unit.
The second unit is on “Negotiation Skills”. In this unit, very systematically,
the negotiation process has also been discussed. Some specific recommendation
has been made, for you to observe at each stage of the negotiations.
The last unit in this block is on “Merchandising and Sales Display”. In fact,
at retail levels such displays are important and constitute a vital component
of non-verbal communication. Field sale persons are expected to ensure proper
shelf space for their merchandise. Managing Retail displays to communicate
effectively.
Selling Skills

60
 Communication Skills
UNIT 4 COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Objectives
After completing this unit you should be able to:
 appreciate the communication process and its importance in personal
selling
 identify the various communication objectives
 understand the importance of communication skill for personal selling
 be aware of the different modes of business communication and map
the situations to effective communication channels
 discuss the factors that influence the verbal, non-verbal and written
communication
 recognize the importance and basics of telecommunication skills
 understand the importance of remote communication.

Structure
4.1 Introduction
4.2 How Communication works: The Process of Communication
4.3 Communication Objectives
4.3.1 Communication Objectives: Context of Marketing Promotion
4.3.2 Communication Objectives: Context of Sales
4.4 Personal Selling: Definition Various Context of Communication
4.5 Communication Skill Sets
4.6 Verbal or Oral Communications
4.7 Written Communication
4.8 Non-verbal Communication
4.9 Telecommunication
4.10 Remote Communication
4.11 Summary
4.12 Self-Assessment Questions
4.13 References/Further Readings

4.1 INTRODUCTION
The word ‘communication’ is derived from the Latin word “commune” (meaning
‘common’). Thus, the term communication implies sharing something of
common use. According to Keith Davis “Communication is the transfer of
information and understanding from one person to another person. It is a way
of reaching others with facts, ideas, thoughts and values”. Communication
with and about an organization is a critical skill set. Managers of today
61
Selling Skills communicate with different stakeholders in varied business settings using diverse
modes.
In marketing, communication has a very important place. Communication is
that function of marketing which is involved with the task of informing the
target customer:
 about the nature and type of the firm’s products and services,
 their unique benefits, uses and features
 the price and
 place at which the product would be available in the market place.
There are two aspects of marketing communication:
1. The type of message to be communicated and
2. Ways in which the message can be delivered to the target audience/
customers.
Type of message to be communicated to the audience depends upon the
objectives to be attained by the marketing team. The objectives set by marketing
teams revolve around increasing awareness of the product or new customer
base or sales growth. The type of message to be communicated to the audience
for each of these objectives is different. It also requires different modes of
communication delivery. The delivery of message is done through various
channels like TV advertisement, print, social media etc. Personal selling is
also a mode of communicating with customers to drive sales.
Personal selling is unique and different from mass communication modes like
TV Advertisement in the following ways:
i) it allows to get an immediate response from the customers (purchase,
likability towards the product or no purchase)
ii) highly targeted customers are approached through personal selling.
iii) useful both in business to consumer and business to business scenarios.
iv) Direct to customer (D2C) business models (exhibit I) or network
marketing companies (eg. Oriflame, Amway) heavily rely on personal
selling for communicating with the customers.
v) Social Commerce (Exhibit II) is an evolving area where personal selling
is used to reach customers.

4.2 HOW COMMUNICATION WORKS: THE

PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
By now you are aware of the fact that communication is sharing of information
between two parties. The process of communication begins when one party
(called source, sender or communicator) wishes to communicate with another
party (the receiver). Communication is complete when the receiver understands
62 in the same sense what the sender wished to communicate. To understand
communication as a medium in a better way, the whole communication process Communication Skills
is classified into eight elements. These are being explained below:
i. Source
ii. Message
iii. Channel
iv. Receiver
v. Feedback
vi. Environment
vii. Context
Figure 1: Communication Process Representation

4.2.1 Source
The first stage in communication process is the source which refers to the
origin, creator or the communicator who initiates the communication. The source
imagines, creates, and sends the message. The source is the agent delivering
the message in the communication and contributes to its effectiveness. Sales
personnel convey the message by sharing new or existing information with
customers by modifying or updating them through:
 choice of language and content
 his or her tone and modulation of voice
 body language and expressions
The source first determines the message with respect to what and how to say
it. In the second step the message is encoded by selecting the right order or
the perfect words required to convey the intended meaning. In the third step
the information is sent to the target or receiver. Finally, the receiver reacts to
the message and through feedback system; the source gets to know that how
the message has been perceived. If required, the source then provides further
clarification on the message and sends supporting information.
63
Selling Skills Source credibility is also an important aspect of communication. One source
may be more credible than others, and communication from such a source
may produce more effective results. Credibility is context dependent. For
example, an appraisal messages are more reliable when coming from a senior
manager, whereas the worker welfare information may find better credibility
from a union leader. It may be useful to determine the credibility level of the
various sources for different categories of messages.

4.2.2 Message
“The message is the stimulus or meaning produced by the source for the receiver
or audience.” (McLean, 2005). It is the object that is being communicated.
The message consists of the choice by which the meaning or the objective of
communication is being delivered. While delivering the message the sender
and the receiver should not forget to consider the environment noise.
For example, in case of a speech or report, the message may seem to be only
the words chosen that will convey the meaning. But that is just the beginning.
One may choose to save the most important point for last. The message also
consists of the way it is communicated. In a speech, this involves the tone of
voice, body language, and appearance. In a report, this includes the writing
style, punctuation, and the headings and formatting chosen.

4.2.3 Channel
“The channel is the way in which a message or messages travel between source
and receiver.” (McLean, 2005). It is the medium of communication. Oral
communication channels include face-to-face conversations, speeches, telephone
conversations and voice mail messages, radio, public address systems, and
voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). Written communication channels include
letters, memorandums, purchase orders, invoices, newspaper and magazine
articles, blogs, e-mail, text messages, tweets, and so forth.
Each communication channel has multiple aspects that need to be synchronized
for effective communication. For example, television combines an audio signal
with a visual cue to convey an entire message to the receiver or audience. If
you turn off the volume or remove the visual cue you can still allow some of
the message to be conveyed. Many times, when the volume is absent, only
through the body language you will me understand a part of the message.
Similarly, when the visual cue is absent, the volume enables dialogues to be
heard and the message communicated. However, in both these cases, effective
communication is context dependent. One can understand the story through
body language only (and no volume) in some of the cases while through
dialogues only (and no visuals) in some other. It is the proper synchronization
of both audio and visual that enables audiences to understand the message of
the channel every time.

4.2.4 Receiver
“The receiver receives the message from the source, analyze and interpret the
message in ways both intended and unintended by the source.” (McLean, 2005).
64
As a receiver, one listens, sees, touches, smells, and/or taste to receive a Communication Skills

message. The nonverbal responses of receivers often serve as cues on the

success of communication. Understanding the receiver is often crucial to
understanding the effectiveness of communication. By imagining oneself in
their place, the source can anticipate what to look for if on the other side.
Interestingly, in an open and ongoing conversation, the feedback from receiver
is obtained real time and the source needs to adjust his or her stance
accordingly. This further illustrates the dynamic and changing nature of
communication.

4.2.5 Feedback
When the target or the receiver gets the message and responds to the source
of communication, favorably on unfavorably, they are giving feedback. It is
the messages the receiver sends back to the source. Sometimes before giving
feedback, the receiver also sends an acknowledgement of the message. After
the acknowledgement, any verbal or nonverbal signal may work as feedback
to the source of communication. It is important for the source to know the
feedback as it helps to see how well, how accurately (or how poorly and
inaccurately) the message was received.

4.2.6 Environment
The environment is the atmosphere, physical and psychological, where the
exchange of message takes place between the source and the receiver. The
environment can include tables, chairs, lighting, and sound equipment that
are in the room. The room itself is an example of the environment. The
environment can also include factors like formal dress that may indicate
whether a discussion is open and caring or more professional and formal.
The choice to text is influenced by the environment. As a speaker, ones’
environment will impact and play a role in your speech. In the online
communication context, the video conferencing room, participants present
in the room will also be the part of the environment. From sales
communication perspective, it is important for a sales person to understand
the environment of the target or receiver or customer. By just studying
customer dress, the sales person should be able to understand that if the
shopping trip is getting completed after office hours or the customers have
especially taken out time to shop. In both the cases the conversation and
suggestion to the customer would vary.

4.2.7 Context
The context of the communication interaction involves the setting, scene,
expectations and the objectives of the individuals involved.” (McLean, 2005)
A professional communication context may involve business suits
(environmental cues) that directly or indirectly influence expectations of
language and behavior among the participants. Context is all about what people
expect from each other, and we often create those expectations out of
environmental cues.
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Selling Skills
4.3 COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES
Communication doesn’t exist in vacuum. Every communication has a specific
context and objective. In any business setup, it is crucial to communicate with
stakeholders; direct and indirect customers, suppliers, distributors, financial
institutions, government and regulatory bodies. Generally, in any multi-national
company these communication functions are integrated and there are specific
departments to handle the whole function, so that the message to be
communicated to the stakeholders is uniform and coordinated.
In the marketing domain, importance of communication is manifold. The context
of marketing communication could be in terms of persuading the customers,
or just increasing the product awareness amongst the customers or to maintain
a good customer relationship. A variety of factors help to shape situational
context in marketing communication, but the main factors are the participants
and the setting.
The communication objectives can be seen from two different dimensions:
Marketing Promotion and Sales promotion.

4.3.1 Communication Objectives: In the Context of Marketing

Promotion
AIDA model: AIDA stands for: Attention (also called awareness), Interest,
Desire and Action. According to AIDA model, a marketer should begin by
winning attention or gaining awareness, creating interest, inspiring desire and
precipitating the action for purchase, in the prospects in order to enable its
product to be adopted by the target public.
Hierarchy-off-effects model: Under the hierarchy-off-effects model, the buyers
purchase decision is preceded by steps. Such as conviction about the product
benefits, preference for the brand, liking for the brand, knowledge relating to
the benefits and features of the product, after an awareness of the product has
been gained. Based on Lavidge and Steiner research, Gaedeke and Tootelian
illustrate the various promotional tools that might be relevant to each stage
of the hierarchy-of-effects model which is given in Figure 2. This Figure also
brings out the variety of promotional tools that are available to marketers for
making marketing communications.
Figure 2: Promotion and Hierarchy-of-effect stages

66
4.3.2 Communication Objectives: in the Context of Sales Communication Skills

Sales calls are the integral part of any sales training exercise. Any sales calls
primarily consist of 5 simple steps:
1. opening the call
2. investigating needs
3. giving benefits
4. objection handling
5. closing technique.
Communication, which is an art and less science, if planned and organized,
can help sales personnel to not only build relationship with the customer but
also increase the chances of closing the call. First, an effective communicator
lays down credibility. Second, they frame their goals in a way that identifies
common ground with those they intend to persuade. Third, they reinforce their
positions using vivid language and compelling evidence. And fourth, they
connect emotionally with their audience.
Credibility chiefly has two sources: expertise and relationships. People are
considered to have high levels of expertise if they have a history of sound
judgment or have proven them knowledgeable and well informed about their
proposals. For example, in proposing a new product idea, an effective persuader
would need to be perceived as possessing a thorough understanding of the
product—its specifications, target markets, customers, and competing products.
A history of prior successes would further strengthen the persuader’s perceived
expertise. Even if credibility is high, the position taken during the sales call
must still appeal strongly to the target audience being persuaded. Effective
persuaders must be adept at describing their positions in terms that illuminate
their advantages. Persuasion is thus the way of framing the benefits of taking
the audience in the sales journey.
With credibility established and a common frame/context identified, persuasion
becomes a matter of presenting evidence. The most effective persuader uses
language in a particular way that boosts the evidence they need to present.
They supplement numerical data with examples, stories, metaphors, and
analogies to make their positions come alive. That use of language paints a
vivid word picture and, in doing so, lends a compelling and tangible quality
to the persuader’s point of view.
Every human decision making is bound by the limits of rational reasoning.
As such, each individual decision is based on bounded rationality. The same
is equally true for decisions taken in the business world. Business decisions
are taken with a rational view, but latent emotions are always at play. Good
persuaders are aware of the primacy of emotions and are responsive to them
in two important ways. First, they show their own emotional commitment to
the position they are advocating. Secondly, they must also show that
commitment to a goal is not just in their mind but in heart and soul as well.
Without this demonstration of feeling, people may wonder if the persuader
actually believes in the position, he or she is championing. 67
Selling Skills
4.4 DEFINATION OF PERSONAL SELLING: WITH
REFERENCE TO VARIOUS CONTEXT OF
COMMUNICATION
As per American Marketing Association definition, “Personal selling is an
oral presentation with one or more prospective customers for the purpose
of making sales.” It is also known as face-to-face selling in which one person
who is the salesman tries to convince the customer in buying a product. It is
a promotional method by which the salesperson uses his or her skills and abilities
in an attempt to make a sale. The salesperson tries to highlight various features
of the product to convince the customer that it will only add value. However,
getting a customer to buy a product is not the motive behind personal selling
every time. Often companies try to follow this approach with customers to
make them aware of a new product, spreading awareness about a product can
also be done through person-to-person approach.
Personal selling can take place through two different channels through:
 Retail
 Direct-to-consumer channel.
In a retail channel set up, a sales person interacts with potential customers
who walk in to a store for product inquiry. This is also called “Indoor Personal
Selling”. Since the customer has walked in by himself/herself the
communication style of the salesperson should focus on facilitating the
customer purchase. He/she would be expected to understand the need of the
customer and then suggest accordingly. The objective of the salesperson in
this case should be to increase the number of products in the consideration
set of the customer.
As per the direct channel, a salesperson visits potential customers at their
suggested place (home or office or public place) to either make them aware
about a new product or to do cross-selling. Big multinational companies create
sales executive teams to meet their potential customer for driving sales. You
will also find small vendors interacting with customers roadside. This form
of personal selling is called outdoor personal selling. For sales executives, it
is necessary to possess persuasion skill. For outdoor personal selling, the sales
person should be good at grabbing customer attraction.
Similarly, there are various other communication skill sets required for personal
selling. Some of the communication skill sets is covered in our next section.

Exhibit I
Direct ot Customer (DtoC) Companies
Atraditional retailer would manufacture the product, sell it to a wholesaler,
who would then have to rope in a distributor, and finally get their products
at a retail store from where the consumer would buy it. DtoC players Make,
market, sell and ship their products themselves, without middlemen, Sell
their products through their websites, use social media platforms to maintain
consumer connect. But D2C brands cut out the middleman. They
manufacture their products, advertise them on the internet, (FMCG) sales
route, D2C are able to offer better prices to customers while earning higher
margins at the same time. “Bewkoof”, “Bombay Shaving Company”,
68 “Faballey” are some of the namesin DtoC business in India.
 Communication Skills
4.5 COMMUNICATION SKILL SETS
Communication is an integral part of retail, direct and outdoor marketing. It
is required at every stage of consumer persuasion. The process starts within
the organization itself where the product is developed or the service designed.
It ends when the external benefit is communicated to the client, either in form
of a finished product or a service completion. To make this whole effort a
success, there are various sets of communication skills which need to be
developed.
Listed below are a few relevant communication skill sets. These communication
skill sets can be divided with respect to the communication process:
 Skill Sets required to understand the requirement of communication
in a given situation
 Skill Sets required to prepare for the communication process
 Skill Sets required to deliver the message
 Skill Sets required to receive the message
 Skill Sets required to give feedback related to the message

4.5.1 Communication skill sets required to understand the

requirement of communication in a given situation
 Understanding what is to be accomplished: Goals, objectives, and
deliverables required to be set each time you communicate. Knowing
what you are seeking to accomplish, will impact your communication
strategy, structure, and delivery mechanism.
 Creating a perception of concern: The person on the other side of
the communication will respond better if they sense that the other party
is seriously engaged, concerned, and involved in the purpose/substance
of the communication involved.

4.5.2 Communication skill sets required to prepare for the

communication process
 Networking Skills: Networking is increasing the social net worth of
an individual in a business setting. This involves having both internal
and external professional relationships and acquaintances both with
stakeholders and non-stakeholders. Displaying business value and
encouraging others to enter into one’s business network is always a
favorable practice. In order to network successfully, one needs to be
interesting, important, or influential sufficiently that others desire to
partner in some way
 Storytelling: Building stories, case studies, and analogies into
communications often allows the sender to be more believable, and
it affords the opportunity for the respondent to better identify with
the substance of the communication. It has been proven by research
that human brain is conditioned to remember anecdotes and stories
better. Story telling is the effective visualization process to create a 69
Selling Skills mental map that collates often seemingly disparate data into a cohesive
whole – the framework of which is built into the fabric of a story. It
is this storyline that engages the audience and retains the impact of
the communication long after the message has been delivered. Some
of the best leaders in the world over the last 200 years have been great
storytellers.
 Persuasion and selling capabilities: Selling and persuading are
closely related skill sets. Persuasion is the push that is latently
provided to allow stakeholders to pursue an idea, decision or action.
It involves planting a seed in the mind of the audience which
encourages them to take on to the idea on their own accord. A sale,
which is the result of persuasion, involves active decision making
by the other party. Persuasion in such scenario is just the cause for
an alignment. Selling skills extends beyond just those whose jobs
fall under the sales department. Employees with selling skills can
use these skills to influence other employees to buy into a project,
team members to choose a side, or executives to offer new products
or services.

4.5.3 Communication skill sets required to deliver the message

 Face-to-face communication: Face to face meetings is important and
in business settings, it is one of the most fundamental types of
communication. This in-person real – time communication involves
conversation or dialogue between parties involved. Face-to-face
communication allows the eyes to see what you cannot hear or read.
Involvement of body language, often in terms of non-verbal cues, tone
of messaging allows potentially true emotions to be identified and
analyzed. This allows you to build personal connections with customers/
clients, subordinates, supervisors and other channel partners.
 Speaking and Verbal Skills: Language is a powerful instrument which
imbibes within itself a range of potential choices to express a plethora
of feelings and cover a lot of amazing opportunities. It is the ability
to communicate information, ideas, thoughts, opinions, and updates
in a clear manner verbally. Verbal communication allows employees
to engage fellow colleagues/supervisors/customers and come to a
mutually agreeable consensus. Verbal communication increases
“interactivity” leading to dialog and enhances engagement.
 Non-verbal skill: verbal communication places a lot of emphasis on
body language, actual physical distance between communicating parties,
tone of the communication and several non – verbal cues. It is estimated
that more than 70% impact of verbal communication depends not on
the language and content of the message, rather the medium, intent
and non – verbal positioning used in delivering the same.
Details of verbal/oral and non-verbal communication are explained below:
 Writing Skills: To be able to participate in a substantive discussion,
70 utilization of data/examples/used cases is crucial. Using specific data
 and cases in written communication(s) makes the communication Communication Skills

process easy and leads to prompt and rich discussion. It has been found
that quantitative positions over qualitative arguments generally work
better. Written business communication should be brief and focused
to-the point but informative. Good written communication also includes
adequate follow-up, to close the communication loop and showcase
proactiveness towards goals. The difference between Written and Verbal
Communication is given in table 1

 Presentation skills: Presentation involves providing often mundane

information in an attractive way to captivate the audience interest
and keep them engaged and motivated. A good presenter is also a
good storyteller, using data, stories, and examples to influence an
audience to act towards a desired outcome, as was previously
discussed. This method of business communication allows one
individual, or a group of individuals, to share evidence to support
an idea or argument. With advent of digital medium, presentation
skills rely heavily on computer software and leverage pre-prepared
formats (such as Power Point)

 Building Trust: The chances of a successful communication process

increases when the communicators put effort to build trust amongst
each other. The sender is in a robust and bargaining position when
the respondent has faith in their honesty and trustworthiness.

Exhibit II
Social Commerce
Social Commerce is a name given to those e-commerce merchants who
are selling their products using social media platforms like Facebook,
Instagram etc. Social commerce has give opportunities to small businesses
to sell their products directly to the customers. Another form of social
commerce, which is on the rise is when influenceers sell through Amazon
and Myntra. Social commerce has increased and gained popularity in
India during COVID 19 when the lockdown was under effect. Selling
through social media requires a different kind of skill sets. As the attention
span of people have decreased, sellers are required to showcase the right
product in a limited period of time. They are required to be fluent and
knowledgeable about the product and should be able to explain the terms
and conditions to the audience clearly. Other than communication skills,
sound, light, video quality, surrounding elements also play an important
role while communicating with the customers, Social commerce is on
rise in various other countries as well, like China. It is expected to be
one of the most effective medium of personal selling for mass market
product.

4.5.4 Communication skill sets required to receive the message

 Listening Skills: It is often said most people hear to respond, and not
listen. Listening involves impassionate and objective remembrance of 71
Selling Skills a dialogue, with focus on the actual content that the speaker has
delivered, without pre-conceived bias or prejudices. It is the ability
to listen to that enriches one’s own communication by incorporating
others’ views in his or her communication. A good listener value
opinions, thoughts and sentiments outside of one’s own and are open
to new ideas, concepts and experiences. It is important that, in a
communication, each party views the other as an equal partner, and
listening is a crucial aspect of the same. This increases the acceptance
rate of the solutions provided to the clients/customers. An active listener
listens attentively to a speaker, understand what they’re saying, respond
and reflect on what’s being said, and retain the information for later.
They will allow pauses for interjections, repeat other people’s words,
and ask questions to affirm his or her engagement in a conversation.
Table 1: Differences between Written and Oral Communication
Communication Written Oral
Mix

Purpose Analytical &Reasoning Assimilative & Emotive

Audience Non-Interactive Interactive

Medium Frozen (Verbal) Seeing Fluid (Verbal & Non-

verbal, Bearing

Message Complicated/Long Simple/Short

Feedback None or delayed Quick & Immediate

Time Long/Flexible Short/Inflexible

Place Non-restrictive Restrictive

Cost High Low

Source: Srinivas Rao “Purposive Presentation Mix, copyright Q 1979 by the Indian Institute
of Management, Ahmedabad.

Activity 1
Which communication skill set do you think is the most important for a
sales man? Compare any four skill sets that are essential to every salesman
in selling a product or service offering.
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....................................................................................................................
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 Communication Skills
4.6 VERBAL OR ORAL COMMUNICATION
Communication is often restricted to the domain of written messages for specific
audience. When it comes to improving communication skills, the focus is on
improving written communication skills and with little attention to improving
oral communication. Oral communication doesn’t restrict itself to speaking only
i.e., public speaking, making business presentations, participating or conducting
meetings, interviews, etc., but it also includes listening. It is said that
communication begins with listening. The fact is that one cannot be an effective
speaker unless he or she is a good listener. The beginning of mastery on oral
communication, which starts with listening, in turn, is the beginning of mastery
over the wider gamut of communication, spanning across written and other forms.
Significance of Oral Communication
Oral Communication, which is face to face communication with others, has
its own benefits. Not only does it provide the opportunity for feedback but
when people communicate orally, they are able to interact, they can ask questions
and even test their understanding of the message in addition, people can also
relate and comprehend the non-verbal that serves far more than words. By
observing facial expressions, eye contact, tone of voice, gestures, postures etc.,
one can understand the message better. Oral communication also makes people
feel good as it satisfies one of our deepest needs of being part of a community,
group identity and high morale.
The only shortcoming of oral communication is that more often than not it is
spontaneous and if communicated incorrectly, the message will not go
understood. Oral communication is used both in interpersonal and interpretive
modes of communication. As mentioned in the previous section Interpersonal
Communication builds on the intrapersonal level, by adding another person
to the communication situation and introducing a dyadic relationship. A dyad
is defined as two persons who seek to exchange information, which could be
a situation like interviewing, telephoning or dictating. In each of these situations
also one has to decide what to say, when to say, how to say etc. Oral
communication is also an important dimension of group communication and
public or mass communication. Public communication takes place when one
person or a small number of people address a larger group of people. Although
the speaker assumes the major responsibility for public communication and
sends the preponderance of verbal messages, the speaker is not the only person
engaging in communication. The audience sends messages to the speaker,
primarily through nonverbal channels. Speeches, lectures, oral reports and
dramatic performances are Be different form of public communication.

4.7 WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

A good salesperson has strong written communication skills very often as a
salesperson you are required to write to your customers. Also, a salesperson
has to communicate with different people within the organization.
The purpose of writing is to communicate a thought, an idea, feeling or fact.
The more concrete and concise these elements in a communication, the easier
it is for a reader to respond to your communication. Also make sure that when 73
Selling Skills you are writing you don’t miss out on some essential detail e.g., you are
informing your key customers about the launch of a new product, but forget
to write to them where and whom to contact for the product. How irritated
your customer will feel?
Good writing ability
Writing a formal/ official letter to any customers you need to be as specific
as possible, giving all the pertinent information as accurately as possible. Keep
only the required information in your letter as no customer has spare time
these days to go through unnecessary information. As a guideline you can divide
your letter into three parts: -
The basic patterns of a routine or good-news letter are:
1. write most important points first,
2. give supporting details,
3. end with a good-will statement.
Let us take an example of structuring a letter
Poor Thank you for your order. We at Top packaging are happy to do
business with companies such as yours and look forward to
future’orders.
Better The corrugated cartons you ordered have been shipped, and you
should receive in 15 days. They were sent this morning by train.
The corrugated cartons you ordered were shipped by train this morning. You
should receive them in 15 days. At Top packaging we are happy to do business
with companies. Such as yours.
Often the first sentence of a letter or a memo is weakened by an unneeded
opening phrase such as I would like to inform you..., this is to tell you etc.
For most business correspondence avoids such openings and starts right with
the main point. On some occasions, it may be useful to refer to the date of
previous correspondence.
Structuring refusals or bad news correspondence
It is always difficult to say no, especially in writing. You can use two approaches,
the direct approach and the indirect approach.
The Direct Approach: If you know the receiver well, or when the bad news
is expected and not very important say informing a colleague that your report
will be completed later than scheduled or telling your boss details of a known
problem.
When using this approach, it is suggested that you should:
 state the bad news simply and directly,
 give the reasons, and

74  close with a good-will statement.

Let us take an example of structuring a bad news correspondence using the Communication Skills
direct approach:
We have not been able to locate the quotation you requested. We have searched
our records and haven’t been able to find anything similar to one you mentioned.
You may, have better luck by looking in the Times Directory on the above
subject. We hope your search is soon successful.
The Indirect Approach: In this approach it is suggested that you should:
 begin with a neutral opening statement,
 give reasons or circumstances leading to bad news,
 state the bad news in as positive terms as possible,
 give a helpful suggestion or alternative, and
 close with a good will statement.
Let us take an example of a letter using indirect approach to turn down a request
for conference sponsorship.
Activity 2
Take two sales letters you have been written to you clients. One letter
should be on prospecting for business and other a reminder letter for the
outstanding. Compare their writing styles
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4.8 NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Having discussed the various forms of non-verbal communication and also
the interpersonal communication, let us now relate the two. This will help you
to understand the relevance of observing the non-verbal during a sales
interaction, which is the most common interpersonal communication situation,
a sales person face. Most human feelings, an emotional and thoughts can be
communicated through a mix of nonverbal forms of communication.
You would appreciate that facial expressions, gestures and postures can convey
quite a few feelings and emotional responses. For example, crinkled eyes convey
warmth; staring eyes convey hostility and downcast eyes suggest
submissiveness.
Facial Expressions:

Similarly, a smile on the face conveys a liking for the other; as against a ‘serious’
facial expression. In figure 3, types of facial expressions have been shown,
to further illustrate the point. 75
Selling Skills Figure 3: Facial Expressions Conveying Acceptance - Rejection and
Interest - Disinterest

Gestures can also convey various emotional responses. In the figure 4 we have
taken six examples to illustrate the point. You may notice from these illustrations
that the way you position you hand against the face, would change the meaning.
For example, hands on chin with pointing up figure held to the cheek, might
suggest critical comparison. The same hand when shifts to the nose would
convey reluctance and when it is held against the lips, it conveys, disbelief.
Figure 4: Position of the hand and its gestures: Placement on the face

76
Further, hand movements i.e., gestures, can also help in supplementing you Communication Skills
message or describe things clearly, during a sales presentation.
Postures, i.e., body position can also convey messages or responses.
Assume that in a sales presentation your prospect holds his face between his
hands and bends forward to place elbows on the legs, near the knees. You
would obviously draw a meaning that the person got bored with your
prepositions.
Similarly, postures can convey to you whether your prospect is defensive,
resentful, enthusiastic or open-minded about your proposals, as shown in the
figure 5.
To win a customer, in all sales interactions, it is important to take the feedback,
continuously. The feedback can help you to re-adjust your message, clarify
the doubts, or supplement the sales talk with more information. This feedback
invariably, can be taken by observing the body language of your prospective
customer. You may observe the facial expressions, gestures or postures.
Each of these forms of non-verbal communication can give you feedback about
the response of your customer which can help you in effectively adopting your
message to win a sale or a customer.
Figure 5: Postures in interpersonal interaction

Bored or Dejected Readiness to Enthusiastic Open Minded

By Your Propositio Get Going About Your Proposass
77
Selling Skills
4.9 TELECOMMUNICATION
Telephone is an important device and one of the cheapest modes of
communication available with which people separated by distance can easily
interact and exchange their ideas. In marketing, tele-sales help companies
to connect not only with their existing customers but also to acquire new
customers.
In telesales a sales person integrates communication and sales skills with product
or service knowledge to serve the customers better. Telesales can be divided
into two categories: inbound and outbound. In inbound telesales, sales
representatives use telephone calls to interact with potential and existing customers.
In outbound telesales sales representatives interact with prospects to acquire
new customers. Outbound telesales can also be called telemarketing. Telesales
and telemarketing are sometimes used interchangeably, but are two different
concepts. Telesales is a much older term and is specifically about selling products
or services. Telemarketing is a form of direct marketing our outbound telesales
that focuses on generating new prospective customers. Therefore, it can be said
that it is a form of building leads than sales. The prime objective of this process
is to create opportunities by generating new leads. A list of prospective customers
is created (mostly sourcing it from any third party), and new product or service
information are provided to them. Sometimes, telemarketers are also responsible
for conducting market research and undertake survey on customer satisfaction.
It can be said that telemarketing is another very important tool for marketing a
company’s offerings to customers. It also provides chance to build a strong
trustworthy relationship with the customers.
Telephone etiquette: - An individual needs to follow a set of rules and
regulations while interacting with the other person over the phone. These are
often called as telephone etiquettes. It is important to follow the basic telephone
etiquette as our voice plays a very important role in creating an impression
of our personality, education, family background as well as the nature of job
we are engaged in. The person giving the information is called the sender and
the second party is the recipient.
There is various telephone etiquettes that a sales person must keep in mind
at the time of making a telesales call or while generating new customer leads.
Below is the list of some of the important telephone etiquettes:
 Warm greetings like “good morning”, “good evening” or “good noon”
depending on the time always give a good start to any conversation.
Always remember your voice has to be very pleasant while interacting
with the other person over the phone. Don’t just start speaking, before
starting the conversation use
 Avoid calling a person at odd hours like early morning or late nights.
 It is important that your content is crisp and relevant. Playing with
words is generally not appreciated. It is better to come to the point
directly and convey the information in a convincing manner. This
definitely requires preparation of the content before dialling the
telephone number.
78
  After dialling, don’t forget to reconfirm that the person on the other Communication Skills
side is the one you want to interact with. Always ask “Am I speaking
to Mr. Sharma?” or “Is this Miss Renu?” before starting the
conversation.
 Putting someone on a very long hold is not good. Try to keep the
information handy. In case, you are putting the call on hold, you are
required to inform the customer about the delay. Try not to irritate
the customer.
 After completing the conversation, don’t hang up the call abruptly.
Reconfirm with the customer if he has the correct information or it is
recommended that you should end your conversation with pleasant
words like “Take care”, “nice speaking with you” and a warm bye.
Never say Goodbye.
 Always speak each and every word clearly. The person on the other
end can’t see your expressions so remember your tone should be apt
to express your feelings in the correct form.
 If there is any disturbance in the network, don’t just keep speaking
for the sake of it; try to call after sometime with a better line.
 Remember all the above telephone etiquettes must be practiced for
an effective and healthy telephonic discussion and smooth flow of
information.

Activity 3
Recall any recent conversation you had with a tele sales executive. List
down the sales personnel’s etiquette you noticed during the call.
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4.10 REMOTE COMMUNICATION

Remote communication has become the de facto norm during the COVID
pandemic. It is that form of communication which is conducted over internet.
Office meetings, training materials, any other information all are shared between
the virtual teams.
Remote communication is divided into synchronized and synchronized
communication. Synchronized communication is when the teams meet only
in the real time but virtually. Platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, WebEx,
79
Selling Skills Microsoft Teams meetings are generally used for conducting meetings through
video conferencing between remotely located teams. Asynchronized remote
communication is also being used widely. Recorded video, demonstrations,
lectures are shared with people to watch it at a later time.
During the (pre- COVID period), remote communication was primarily used
between cross geography teams or as a facilitating service. However, after
COVID, remote communication is a mandatory form of interaction between
teams and clients/customers.
There are various rules and norms which can be followed during remote
communication:
 The message to be communicated should be clear and concise

 Your body language during the meeting should not be casual just
because you are attending it from home set up
 The sound and video quality required to be checked before entering
a meeting.

 Try to avoid background noise.

 Though you are not present physically, body language matters. Relaxed
position may convey a casual approach of yours towards the situation.
Activity 4
Recall a situation, where as per you the remote communication was a
a) Success or
b) Failure.
List out the reasons for the success/failure?
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4.11 SUMMARY
The basic purpose of communication is to develop understanding with your
audience. In a sales situation your customers are your audience. To be successful
in all communication situations, it is important to take feedback form, both,
80 verbal and non-verbal forms. If you are able to take correct feedback you can
successfully adapt your message to match with the information requirements Communication Skills
of your customers.
In this unit all communication related principles were discussed to prepare
you to face any kind of sales situation.

4.12 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

1. Do you think setting objectives for any sales related communication task
are important? Why?
2. What do you understand from non-verbal communications? How does it
help in sales interactions?
3. How tele communication is different from face-to-face communication?
Which of this form of communication is better? explain and Justify.

4.13 REFERENCES/ FURTHER READINGS

A. Pease, Body Language. (Londong, Sheldon Press, 1981).
Harta A. Murphy, Herbert W. Hidbrandt, Effective Business Conununications,
(New York: McGraw Hill Inc., 1991).
Herschell Gorden Lewis, Sales letters that Sizzle, (Illinonis: NTC Business
Books, 1995).
Blythe, J. (2000) Marketing Communications, London: Prentice-Hall.
Covey, S. R. (1989) The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring
the Character Ethic, New York: Simon & Schuster.
Fill, C. (1999) Marketing Communications: Contexts, Contents, and Strategies,
2nd edn, London: Prentice-Hall.

81
Selling Skills
UNIT 5 NEGOTIATION SKILLS
Objectives
After reading this unit you should be able to:-
 define negotiation
 understand and explain different steps of negotiation
 describe the various skills required for each step
 make use of negotiation skills in selling process

Structure
5.1 Introduction
5.2 What is Negotiation
5.3 Difference Between Selling and Negotiating
5.4 The Negotiating Continuum
5.5 Steps of Negotiation
5.5.1 Prepare
5.5.2 Discussion
5.5.3 Signaling Behavior
5.5.4 Proposing
5.5.5 Packaging the Offer
5.5.6 Bargaining
5.5.7 Closing and Agreeing
5.5.8 Deadlock
5.6 Negotiation Strategies
5.6.1 Strike Back
5.6.2 Give In
5.6.3 Break Off
5.7 Principles of Sales Negotiations
5.8 Summary
5.9 Key Words
5.10 Self-Assessment Questions
5.11 References/Further Readings

5.1 INTRODUCTION
Negotiation is a fact of life. It is the basic means of getting what you want
from others. It is a two-way communication process designed to reach an
agreement when the two sides have some interests’ that are shared and others
that are opposed. When we look around ourselves we find that almost everything
needs to be negotiated - whether in business, industry or family.
82
Negotiation is a demanding activity and the best way to learn it is to practice Negotiation Skills
it with seasoned negotiators and get a personal feedback. It is essentially a
practioners art. The primary objective of every negotiation is goal achievement.
Both the sides involved in negotiation will have their own goals. But the
desirable goal is a “win-win” situation - with a win-win situation both the
parties get a feeling of satisfaction with the outcome.

5.2 WHAT IS A NEGOTIATION?

Negotiation can be defined as a process for resolving conflict between two
or more parties where both or all modify their demands to achieve a mutually
acceptable solution. You may note from this definition some of the following
important points.
 Negotiation is a process of resolving conflicts and if there are no
conflicts, there is no need to negotiate.
 There is a need to resolve conflicts, more so with our customers. If
we don’t resolve conflicts we may even loose them.
 Negotiation does not mean persuading the others to accept our offer.
Rather we should listen to others, and their propositions. If possible
modify one stand or suggest/guide the others to modify their demand.
 Through negotiations we try o reach at a mutually acceptable
compromise to solve a problem.

5.3 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ‘SELLING ‘ AND

‘NEGOTIATING’
SELLING: Can be described as the Process of identifying customers, then
getting through to them and persuading them to act, or accept our propositions.
Whereas NEGOTIATING is a: Process of getting the best terms, once the
other side starts to act on their interest.
One important point to keep in mind is that negotiation is not just stating a
grievance or point of conflict. As you must have experienced complaints at
best can produce apologies and at worst, they lead to arguments. In negotiation
what we really want is to suggest, or encourage a proposal which will put
things right, and take the parties concerned to an acceptable solution. In the
selling situations, whenever the buyer and the seller differ on terms on sale,
be it price, discounts, terms or place of delivery, a negotiation opportunity
arises.

5.4 THE NEGOTIATING CONTINUUM

Negotiation involves movement of both the parties. Thus in a negotiation
we must have somewhere to move from and somewhere to move to. We
move from our ideal position to a settlement point that is acceptable to
both parties. Our opponent also does exactly the same. It is the relative
83
Selling Skills bargaining strength and skill of the negotiators that decides the position
of this settlement point.

This sample diagram is static. Negotiation in reality however is a dynamic

process. Both the sides often, as the negotiation proceeds have to review and
modify their limits. If you look at the above continuum in the context of sales
process as a sales person your ideal position is to sell your product at maximum
benefit while from the customer’s angle the ideal position may to get all the
benefits at a much lower price. As the sales process moves both of you are
likely to move from ideal positions and reach a mutually agreeable state if
the transaction has to take place.

Activity 1
Analyse the past sale agreements on some of your senior sales persons
or those of any other organisation, that you are familiar with, Discuss
with the concerned sales persons to find out.
a) What is the kind of movement along the negotiating continuum did
they make in those sales agreement.
b) What is the type of movement they were able to get their customers
to agree to.
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5.5 STEPS OF NEGOTIATION

The negotiating process, for understanding purposes is broken down into
following steps through which negotiations will go, if agreement is to be reached.
However, please keep in mind that this is not a rigid order, and the time and
attention devoted to different steps varies.
However, it is essential for you to appreciate the importance of each stage,
irrespective of their sequence in which they may take place. Table 1 summaries
each of these studies.

84
 Table 1: Different Steps of Negotiation Negotiation Skills

Steps What you should do

i) Preparing - Have you decided your objectives?
- Have you prioritized them?
- Are they realistic
- What are your opponent’s objectives
- Do you have any information regarding
buyer attitudes, personalities, assumptions
etc.
Is your strategy simple and flexible?
In a group negotiation, have each member’s
tasks been clearly defined.
ii) Discussion - Always try to avoid interrupting, talking
too much, using sarcasm and threats.
- Practice listening, and summarizing.
iii) Signaling - Is your signal generating some
movement?
- What signals save you made?
- If your signals have been ignored, have
you tried rewording them.
- Are you listening attentively for your
opponents’ signals.
iv) Proposing - What is the language you are using to
convey your proposal.
- Have you itemized your proposal
- While receiving a proposal ensure that
you do not interrupt it.
v) Offer - Before making an offer review your
opponents and your own objectives.
- How can your offer meet all/some of your
opponents inhibitions/objectives
- Have you considered all the possible
variables in your offer.
vi) Bargaining - Everything must be conditional
- Decide what you require in exchange for
your concessions
- Keep all unsettled issues linked
85
Selling Skills
vii) Closing and agreeing - Decide where you intend to stop trading
- What type of close are you going to use
- Always list the agreement in detail
- If the agreement is oral, always send a
written note to your opponent, as soon as
possible after the meeting.
Source: Gavin Kennedy, John Benson and John McMillan, Managing Negotiations, (London:
Hutchonson Business, 1990)

Activity 2
a) Discuss with 2-3 senior negotiators in your organisation or any other
organisation that you are familiar with. Let some of them be from
the sales field and others from administrative (e.g. HRD) or policy
fields. Try to find out what has in general been the sequence of the
steps in the negotiating exercise in their case. Does the sequence vary
across situations?
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b) Look at the family situations requiring negotiation. Do the negotiation

steps remain the same? If not, how do they vary?
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5.5.1 Prepare
What you do, or don’t do, before you arrive at the negotiating table will become
evident when you get to negotiations. If you are not fully prepared you can
only react to events, you cannot lead them. In the preparation phase you define
what needs to be achieved and also decide how it will be achieved. As a
negotiator you must know what you want in the short term and in the long
term. You must be clear why you want them. You must be aware of your
opponent’s expectations and environment. For easy understanding we can sub-
divide preparation under a number of key headings namely objectives,
86 information, concessions, strategy and tasks.
Objectives Negotiation Skills

The first priority in preparation is to decide your objectives as everything else

will follow this. Once you decide your objectives, you must assign relative
priorities and question how realistic they are. If your objective is clearly
unattainable you are not likely to gain anything from negotiation. Once you
decide your objectives, these also become your criteria for measuring whether
the negotiation has been a “success” or a “failure”. The first step in deciding
objectives is to make a list of all your objectives. The objectives set in any
negotiation are only fixed at a given moment of time. Circumstances, people,
information and so many other factors can alter the objectives and their ranking.
After you have listed down all the objectives you can classify them into three
categories: -
- Like to get
- Intend to get
- Must get.
Relating this step to the sales process as a salesperson it is very important
that you decide your call objectives before you meet the customer and categorize
them, E.g. from a particular customer you may Like to get : order for 20
machines at 25% profit margin.
Intend to get: order for 20 machines at 20% profit margin. Must get: order
for 15 machines at 17% profit margin.
Information
To establish and prioritize your objectives realistically, considerable amount
of information is required. The person with the best information in a negotiation
carries a lot of power. After you collect all the information you have to then
decide which information to use and which not to use. After deciding your
sales objective the more information you can gather about your customer in
terms of his personality, likes and dislikes, past usage pattern etc. the easier
it will be for you to plan a strategy to deal with him.
Strategy
Strategy as a separate step will be discussed in detail later in this unit. However
you must keep in mind that in preparation phase your strategy will need to
be mapped out. Thus the framework of game plan you need to follow to achieve
your objectives must be clear. Always ensure that your strategy is not too
inflexible. It should be able to respond to developments within the negotiation.
Thus, at any stage of negotiation, if you feel that the strategy is not working
you must be able to modify it.
Tasks
In the day-to-day minor negotiations where we are involved, we act as an
individual rather than as a member of a team. However, in more important
negotiations both the groups involved are likely to have more than one member.
In such situations where the group has more than one member it becomes very
essential that each member’s role and the tasks he has to do are clearly defined
and explained. Many times when you are calling a major customer, you may 87
Selling Skills visit him as a team from your company. At such meetings it is important that
everyone in your team knows what exactly his role is and what he is going to
say during negotiations.

5.5.2 Discussion or Arguing

The second step in the process of negotiation is the discussion. This step is
also called arguing. Within the second step of discussion we will also look at
another important aspect of negotiations i.e. signaling.
When the parties involved in negotiation first meet each other, they are aware
of the conflict of issues between them. In the instance where the parties have
not met each other before this they are most wary of each other. Thus, during
the opening phase of the negotiations the atmosphere tends to be very tense.
The discussion step is a major opportunity as you can gain all kind of
information regarding the other party’s behavior, his intentions, and his
objectives from him only. To gather more and more useful information about
your opponent, however you must avoid the habit of interrupting your opponent
when he is speaking.
As is normally seen when emotions are charged up, most of us make certain
threats, not necessarily intending to carry them out. The most natural reaction
to a threat from either side is a counter threat from the other party. In such a
situation during a negotiation both the parties may end up with mutual exchange
of sanctions. Thus it becomes very critical, that as a party involved in negotiation
you depict constructive behavior. But the problem is, how to show constructive
behavior?
The most important thing is to listen more than you talk. Your positive listening
must be supported and followed by positive talking behavior. The technique
for doing this is to ask open questions which will encourage your opponent
to explain and elaborate his views and ideas.
When the discussions are in progress, one of the factors that will determine
the outcome is how well you can send signals. We learnt at the beginning of
the unit that the essence of negotiation is movement along the continuum. Both
the parties involved need to move from their ideal state to mutually acceptable
state. The parties involved in the negotiations use sanctions and incentives to
ensure movement towards their ideal state.

5.5.3 Signaling Behaviour

When you are involved in negotiations the way to handle concessions with
confidence is to develop skills in signaling behavior. A good negotiator always
tests how strong is his opponent’s apparent stonewall position. This is the same
situation which any salesman recognizes when he is facing objections from
his customers. The first thing that a good salesman does in such a situation is
to test whether the objection is real or false. So he will ask his customer, “If
I was able to overcome this problem, would you be prepared to buy? ” For a
real objection the customers answer to above question is yes. With the help
of signals, the parties involved in negotiations indicate their willingness to
88 negotiate.
What is a Signal? Negotiation Skills

The dictionary defines signal as a message. For any message to convey the
meaning it has to be interpreted correctly by the receiver. Signals are
qualifications placed on a statement of a position. Thus, instead of saying ‘I
will never agree to your demands’ you may say, “In the present from your
demands are unacceptable to me”. A signal is expected to lead to movement.
How to signal: For signals to convey message effectively it is essential that
the parties involved in negotiations are listening to each other. What normally
happens is that as both the parties are focusing on their issues, many times
they will miss the signals and prolong the argument. If you are not listening
to what your opponent is saying and how he is saying it, you will inevitably
miss his signals. However there are many situations during negotiation when
you may want to consciously miss a signal. Consciously missing a signal
requires a different skill.
During a deadlock, if you are willing to negotiate a solution, you can try to
break the argument by signaling or responding positively to signals sent by
your opponent. Remember, the method to signal is by adding qualifications
to your statements. For e.g. ‘It is not a normal practice over here to give credit’,
‘Everything you are suggesting cannot be accepted etc.
What to do when your opponent ignores the signal: If there is no response
to your signals from your opponent you must analyze first whether he has
missed the signal or is intentionally ignoring the signal. If your opponent has
missed the signal you can either repeat it verbatim or in modified form.
‘Everything you are suggesting cannot be accepted in its current form’ can
be repeated as ‘you cannot expect us to accept everything you are suggesting
in its current form’.
After having tried a signal, repeated it in different forms, and positively
responded to any signals from your opponent, you must decide whether you
want to move out of discussion or more importantly whether negotiations are
possible in current circumstances.
Activity 3
Try and observe some negotiating processes in your organisation. Study
and list the type of signals you observed during the process, from the
side of both the parties. Study the list carefully after the negotiations are
over. Does the sequence of the signals give any indication of the type of
‘movement’ in the negotiating process? Comment.
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Selling Skills 5.5.4 Proposing
Discussions, opinions and prejudices cannot be negotiated, only proposals can.
When an argument is prolonged, the way out is by a signal which leads to a
proposal. In the context of negotiation a proposal is an offer which establishes
a realistic opening position.
When you are presenting an initial proposal you would most likely state your
ideal position, and your language will affect the firmness of your position, ‘I
had expected much better service’.
When you present a secondary proposal you are trying to initiate a move forward
to common ground. Thus the language used for secondary proposals in most
cases is tentative. ‘I may look into the possibility of considering this’.
How to Present a Proposal: The best way to present a proposal is to keep it
separate from reasoning and justification. The reasoning must be reserved for
only those cases where it is absolutely necessary. The party that puts the proposal
first usually gains a upper position in the negotiation as after having put the
proposal, it can always seek a response, “Is my proposal acceptable?’
How to receive a proposal: To effectively receive a proposal, you must curb
two common behavior patterns: interrupting and instant rejection. When you
interrupt a proposal you are likely to miss something which was yet to be
proposed as very often experienced negotiator will tag a concession at the
end of a proposal.
The other important behavior to control is instant rejection. Even when the
opponent’s proposal is absolutely unacceptable to you, treat the proposal and
prepares with some respect. Listen carefully to the complete proposal and then
ask questions to clarify the point that may not be clear to -you. If you are
well prepared then reply to the proposal and in case you need some time to
finalize ask for an adjournment. The most useful skill in handling proposals
and counter-proposals is the summarizing skill. Regular summarizing of issues
keeps both the parties concentrated to issues.
Adjournments
The main purpose of an adjournment is to review and assess progress against
the set objectives. The actual number and frequency of adjournments depends
upon the practice of negotiators involved

Activity 4
Selling consumer durables, particularly through personal selling, may lead
to situation where the consumer may present corresponding objections
and need corresponding rounds of proposals before he/she agrees to buy.
Talk to some salesmen of such products, like, Vacuum cleaners, water
filters, home appliances, and delivery services, and collect information
on their first proposal and second proposal formulation.
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5.5.5 Packaging the Offer

Offer moves the negotiations into the bargaining arena. But before the bargaining
begins, one should package the offer, suitably.
What is an offer: In the context of negotiations, an offer is a considered activity
in response to the opening moves of the negotiation. When you present an
offer, you present the variables in a form which more clearly matches the other
party’s interests and inhibitions.
Before presenting the offer you must think carefully and creatively about all
the possible variables.

5.5.6 Bargaining
Bargaining is about exchange - you give up something and gain something.
This is the most intense phase of negotiation.
The single most important rule of bargaining is to make all propositions and
concessions, conditional. Thus while bargaining you give away nothing
absolutely nothing free. You always use the big IF.
“If you agree to X, I will agree to Y’
Another point to keep in mind is put your bargaining proposals as statements
and not as questions ‘If you inform the discounts, and promise to deliver in
seven days, then I will process the order’.
While during the proposal step you make tentative offers. ‘I will consider’,
‘I will look into’ etc. in the bargaining step you firm up your proposals and
become more positive
‘If you do X, I will do Y’.
Very often in negotiation, a party will present a list of demands, objections,
requirements etc. followed by the ‘logical’ suggestion that each item is dealt
with one at a time. If other party presents such an idea, don’t agree to such a
demand. Always try to ensure that you keep all the issues in dispute linked.
If you agree to negotiate item by item the other party has good chances of
squeezing you.

5.5.7 Closing and Agreeing

The purpose of closing is to lead both the parties to final agreement. Thus
closing must be credible. Your closing package must meet enough of your
opponents needs to be acceptable. Two common types of closes used during
negotiations are concession close and summary close. 91
Selling Skills Concession Close: When you use a concession close you terminate the
bargaining step by offering a concession to secure agreement.
Summary Close: Summary close terminates the bargaining step by summarizing
everything that has been agreed up to then, highlighting the concessions that
the customers have secured from your side, and emphasizing the benefits of
agreeing to what is on the table.
Agreeing is the last step towards which both the parties have been working.
The purpose of closing is to secure agreement to what is on offer. It is of utmost
importance that both or all the parties involved are absolutely clear on what
they have agreed to before they leave the table.

5.5.8 Deadlock
We have seen all the steps of negotiation process. During any of the steps
negotiations could enter deadlock. A deadlock stops the negotiation process
deadlock has a price. Its most obvious price is the fact that the time spent in
trying to negotiate a deal becomes a dead loss to the organisation, if the deadlock
is irresolvable.
Deadlocks occur in many negotiations despite the best efforts of the negotiators.
Some deadlocks are temporary, others can be permanent.
The way to handle deadlock is to keep your emotions, prejudices out of the
issue and work towards finding some common objectives. Your basic intention
should be to get negotiation process moving again, so as to enable a solution,
acceptable to both parties.

5.6 NEGOTIATION STRATEGIES

During the negotiation process, as the discussion happen you would be reacting
to the other party’s comments in various ways. However three natural reactions
that are commonly observed in most people are:

5.6.1 Strike Back

In this strategy you respond to your customer in the same tone and language
as he is doing to you. Occasionally striking back will show your prospective
that you can also play the same game and will make him stop. But more often
this strategy will land you in a futile and costly confrontation.

5.6.2 Give in
Many times your customer may succeed in making you feel so uncomfortable
with the negotiations that you give in just to be done with it. Giving results
in an unsatisfactory outcome especially for you. Giving in also gives you a
reputation for weakness that your opponent and others may try to exploit in
the future.

5.6.3 Break Off

At times, the negotiation process can come to such a stage, that avoidance is
92 a perfectly appropriate strategy. Sometimes it is better to end a business
relationship if continuing means being taken advantage of or getting into fights Negotiation Skills

again and again. But the costs of a break off are high. Breaking off is frequently
a hasty reaction that you come to regret later.
This negotiating requires you to be a very good communicator. As we stated
earlier the objective of negotiation should be a ‘win-win ’ solution for both
the parties. This requires that you show empathy with the other person. If we
consider empathy and overall projection (i.e. how you come over to others
by your tone, language etc.), we can have four kinds of communications:

Type 1 High Pressure Communicator: He is the kind of person who is over

aggressive and insensitive to other person’s feelings. He feels, due to sheer
pressure, he can win over the argument. In fact, mostly what happens is that
as he has very low empathy, it becomes self-defeating and switches off the
other people who are taking part in negotiation.
Type 2 Little Interest Communicator: He is the kind of person, who has
little interest in either person, or surprisingly his own ideas. His general attitude
in the process is take it or leaves it kind. It often appears that mentally he
has no interest in the process of negotiation. Thus a lack of commitment to
the whole process tends to just run the process.
Type 3 Weak Communicator: He is the kind of person, who is over sensitive
to the other person’s needs and comes over as essentially nice. He can take
the side of the other person so much on occasion that there is no persuasion
and thus no commitment is achieved.
Type 4 The Ideal/Assertive Communicator: He is the kind of person who
has understanding of the other person’s ideas but is also firm about his
ideas. He produces agreement and commitment to the satisfaction of both
the sides.

5.7 PRINCIPLES OF NEGOTIATIONS

To end this unit on negotiation, let’s summarize the principles of negotiation:-
1) Negotiation is about bargaining to reach a mutually agreeable outcome.
Thus your endeavor should be a win-win outcome for both the parties.
2) Never neglect your preparation and you must have a clear plan. It is
also advisable that you select the right starting point.
93
Selling Skills 3) All the participants of the negotiation must regard each other as equals
as mutual respect is essential to both the conduct and the outcome of
negotiation.
4) Always keep in mind that negotiation is not a debate but a discussion.
Therefore each person must ‘fight his corner’ without trying to over
dominate or show one-upmanship.
5) Patience is a key characteristic of a good negotiator, thus take your
time and do not rush into decision making. Delay is much better than
a poor outcome.
6) Empathy is another vital characteristic; therefore see things from other’s
point of view objectively.
7) State clearly your objectives and take a feedback as to whether the
other person has clearly understood your objectives or not.
8) Avoid confrontation and avoid getting into a corner you cannot get
out of. When you have to disagree, do it carefully. When you have to
make concessions, make them one at a time, unwillingly.
9) Aim high, and settle as high as possible. Know when to drop the whole
thing rather than agree to a totally inappropriate deal.
10) Maintain your stamina.
11) Never underestimate people.
12) End positively. Neither party will get exactly what they want, but the
deal should be agreeable.

5.8 SUMMARY
Negotiation is about bargaining to reach a mutually agreeable outcome. As a
party to negotiation your endeavor should be a win-win outcome for both the
sides. All the participants of negotiation must regard each other as equals. If
you want to be good negotiator patience should be your key characteristic.
Always end positively. Remember neither party will get what they want, but
the final deal should be agreeable to both the sides.

5.9 KEYWORDS
Negotiation : Process for resolving conflict between two or more parties
when both or all modify their demands to achieve a mutually
acceptable compromise
Preparation : The activities you carry out before you arrive at negotiation
table.
Signals : Qualifications placed on a statement of a position to convey
a message.
Offer : Considered activity in response. to the opening moves of
94 the negotiation.
Bargaining : Process of exchange : going up something to gain Negotiation Skills
something.

5.10 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

1. Discuss how negotiations and conflicts go hand in hand with each other?
2. Do you think you need to prepare yourself in advance for negotiations?
What specific preparations you would do to meet a prospect for sales
negotiations.
3. Differentiate between deadlock, stonewalling and non-conclusive
negotiations.

5.11 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

1. Gavin Kennedy, John Benson and John McMillan, Managing Negotiations,
(London: Hutchonson Business, 1990)
2. John Lidstone, Mammal of Sales Negotiations, (England: Govers, 1991).

95
Selling Skills
UNIT 6 MERCHANDISING AND MANAGING
SALES DISPLAYS
Objectives
After reading this unit you should be able to:
 understand the concept of merchandising and its role and function
 realize the importance of visual merchandising
 understand the role of sales person in visual merchandising
 explain the significance and purpose of sales displays;
 describe principles of display designs, types of displays;
 outline the planning and execution phases of effective sales displays
management.

Structure
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Merchandising
6.3 Visual Merchandising
6.4 Meaning of sales display
6.5 Objectives of Sales Displays
6.6 Principles(Aesthetics) of Display
6.7 Significance of Display
6.8 Role of Sales Person in Visual Merchandising
6.9 Store Design
6.10 Types of Displays
6.11 Managing Displays Effectively
6.12 Training Retailers
6.13 Motivating the Retailer
6.14 Summary
6.15 Key Words
6.16 Self-Assessment Questions
6.17 References/Further Readings

6.1 INTRODUCTION
Since the last two decades Retail Business has revolutionized the Indian retail
ecosystem. There is a remarkable and significant evolution change during the
said period. Firstly, there has been a quantitative increase in the number of
retail stores across India. Secondly, the size, location, nature of selling
operations, exteriors as well as interiors, and merchandise displays etc. of retail
96 stores have seen a distinct qualitative improvement. The qualitative improvement
is due to the competition among retail stores to grab customer attention. This Merchandising and
Managing Sales Displays
improvement, however, has been more pronounced in the retail stores located
in metropolitan cities and urban towns as customers in cities have more avenues
of shopping.
Indian customers today are bombarded with plethora of information from
different sources. It becomes difficult for them to retain and process this
information at the time of purchase. We notice an increasing use of various
methods for attracting customer traffic at the stores. One of such methods is
the sales displays. Sales or product displays are an important part of
merchandising.
Use of different types of sales display as a part of visual merchandising inside
retail stores has gained importance and demanding over the time. Research
has shown that customers take up to 60 percent of their purchase decisions
within the store itself. In fact, a large percentage of retail shoppers have a
vague idea of what they want to buy before entering a store. Customers who
might have decided on the product to purchase, are not sure about specific
brand or style. Another group of shoppers indulge in impulse purchase and
decide on the spur of a moment that they must have a specific product seen
in the store.
Whatever be the motive of a shopper while entering a retail store, it is crucial
for the retailers to influence their purchase decision while they are on the retail
sales floor. In this context, retail sales display is a crucial visual merchandising
tool to persuade customers into buying from the stores.

6.2 MERCHANDISING
In retail context, what to buy, who will buy it and how it would be arranged
in a retail store is part of the merchandising function. The function of
merchandising starts from the stage procurement and continues till the product
is actually sold.Sometimes there is a separate buying office of the retail store
to do the procurement. Other retailers prefer to get their merchandise purchase
done centrally. At some retail houses the merchandising role is done by category
managers or merchandising managers.
Following are the roles and responsibilities that are an integral part of
merchandising:
 Sales Analysis
 Sales Forecasting
 Selection of buyers
 Selection of product range
 Space allocation
Visual Merchandising
 Range planning
 Product display
Category management is also an important element of Merchandising. As a
category manager, you should be aware which all products need to be grouped 97
Selling Skills into one category. This is better managed when consumer decision tree (CDT)
is used to find out the hierarchical thinking process of the consumers. For
example, if someone is thirsty and looking for a product to drink, he will first
think of beverages or plain water. In beverages he would think about alcoholic
and non-alcoholic products. Among non-alcoholic it could be fruit juice or
cola drink. Based on such kind of understanding of CDT, products in a category
are arranged. Once it is decided that which all products to keep in one category,
the next task is of product assortment. In product assortment, the decision related
to leading brands, marginal contribution of each stock keeping unit (SKU),
size of unit, private vs national brands like decisions are taken here. The third
most important role of merchandising is space management the layout, fixturing,
display and allocation of shelf space.

6.3 VISUAL MERCHANDISING

Visual merchandising includes space allocation, planning around the range
of products to be stocked in the retail store and display of the selected products
in the store. It helps to focus on the product and provides the right perspective
for attracting consumer attention. Visual merchandising helps in customer
education, especially for those who have not planned or have little idea of
their purchase.A well-placed visual merchandising is expected to increase the
desire for purchase and facilitate sales.
Visual Merchandising aims the following:
 Educating customer about product offered by creative and effective
presentation.
 Facilitating the selling process from browsing to buying.
 Creating an environment of the product which will create a strong
impact and recall value.
 Attracting customer attention.
 Assisting customers to match their need

6.4 MEANING OF SALES DISPLAYS

In retail parlance, ‘display’ refers to showcasing the range of products that
the retailer offers to its customers. Sales displays boost in-store appearances
and demonstrate the best features of the products offered in store. The ideal
sales display also provides valuable and relevant information to increase chances
of consumer purchase. A well thought out sales display helps to capture the
interest of retail shoppers thereby greatly augmenting the level of pass-by ratio
which ultimately boosts sales. Sales displays in organized retailing have now
become an integral part of store design and atmosphere setting, playing a crucial
and benefactory role in retail store promotions.
Store displays are important for retailers of all size. This includes big box
retailers operating out of supermarkets and hypermarkets as well as small kirana
or departmental stores.Retail store displays play an effect on consumer psyche
98
right from the point of unhindered view of the store. The clearly visible name Merchandising and
Managing Sales Displays
or tag line of a store acts as a signage and is the first demonstration that the
customer notices in small retail outlets. In large stores, along with the tag line,
window and external displays play an important role in capturing consumer
attention. Window displays could include details around capturing seasonal
themes, festival offerings, new product launches or discount offers. This is
often facilitated by using props and display elements.

6.5 OBJECTIVES OF SALES DISPLAY

According to Lewison and Delozier, sales displays are used to:
 Maximize product exposure
 Enhance product appearance
 Stimulate product interest
 Exhibit product information
 Facilitate sales transaction
 Ensure product security
 Provide product storage
 Remind customers of planned purchases, and
 Generate additional sales of impulse items.
In pursuit of the above objectives, displays perform a three-fold job:
1. Attract people who otherwise might not go into the store, such as
passers-by out window shopping to come inside
2. after they are inside the store, whether they came in to buy or just to
look, expose them to buying suggestions by counter displays and
literature ,and
3. those who come into buy something, induce them .to buy a larger supply
by smart packaging or display, or to buy additional products.
The power of sales displays in accomplishing the above objectives can be felt
by visiting retail stores say Bata, Raymond’s, Pantaloons, Home Centre, Big
Bazaar, Zara, Titan Watches and Ceat Shoppe to name a few.
In short, sales display project a retail outlet, as well as a product ’s personality,
create store atmospherics, and stimulate desire to buy, trigger moods and act
as silent sales people.

6.6 PRINCIPLES (AND AESTHETICS) OF DISPLAY

Effective displays result from the use of both the design principles as well as
the creative and artistic talents of the designers. Some of the important design
principles are discussed below:
99
Selling Skills Principle of Unity:
Unity is one of the most important principles of design. It means that various
elements of display (such as merchandise, display materials, signs, accessories,
etc.) should appear unified and be seen as a whole and complete unit. All the
elements should be organized clearly so that it works together to make the message
stronger. Lack of unity from any sales display give rise to clutterers and confusion.
Figure 1: Representation of Principle of Unity

Principles of Balance:
There must be a harmony among the components and items on display. Balance
may be formal or informal. While formal balance is about symmetry w.r.t.height,
weight, number of items displayed on each side of an aisle or window display,
informal displays intends to adapt creative and novel or extra-ordinary
approaches to establish harmony. Informal displays are required as the
symmetrical designs appear boring sometimes. Asymmetrical or informal
designs have dissimilar edges but equal visual weight. Asymmetrical designs
are well balanced then it will result in visually interesting displays.

Fig 2(b): Representation of Fig 2(a): Representation of

Balance (Asymmetrical) Balance (Symmetrical)

Principle of Contrast:
It involves with focusing on a product by stressing on the contrast, such as,
displaying a light shaded product in dark shade background, a small cute offering
against the giant size product in the background, using contrasting colors of
lights, texture, shape etc. This is generally done to create visual hierarchies.
For example, the effect of any light color object would accentuate when kept
in a dark background.
100
Fig 3(a): Representation of Colour Fig 2(b): Representation of Size Merchandising and
Managing Sales Displays
Contrast Contrast

Principle of Emphasis/Dominance:
In this method dominating the display scene/space by using specially made
products/packs of size much larger than the original size, or dominating with
the use of unusual special effects as attention arresters/crowd pullers. The objective
is to develop an element that stands out amidst the surrounding environment.
Use of giant Easter eggs in the show window of Flury’s at Calcutta, of snakes
and ladder game at Raymond’s and placing of chotiwala person at a restaurant
in Rishikesh near Haridwar are some examples of displays based mainly on
this principle. Tiffany & co. displays are also found to be very attractive using
the principle of contrast and emphasis by using sophisticated shade of turquoise
known as “Tiffany blue”.
Fig 4: Representation of Principle of Emphasis/Dominance

Principle of Repetition:
Basically utilizes a pattern of elements that are recurred on a layout. Repetition
involves recurrence of a single element throughout the design. Such repetition
of elements within the layout is expected to be aesthetically pleasing to
consumers and recurrence is expected to augment their retention of the retailing
merchandise. The principle of repetition is often extended to create attractive
and pleasing backgrounds to catch the eye of the shoppers. Principle of repetition
is used by “Sephora” in their store display (see Figure 6)
Fig 5: Representation of Principle of Repetition

101
Selling Skills Fig 6: Sephora store display using Principle of Repetition and Contrast

Principle of Proportion:
This leverages the geometric harmony of display and is used to create
compositions with well-defined proportions in terms of scale and size, such
that all components in a set-up link well with each other. Proportion doesn’t
always refer explicitly to the size or shape of one specific element but to the
relationship of multiple elements or of specific elements to the overall
display. As in the fine arts, proportion for retail displays should ensure that
the elements in the display look realistic on an overall scale.
A good sense of proportion increases the harmony and balance of a display.
In a layout hierarchy, traditionally, the proportion of the most important element
(say the headline) needs to be larger than the other elements (such as the caption
to the image). It is generally believed, that the smaller the size of the element
in a display, the less is its visual appeal and consequently, importance. When
you achieve a good sense of proportion in a composition, it can add harmony
and balance.
Fig 7: Representation of Principle of Proportion

Principle of Colour Blocking:

Is also used for visual merchandising. Color is one of the major shopping
impetuses. Though color psychology is crucial in visual merchandising, the
problem lies in the fact that every customer may have a different response to
the same color. The reason behind these differences is the color preference
102
due to cultural and regional differences in our vast and global marketplace. Merchandising and
Managing Sales Displays
Also, the taste preference in color changes, sometimes dramatically overtime
and as per one’s mood and personality. Therefore, to predict the effects of
color in general, visual merchandisers rely on widely researched color responses.
Some of them are mentioned below:
Violet: depression, royalty;
Blue: fear, fidelity, sobriety;
Green: luck, nature, outdoors wealth;
Yellow: treacherous, cowardly, cautiousness, madness;
Orange: force, warmth, knowledge, energy;
Red: fiery, love, passion;
Black: sorrow, grief, depression, death’
White: truth, purity;
Brown: humility, maturity.
The top end corner or right side of the wall in a retail store arrangement is
the starting point for all display. Typically, use of colors in visual merchandising
involves classifying colors into 2 groups – warm and cool.Yellow, red and
orange are regarded as warm colors, while violet, blue and green are cool colors.
In line with the top – end corner (Starting point), dark to light colors are kept
from top to bottom. Displays generally start with cool colors and end in warm
colors, in tune with the increasing involvement and excitement of the customer
as he or she progresses through the merchandise on display. This approach
of color choice for visual merchandising is called vertical color blocking. Stores
often follow the VIBGYO (violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange) color
blocking as well. In VIBGYO, you will find colors automatically fit in as per
the warm and cool colors.
A lot of merchandising and fixtures go into the visual design of all retail stores,
making it a delight for customers and a visual treat for shoppers. The challenge
is to make merchandising presentation crucially important so that shoppers
get more comfortable in the store.The above mentioned principles of design,
including principle of Pattern, Rhythm, Movement, variety, and Harmony are
used in conjunction together to make a product display attractive.
Activity 1
Visit a major shopping centre in your location and study any retail store
of your choice in terms of:
 size of stores using show windows
 type and brands of products on display
 type of material used for making the displays attractive; and the major
principle of display used in the show window.
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Selling Skills
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6.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF DISPLAY

Displays are positioned in any retail stores to enhance the shopping experience.
Display helps in creating a customer journey more comfortable, convenient
and customer friendly. A display makes customer’s life easy as:
 Shoppers can locate the desired category and merchandise;
 Shoppers get the chance to self-select;
 Shopper can co-ordinate and accessories;
 Information on sizes, colors and prices are widely available; and
 Ease of obtaining information about recent fashion trends as retail stores
highlights them at strategic locations.
The sole focus of visual merchandising is to attract shoppers to the products
displayed within the store for closer examination and ultimately convert the
examination to purchase. A visual merchandiser provides value to the retailer
by:
 Leveraging visual merchandising tools to increase purchase, especially
add-on sales;
 Increasing efficiency of operation within the store by ergonomic display;
 Saving time for the sales person, thereby increasing their efficiency
and performance
 Increasing the store presence (and purchase) of the shopper; and
 Taking the role of a ‘silent salesperson’ by giving information through
visual cues and inducing suggestive selling.
Although advances in technology have changed the diaspora of visual
merchandising, the concept itself is not new. In fact, visual merchandising has
been around since the beginning of retailing, when merchants started selling
merchandise to customers. The first visual merchandisers were vendors who
104
simply arranged their goods to make them more attractive to customers. This Merchandising and
Managing Sales Displays
included grocers or fruit sellers placing the best and the ripest apples at the
very top of their baskets for consumers to see and touch – a primitive example
of visual merchandising. The Departmental Store (refer to inset picture of a
departmental store), that we are used to visiting today, is a long descendant
of a chain of advancements in visual merchandising. So much so, that today’s
departmental store is a one-man-shop. All the merchandise (on the raised
platform) is at a hand’s distance for the storekeeper, so as to enable quick
service to customers. Everything is kept in a tiered format so that even the
last product is very clearly visible.
In retailing, visual merchandising is a continuous process, starting from the
conceptualisation of the store, to the point when the store becomes functional
and continuing through changes in store merchandising or over changes in
consumer tastes or preferences. It is ubiquitous and needs to be revisited
continually throughout the life of the store. Using different aspects of visual
merchandising, i.e., colour, signage, presentation, window display etc., visual
merchandisers create ‘miniature worlds’ with the store merchandise to attract
customer attention and bring them into the store. The success story is reinforced
when the customers keep revisiting the store and come back in future.

6.8 ROLE OF SALESPERSON IN VISUAL

MERCHANDISING
Outwardly, a visual merchandiser’s job is distinctly different from that of the
traditional sales person. However, a visual merchandiser often acts as the silent
salesman, providing non verbal visual cues on the path of the shopper to enhance
their shopping experience. A visual merchandiser is actually not present with
the customer at the time of purchase, or when the purchase decision happens.
However, his store display apparatus is the presence that is required to convert
store visit to sales.
An interesting question that arises out of this discussion is the reverse role
played by a sales person in visual merchandising. While the visual merchandiser
is a silent salesman, a sales person endowed with knowledge of visual
merchandising can profit much in his daily sales activities. Customers today
prefer store visits as epitomes of experiential shopping. Shopping experience
needs to be memorable and lively, with little or no interference from sales
personnel. A sales person equipped with an adequate and effective visual
merchandising or sales display, finds his or her job easier. The whole point
of persuasion and initiation of customer to sales is reduced and the burden
taken over by intricate sales display from the point customers enters the store.
Customers today prefer more and more self-reliant shopping options.
Merchandising stores operating as one-man-shops help ensure customer privacy.
Visual merchandising further enhances this privacy by providing an intimate
shopping experience. A common term that all sales people must be aware of
is the “boomerang effect”. Boomerang effect refers to over-persuasion and
forced initiation on part of the sales personnel which might backfire and
drastically reduce the shopping intention of an otherwise eager customer. The
105
Selling Skills customer, perturbed and irritated by frequent interference from an over
enthusiastic sales person might find the shopping experience exasperating and
detain from purchase. Visual merchandising and sales display significantly
reduces the boomerang effect, since customers are mostly left on their own
with subtle visual cues to enhance purchase decision. Over enthusiastic or
interfering sales person are mostly absent in such shopping experiences.
One additional role that a sales person might play is the role of an observer
and data gatherer. While the visual merchandiser maybe absent during the
purchase process, the ideal sales person, rather than interfering frequently with
the customers shopping process, might observe the decision-making
phenomenon at a distance and gather suitable inputs and valuable feedback
on the store layout, sales display and visual merchandising that can be passed
on. This feedback, coupled with other standard visual merchandising techniques,
form a baseline to enhance store display and cater to changing customer choices.

Activity 2
Visit a couple of retail stores and list out the activities that a salesman
performs with respect to visual merchandising.
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6.9 STORE DESIGN

Store design plays an important role in deciding the type of display to be used.
Store design is divided into Exterior and Interior design. The factors related
to exterior and interior store designs are given in figure 2.
The first impression a shopper gets of any store is its exterior design or the
storefront. A customer oversee a store from outside and within seconds decides
whether to enter the store of not. Therefore, the prime objective of exterior
design is to draw customer’s attention and then create an image that lures the
customer into the store. Flagship stores spend huge amount of money for the
storefront display so as to form a brand image of their stores. In addition,
Location plays an important role in drawing consumer attention. These stores
are generally located in high-end shopping districts and high streets, close to
residential communities. Adequate signage, front windows are also an important
part of exterior design elements and help a lot to attract customers. Figure 3
illustrates use of window decoration by Home Centre.
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 Figure 2 : Store Design Factors Merchandising and
Managing Sales Displays

Eventually, the shopper is in the store and interior design takes the front seat.
In many stores, as soon as the shopper enters, the store clerks offer the shopper
a shopping basket or a cart (generally it is very rare that a shopping basket
remains empty). There are many stores interior design factors such as store
fixtures and product displays which a shopper encounter with. However, the
first contact shoppers have with the store is usually with their feet. Floor
covering or design is therefore given adequate importance along with materials
used, ceiling, display and the checkout counters.
Store design also depends on the philosophy and objective of a store. Store
which are no frill stores or are heavy discounters give minimum importance
to the interiors of the store. For example, like D Mart. Figure 4 illustrates
interior and exterior of D-mart.
Figure 3: Window Decoration by Home Centre - An Illustration

Figure 4: Interior and Exterior of one of the D-mart Mumbai stores

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Selling Skills
6.10 TYPES OF DISPLAY
As already been stated, good displays act as powerful traffic builders and result
in raising the store sales. Going by the increase in competition at the market
place and the felt need of each retailer to attract more shoppers to its store,
the question facing them today is not whether to use displays or not but how
to use displays effectively. Before gaining familiarity with the different types
of displays it will be desirable to remember that a creative retailer for gaining
unique display edge make use of a combination of some or many of the display
types. Blending creativity with principles of display designs, nature of product
and specific market needs, has resulted in the creation of impact making sales
displays which canbe broadly classified into the following types
Assortment Display:
In this type of display a retailer puts on display a wide variety of merchandise
for the customer. This display is organized in two ways -open and closed. The
open display provides an opportunity to the customer to feel or try the product.
Self-service stores, Super Bazars, Apna Bazar and ready-to-wear garment stores
or book stores like Cross Word commonly use open displays.
The closed displays, on the other hand, keep the products within the glass
windows or pre-packaged form. Counter service retail stores and those stores
that sell expensive items (say jewelry) or fragile products generally use closed
displays. Closed displays are common in Titan stores, Shopper Stop (uses open
as well as closed displays), or Eyewear stores like Titan+ or Lenskart.
Theme Displays:
These displays work on the principle of unifying the merchandise on display
around a common theme or event, and accordingly call for the creation of
appropriate mood or atmosphere in the store. These displays aim at enhancing
customer enjoyment while involving him more deeply in the merchandise and
the event. The theme may relate to national, international or local event, a
season, festival or even could be internal to the store. Some popular themes
include Republic, Independence and 2nd October Days at Khadi Gram Udyog,
New Year, Christmas, Easter, Diwali, Pooja and even off-season sale themes
at other stores. Bridal themes at saree shops, holiday’s themes at travel agency
firms, school opening themes at shoe stores, etc. are some more examples of
theme displays.
Bata, probably, was among the first to introduce the theme displays, initially
for their range of footwear, and now for their whole host of accessories.
Imagination can perhaps be the limiting factor to such creative theme
displays one comes across now. For instance, once around Christmas
Raymond’s had a window display depicting the story of three kings and
the shepherds with the under lying aim to display Raymond’s blankets which
were used as coats by the shepherds. Similarly, Inter Shoppe played on
the “denim magic” theme - even dressing windows in denim blue to sell
its range of jeans and jean accessories. Renowned beautician Shahnaz
Hussain projects the ethnic image to promote her herbal range of cosmetics
at their Saloons in India and abroad.
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Coordinated or Ensemble Displays: Merchandising and
Managing Sales Displays
Using the approach of suggestive selling, in this type of display generally a
mannequin is dressed in matching say combination of shoes, socks, pants or
short, shirt or T-shirt, sports jacket and even tennis racket and bags as at Bata’s,
“Power” range stores or Raymond’s shops. The customers are thus provided
with the ease to buy related Raymond’s items in one department or place instead
of going over to different departments or stores. Ensemble displays focus on
selling a concept rather than just a product.
Unit Displays:
Unlike the related displays, the unit displays use merchandise that is identical
in size, color, shape, use etc. for display together as one unit and at one place.
Generally, the display of knives or spoons in cutlery, shoes, bags, shirts etc.
as seen in a good number of stores follows this pattern.
Classification Dominance Displays:
This type of display focuses on exhibiting a large variety of width and depth
of the product lines carried by the store. This is organized on product basis
which are put in vertical order for displays on the walls, on the selling floor
or sometimes all over.
Rack Displays:
These are mainly used by clothing and household goods retailers for neatly
hanging or presenting the ‘products. A variety of vertical chrome or steel tubing
racks in circular and side wards shapes as well as mobiles are used for display.
Cut Cases and Dump Bins:
Are generally found in inexpensive and effective displays.Used at wholesale
and large discount sale stores, merchandise is left open in these cases and bins
for providing ease of handling to shoppers.
Some other complementary materials that aid in making sales displays attractive
include window streamers, stickers, posters, hangers, counter cards, dummy
cartons and balloons.
Video tape Displays:
An interesting development in retailing in the developed countries is the growing
use of audio-visual merchandising. These displays use technology to “speak”
to and show shoppers the available merchandise. These pre-recorded audio/
video devices include “shelf talkers” and “rear screen projections” thus adding
a new dimension to products needing demonstration.
Activity 3
During a visit to any major shopping centre in your location /town addition
to gathering data already listed in Activity 1, analyze the retail displays
in terms of:
a) Types of display used
b) Nature of product and type of display used
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c) Power of displays used to attract the window-shoppers and passers-
by
d) Unique features of the displays liked most by you.
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6.11 MANAGING DISPLAYS EFFECTIVELY

In order to get maximum advantage from sales displays it is necessary that
these be organized and managed effectively.’ The process of display management
can be divided into two phases:
1) Planning of sales displays,
2) Execution of sales displays
Planning of Sales Displays:
The planning phase of sales-displays covers dimensions such as:
 optimal use of display space
 use of cost-effective fixtures for display which provide maximum
exposure to the merchandise
 type and pattern of displays to be used and their suitability with both
the available store space as well as store layout; and cost and frequency
of change of displays in the retail store.
Execution of Sales Displays:
This phase of display management includes:
 ensuring adequate stock of merchandise to be displayed as well as in
inventory
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  earmarking area and allocation of speck space of different display sand Merchandising and
Managing Sales Displays
fixtures
 checking the quality and features of the display fixtures procured for
use indisplays
 attending to display related aspects such as store name board, store
front, display window size, style and color of display signs to be used,
and display window lighting and atmospherics including floors, walls,
ceilings, ventilation, cooling, heating etc.
 organizing men and materials for the display including selection of
outside experts, if any, and coordination with other employees of the
store
 Instructing store staff on handling of displays and merchandise, and
arranging for timely advertising and publicity of the store.
Given the importance of proper planning and execution, incorporating
creativity and innovativeness in sales displays emerge as the primary need
in its effective management. It, therefore, requires the use of outside experts
as well as search for newer materials to achieve distinctive edge in the product
display. The other requirement relates to the frequency at which display
designs are changed which in turn is linked to the budget available for this
promotional activity. Big budget companies are known to change their displays
quite frequently and for this purpose they even employ interior decorators
and designers and some have an in-home merchandising and display
department.
Obtaining Retailer’s Cooperation
Sales displays at the retail store can be organized either singly by the store
owners or jointly with the manufacturers of the products. The manufacturers
sponsored product displays at retail stores carry one more important dimension.
This relates to selling of the display scheme to the retailers and obtaining their
cooperation for proper usage of display material and scheme.
Motivating’ and Training Retailers
This relates to the zeal with which the retailers support the manufacturer’s
efforts. In’other words, for maximizing results from sales displays, participating
retailers need to be convinced of the objectives, and trained as well as motivated
to get their utmost cooperation in the conduct of sales displays. The remaining
part of this unit covers this aspect.

6.12 TRAINING RETAILERS

With growing competition for the limited display space at the retail store on
the one hand, and rising costs of organizing displays on the other, it is becoming
necessary retailers’ participation with equal enthusiasm. An investigation to
the reasons for it is not unusual to find that not all the display schemes offered
by manufacturers get retailers participation with equal enthusiasm. An
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Selling Skills investigation into the reasons for retailer’s poor interest in some of the display
schemes pointed out to the following inadequacies:
 unreasonable terms of participation and unattractive rewards;
 mismatch between display space available at the store and display
requirements
 complicated display fixtures and material;
 monotonous repetition of old display ideas;
 non-availability of professional help required for setting up of creative
displays;
 unclear instructions regarding use of display material; and
 receipt of incomplete display kits.
In view of the above reasons, it, therefore, becomes necessary to satisfactorily
involve retailers in the organization and conduct of sales displays. A beginning,
in this regard; should be made by explaining to the retailer and his staff the
purpose of’the display and how to make it a success. The latter could be done
through personal discussion, supply of printed self-instructional material,
provision of do’s and don’ts and availability of assistance from interior
decorators where needed. In any case, a salesperson’s visit to the retail store
after the display material has arrived at the store to ensure its completeness
as well as for guiding its handling has been found very useful in both reducing
material wastage as well as disinterested participation.
A Company Practice
In order to ensure proper usage of the display material as well as to make
retailers promotion conscious, a U.S. Corporation made the following
suggestions to its display scheme participating retailers:
1. When the display features a general idea, place it in a prominent location
where it will be seen by all customers. The space opposite the front
door is, incidentally, the preferred position in the whole store.
2. A specific item or specific line display should be placed as near as
possible to the merchandise described.
3. A display offering the merchandise for the consumer to examine should
be placed where the customer can touch it.
4. All displays should be placed where they can be seen and read by
the customer.
5. Displays designed to be hung from the ceiling should be hung low
enough for the customer to read and look over easily.
6. All displays should be placed where they will not conceal merchandise.
7. Never place displays where they will have covered back and forth by
salesmen when taking care of customers.

112 8. Always place displays in a well-lighted position.

 Merchandising and
6.13 MOTIVATING THE RETAILER Managing Sales Displays

With a view to motivating retailers to put in their best efforts in the conduct
of sales displays, sponsoring organizations encourage them by:
– Provision of display goods and fixtures at special subsidized prices
– Cooperative advertising and sales promotion i.e., promoting the retail
store as well as the manufacturer’s product on cost-sharing basis
– Publicity through newsletter as well as keeping the retailer informed
of the market movements of the production display in different markets
– Organization of display contests carrying catchy rewards and effort
related consolation prizes
– Photo flashing of retailer’s displays at work to other retailers
– Visit of mystery shoppers who assess and award prizes to outstanding
retailers.
For example, Food Specialities Limited in India attaches considerable
importance to the retail trade. Even much before the trend of hiring display
windows had caught on, it embarked on a drive to enroll all high-visibility
shelves and counters for displays.
The company, generally speaking, offers nearly 25 per cent more money for
shelf space than almost any other company. It has also devised a host of retail
dispensers – hanging net baskets, counter to pand floor racks to carry a range
of its brands.
Likewise, one of the principal factors for the success of brands such as Vicks
Vaporub and Gold Cafe in 1988 is attributed to the ability of their sponsors
in motivating retailers and hiring out premium display windows.
With the passage of time, we find that the art of organizing effective sales
displays has been perfected. Quite a few consumer goods companies in India
which have been using sales displays almost regularly have developed very
comprehensive checklists covering pre-planning steps; event planning; design
preparation and procurement of aids for displays; selection and signing of select
retailers; monitoring of display scheme in action; judging criteria, rewards,
follow up and lessons for the future.

6.14 SUMMARY
Sales displays have acquired a place of significant importance in modern
retailing. These help in both enhancing the store image as well as attracting
shoppers to the store. Effective sales displays make use of aesthetic principles
and are generally built around a popular theme suiting the market needs of
the product. Sound management of sales displays requires an eye for detail
on the part of sponsors so far as minute details relating to planning and execution
of sales displays are concerned. Retailers play a critical role on the success
of sales displays and hence required careful handling and proper motivation. 113
Selling Skills
6.15 KEY WORDS
Cut-Case Display
Dump-Bin Displays
Ensemble Displays
Fan Display Arrangement
Merchandising Space
Merchandising
Open Assortment
Pyramid Display Arrangement
Rack Display
Scrambled Merchandising
Selling Space
Step Display Arrangement
Store Front
Width of Assortment
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: Inexpensive display, where merchandise
is left in its original cartons/cases.
: Case/Bins display which carry a large
number of sale items.
: Display where related or coordinated
merchandising is put together.
: Set up vertically, the display
arrangement rises from the heavy base
and widens drastically as the height
increases. Often seen at chocolates,
confectionary, and grocery shops.
: Space used for keeping items in stock
or inventory, while not on display.
: Planning and presentation of
merchandise and services at places and
in quantities that best serve the interest
of the customer and the retailer.
: Display of merchandise inviting
access to the customer to feel or try
them.
: Display arrangement in the shape of
a three-dimensional pyramid, with
each side presenting an attractive
triangle.
: Displays of merchandise on racks
generally used by textile retail stores.
: A wide variety unrelated to additions
to the retail store’s original business
merchandise.
: Space in the store earmarked for
displaying merchandise, interactions
between sales personnel and
customers, space of demonstrations,
etc.
: A multi-tiered placing of trays,
resembling a series step, for display
of merchandise on it.
: The total physical exterior of the store
itself including entrances, windows,
lighting and construction materials, etc.
: variety of different or unrelated
product lines handled by a store.
Zig-Zag Display Arrangement
: A display arrangement which uses the Merchandising and
Managing Sales Displays
basicapproaches of step and pyramid
display arrangements. The
merchandise put on itappearsto be
zig-zag along the way.

6.16 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

a) Why is it becoming increasingly important for the manufacturers to properly
manage the sales displays of their brands? Develop a checklist for evaluating
the sales display at a retail store.
b) Using the above checklist compare the effectiveness of sales displays in
any of the following situations:
 Footwear store
 Consumer durable store
 Cosmetic shop
 Furniture shop
 Bookstore

6.17 FURTHER READINGS

Bates, Albert D, Retailing and Its Environment, New York, Van Nostrand, 1979,
p.126
Burstiner, Irving, Basic Retailing, Illinois, Irwin, 1966, Chapter 20 Lewison
and Delozier, Retail Marketing, pp 67 2-7 3
Kerkar, Urshila and Cordo, Dhur; Putting up a Smarter Front, The Economic
Times (ET Esquire) 26 Oct. 1969, page II
Retailers: A Growing Power, Advertising and Marketing& June 1969, pp
44-47.
Riso, Ovid (ed), Sales Promotion Handbook, Chicago, Dartnell Corporation,
1979, Ch.17' and pp. 922-23 and 952-53.
New Retail by Raul A. Barreneche (London: Phaidon, 2005)
Silent Selling: Best Practices and Effective Strategies in Visual Merchandising
by Judith Bell and Kate Ternus (New York: Fairchild, 2002)
Contemporary Visual Merchandisingand Environmental Design (5th edition)by
Jay Diamond and Ellen Diamond(Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:Prentice
Hall, 2006)
Retail Buying (6th edition) by Jay Diamond and Gerald Pintel (Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey:Prentice Hall, 2006)

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