CHAPTERS 8 AND 9: PERSONAL SELLING

AND PERSONAL SELLING PROCESS

• SALESMANSHIP
• SELLING SKILLS
• SELLING STRATEGIES
• THEORIES OF SELLING
• PROCESS OF SELLING
• CLOSING A SALE
• REASONS FOR UNSUCCESSFUL CLOSING
 SALESMANSHIP
• SALESMANSHIP is one aspect of the
PROCESS OF SELLING.
• Skills used in PROCESS OF SELLING
• Persuading customers to buy product or
service with benefit to the customer and
profit to the organization
• Example: Selling Mediclaim policies
 TYPES OF SALESMEN
• 1.Industrial salesmen
• 2.Consumer goods
salesmen( Speciality salesman,
product promoter, creative
salesman and detailing salesman)
• 3.Retail salesmen(indoor salesman
and outdoor salesman)
 TYPES OF SALES PERSONS

• Inside order taker-waits for the customer:

Example-Cloth shop
• Delivery Sales person: News paper
• Route Sales person: Distributors rep for FMCGs-
order taker
• Missionary- Educate the customers, does not take
orders: Example: MR
• Technical Sales person- Engineers selling Industrial
machinery
 Types of Salespersons

• Creative sales persons- Example: Vacuum

cleaners, Encyclopedia
• Political/back door/Indirect sales persons-
Obtain large orders by rendering highly
personalized services- Foreign
bankers/High profile consultants- meet
buyers’ interest in golf, fishing, tennis
• QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SALESPERSON
• Physical qualities: Physical appearance,
appropriate dress, clean and tidy , smiling
face, good health.
• Social qualities: Courteous behaviour, firm
and polite during discussions, ability to get
along with people at all levels
• Mental qualities: Memory, power of
observation, self-confidence, does not wilt
under pressure, determination to succeed
• Moral qualities: Honesty and integrity
 Knowledge and skills Required by salesperson
1) Knowledge about the company
2) Knowledge about Marketing principles
3) Knowledge about Products
4) Knowledge about Competition
5) Knowledge about Customers
6) Knowledge about the process of selling
7) Knowledge about Day to day working
8) Knowledge of Self: ( Strengths and weaknesses)
 SELLING SKILLS
• Communication Skills
• Communication involves sharing of messages,
knowledge, facts, opinions, attitudes,
emotions between sender and receiver
• The receiver should understand what is said
and respond. Communication channels
include face to face, oral, written and actions.
• A salesman requires communications skills to
convince the customer about products and
services
 Listening skills
• Listening is one of the important, most difficult
and most neglected skills in communication.
By listening, you are showing respect to your
customer and you can understand what is going
on in his mind.
• As a sales man you have to concentrate on
unspoken words and facial expressions of the
customer. Pay attention to what he says and do
not look at your mobile phone, tablets or
continue talking over mobile phone during
sales interview.
 Trust building skills
• A trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth and
ability of a person. Building trust is the key
element in the selling process. Rarely a
customer will buy from someone they do not
trust. Some of the trust building skills are: 

• a)Effective listening: You can get lot of

information about the customer, his buying
behavior etc. by active listening.
 
 Trust Building skills
b)Know your product features and
benefits in and out, so you can answer
even some of the tough questions and
convince the customer.
c)If you want to build trust with customers,
lead by example and show your customers
that you trust them. Building trust should
be treated as an ongoing activity.
 Trust building skills
d) Honour your commitments-implement
whatever you have promised during the sales
interview.
e)Do not always self promote. Admit your
mistakes.
f)Communicate openly to build trust
g)Follow ethical practices ( Exaggerate product
benefits, make false promises, sell unsought
products, etc.) while dealing with customers.
Ethical practices will create positive image (Mr.
Clean) among customers in the long run.
 Negotiation skills
•In the present day business environment selling
involves negotiation skills. The parties must reach an
agreement on the price and other terms and
conditions of sale.
•The most important traits are planning and
presentation skills, knowledge of the subject under
negotiation, ability to think rapidly even under
uncertainty, ability to express ideas verbally, listening
skills, judgement, patience and tolerance.

• 
 Problem solving skills
•The salesperson has to understand the
problems/needs of the customer and offer
solutions to his problems.
•The skills required include ability to ask open
ended questions to find out the problem, active
listening, empathy and genuine concern for the
customer’s problems.
• He should develop communication skills and
highlight how his product/service offers
solutions to his problems.
 Conflict management skills
• Conflict indicates difference of opinion,
disagreement, disapproval between two or
more persons or groups.
 Remain calm and relaxed. Control yourself and
your feelings. Listen, Listen and Listen
 Develop non-verbal communication skills-eye
contact, facial expression, tone of your voice,
posture and gestures.

 Pay attention to other person’s non-verbal

signals to understand the real problem.
 Conflict management skills
Create cordial relationship with the other person and
treat the person as a friend and not as an enemy.
Separate the problem from the person.

Communicate in a humorous or playful way to reduce

tension and anger. However laugh with the other person
and not at him.

Raise key points at the appropriate time

Use the law of reciprocity i.e. follow a give and take

policy.
• 
 Hard/Soft selling skills
• Hard selling strategies are aggressive and usually
put a high amount of pressure on the prospect.
It is extremely direct in nature and put
psychological pressure to generate quick sales.
We can say that the approach is to sell, sell and
sell. 
• Soft selling is a sales philosophy oriented
towards identifying the customer needs
through probing questions and careful
listening and meeting their needs through
product and services.
 Hard/Soft selling skills
• Soft selling focuses on building
relationship with the prospect
• The sales man does not put pressure
on the prospects, but shows them
how his product/service would offer
solutions they need.
• The sale person may use a
conversational style approach in soft
selling.
 Hard/Soft selling skills
Hard Selling Soft selling
1.Concern for Self 1.Concern for
customers
2.Canned 2.Questions and
presentation answer method
3.Talking 3.Listening
4 Pushing product 4.Provide solutions
5.Present features 5.Present benefits
6. Transaction 6.Long term
based relationship relationship
• Client-centered selling strategy
• The focus is on the needs, wants,problems,
expectations and aspirations of the
client(customer).
• The product should meet the requirements of
the client and therefore the salesperson tries
to find out the requirements of the client and
suggest suitable products for individual client
• Example: Selling life insurance policy based on
the needs/wants and requirements of the
client.
 Win-win strategy
• In win-win sales, both the salesperson and the
customer are benefited. The salesperson align
his products to the needs/problems of the
client. The salesman is considered as a
trustworthy person and customers seek
guidance from the salesman.
• In a competitive business situation, the key is
to guide the customer to solve his problems
and succeed. Recommend the right product to
solve the problems.
 Negotiation strategy
• The parties should reach an agreement on the
price and other terms and conditions of sale.
Requirements for successful negotiation are
• 1. Maintain good relations with the party
2.Think positive i.e. words, voice, body
language should display positive outlook 3.
Prepare well for the negotiation 4.Consider a
middle path approach if required 5.Present
your ideas in an appealing manner 6.Follow
give and take policy.
 Product-Price Strategy:
• Only when a buyer and a seller agree on
price, we can have exchange of goods and
services leading to transfer of ownership of
goods from the seller to the buyer. Price is
generally determined by free play of
demand and supply .
• A few pricing strategies followed by
companies are PREMIUM PRICING, ODD
PRICING, PENETRATIVE PRICING,
SKIMMING PRICING, MONOPOLY PRICING.
 THEORIES OF SELLING
• AIDAS FORMULA- FIVE STAGES IN SELLNG
• ATTENTION- DRAW THE ATTENTION TO THE
PRODUCT
• INTEREST-CREATE INTEREST IN THE
CUSTOMER
• DESIRE TO BUY THE PRODUCT
• ACTION-ACTUAL PURCHASE OF THE
PRODUCT
• SATISFACTION-FOLLOW UP
 THEORIES OF SELLING
• STIMULUS RESPONSE THEORY
• The sales person uses right stimuli i.e.
impressive presentation, product benefits,
product promotion scheme, preferential
treatment, credit etc. and creates a
positive response from the customer.
• The customer plays a passive role and
follows the recommendations of the
salesperson
 THEORIES OF SELLING
• Product orientation theory involves logical
presentation of the product features and
benefits covering all major points- Major
queries are answered. The sales person
highlights USP of the product: Example?
• Need Satisfaction Theory: The salesperson
understands the needs, wants, desires,
expectations of the customer and
demonstrate how his product would be
suitable to him. Need(Problem)- Solution-
Purchase-Satisfaction
 PERSONAL SELLING PROCESS
• Personal selling involves seven steps
• Prospecting- Pre-approach-Approach-
Sales presentation(Demonstration)-
Handling objections-Closing-Follow up
• PROSPECTING: Identifying potential
customers who may buy your product.
• Sources of prospects: Existing customers,
directories, exhibitions, call centres,
referrals etc
 Personal Selling Process
• MAAN Approach to identify potential
customers: Money, Authority, Accessibility and
Need- Example Prospects for Jaguar car (Rs 40
lakhs plus)
• PRE-APPROACH-Collect information about
customers and prepare for sales call
• Example: Understand the needs, problems of
customers, purchase procedure etc.
• Objective of sales call-booking order, collecting
dues /market related information
 Personal Selling Process
• APPROACH- Salesman comes face to face with
customer, has to create positive impression
with the customer.
• Introduce yourself, purpose of visit and draw
the attention of the prospect and create
interest. Example: Use of visiting cards ,
visual aid, reference, offering benefit,
complementing the customer etc can create
interest and desire with customer
 Personal Selling Process

• SALES PRESENTATION- Sales person has to

present the product to the customer in a
methodical and convincing manner.
• He has to highlight product benefits, make use
of visual aids, conduct product demos to
convince the customer.
• Two methods of presentation i.e. Standard
memorized presentation ( Canned
presentation ) and Need satisfaction approach
PRODUCT FEATURES AND BENEFITS
• Features are the characteristics or
technical features of the product
• Benefits convey what advantage the
customer will get arising out of the
particular product feature.
• Customer is interested in the benefit,
not so much on the features of the
product.
 FEATURES AND BENEFITS-EXAMPLE-
KIA Automobiles- Car – Sonet
• FEATURES BENEFITS
1)Air Purifier Fresh Air for breathing
2)Front and Rear Easy parking in tricky spots
Parking Sensors
3)Six Air Bags High level of safety
4)Automatic &
Manual Driving pleasure
5)Touch Screen Connectivity and entertainment
 Personal Selling Process
• Presentation- a few points
• Highlight superiority of the product with
documents
• Do not mention competitive product/
talk down competitive product.
• Show genuine concern for the customer
and that you are a problem solving
salesman and not a door-to-door
salesman/vanishing salesperson
 Personal Selling Process
• OVERCOMING SALES OBJECTIOONS
• Objection is an adverse statement,
expression of disapproval or dislike and
sales objection is the reason why the
customer is not ready to buy the product.
Examples?
• Reason for objections are- Desire for more
information, new product, competitors
propaganda, prejudice, to get rid of
salesman, unhappy past experience etc.
 Personal Selling Process
• Examples of objections
• I have good range of products and do not need
your product now, Your product is new and I
do not want to place orders
• We have decided to sell only quality products,
your price is high, you are not giving credit, I
will sell your product and then make payment
• You have not settled my claims, quality not
good, Your representative dumped the stocks
and did not visit us etc., etc.
 Personal Selling Process
• Basic principles in handling objections
• Impress upon the customer that you are
sincerely interested in solving his problems
• Understand the customer and his objections
• Do not argue, do not raise your voice, do not
lose your temper, do not interrupt, do not lie
to the customer-KEEP YOUR TEMPER ON ICE
• Listen, listen and listen to the customer
Do not delay handling objections
 Personal Selling Process
• SALES CLOSE involves getting an order or
obtaining firm commitment from the
customer. Many salesmen are not able
to close the sales and the reasons
• FEAR OF NO ORDER,
• NOT HAPPY WITH THE PROFESSION
• NE NEED FOR PRESSURE SELLING
• UNABLE TO CLOSE AT THE RIGHT TIME
 Personal Selling Process
• INADEQUATE PRODUCT PRESENTATION
• INABILITY TO HANDLE OBJECTIONS
• MANY SALESMEN ARE GOOD IN
PRODUCT DETAILING BUT WEAK IN
CLOSING SALES
• FAILURE TO HIGHLIGHT PRODUCT
BENEFITS THAT ARE APPEALING TO THE
CUSTOMERS
 Personal Selling Process
• TECHNIQUES/TYPES OF CLOSING THE SALE
• 1)CHOICE CLOSE
• 2)TRIAL ORDER
• 3)CONTINUED AFFIRMATION
• 4)ASK FOR THE ORDER
• 5)SPECIAL OFFER- NOW AND HERE
• 6)CRITICAL FEATURE CLOSE
• 7)SUMMARY CLOSE
• 8)FORCED CLOSE
 Personal Selling Process
• THE FOLLOW-UP-POST SALE CONTACTS
• Contact the customer frequently to get
feedback and provide after sales service
• Self-Analysis by salesman
• What was the objective sales call? What
did I achieve? What did I learn from the
sales call? What improvement is
required?
MAGIC WORDS-THANK YOU AND SORRY

• Thank the customer for the order

• Thank the customer for recommending the
product
• Say sorry to the customer if you are late for the
interview
• Admit your mistakes and say sorry to your boss
• If you have taken a wrong decision, say sorry to
to your subordinate
 UNIVERSITY QUESTIONS
• WHAT ARE REASONS FOR INABILITY TO
CLOSE THE SALES?
• EXPLAIN VARIOUS TYPES OF SELLING
SKILLS
• EXPLAIN VARIOUS TYPES OF SELLING
STRATEGIES
• EXPLAIN THE PROCESS OF SELLINING
• WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF SALES
CLOSING?
 STATE TRUE OR FALSE
• PERSONAL SELLING INVOLVES FACE TO FACE ORAL
COMMUNICATION WITH THE PROSPECT OR
CUSTOMKER
• ADVERTING INVOLES ONE WAY COMMUNICATION
• PERSONAL SELLING IS EXPENSIVE AND TIME
CONSUMING
• MODERN APPROACH TO SELLING INVOLVES
BUILDING LONG TERM RELATIONSHIP WITH
CUSTOMERS
• A WELL INFORMED SALESPEERSON CAN PROVIDE
MARKET RELATED INFORMATION TO MANAGEMENT
 STATE TRUE OR FALSE
• SALES OBJECTIONS ARE ADVERSE STATEMENTS OR
EXPRESSION OF DISAPPROVAL.
• OBJECTIONS ARISE BECAUSE CUSTOMER WANTS
MORE INFORMATION OR CLARIFICATION ABOUT
THE PRODUCT
• SALES CLOSE INVOLVES OBTAINING AN ORDER OR
FIRM COMMIMENT FROM THE CUSTOMER
• SELF ANALYSIS OF A SALES CALL IS IMPORTANT FOR
SELF DEVELOPMENT
• MANY SALESMEN ARE NOT ABLE TO CLOSE SALES
DUE TO FEAR OF NO ORDER.
 MATCH THE FOLLOWING
• COLUMN A COLUMN B
1.CAREER IN SALES a) SKILLS USED IN PERSONAL
SELLING
2.SALESMANSHIP b) EMPHASIS ON PRODUCT
3.ADVERTSING c) SHORTSIGHTEDNESS
4.SELLING CONCEPT d) BUILD LONG TERM
RELATIONSHIP
5.MARKETING MYOPIA e) MASS MEDIA

6.MODERN APPROACH TO f)PROFESSIONAL SALESMAN

PERSONAL SELLING
 MATCH THE FOLLOWING
COLUMN A COLUMN B
1.POOR SALES CLOSE a)SALES OBJECTION
2.CHOICE CLOSE b)POTENTIAL CUSTOMER
3.YOUR PRICE IS HIGH c)INADEQUATE PRODUCT
PRESENTATION
4.OPEN ENDED QUESTION d)PRODUCT BENEFITS
5.PROSPECTING e) OBTAINING INFORMATION
FROM CUSTOMERS
6.SALES PRESENTATION f) TECHNIQUE OF CLOSING
SALE
 Chose the right answer
In personal selling, the objective of
“Approach” includes the following
A. Getting an order
B. B. Overcoming objections
A. Create favourable impression on the
customer
D. Conducting product demonstration
 Chose the right answer
One of the basic requirements in handling
sales objections is
• A. Offer attractive discounts
• B. Provide additional credit facilities
• C. Thorough knowledge of products and
good selling skills
• D. Ask close ended questions
 Chose the right answer
Hard Selling involves
A. Meeting customer needs through
products and services
B. Pushing the product
C. Building long term relationship
D. Follow question and answer method
 Chose the right answer
The last step in personal selling process is
• A. Obtain order from the customer
• B. Sale close
• C. Collection of outstandings
• D. Follow up
 Chose the right answer
FOR A SALESMEN, THE MOST IMPORTANT
OBJECTIVE OF MEETING A RETAILER IS
A. Building good relations
B. Obtaining orders
C. Understanding buyer behaviour
D. Assess the level of competition in the
market.
 CHOSE THE RIGHT ANSWER
It is said that the “Customer is the King in
Business” because
A. He occupies a high status in the society
B. He buys expensive branded products
C. He buys the products and helps the
company to increase sales and profits
D. He is fond of shopping