Actual Selling of a product or service

The actual selling of a product or service may

seem to be easy for some, or it may vary per
person or per business. But many
successful entrepreneurs believe that there are
proper methods to sell products or services. Sellers
are expected to be skilled in probing and digging
deep into the needs and wants of customers.
 These are various selling strategies
entrepreneurs use that you can also apply
when you sell your actual product or service:
1. Cold calls
- is a selling strategy whereby the seller calls
random person who has not no relationship with the
business yet but is considered as a potential customer.
- This selling strategy is one of the most difficult to
pull off. The seller should expect that the customers are
“cold” and skeptic when he or she sells the product to them.
2. Consultative selling
- is a dialog process between
the buyer and the seller (who
acts as an expert consultant) as
to how the buyer’s problems or
pain points can be addressed by
the product or service of the
seller.
3. Direct selling
- is a selling strategy that is
common in the Philippines. It is
where an independent direct
seller goes directly to the
customer’s house or office and
presents his or her products for
selling.
4. Persuasive selling
- This is often associated with being
pushy, but persuasive selling is
different in such a way that it is selling
with subtlety.
- This is positioning the product or
service rare, limited, or recommended
by experts. The persuasive seller is able
to engage a customer in a conversation
rather than a sales pitch.
 Persuasive selling
Step 1: Find prospects
- The entrepreneur has to choose
an initial group of people that has common
interests and preferences that the
entrepreneur has to find. This mechanism
lessens unnecessary marketing and selling
expenses and makes the strategy more
effective and suited to the primary target
market .
• These primary target market are
also called leads or prospects.
These prospects have to be
screened as to their potential
profitability and longevity with
the business.
The entrepreneur must segment the prospects
according to his or her preferred demographics,
psychographics, behavior, and geography.
When an entrepreneur begins to gather a number of
new customers, he or she can leverage on them by
asking for their referrals.
Step 2: Sell credibly to your primary target
market. (sales presentation)
The selling presentation is one of the most
challenging task in selling. The entrepreneur or his or
her sales team/agents must contact the prospects in
any of the possible channels where they can easily
reached such:
face-to- face
Internet (email, web site social media) mobile phone
landline phone
text message
advertisement
affiliates, or any other creative and strategic channel
where they will be enticed to buy.
Therefore, the sales team or sales
agents must establish credibility from
the beginning and give the customers
a compelling reason why they should
trust the business.
Four types of sales presentation
a. Stimulus response
- Offering the customer a compelling
proposition that triggers them to
initiate purchase
b. Formula selling
- Follows a standardized selling
approach or based on a formula
c. Canned presentation
-is a sales presentation
memorized by the presenter
.
d. Need presentation
-is a question-and-answer
presentation with the aim of
understanding the exact needs and
wants of the customers
Step 3: Manage customer’s inquiries and
objections.
- Customers are not buying for the sake of
buying. They are the entrepreneur’s major critique.
They are usually asking questions related to price
or value proposition. They need to be assured that
the value of their money is satisfied by the value of
the product or service.
Some of these objections are also coming
from those who are not interested to buy.
Therefore the challenge for the seller is to
address the unique needs of customers
based on their interests, needs, and
situations to proceed with closing the sale.
Step 4: Close the sale.
The entrepreneur must close the sale by
ensuring that both the seller (entrepreneur) and
the buyer agree to the condition of the sale. The
entrepreneur must inspire the buyer to instigate
an action by making a firm commitment to buy
the product or avail of the service.
In processing the sale, the entrepreneur
should ensure that the customers will
have a seamless buying experience so
that they will be encouraged to repeat
transacting with the business.
Reflect Upon

1. Based on your own personality, which among

the four sales strategies works for you as a buyer?
Why do you say so?
2. Based on your own personality, which
among the four sales strategies will you be
most comfortable doing? Why do you say so?
Step 5: Develop a long-lasting relationship
with customers.
- Closing the sale as stated is the organic end of
the sales process. However, when one process ends,
another one begins. Closing the sale spearheads a
long-lasting relationship with customers. The
entrepreneur must ensure that he or she asks for
customer feedback regarding the
product or service sold so that he or she knows if
the customer is satisfied or not. The entrepreneur
should asses the product or service satisfaction of
customers and confirm if their satisfaction is
complete. Entrepreneurs must also prepare their
after-sales strategy to entice customers to come
back and repeat the purchase over and over again.
This way, the entrepreneurs will save on additional
marketing expenses to acquire new customers,
because maintaining happy customers is more
cost-effective than getting new ones. In short the
entrepreneurs (seller) must maintain the good
rapport that he or she has with loyal customers.
What Have I Learned So Far?
1. With your group mates, dedicate five days to help
an entrepreneur to sell a product or offer a service
in your locality. Use any combination of selling
strategies discussed and explain why your group
used the strategy.
2. Show results of your five day sales effort. What
were your key “learning from the experience?