SELLING ENVIRONMENT AND SELLING PROCESS

SELLING ENVIRONMENT AND SELLING PROCESS

The personal selling process may occur in a variety of environment as follows:

1. Field Selling: field selling involves moving sales calls on customers at their homes or business. An emerging trend in field selling is team selling. Team selling involves the use of specialist from other functional areas to help sell a product.

2. Over the counter selling: This typically describes selling in retail location and shops. Customers take the initiative to come to the sellers location, sometimes in response to direct mail or personal letter.

3. Telemarketing: This is when selling is conducted entirely by the use of telephone. Telemarketing involves a sales force using only telephone to contact customers. This approach is design to reduce the substantial cost involve in making personal visit to customers’ home.

The selling process involves the sequence as follows:

PROSPECTING AND QUALIFYING
The first step in selling is to identify and qualify prospects. More companies are taking responsibility for finding and qualifying leads so salespeople can use their expensive time doing what they can do best; selling. Companies qualify the leads by contacting them by mail, or phone to assess their level of interest and financial capability. “Hot” prospects are turned over to the field sales force and “Warm” prospects to the telemarketing unit for follow-up even then, it takes about four calls on a prospect to consummate a business transaction.

PRE-APPROACH
The salesperson needs to learn as much as possible about the prospect company (what is needed, who takes part in the purchase decision) and its buyers (personal characteristics and buying styles). How is the purchasing process conducted at the company? How is purchasing structured? Many purchasing departments in large companies have need elevated into strategic supply departments with more professional practice, centralized purchasing may put a premium on having larger suppliers able to meet all the company’s needs. At the same time some companies are also decentralizing purchasing for smaller items such as coffee makers, office suppliers, and other inexpensive necessities.

The sale representative must thoroughly understand the purchasing process in terms of “Who, when, where, how and why” in order to set call objectives, to qualify the prospect, gather information, or make an immediate sale. Another task is to choose the best contact approach, a personal visit, a phone call, or a letter. The right approach is crucial given that it has become harder and harder for sales representation to get into the offices of purchasing agents, physicians, and other possible time-starved and internet enabled customers. Finally, the salesperson should plan an overall sale strategy for the account.

PRESENTATION AND DEMONSTRATION
The salesperson tells the product “Story” to the buyer, using a features advantage, benefits and value (FABV) approach, features describe physical characteristics of a market offering, such as chip processing speeds or memory capacity. Advantage describe while the features provide an advantage the customers. Benefits describe the economic, technical, service, and social pluses delivered by the offering. Value describes the offering’s worth (option in monetary). Salesperson often spend too much time on product features (product orientation) and not enough time stressing benefits and value (a customer orientation). The pitch to a prospective client must be highly relevant, engaging and compelling there is always another company waiting to take that business.
OVERCOMING OBJECTIVES
Customers typically pose objections. Psychological resistance include resistance to interference, preference for established supply sources or brands apathy reluctance to give up something, unpleasant associations created by the sales representative predetermined ideas, dislike of making decisions and neurotic attitude towards money. Logical resistance might be objections to the price, delivery schedule or product or company characteristics.

To handle those objections, the salesperson maintain a positive approach, ask the buyer to clarify the objection, questions in such a way that the buyer answers his own objection, denies the validity of the objection, or turns it into a reason for buying. Although price is the most frequently negotiated issue-especially in an economic recession – others include contract completion time, quality of goods and services offered, purchase volume, responsibility for financing, risk taking promotion, and title, and product safety.

Salesperson sometimes give in too easily when customers demand a discount. One company recognized this problem when sales revenue went up 25 percent but profit remain flat. The company decided to retain its salespeople to “Sell the price” rather than “sell through price” salesperson were given richer information about each customer’s sales history and behavior. They received trained to recognized value adding opportunities rather than price-cutting opportunities as a result, the company’s sales revenue climbed and so did its margins.
CLOSING
Closing signs from the buyer include physical actions, statement or comments, and questions. Representative can ask for the order recapitulate the points of agreement, offer to help write up the order, ask whether the buyer wants A or B get the buyer to make minor choices such as colour or size, or indicate what the buyer will lose by placing the order now. The sales person might offer specific inducements to close, such as an additional service, an extra quantity, or a token gift.

FOLLOW-UP AND MAINTENANCE
Follow up and maintenance are necessary to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business. Immediately after closing, the salesperson should cement any necessary details about delivery time, purchase terms, and other matters important to the customers. The salesperson should schedule a follow-up-call after delivery to ensure proper installation, instruction and servicing and to detect any problems assume the buyer of the salesperson’s interest and reduce any cognitive dissonance. The salesperson should develop a maintenance and growth plan for the account.

SELLING TACTICS
According to Stanton (2003) He stated categorically that marketing executive are in position to develop and effective procedures for their sales force to follow, if they understand the theories underlying the interaction between a buyer and a seller.

He further assess that these theories are based upon research in the behavioural science and upon the knowledge obtain from years of selling experience in a market selling. He thus reached a conclusion by deriving certain set of the prediction relative to the sales process.
– That the more closely matched the physical social personality characteristics of customers and salespersons are more likely to bring out result.
– That the more pursuable a customer is, the more likely it is that a sale will result.
– That the more a salesperson ca make, a prospective buyer view themselves favourable, the more likely it is that a sales will increase.

The following simple selling tactics produce sales by responding to the way customers normally think and behave. They work for any business, regardless of what you sell, how you sell or where you sell it.

1. Pay attention to getting attention
Can you remember the last 3 advertising messages beamed at you? Can you remember even one of them? Most people can’t … include your prospective customers, that’s because they automatically ignore the study stream of advertising directed at them.
This illustrates a major obstacle you need to overcome before you can sell anything. You have to get your prospect’s attention and get it fast or your sales message will be ignored.
Here are 3 proven ways you can capture a prospect’s attention quickly.
• Make a dramatic statement
Example even my doctor uses these health products.
• Surprise your prospects with something unexpected
Example: Try our service without charge for one month
• Ask a provocative questions
Example: if you are such a smart business owner why aren’t you making six figures?
2. Emphasize the human relationship
Prospective customers are more receptive to buying from a real person that from an impersonal company. Look for ways to create a personal relationship with your prospective customers.
3. Trigger your customer’s imagination
Covert the benefits delivered by your product or service into vivid word pictures. Then put your prospect in the picture by dramatizing what it feels like to be enjoying those benefits.

Be specific, if you sell financial products, describe what it feels like to enjoy an affluent living without debt. If you sell boat, describe what it feels like cutting through the waves with your friends on a board, if you promote a business opportunity, describe what it feels like to be a home working without a boss.

These 3 selling tactics produce sales by responding to normal human behavior. Use them in your sales letters and personal presentations. The volume of business they produce will surprise you.