Personal Selling and Sales Management

1. Personal Selling? Role of personal selling?

 Personal selling 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
 Personal selling involves oral conversations, either
by telephone or face-to-face, between salespersons
and prospective customers
 Personal selling is the personal contact by the sales
force of the organization, with the customers for
making sales and customer support. Sales promotion
is a short term incentive to increase the sale of a
product. Personal selling has very important role in
the promotion mix.

Role of personal selling:

1. Effective Promotional Tool:

Personal selling is an effective promotional tool in the hands of
businessman for increasing sales. Salesman provides
information about the various features and advantages of his
product as well as about market developments.
2. Flexible Tool:
Personal selling is the most flexible tool of promotion. Sales
presentation is adjusted according to the requirements of the
customer.
3. Minimizes Wastage of Efforts:
Personal selling involves minimum wastage of efforts as
compared to other tools of promotion.
4. Customer Attention:
The level of customer attention and interest can easily be
assessed under personal selling. Thereafter, the presentation can
be modified appropriately.
5. Lasting Relationship:
Personal selling aims at developing good and long lasting
relationship between salesperson and the customer to increase
sales in line with WIN-WIN philosophy.
6. Personal Rapport:
Competitive strength of a business organization increases with
the development of personal rapport between its salespersons
and prospective customers.
7. Role in Introduction Stage:
By describing the merits of a product and persuading the
customer to purchase it, salesperson helps in introducing a new
product in the market.
8. Link with Customers:
By playing persuasive, servile and informative role, salesperson
help in linking business firm to its customers.

2. Three Categories of Personal Selling?

Field sales:
"Field sales"in Business English. The activity of selling a
company's products or services outside the office: field
sales force/representative/team In this way, a manager can issue
a memo to his entire field sales force at minimal cost.

 Telephone sales:
Telephone sales is a method of direct marketing in which
a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products
or services, either over the phone or through a subsequent
face to face or Web conferencing appointment scheduled
during the call. Telephone sales can also include recorded
sales pitches programmed to be played over the phone via
automatic dialing.
Telephone sales is defined as contacting, qualifying, and
canvassing prospective customers using telecommunications
devices such as telephone, fax, and internet. It does not
include direct mail marketing.
  Inside sales :
Inside sales is the sale of products or services by personnel
who reach customers by phone or online, rather than by
meeting them in person. Inside sales relies on the phone,
email and the internet to reach customers and is common in
the retail industry.

2. Five Major Personal Selling Strategies?

1. Stimulus response:
Stimulus Response Theory. Stimulus Response Theory is a
concept in psychology that refers to the belief that behavior
manifests as a result of the interplay
between stimulus and response. In other words, behavior
cannot exist without a stimulus of some sort, at least from
this perspective.
2. Mental states:
A mental state is a state of mind that an agent is in. Most
simplistically, a mental state is a mental condition. ... Several of
these states are a combination of mentalrepresentations and
propositional attitudes.

MENTAL STATES are states of the mind, such as:

 beliefs and desires : believing that it will rain, having a
desire for dark chocolate
 Knowledge and thoughts: knowing that 1+1=2, thinking
that 3>2.
  mental images : imagining being in heaven
 emotions and moods : hoping that one will pass the exam,
fearing failure, feeling peaceful, being irritable, being long-
winded
 perceptions and sensations : seeing a cat, feeling pain,
hearing voices, having hunger pangs, being thirsty and tired

3. Formula: A situation in which retailers buy more of a

product on deal than they intend to sell during the deal
period.

4. Need satisfaction:
Need satisfaction selling is a sales approach where the sales
person probes into the needs of the consumer, both stated or
expresses needs and unstated or tacit needs and then prepares his
sales pitch or presentation in accordance to these needs in order
to satisfy the consumer.
5. Problem solving:
The process of finding solutions to difficult or complex issues.
Selling is about solving customer problems. Your prospective
customers may be aware of these problems, or you can bring
these problems to their attention. Your prospective customers
may face these problems currently or they will face these
problems as the situation and their needs change.
 3. Steps in the Sales Process?
1. Prospecting
The first of the seven steps in the sales process is prospecting. In
this stage, you find potential customers and determine whether
they have a need for your product or service—and whether they
can afford what you offer. Evaluating whether the customers
need your product or service and can afford it is known as
qualifying.
2. Preparation
The second stage has you in preparation for initial contact with a
potential customer, researching the market and collecting all
relevant information regarding your product or service. At this
point, you develop your sales presentation and tailor it to your
potential client’s particular needs.
3. Approach
In the approach stage, you make first contact with your client.
Sometimes this is a face-to-face meeting, sometimes it’s over
the phone. There are three common approach methods.
 Premium approach: Presenting your potential client with
a gift at the beginning of your interaction
 Question approach: Asking a question to get the prospect
interested
 Product approach: Giving the prospect a sample or a free
trial to review and evaluate your service
4. Presentation
In the presentation phase, you actively demonstrate how your
product or service meets the needs of your potential customer.
The word presentation implies using PowerPoint and giving a
sales spiel, but it doesn’t always have to be that way you should
actively listen to your customer’s needs and then act and react
accordingly.
5. Handling objections
Perhaps the most underrated of the seven steps of a sales process
is handling objections. This is where you listen to your
prospect’s concerns and address them. It’s also where many
unsuccessful salespeople drop out of the process 44% of
salespeople abandoning pursuit after one rejection, 22% after
two rejections, 14% after three, and 12% after four, even though
80% of sales require at least five follow-ups to convert.
Successfully handling objections and alleviating concerns
separates good salespeople from bad and great from good.
6. Closing
In the closing stage, you get the decision from the client to move
forward. Depending on your business, you might try one of
these three closing strategies.
 Alternative choice close: Assuming the sale and offering
the prospect a choice, where both options close the sale—
for example, “Will you be paying the whole fee up front or
in installments?” or “Will that be cash or charge?”
  Extra inducement close: Offering something extra to get
the prospect to close, such as a free month of service or a
discount
 Standing room only close: Creating urgency by
expressing that time is of the essence—for example, “The
price will be going up after this month” or “We only have
six spots left”
7. Follow-up
Once you have closed the sale, your job is not done. The follow-
up stage keeps you in contact with customers you have closed,
not only for potential repeat business but for referrals as well.
And since retaining current customers is six to seven times less
costly than acquiring new ones, maintaining relationships is key.

4. Seven Possible Strategies for Closing Sales?

1. The Trial Close

The Trial Close is the most common closing technique used by

sales professionals. It’s a great way of testing the buyer’s intent
and can be used at any stage of the sales process to make sure
that you’re on the right track to gaining a commitment.

2. Assumptive close:
Assumptive close Also known as the presumptive close, in
which the salesperson intentionally assumes that the prospect
has already agreed to buy, and wraps up the sale. "Just pass me
your credit card and I'll get the paperwork ready."

3. Summary or summary-of-the-benefits close

The summary close tactic is one of the most powerful
closing strategies. It allows you to reiterate the customer's
interest in purchasing, with the intention of re-stressing the
value and benefits.
4. Special concession close
Concession close is a particular instance or technique
of closing a deal where in the salesman or the seller gives
a concession to the buyer or the party who is interested in
the deal there in. Seller concession or concession closing is
a very common technique in sales.
5. Limited-choice close:
The way to an appointment thinking a buffet would be nice
way to fill some time. The only occupied table was taken
by a member of staff, and the buffet looked very limited..
6. Direct-appeal close:
The term ‘Direct Close’ refers to process of making a sale
where the salesperson directly asks the customer to buy the
product. Direct Close technique works only when the
salesperson knows that the prospect is surely going to buy
the product, i.e. where the customer does not need any soft
words or advertisements to buy the product.
 5. Sales Management? Functions of Sales
Management?
 Sales management is a business discipline which is
focused on the practical application of sales techniques
and the management of a firm's sales operations.

 These are also typically the goals and performance

indicators of sales management. Sales manager is the
typical title of someone whose role is sales management.

 Sales management is the management of the sales force

and personal selling efforts to achieve desired sales
objectives.

Functions of Sales Management:

1. Planning and developing strategies

Having a strategy in place ensures that all sales operations are in
sync and aligned to boost the chance of having positive results.
2. Staffing and recruiting
Great salespeople are hard to come by. This is why looking for
the best candidates who are able to contribute to the growth of
the company is important.
3. Training and on boarding
Properly training and coaching salespeople can definitely help
in attaining individual and team sales goals.
4. Directing sales operations to reach goals
This includes researching and utilizing tools to help increase
efficiency and productivity of salespeople.
5. Monitoring and evaluating results
The results which are generated from all these tasks (whether it
is positive or negative) help in improving overall sales
processes.
“Sales management: The attainment of sales forces goals in an
effective and efficient manner through planning, staffing,
training, directing, and evaluating organizational resources.”

6. Characteristics of the Successful

Salesperson?

Successful Salespeople Are Goal Oriented. The ability to

set (and stick to) personal and professional goals is
definitely a common characteristic of the most successful
salespeople. ... This requires focus and setting ambitious,
but achievable goals. As a result, the sales person must be
extremely persistent and hardworking.
Characteristics of the Successful Salesperson:

1. Empathy

They are stepping into the customer’s shoes. They are able to
identify with the customer and to understand their concerns and
needs. They are on ‘the customer’s side’ and becoming someone
who wants to help the customer, not just sell to them. Customers
really appreciate that dedication and feel like they have found a
partner in the salesperson, someone that they can rely on when
needing a solution to their problem. That is why empathy is an
extraordinarily valuable trait for salespeople to both have and
develop.

2. Persistence

Ask any salesperson with some years of experience about how

many times they have heard the word ‘NO’. The answer is
always ‘too many to count’. But still, they are out there,
continuing with what they do and not getting downhearted
easily, which is a hard thing to do, especially when starting in
sales. By being persistent, successful salespeople are not just
doing themselves a favour, but they are also continuously
engaging with the customer and offering them different ways to
connect. They are showing them that they are not just trying to
sell them something and won’t quit on the first try, but that they
are really making an effort, have a reason to get in touch with
them specifically and help them over others.
As with any profession, success doesn’t happen overnight, and
being persistent is a must, especially in sales.

3. Courage

Yes, hearing ‘NO’ over and over can be de-motivating and not
knowing whether or not someone is going to yell at you over the
phone can be scary, but in order to be a successful salesperson
you can’t allow yourself to be scared! Rude potential customers
are just humans after all, and can sometimes react impulsively
because they are getting tons of cold calls and cold emails daily,
but it has nothing to do with you personally, so just get over it,
chin up, and on to the next thing on your agenda! For some
people, this might be harder to do than for others, but again, like
any of these characteristics, it can be developed over time if the
salesperson makes the effort to do that. There’s really no other
option here – being scared of being rejected or yelled at makes
you avoid the situations that may cause that to happen, which
means you’re just cancelling tasks, making excuses and going
nowhere – so efforts must be made! Every time you’re being put
down, don’t let it get to you – get up ASAP and continue with
your work. In the end this will contribute to the things you’ll be
learning everyday about how to be good at sales.

4. Focus

Eyes on the prize! Focus is extremely important for reaching

your goals faster but also for interacting better with customers.
We all know how easy it is to get distracted in a typical office
today, when app notifications are being thrown at you every
minute or when a chat with a co-worker seamlessly turns into a
whole hour-long debate. But remember, value your time and
understand what you need to do to be successful and eventually
close the deal. Act with a purpose and get your mind deeply
focused on every part of your work.

Focus combined with empathy can be a definition of a

successful salesperson and is probably the best combination of
characteristics to have in order to be good at sales. It sets the
basis for not just being good, but becoming extraordinary, and
seeing a salesperson who has and knows how to use both is like
listening to a beautiful composition, where every note is in the
perfect place.

5. Loyalty

Your job doesn’t end with closing the deal and that’s something
that all successful salespeople know. Being there for the
customer, stepping in when they are dealing with a problem and
offering post-sales support is what makes the customer stick
with you and not change to one of your competitors, which is
very easy to do nowadays when there are numerous options for
every problem. Get to know your customers, think of them as
your partners and not just some deal you have won, understand
that you must help each other so that you can both get the
benefits, and the customer will feel the same way about you – be
a partner and not just a provider!

When assembling a sales team, seeing signs of these traits is an

excellent start. All these characteristics can be improved and
developed, so when you start seeing them in your sales team it
means that you have individuals who are on the road to
becoming successful salespeople!

7. Contents of the Sales Plan?

A sales plan is a strategy that sets out sales targets and tactics for
your business, and identifies the steps you will take to meet your
targets.
A sales plan will help you:
 define a set of sales targets for your business
 choose sales strategies that are suited to your target market
 identify sales tactics for your sales team
 activate, motivate and focus your sales team
 budget and clarify steps you'll take to achieve your targets
 Review your goals periodically and improve your
approaches to sales.
A sales plan sits within, or alongside, a marketing plan to direct
the efforts of your sales team.
Most businesses develop or update sales plans periodically -
every 6 or 12 months. Treat your sales plan as a 'living'
document that you can revise regularly.
The Sales Plan:
1. Sales Objectives:
 Develop and write sales objectives based on the sales
goals. These are the specific achievements that, if
realized, will assist a company in meeting its sales
goal.
 For example, a sales objective might include to
increase sales by a certain number of units through
cross-selling widget B with widget A during a given
time period. Sales objectives frequently include an
increase in marketing expenditures on promotions and
advertising outputs.

2. Sales budget:

 Sales budget is the first and basic component of master

budget and it shows the expected number of sales units of a
period and the expected price per unit. It also shows total
sales which are simply the product of expected sales units
and expected price per unit.
 Sales Budget influences many of the other components of
master budget either directly or indirectly. This is due to
the reason that the total sales figure provided by sales
budget is used as a base figure in other component budgets.
For example the schedule of receipts from customers,
the production budget pro forma income statement, etc.
3. Sales activities:

 The selling process is a set of activities undertaken to

successfully obtain an order and begin building long-term
customer relations. While the activities we discuss apply to
all forms of selling and can be adapted to most selling
situations (including non-product selling such as selling an
idea), we will mainly concentrate on the activities carried
out by professional salespeople.
 For our purposes, we define professional salespeople as
those whose principle occupation involves selling products
(i.e., goods and services) to buyers and do so for
organizations that appreciate and support sellers who are
well-trained and ethically responsible.
 The selling activities undertaken by professional
salespeople include:
 Generating Sales Leads
 Qualifying Leads
 Preparing for the Sales Meeting
 Making Initial Contact
 The Sales Meeting
 Handling Buyer Resistance
 Closing the Sale
 Account Maintenance
8. Roles of the Sales Plan?

 The Role of Sales and Marketing in Planning and

Scheduling. Effective planning and scheduling systems
improve performance in every area of a company.
Interfunctional communication and understanding must
improve planning that involves joint plans, and schedules
must be instituted.
Roles of the Sales Plan
1. Preparing sales forecasts
Sales forecast is the backbone of your business plan. People
measure a business and its growth by sales, and your sales
forecast sets the standard for expenses, profits and growth.
When it comes to forecasting sales, don't fall for the trap
that says forecasting takes training, mathematics or
advanced degrees.
Forecasting is mainly educated guessing. So don't expect to
get it perfect; just make it reasonable. There's no business
owner who isn't qualified to forecast sales--you don't need a
business degree or accountant's certification.
2. Developing sales department budgets
Creating a simple budget to guide your sales efforts can
help you keep control of your resources and stay on track.
A budget serves as a guide and doesn’t have to restrain an
eager sales force or innovative sales tactics. Planning a
budget in sales lets you maintain control of your resources
 rather than running your business in reaction to outside
forces.

3. Assigning sales territories and quotas:

TERRITORIES:
 A Sales Territory Comprises a group of customers or a
Geographical area assigned to a sales unit.
 It may or may not have a geographical boundary.
 It includes
1. Market potential
2. No of customer Accounts
3. Firms Experience
4. Market Share
5. Capability of sales person and frequency of callsmade

QUOTAS:
 A Sales Quota refers to an expected routine assignment to
sales units, such as territory, districts or branches etc.
 Sales Quotas can be set for individuals
 Used to Plan, Control and evaluate the selling activities of a
company
4. Four Characteristics of Personal Selling in
Hospitality and Travel?

a. Importance of personal selling varies

b. Inside selling closely related to service levels
c. No generally accepted qualifications for industry sales
positions
d. Importance of missionary sales work