Order-takers Inside order takers Here the customer has full freedom to choose products without the presence

of a salesperson. The sales assistant's task is purely transactional - receiving payment and passing over the goods. Another form of inside order-taker is the telemarketing sales team who support field sales by taking customers' orders over the telephone. Outside order takers These salespeople visit customers, but their primary function is to respond to customer requests rather than actively seek to persuade. Outside order takers do not deliver and to a certain extent they are being replaced by more cost efficient telemarketing teams. Delivery salespeople The salesperson's task is primarily concerned with delivering the product. In the UK, milk, newspapers and magazines are delivered to the door. There is little attempt to persuade the household to increase the milk order or number of newspapers taken: changes in order size are customer driven. Order-creators Missionary salespeople In some industries, notably the pharmaceutical industry the sale task is not to close the sale but to persuade the customer to specify the sellers products. For example, medical representatives calling on doctors cannot make a direct sale since the doctor does not buy drugs personally, but prescribes (specifies) them for patients. Similarly, in the building industry, architects act as specifiers rather than buyers, and so the objective of a sales cal! cannot be to close the sale. Instead, in these situations the selling task is to educate and build goodwill. Publisher sales representative Order-getters.. The final category comprising order-getters are those in selling jobs where a major objective is to persuade customers to make a direct purchase. These are the front-line salespeople. Organizational salespeople

These salespeople have the job of starting & maintaining close long-term relationships with organizational customers (i.e. industrial buyers). The selling job may involve team selling where mainstream salespeople are supported by product and financial specialists. Consumer salespeople This task involves selling physical products and services such as security equipment, cars, insurance and personal pension plans to individuals. Technical support salespeople This group of order-getters provides sales support to frontline salespeople. Where a product is highly technical and negotiations are complex, a salesperson may be supported by product and financial specialists who can provide the detailed technical information required by customers. Merchandisers These people provide sales support in retail and wholesale selling situations. Orders may be negotiated nationally at head office, but sales to individual outlets are supported by merchandisers who give advice on display, implement sales promotions, check stock levels and maintain contact with store managers. Selling as a career The subdivisions of the sales' roles just outlined give an idea of the range of sales positions that are available. Generally there is much less personal pressure involved in being and order taker than an order getter and a prime attribute for an order getter is a pleasant and non combative personality . It is an acknowledged fact that in many business situations the opportunity to earn really high incomes at a relatively young age is present in this kind of situation. There is no definitive test or selection procedure that can be used to distinguish between successful and less successful salespeople and apart from 'trying it out' there is no way of knowing if a person is suited to a career in sales

There are a number of key qualities that are generally recognized as being important: 1 Empathy and an interest in people; Such a skill will help in more accurately identifying customers' real needs and problems in terms of thinking oneself into the other person's mind and understanding why the customer feels as he or she does. 2. Ability to communicate . This means an ability to get a message across to a customer and more importantly an ability to listen and understand. The skill of knowing when to stop talking and when to listen is essential.

Determination. Although the salesperson must be able to take no for an answer, this should not come easily to someone who wants to succeed in selling. It is a fact that customers might say no when they really mean maybe, which can ultimately lead to yes. Determined salespeople have a need and a will to succeed and success can mean closing a sale. Self discipline and resilience. Most salespeople spend much of their time unsupervised and, apart from seeing customers, they are alone. As a part of their job they can expect setback, rejections and failures. A salesperson thus needs to be both self-disciplined and resilient to cope with these facets of the sales task.
SALES PROCESS Prospecting & Qualifying Pre-approach Approach & opening Presentation Trial close

Overcoming Objection

Trial close

Negotiation Closing Follow up & Maintenance

THE PERSONAL SELLING PROCESS

Suspects

Some Qualification
Leads Interest of lead & buying decision & pay Prospects Successful close of the sale First Time customers Not a customer Not Successful in close of the sale

Repeat Customers

Inactive or Ex customers

Clients

Members

Advocates

Partners

Prospecting & Qualifying The first step in selling is to identify prospects. The process of locating new customers (often referred to as prospecting) involves the search for prospective customers. More companies are taking responsibility for finding prospects so that the salespeople can use their expensive time doing what they can do best: selling. Companies can qualify the leads by contacting them by mail or phone to assess their level of interest and financial capacity. The leads can be categorized, with "hot" prospects turned over to the field sales force and "warm" prospects turned over to the telemarketing unit for follow-up. Suppose you are Wedding planner ,who is your lead? A Prescription medicine seller, who is your lead? A seller of salt, who is your lead? A seller of MBA program ,who is your lead? A bangle seller ,who is your lead? A luxury car, who is your lead? Home loans ,who is your lead? Bike Water purifier

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9)

Successful prospecting
Seller 1 Seller 2

50 Leads 15 prospects 6 Interviews

50 Leads 15 prospects 11 Interviews

1 sale

7 sales

No

Yes Successful prospecting

Methods of prospecting

Cold calling E-prospecting on the web Endless chain customer referral Non competing sales force Observation Friends and acquaintances Lists and directories Direct mail Telemarketing Trade shows and demonstrations Orphaned customer

Pre-approach The salesperson needs to learn as much as possible about the prospect , & prospects company (what it needs, who is involved in the purchase decision) and its buyers (personal characteristics). The salesperson should set call objectives: 1. Gather information, 2. Make an immediate sale. Another task is to decide on the best contact approach, which might be a personal visit, a phone call, or a letter (E-mail). Finally, the salesperson should plan an overall sales strategy for the account. The representative must determine what is the customer needs or wants and make certain that the person being approached is capable of making the purchase decision.

Approach & Opening -Initial impression can cloud later perception. -Buyers expect sales people to be business like in their personal appearance and behavior. -Sales people should always be conscious about the time limits. -Sales people should open with a smile, a handshake and , in situation where they are not well known to the buyer, introduce themselves and the company they represent. -Common courtesies should be followed,

for E.g. They should wait for the buyer to indicate they can sit down or, at least, ask the buyer if they may sit down.
Attention to details, like holding ones briefcase in the left hand so that the right can be used for the handshake.

Presentation Need and problem identification..

The sellers first objective will be to discover the problems and needs of the customer. This gives the salesperson the opportunity to offer a solution to such problems by means of one of his or her companys products. The need analysis approach suggests that in the early sales process the sales person should adopt a question- and - listen posture. In order to encourage the buyer to discuss his or her problem and needs, sales people tend to use open rather than closed question. Open question (Answer is more than one word or one phrase answer) 1) What were the main reason for buying the XYZ photocopier? 2) In what ways did the ABC ointment fail to meet your expectation? Close end Question (Answer is one word or one phrase answer) 1) Would you tell me the name of the equipment you currently use? 2) Does your company manufacture 1000cc marine engineer? Need and problem identification At the end of the process the, sales person may find it useful to summaries the points that have been raised to confirm an understanding with the buyer. For e.g. Fine Mr. and Mrs. Mehta. I think I have a good idea of the kind of property you are looking for. You like to have a four bedroom house within fifteen minutes drive of Mr. Mehtas company. The price range you are considering is between .. Does this sum up the kind of house you want , or have I missed something? Sir, I think I have a good idea of the kind of scooty you are looking for your daughter , and your prime concern is safety and a big servicing ) Presentation Having identified the needs and problems of buyer, the presentation provides the opportunity for the sales person to convince the buyer that they can supply the solution. The key to this task is to recognize that buyers purchase benefits and are only interested in product features in as they provide the benefits that the customer is looking for. Benefits should be analyzed at two levels -Those benefits which can be obtained by purchase of a particular type of product, and -Those that can be obtained by purchasing that products from a particular supplier.