SALESMANSHIPSALESMANSHIP

Flow of PresentationFlow of Presentation

• Meaning, Scope

• Importance and Limitations

• Prospecting- Process of Selling

• Focus on customer satisfaction

• Building customer- seller relationship

• Attitude of a good sales executive

Meaning of SalesmanshipMeaning of Salesmanship

• Salesmanship is one of the skills used in personal selling

• It is just one aspect of personal selling- not all of it

• It is a process of persuading a person to buy goods or services

• Salesmanship is the art which converts human desires and feelings into their needs

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• “Salesmanship is the art of successfully persuading prospects or customers to buy products or services from which they can derive suitable benefits, thereby increasing their total satisfactions”

• According to the National Association of Marketing Teachers of America, Salesmanship is “the ability to persuade people to buy goods or services at a profit to the seller and benefit to the buyer”

Definition of SalesmanshipDefinition of Salesmanship

Definition of SalesmanshipDefinition of Salesmanship

• “Salesmanship is the science of creating in the mind of your prospect a desire that only possession of your product will satisfy”- D. D. Couch

• According to Carfield Black, “Salesmanship consists of winning the buyers confidence for the seller’s house and goods thereby winning regular and permanent customers”

• Personal Selling is a means through which the marketing programs are implemented

• It is a broader concept and the purpose of personal selling is to bring the right products into contact with the right customers and to assure that ownership transfers take place

• Personal selling takes several forms including sales calls by field representatives, assistance by a sales clerk etc.

• It is used with a view to create product awareness, stimulating interest, developing brand preferences, negotiating the price etc.

• Thus, personal selling is a broader concept

Personal Selling V/s SalesmanshipPersonal Selling V/s Salesmanship

Personal Selling V/s SalesmanshipPersonal Selling V/s Salesmanship

• Salesmanship is only one of the skills used in personal selling• Salesmanship may or may not be employed in personal selling• In fact, salesmanship need not be merely confined to personal

selling alone• Salesmanship can be effectively employed in advertising also• Hence, on many occasions , advertising is described as

“Salesmanship in print or Printed Salesmanship”• Thus, salesmanship utilizes non- personal persuasion also

Essentials/ Importance of SalesmanshipEssentials/ Importance of Salesmanship

Christ University, Bangalore

1. The main aim of salesmanship is establishing sound and lasting relations between the sellers and the buyers

2. It can create wants that never existed before by showing the prospective buyers how particular goods or services satisfy their demand

Essentials/ Importance of SalesmanshipEssentials/ Importance of Salesmanship

3. It consists of one human mind influencing another human mind

4. It involves not only selling the products and services but also providing the knowledge, technical assistance, counsel and advice. The salesmanship is the process of selling the ideas of beauty, health, economy, prosperity, convenience, comforts and so on

5. It brings reasonable profit to the seller and definite benefit to the buyer in the effort of inducing the customers to buy the goods and services

Uses/ Advantages of SalesmanshipUses/ Advantages of Salesmanship

1. To Producers: An efficient salesmanship alone can ensure high profits to the producers. It is an incentive to higher production

2. To Society: Salesmanship increases the production and thereby increases the profits. The shareholders get higher dividends. The middleman also get higher profit due to increased sales. The employees get higher salary. Thus, the whole society is benefited by good salesmanship

Uses/ Advantages of SalesmanshipUses/ Advantages of Salesmanship

3. To the State: When industries earn high profit, the Government also get higher amount of tax. It derives income by way of excise duties on production and sales tax, income tax etc.

4. To Consumers: Higher production results in reduced cost of production. Therefore, consumers are benefited by the products available at lower prices

5. To Salesmen: The salesmen themselves are benefited directly and indirectly. Increased sales result in an increase in their commission and also helps them in getting promotions to higher posts

ProspectingProspecting

• Efficient organization of time and thorough planning of work are earmarks of above- average salespersons

• They look for ways to “stretch” productive selling time

• They arrange travel and call schedules to economize on time spent en route and distance travelled

• They make appointments to avoid prolonged waiting for call backs

• They do not waste time trying to sell to people who cannot buy or are not likely to do so

Prospecting Prospecting

• The planning work, which is essential in eliminating calls on non- buyers, is called “prospecting”

• Improvement in prospecting is one way to stretch productive selling time

• Many sales personnel devote too little time to prospecting and, as a consequence, too much to calling on non- prospects

• Salespersons who are proficient in prospecting apply their selling efforts productively; they do not call on non- prospects and can devote their full attention to those likely to buy

1. Formulating prospect definitions

2. Searching out potential accounts

3. Qualifying prospects and Determining probable requirements

4. Relating company products to each prospect’s requirements

Steps in ProspectingSteps in Prospecting

Steps in Prospecting Steps in Prospecting

1. Formulating prospect definitions: Prospective customers must have the willingness, the financial capacity, and the authority to buy, and they must be available to the salesperson. Salespersons waste time when they attempt to sell individuals who have neither need for the product or money to pay for it.

2. 2. Searching out potential accounts: Using the prospect definitions, the salesperson searches different sources for the names of probable prospects, or “suspects” , as they are called. Sources of prospect information include directories of all kinds, news and notes in trade papers and business magazines, credit reports, membership lists of chambers of commerce and trade and manufacturer’s associations, lists purchased from list brokers, and records of service requests

3. Qualifying Prospects and Determining Probable Requirements: As information is assembled for on each tentative prospect (i.e. suspect), it is easier to estimate the probable requirements of each for the types of products sold by the company•Prospects with requirements too small to represent profitable business are removed from further consideration, unless their growth possibilities show promise•Even after tapping all readily available information sources, additional information is often required to qualify certain prospects, and personal visits by salespersons may be the only way to obtain it•These visits may not bring in sales, but they save time, as prospects are separated from non- prospects

Steps in Prospecting Steps in Prospecting

4. Relating company products to each prospect’s requirements: The final step in Prospecting is to plan the strategy for approaching each prospect.

•From the information assembled, it is usually possible to determine each prospect’s probable needs

•From what the salesperson knows about the company’s products, their uses and applications, he or she selects those that seem most appropriate for a particular prospect

Steps in Prospecting Steps in Prospecting

Process of Selling Process of Selling

1. Prospecting- Already Explained2. Pre- approach: Before calling on a prospect, the salespeople

should learn all they can about the persons or companies to whom they hope to sell. Pre- approach to selling might include finding out what products the prospects are now using and their reactions to these products. Salespeople also should try to find out the personal habits and preferences of a prospect

3. Approach: Approach refers to the initial contact of a potential customer by the sales person. During the Approach, the sales person should know how to greet the buyer to get the relationship off to a good start. This step involves the salesperson’s appearance, opening lines and the follow- up remarks.

4. Presentation and Demonstration: In the sales presentation, the sales person describes the product and its benefits, price, available options, and associated services and perhaps demonstrates the product. It is the heart of selling process. During this step, the sales person tell the product “story” to the prospect.

5. Handling Objections: In this step, the sales person seeks out, clarifies and overcomes customer objections to buying. The golden rules for handling objections are: (a) Welcome the objection and show respect to the prospect, and, (b) Do not argue with the prospect

Process of Selling Process of Selling

Process of Selling Process of Selling

6. Closing the sale: Closing is that aspect of the selling process in which the sales person asks the prospect to buy the product. The sales person should have the ability of catching the buying signals given by the prospect and should act on them fast.

7. Post sale Follow up: The selling process does not come to an end by writing an order. The sales person should schedule a follow- up call when initial order is received to make sure there is proper installation, instruction and servicing. After sales services should be punctual, quick and satisfactory

Building Customer- Seller Relationship Building Customer- Seller Relationship

• The competitive free enterprise system is based on the premise that customers’ wants must be satisfied

• Individual companies prosper when their products contribute to this end

• Satisfaction, or the lack of it, is recorded daily in sales order books and at the nation’s check out counters

• Sales department has the responsibility of building and maintaining a good customer- seller relationship

• The salesmen should be friendly and courteous while dealing with the customers

Functions and Qualities of an Effective Sales Executive Functions and Qualities of an Effective Sales Executive

1. Ability to define the position’s exact functions and duties in relation to the goals the company should expect to attain

2. Ability to select and train capable subordinates and willingness to delegate sufficient authority to enable them to carry out assigned tasks with minimum supervision

3. Ability to utilize time effectively

4. Ability to allocate sufficient time for thinking and planning

5. Ability to exercise skilled leadership