when the buyer called.

Assume you are Jerry suggestions offered in this chapter for the
and you didn’t get any of the buyer’s mes-
sages until now. How will you communi-
cate to the buyer that you didn’t receive her
messages?
8. Closely examine 10 e-mail messages you
receive. Evaluate them on the basis of the
proper use of e-mail.
9. Assume you sell football tickets for a nearby
NFL team and you wish to use Twitter to build
relationships with potential season ticket hold-
ers. Create two tweets that you would post to
accomplish this objective.

CASE PROBLEMS Ben Alan, a salesperson for Yellow Book USA, has just entered the elaborate office
of Laura C. Curran, owner of Denmark Interiors, an upscale interior decorator in
Louisville. Laura is seated behind a vast mahogany desk in a high-backed stylish
executive chair working on some paperwork. She doesn’t look up as Ben enters
the room.
case 4.1 Ben: [walking around Laura’s desk and extending his hand] Good morning,
Laura! It’s sure nice to finally get a chance to meet you. [laughing] Forgive
Denmark Interiors
me for saying so, but I’ll have to admit this is the nicest office, and you’re
the prettiest person I’ve called on this week!
Laura: [not looking up from her paperwork or extending her hand as she
finally responds] Please have a seat, Mr. . . . what was your name?
Ben: [dragging up a seat from the side of the room and placing it on the same
side of the desk as Laura, then plopping down in the seat] Ben. Ben Alan.
I believe it’s one of the hottest days in Louisville this summer! Say, here’s a
good joke I heard yesterday. A man fainted in the middle of a busy intersec-
tion, and traffic quickly piled up in all directions, so a woman rushed to
help him. When she knelt down to loosen his collar, a man emerged from
the crowd, pushed her aside, and said, “It’s all right honey, I’ve had a course
in CPR!” The woman stood up and watched as he took the ill man’s pulse
and prepared to administer artificial respiration. At this point she tapped
him on the shoulder and said, “When you get to the part about calling a
doctor, I’m already here.” Ha ha ha!
Laura: [not laughing but pushing her paperwork away from her and crossing
her arms] What can I do for you, Mr. Alan?
Ben: Well, Laura, I’d like to see your company take out a bigger ad in the Yel-
low Pages. Can’t beat the Yellow Pages for business, now can you?
Laura: [turning in her chair to look out the window while looking at her
watch] We provide professional interior decorating to high-end clients,
depending mostly on word-of-mouth recommendations for new clients,
Mr. Alan.
Ben: [taking out a pad of paper from his shirt pocket and searching his pockets
for a pen] Now that’s news to me, Laura. I thought you were like all the
rest, desperately seeking ugly homes to make them prettier. Ha ha ha!
Laura: [making a steeple with her hands while still looking out the office
window] I would guess you would, Mr. Alan. [swiveling in her chair to
face Ben] Yes, I would guess you would. [pressing a button on her desk]
Ms. Deramus, Mr. Alan has completed his interview with me. Will you
kindly escort him out? [eyeing Ben with a triumphant look on her face]
Have a good day, Mr. [strongly emphasizing the word Mr.] Alan.

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 Questions
1. Evaluate the exchange.
2. What would you do differently if you were Ben?

Joel Winnes is a sales rep for Case IH Agricultural, a global leader in agricultural
equipment. Headquartered in the United States, Case IH has a vast network of
more than 4,900 dealers and distributors that operates in over 160 countries.
case 4.2 Case IH sells tractors, planting and seeding equipment, application and harvest-
ing equipment, skid steers, attachments, and other farming-related equipment.
Joel, who grew up in central Minnesota and who has been selling for Case IH
Case IH Agricultural in northern Iowa for the past three years, was just transferred to the Case IH
office in Mexico City. Joel has never lived or worked in Mexico before and is
thinking about what changes he might need to make as he works with farmers in
that country.

Questions
1. Investigate the culture of Mexico in more detail by viewing Web pages and
reading articles about how business salespeople can best sell there. Briefly
summarize four key findings.
2. What changes should Joel consider making (compared to how he probably
sold to clients in Iowa) as he calls on prospects in Mexico? Make any assump-
tions necessary.
Source: www.pwm.com/pwm/pwm_lang_select.htm.

ROLE PLAY CASE

In this chapter’s role play interaction, you are still meeting with the same person
you did for Chapter 3. (If you did not do the role play at the end of Chapter 3,
you will need to review that information now.) That person is telling you about
the business. Feel free to ask questions, but your main objective is to listen and
understand all you can about the business environment in which he or she oper-
ates. Practice active listening skills; after the role play, identify which listening
techniques you used. Further, identify the three most important elements about
the person’s business that you need to understand. Interpret the buyer’s body lan-
guage. Finally, any time you hear jargon, write the word or phrase down.
Note: For background information about these role plays, see page 26.
To the instructor: Additional information needed to complete the role play is
available in the Instructor’s Manual.

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

Brooks, Bill. “The Power of Active Listening.” American Salesman
55, no. 12 (December 2010), pp. 28–30.
Bowden, Mark. Winning Body Language: Control the Conversa-
tion, Command Attention, and Convey the Right Message
without Saying a Word. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Curtis, Joan C., and Barbara Giamanco. The New Handshake:
Sales Meets Social Media. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2010.
Feigon, Josiane Chriqui, and Jill Konrath. Smart Selling on
the Phone and Online: Inside Sales That Gets Results.
New York: AMACOM, 2009.

122 Part 1 Knowledge and Skill Requirements

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