PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Business and Accountancy

Department of BSBA Marketing Management, BS Entrepreneurship, and BS
‘ Public Administration
Puerto Princesa City

MODULE 5:
PROSPECTING, PRE-APPROACH,
AND APPROACH
P2202: SALES MANAGEMENT AND PROFESIONAL
SALESMANSHIP
1st Semester | SY: 2020-2021

BSBA MM 2
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page of Module 1
Table of Contents 2

Overview 3
Learning Outcomes 3

Content

Chapter 9: Prospecting, Pre-approach, and Approach

What is the Sales Process? 3
What is prospecting and how important is this? 4
Qualifying Prospects 4
Common methods of prospecting 5-6
1. Friends and Acquaintances
2. Referrals
3. Endless-chain Method
4. Center of Influence Method
5. Telephone Prospecting
6. Group or Party Prospecting
7. Company Leads
8. Mini Fairs and Exhibits
9. Sales Blitz
10. Cold Canvass Method

Other methods of prospecting 6-7

1. FRONACS
2. PEARLS
3. CMANA

Figure 1: The sales Process 5

Figure 2: Prospecting list 7
Module Activity No. 1 5
Module Activity No. 2 7
References 10

MODULE 5
TOPIC 1: PROSPECTING
Course Code: Course Title| Module 1: Module Title 2
Overview
This module covers the first three steps of the Sales Process which are PROSPECTING, PRE-
APPROACH, AND APPROACH. The sales process is the heart of the course Professional
Salesmanship and this module will introduce you to the very vital skill of salesmanship that a
professional salesman must acquire in order to succeed in the world of sales. Performance-based
activities will be made available for you to ensure that you do not only gain knowledge of the
principles but develop the skills as well. So, learn by heart and challenge yourself to practice all of
the principles and methods that you will be learning.

Intended Learning Outcomes:

 Define “Sales Process”
 Enumerate the steps of the sales process
 Explain what prospecting is and why is it important to a processional salesman
 Perform the task of qualifying prospects using the prospecting methods

Hello, my dear student!

Do you find yourself fit for the job of a sales executive? I believe you do by acquiring
some more vital skills like salesmanship. The sales process is composed of seven (7)
steps or skills that you must learn, practice, and develop as a professional salesman.

The Sales Process

What’s a sales process?
A sales process is a set of repeatable steps that a sales person takes to take a
prospective buyer from the early stage of awareness to a closed sale.
Typically, a sales process consists of 5-7 steps: 1. Prospecting 2. Preparation (Pre-
approach) 3. Approach 4. Presentation 5. Handling objections 6. Closing and 7. Follow-up.

Figure 1: The Sales Process

Step 1: PROSPECTING
What is Prospecting and how important is this?
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Prospecting is a process whereby a salesman looks for possible buyers for his product or
service and obtains certain background information of this prospect to aid him with his
sales interview.

The important background information that a salesman must obtain are age, sex, civil
status, educational attainment, profession or occupation, standard of living, size of
the family, place of residence, recreational activities, and other data of his prospect.

Importance of Prospecting
Prospecting contributes to a friendly relation between the salesman and his prospect.
Knowledge of the prospect will enable you to determine the right kind of approach and
strategy you will utilize.
Prospecting helps the salesman discover the need and problems of his prospect.
The salesman can distinguish the prospect from the suspect enabling him to save his
precious time, money, and effort.

Should a salesman get the opportunity to close a number of sales simply by calling or
messaging potential buyers, he is able to achieve his monthly sales quota, earn bigger
commissions and rebates, immediately obtain a promotion in his sales rank and establish
sales confidence and trust.

Qualifying Prospects
To qualify prospects means to identify their potential to become clients of the
product and the company. This is where the salesman is given the chance to discern the
prospect from the suspect. It is really a must to do this to avoid wasted efforts and direct
the strategies of the salesman to the more productive sales interviews.
A set of criteria is very important in qualifying the prospects. The salesman has to provide a
“yes” answer to each of the following questions:

1. Does my prospect have a need for my product or service?

2. Does my prospect have the ability to pay for my product or service?
3. Is my prospect willing to buy the brand I carry?
4. Does my prospect have the capacity and authority to decide favorably for my
product or service?

The need – it is of prime importance for the prospect to feel a need for the product or
service before the salesman can convince him to place an order.

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The ability to pay – Does the prospect have the money to spend? Are the sources of
income adequate?
The willingness to buy – appealing to the prospect’s buying motives for your product may
help you win over these priorities.
The authority to decide – present your offering only to the prospect who has the authority
to decide.

Module Activity 1: Uploaded to G Classroom as assignment, turn in to submit.

Qualifying Prospect for an educational plan
Answer the following questions and decide if the man in
the
picture id a prospect or a suspect.
________________ 1. Does the man need the
educational plan?
________________ 2. Does the man have the ability to
pay?
________________ 3. Is the man willing to but the brand
Prospect: you will offer?
Mr. Pascual. Father of two (2) ________________ 4. Does he have the capacity and
kids authority to decide?
Support each of your answers with intelligent
assumptions based on what you see in the picture.

Common Methods of Prospecting

How does the salesman prepare his list of prospects? Where does he get names he will
include in this prospect’s list? How resourceful can the salesman be with his prospecting?
1. Family, Friends and Acquaintances (warm circle) – this is the easiest, simplest
and widely used method by beginners.
2. Referrals – after calling on a friend or acquaintance, he salesman must follow the
cardinal rule of asking for two or more names that can be his next prospects.
3. Endless-Chain Method – With the salesman’s network of prospects becoming
bigger, it will never be a problem for him running our of prospect. Every now and
then, he has somebody to offer his product or service. Hence, the salesman is using
endless-chain method of prospecting
4. Center-of-Influence Method – A salesperson cultivates well-known, influential
people who are willing to provide leads.

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5. Telephone prospecting – the use of telephone directories for some possible household
and commercial prospects.
6. Group or Party Prospecting – Every time a sales group undertakes or sponsors a
party, more prospects, at one given time are interviewed and finally closed for orders. This
is also similar to “institutional sales” done by sale people where they arrange with the
administration of private offices, banks and even government agencies so they can talk
with the employees as a group.
7. Company Leads – To the new recruits, the sales supervisor may provide them with
leads for them to enter their selling career.
8. Mini Fairs and Exhibits – this is a affair sponsored by the company for purposes of
launching a new product or for introducing an improvement on an existing product.
9. Sales Blitz – this is an occasion when a group of salesmen together with their sales
supervisors will go on a tour to one or more sales territories to offer, on a house-to-house
basis, their product.
10. Cold Canvass Method – this is practically the most difficult method of prospecting to
use.

One more word of advice to the salesman!

He has to always bring with him his brochures, price lists, or other important materials
wherever he goes.

Other Prospecting Methods :

FRONACS
F - Family, Friends, Facebook, Fonebook
R - Relatives
O - Occupation
N - Neighbors
A - Acquaintances
C - Classmates
S – Schoolmates, suki/suppliers, strangers

PEARLS
P – People-oriented
E – Entrepreneurial Spirit
A - Achiever
R - Recognizable
L - Leaders
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S - Successful

CMANA
C – Credit card
M – Money
A - Authority
N - Need
A - Accessible

Figure 2: Prospecting List

The above figure shows an example of a prospecting list using the PEARLS and CMANA
methods.

Module Activity 2: Uploaded to G Classroom as assignment, turn in to submit.

Come up with your own prospect list based on the given example with minimum 30 names.
Rank your top 10 prospects based on their score as shown in the example.
LET US WATCH:
How to Prospect without Being Pushy=Elite Marketing Pro

TOPIC 2: The Need to Pre-Approach

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 Having identified and qualified his prospects, the salesman is not yet ready to meet
his client. With the help of the background information he has gathered, he has to study
this at some length before actually meeting his prospective client. The salesman has to
undertake prior preparations prior to approach which are treated determinants of a
successful sales interview.

Preparations of the Salesman Prior to Approach

Request for an appointment – A sign of

professionalism is revealed when the salesman
requests for an appointment from his prospect.
The salesman can use the telephone or cellular
phone for this purpose. Today, Social media like
Facebook and Viber are used more conveniently
to connect with prospects.

1. Have ready and check on the contents of

your sales kit – A sales kit may contain
brochures, price lists, policy contracts,
ballpen, calculator, scratch pads and
documents about the company, some
product samples and accessories
needed for the product demonstration.

2. Decide on the answer to possible questions and objections of the prospect

– The experience of the salesman can help him anticipate the possible
questions and objections of prospects. On the other hand, a beginner
must seek the help of his sales supervisor on this matter.

3. Be sure to make yourself presentable – Check on the clothes you will

wear, your shoes, your necktie, your handkerchief and other accessories.
Check on your total sales presentation.

4. Determine he right approach and presentation strategy to use – With your

knowledge of the prospect, product, and the company, the approach you
will use including your presentation strategy is not at all a problem.

TOPIC 3: The Approach and the Methods to Used

What is approach?
The approach is the time when the salesman and his prospect see each other. This is the
time when the actual sales interview begins after all the prospecting and preparations done
by the salesman. They could meet at the prospect’s office, the salesman’s office, or
restaurant.

Is approach important?

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 The salesman must be able to use the right
approach to a particular prospect. Otherwise the
undivided attention of the prospect may not be
obtained.

What does the salesman do during the

approach?
Before finally introducing the product
offered for sale, the salesman must concentrate
on certain preliminaries to develop rapport with the prospect.

What are the preliminaries?

1. Greet the prospect. There is nothing better than to wish the prospect a happy day.
Call the prospect by his name and attach his position in your greeting. The sweetest
sound to anyone’s ears is the sound of his own name.
Ex. “Good morning, Ms. Goh! It’s my pleasure to finally meet you in person
(assuming that the prospect is a referral and you have only talked with her over the
phone).
2. Introduce yourself. For proper identification, the prospect is interested to know Who
you are and from where you are. Be proud of your company, the
manufacturer/producer of the product you sell.
Ex. “I am Carlo Cervantes of ABC Marketing.”
3. Offer a warm handshake. A professional salesman is one who means business with
his prospect through handshake. Be sure to learn how to properly do handshake on
YouTube.
4. Discuss first few related matters – This is what we call amenities. Amenities are
things that the prospect is interested to talk about which may give the salesman a
chance to introduce the product.
Ex. (a sales advisor of an educational plan) “Education is becoming more and more
expensive since most private schools are increasing tuitions fees every year. Your
youngest child is 5 years old, right? Imagine how much tuition fees would cost by the
time he reaches college. That is why we, parents must prepare for our kids’
education as early as now.”
5. Introduce the product using the approach methods. Remember that you only
introducing the product here and you are not yet presenting.

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What Approach Methods can a Salesman Use?
1. Compliment method
2. Question and Benefit Method
The compliment method of approach refers o the salesman’s efforts to win the sympathy
through certain gifts or incentives from him or from the company. Of course, the prospect
will return the favor by entertaining and allowing the salesman a part of his busy schedule.

Using the question-benefit-curiosity method, the salesman has to ask his prospect of a
question answerable by “yes.” So that the prospect will really say yes, he should be asked
of his interest to enjoy the benefit of a certain product. Surely, the prospect wants
enjoyment and satisfaction, hence, the use of the benefit method.

The following are sample questions that a salesman may ask:

“How do you like to be as slim as Korean starts in just six months?”
“How about drinking crystal-like water any time you open your faucet?”
Being slim is a weakness among women. Parents would line a worry-free education plan
for their children. We like to drink clean and pure water every time. Upon hearing that
he/she can enjoy such experience, the prospect’s attention and interest are focused on the
sales presentation which is the next step of the sales process that you will learn in Module
6.

Module Quiz: Uploaded on G Classroom

REFERENCES
Principles of Marketing Student Edition 8, Lamb / Hair / McDaniel, Cengage Learning
Principles of Marketing Philippine Edition, Loui E. Boon, David L. Kurtz, Cengage Learning
Professional Salesmanship, Alipio M. Garcia, Merla G. Villanueva

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