SEASAC Coaching Manuals - For Teachers and Students

South-East Asian Sales Competition (SEASAC)
Colin Mackenzie; Pornlapas Suwannarat;

(C.Mackenzie@napier.ac.uk; pornlapas.s@mbs.msu.ac.th;)
[Version 1 Nov 2020]
ISBN-978-623-6447-02-4
Forward - Welcome to South-East Asian Sales Competition (SEASAC )
The South-East Asian Sales Competition is designed to encourage university Sales students from across
South-East Asia to benchmark their international selling skills in an educational environment. This SEASAC
Training and SEASAC Coaching Manual is a practical guide to planning a sales competition in your
university. It outlines the steps for competition preparation and conduct. These support materials should be
read in conjunction with the SEASAC Standards and Rules, which is a separate e-book.
Post-COVID-19 pandemic, the role of universities in equipping Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) students with appropriate skills for the new world of work has never been more important. As the
US and the EU shift their focus to the East, the ASEAN region is becoming a destination for investment.
The ASEAN Economic Community nations of Brunei Darussalam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are fast becoming a major economic force in Asia.
They have a combined population of more than 600 million and a nominal GDP of $2.31 trillion (J.P. Morgan,
2020). In turn, this economic growth trend has created a high demand for qualified sales representatives.
However, recruiters all over Southeast Asia face a challenge to find qualified sales representatives.
SEASAC aims to improve the international selling competence of Southeast Asian university graduates, to
ensure that they can graduate as highly qualified sales professionals ready and capable to fill the needs of
ASEAN business. Developing sales professionals’ skills entails practise, knowledge, and a customer
focused attitude. Sales competitions provide an authentic platform for sales skills development. SEASAC
redefines the sales competition scenario to replicate the needs of Southeast Asian business through which
the competition goal is to sell a named product or service to international business customers. The
Competition brings together students from Southeast Asian universities in a yearly event to develop and
showcase sales talent.
This manual and other free tools were developed by the South-East Asian Sales Competition (SEASAC)
Project, a funded European Union project (2018-2021). ASEAN and European universities drew from the
ii
European sales traditions to develop the materials and concepts which have now been embedded in
ASEAN practise.
More free resources are available at the competition website, on the SEASAC YouTube channel, and social
media.
The twelve partners who have shared their expertise and experience were:
Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland) Bina Nusantara University (Indonesia)

Edinburgh Napier University (UK) Parahyangan Catholic University (Indonesia)
Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences State Polytechnic of Batam (Indonesia)
(Finland)
Sebelas Maret University (Indonesia)
Wiener Neustadt University of Applied Sciences
University of Putra Indonesia “YPTK” (Indonesia)
(Austria)
Southeast Asian Ministers of Education
Mahasarakham University (Thailand)
Organization Regional Open Learning Centre
Rangsit University (Thailand) (Indonesia
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Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the core material for Section 1 supplied by Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland)
and additional chapter material written by Dr Pornlapas Suwannarat, Mahasarakham University (Thailand)
and Dr Colin Mackenzie of Edinburgh Napier University (Scotland) for coaching materials. Thanks to Dr
Rosemary Allford of Edinburgh Napier University for proof reading as well as the support and
encouragement of all the SEASAC partners.
Additional sales coaching materials courtesy of Dr Artha Sejati Ananda, BINUS University and Dr U.
Malisuwan, Rangsit University. We very much appreciate the work of Cahya Ratih and Aline Almandha and
the team at SEMOLEC for their support in design and IT.
We look forward to seeing you at SEASAC. Good luck with your selling and with your sales competitions.
Editors: Dr Colin Mackenzie and Dr Pornlapas Suwannarat.
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Table of Contents
Forward - Welcome to South-East Asian Sales Competition (SEASAC ) ........................................... ii
Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................ iv
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................. vi
Chapter 1 The Need for International Selling Skills in Southeast Asia ............................................. 1
Chapter 2 The SEASAC Coaching Manual and SEASAC Rules ........................................................ 3
2.1 Introduction to the SEASAC Coaching Manual and Standards ........................................................ 3
2.2 Definitions used within this manual ................................................................................................. 3
2.3 Who is this e-book for? ................................................................................................................... 4
▪ 2.3.1 Coach/tutor access .......................................................................................................... 4
▪ 2.3.2 Standards and Rules for South-East Asian Competition Chapters .................................... 4
▪ 2.3.3 About Section 1 Chapters 1-13 ........................................................................................ 4
2.4 About the e-book SEASAC Standards and Competition Rules ........................................................ 5
2.5 Final comment on getting the best from this e-book ........................................................................ 5
2.6 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 3 Securing a sales meeting ................................................................................................... 7
3.1 Introduction to securing a sales meeting ......................................................................................... 7
3.2 Recommended reading for sales meetings ..................................................................................... 7
3.3 Sales meeting; what you should know: ........................................................................................... 7
3.4 The Sales Funnel ........................................................................................................................... 8
3.5 Use of Sales Software .................................................................................................................... 8
3.6 Tips................................................................................................................................................ 9
3.7 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 4 Selling Techniques........................................................................................................................... 10
4.1 Introduction to sales techniques ................................................................................................... 10
4.2 Recommended reading on sales techniques ................................................................................ 10
4.3 Sales techniques - What you should know .................................................................................... 11
4.4 Transactional Selling .................................................................................................................... 11
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4.5 Consultative Selling ...................................................................................................................... 11
4.6 Relationship Selling ...................................................................................................................... 12
4.7 Value-added Selling method......................................................................................................... 13
4.8 Tips: ............................................................................................................................................. 13
4.9 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 14
Chapter 5 Learning International Sales Skills .................................................................................. 15
5.1 Introduction to international sales skills ......................................................................................... 15
5.2 Recommended reading for International Sales ............................................................................. 15
5.3 What you should know ................................................................................................................. 16
5.4 Model for international Selling ...................................................................................................... 16
5.5 Preparation for International Sales Meetings ................................................................................ 17
▪ 5.5.1 Preparing for Sales Meeting .......................................................................................... 17
▪ 5.5.2. Acquiring Product and Company Knowledge................................................................. 17
▪ 5.5.3 Features/ Advantages versus Benefits ........................................................................... 17
▪ 5.5.4 Checklist: Product Knowledge ....................................................................................... 17
▪ 5.5.5 Checklist: Company Knowledge..................................................................................... 18
▪ 5.5.6 Acquiring Knowledge of Customer, Market and Competitors .......................................... 18
▪ 5.5.7 Checklist: Customer Knowledge .................................................................................... 18
5.6 Tips.............................................................................................................................................. 19
5.7 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 19
▪ 5.7.1 What you need to practise before your assessment/competition .................................... 19
Chapter 6 Cultural Aspects of International Sales ........................................................................... 20
6.1 Introduction to cultural aspects in international sales..................................................................... 20
6.2 Recommended reading for this chapter ........................................................................................ 20
6.3 Cultural Aspects of International Sales: What you should know .................................................... 21
6.4 Diverging Cultural Concepts ......................................................................................................... 21
6.5 Gaining Customer Trust ............................................................................................................... 21
6.6 Communication ............................................................................................................................ 21
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▪ 6.6.1 Verbal Communication .................................................................................................. 21
▪ 6.6.2 Non-Verbal Communication Style .................................................................................. 21
▪ 6.6.3 Values and Norms ......................................................................................................... 23
▪ 6.6.4 Dealing with Europeans ................................................................................................. 23
▪ 6.6.4 Concept of Time ............................................................................................................ 23
▪ 6.6.5 ASEAN views on punctuality .......................................................................................... 23
▪ 6.6.6 Punctuality in Europe ..................................................................................................... 23
▪ 6.6.7 Dress in Europe............................................................................................................. 24
6.7 Tips .......................................................................................................................................... 24
6.8 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 24
6.8.1 What you need to practise before your assessment/competition............................................. 24
You need to practise ....................................................................................................................... 24
Chapter 7 Preparing for the International Sales Meeting................................................................. 25
7.1 Introduction to preparing for the international sales meeting.......................................................... 25
7.2 Recommended reading for business meeting preparation ............................................................. 25
7.3 What you should know ........................................................................................................... 26
7.4 Question Preparation ............................................................................................................. 26
7.5 Product Presentation Preparation ........................................................................................... 26
▪ 7.5.1 Devising a presentation ................................................................................................. 26
▪ 7.5.2 Presentation Competence ............................................................................................. 27
7.6 Preparing for Objections ............................................................................................................... 28
▪ 7.6.1 Forestalling Objections .................................................................................................. 28
▪ 7.6.2 Negotiation Preparation ................................................................................................. 28
7.7 Tips.............................................................................................................................................. 28
7.8 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 29
▪ 7.8.1 What you need to practise before your assessment/competition..................................... 29
Chapter 8 International Sales Meeting.............................................................................................. 30
8.1 Introduction to International Sales Meetings ................................................................................. 30
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8.2 Recommended reading for preparation of international sales meeting........................................... 30
8.3 What you should know ................................................................................................................. 30
8.4 Student Preparation Checklist for International Sales Meeting ...................................................... 30
8.5 Initial Phase of the Sales Meeting ................................................................................................. 31
▪ 8.5.1 Business cards in Europe .............................................................................................. 33
8.6 Small talk ..................................................................................................................................... 34
8.7 SPIN © - Needs Identification ....................................................................................................... 34
▪ 8.7.1 Situation Questions ....................................................................................................... 35
▪ 8.7.2. Problem Questions ....................................................................................................... 36
▪ 8.7.3 Implication Question ...................................................................................................... 36
▪ 8.7.4 Need-Pay-Off questions................................................................................................. 36
8.8 Tips - SPIN© ................................................................................................................................ 37
8.9 Presentation Phase of the Sales Meeting ..................................................................................... 37
▪ 8.9.1 Present Benefits instead of Features and Involve the Customer in the Presentation .......... 37
▪ 8.9.2 Gain Agreement through Trial Closes during Product Presentation ................................... 38
▪ 8.9.3 Closing of the Initial Sales Meeting ................................................................................... 39
▪ 8.9.4 Handling Objections ......................................................................................................... 39
▪ 8.9.5 Types of Objections .......................................................................................................... 39
8.10 Confirm objection resolved ......................................................................................................... 43
8.12 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 44
▪ 8.12.1 What you need to practise before your assessment/competition ................................... 44
Chapter 9 Asking for Business and Closing the Deal ...................................................................... 45
9.1 Introduction of asking for the business .......................................................................................... 45
9.2 Recommended reading for asking for business and closing the deal............................................. 45
9.3 Asking for business and closing the deal; what you should know .................................................. 46
9.4 When to ‘close’ - observation of body language ............................................................................ 46

9.5 Types of closing ........................................................................................................................... 46
▪ 9.5.1 The ‘IF’ Close ........................................................................................................................... 46
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▪ 9.5.2 The Assumptive Close ................................................................................................... 46
▪ 9.5.3 The Ask Close ............................................................................................................... 47
▪ 9.5.4 The Alternative Close .................................................................................................... 47
▪ 9.5.5 The Summary Close ...................................................................................................... 47
▪ 9.5.6 The Silent Close, sometimes referred to as the ‘self-closing’ technique ............................. 47
▪ 9.5.7 Closes - Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 47
9.6 Tips.............................................................................................................................................. 48
9.7 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 48
▪ 9.7.1 What you need to practise before your assessment/competition .................................... 48
Chapter 10 Negotiation of International Business Deals ................................................................... 49
10.1 Introduction to negotiation .......................................................................................................... 49
10.2 Recommended reading on negotiation ....................................................................................... 49
10.3 What you should know ............................................................................................................... 50
10.4 Cultural aspects of Negotiation ................................................................................................... 50
10.5 Goals of Negotiations ................................................................................................................. 50
10.6 Cultural checklists for negotiation ............................................................................................... 51
▪ 10.6.1 A reminder about the ‘trial close’ and what happens with objections ................................ 51
10.7 Negotiation Meeting ................................................................................................................... 52
▪ 10.7.1 Preparation of an International Sales Negotiation Meeting ........................................... 52
▪ 10.7.2 Stages of an International Negotiation Meeting ............................................................ 52
▪ 10.7.3 Respective power of the buyer/seller relationship ......................................................... 55
10.8 Negotiation - Looking for a Win-Win ........................................................................................... 55
▪ 10.8.1 Things you should not forget when negotiating............................................................. 55
10.9 Tips for negotiations ................................................................................................................... 57
10.9 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 57
▪ 10.9.1 What you need to practise before your assessment/competition ................................... 57
Chapter 11 Listening – possibly the hardest part of the sales process ............................................ 58
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11.1 Introduction to listening............................................................................................................... 58
11.2 Recommended reading .............................................................................................................. 58
11.3 Listening- what you should know ................................................................................................ 58
11.4 Dimensions of listening............................................................................................................... 59
▪ 11.4.1. Sensing ...................................................................................................................... 59
▪ 11.4.2 Processing .................................................................................................................. 59
▪ 11.4.3 Active listening ............................................................................................................ 59
▪ 11.4.4 Empathic listening ....................................................................................................... 59
▪ 11.4.5 Active empathic listening ............................................................................................. 60
11.5 Use of ‘open’ and ‘closing’ questions within the sales process.......................................................... 60
11.7 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 61
Chapter 12 - Summary of SEASAC Coaching Manual ..................................................................... 622
12.1 A final few words about competing in SEASAC ........................................................................... 62
12.2 Things to reflect upon ................................................................................................................. 62
Case Studies for Sales Training.......................................................................................................... 63
References ........................................................................................................................................... 64
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Chapter 1 The Need for International Selling Skills in Southeast Asia
In a globalised world with a growing number of companies selling
increasingly competitive products on the Southeast Asian market,
competent international selling becomes a crucial aspect for success
of Southeast Asian companies. Ranking as the fourth largest
exporting region in the world, the Southeast Asian countries that
constitute ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) account
for some 7% of global exports. They had a combined GDP of US$2.8
trillion in 2017, making them the third largest economy in Asia and the
sixth largest globally. Economic growth continues to average 5.4%,
significantly above the global average and this rate is forecast to continue for the near future. Singapore’s
Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, has predicted that ASEAN will become the fourth largest economy in the
world by 2030, led by the US, China and the EU. In view of this, ASEAN presents a compelling investment
proposition for businesses who are looking to expand in one of the most dynamic and ambitious parts of
the world (ASEAN, 2020). This indicates that the field of international sales is very important and the
demand for salespeople who have the capabilities to sell on an international level is substantial.
"At a time when companies are becoming more interchangeable with regard to their core performance, and
this is the case in most sectors - in the final analysis the best approach to sales and excellent relationship
management of the customer plays a decisive role in business success. Selling is no longer merely a
competitive factor- rather it is the competitive factor of the future." (Dannenberg and Zupancic, 2009, 225).
Sales training enables sales representatives to:
● realise a higher sales performance

● improve the relationships with the customer
● work more independently and requires less supervision
● have a more sophisticated knowledge about the markets and the products
● have a better understanding of the possible impact of cultural differences on the sales success.
(Honeycutt, Ford, and Simintiras, 2003, p.128).
According to Deeter-Schmelz, Lauer, and Rudd (2019), the lack of awareness about the culturally specific
ways of selling impede the sales performance of salespeople throughout Southeast Asia. Sales training
with an intercultural focus prepares salespeople for international sales meetings and negotiations.
International sales training increases the salesperson's knowledge about other cultures and reduces the
amount of hidden or unknown cultural challenges which salespeople have to overcome during a sales
meeting. Training enables salespeople to reduce negotiation differences, which increases the likelihood for
achieving successful business deals and long-term relationships. On a global scale, according to Wignaraja
(2002), international sales training has a positive effect on export performance.
Deeter-Schmelz, Lauer, and Rudd (2019) conclude their analysis of sales training in Southeast Asia by
recommending that companies that sell directly from the home country to a country with a different culture
should provide their salespeople with cross-cultural training. This enables salespeople to become attuned
to the customs, believes and behaviours of customers in foreign countries. Furthermore, Roman and Ruiz
(2003) found that salespeople who have received intercultural sales training perform and sell more
effectively.
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The impact of Sales competitions has been felt both in Asia and in Europe.
See this advice on competing from competitors in the Turku, Finland Sales competition.
Please click bit.ly/ImpactEurope or scan barcode to view video.
The impact of sales competitions on students in Asia is now being

felt through SEASAC. See this example from UPI YPTDK Padang
students.
Please click bit.ly/ImpactAsiaSEASAC or scan barcode to view video.
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Chapter 2 The SEASAC Coaching Manual and SEASAC Rules
2.1 Introduction to the SEASAC Coaching Manual and Standards
The purpose of this manual is two-fold. It is the SEASAC Coaching Manual for the SEASAC competition
and is also the companion to the SEASAC Competition Standards and Rules. It is not designed to be a
comprehensive sales course. For example, it does not cover discussions on ethical selling or detail on the
wide variations in selling techniques. However, it does present a process that will enable graduates to
understand the complexity and skills practise required to master sales. Selling is fundamental to business
success, and increasingly the ability to persuade is a skill required by business leaders, employers and is
of great importance to countries interested in exporting.
This section contains important guidance on how to get the best from this manual, please read it and we
recommend you do not skip over it.
2.2 Definitions used within this manual
It is important that you understand the key words and acronyms used within this manual.
For the purposes of this manual the following acronyms and definitions are used:
B2B - Business to Business
B2C - Business to Consumer
Close - means ‘moving the sale (or sales process) forward’.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) - normally a software system to assist in maintaining

customer relationships.
Features, Advantages, and Benefits - A feature is a specific point of interest, (for example, a high-
definition screen). An ‘advantage’ is what the feature gives over competitors, (for example, ‘more pixels’)
and the benefit is why you should have the feature (for example, see more detail).
Qualify - If you were to ask a colleague whether a customer has been ‘qualified’ this should mean their
needs have been ascertained. An ‘unqualified’ referral is a customer, where you do not know whether they
are likely to be interested in your goods or service. Qualified customers will be closer to buying.
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Listening - not ‘hearing’ but actively listening with empathy and thought.
Pain - this refers to a client ‘problem’, the problem may be known, or unrecognised.
Sales or Selling - satisfying customer needs in an ethical manner.
Salespeople - means more than a single ‘salesperson’. The term ‘they’ is gender neutral.
Trial close - an attempt at moving the sale forward
UPS or Unique Selling Proposition - the specific combination of services or features and benefits that
makes you and/or your product or service unique.
2.3 Who is this e-book for?
This book has been designed for students for self-study and for lecturers, coaches and tutors to become
familiar with the required basic teaching to perform in a SEASAC International Competition.
▪ 2.3.1 Coach/tutor access
Coaches/tutors have access to extra resources, these include additional class materials and exercises.
University coaches should email seasacproject@gmail.com for a copy of coaching material or request
online access. A relevant university email address and link to university profile will be required for
universities who are not consortium partners.
This e-book outlines the key sales processes and skills that needs to be practised to successfully compete
in our sales competitions. Each section will contain an introduction, explaining why this area is important. It
will also contain recommended reading and ‘what you should know’ at the end of the chapter. You are
recommended to reflect on the ‘what you should know’ at the end of each chapter to check you have fully
understood the chapter. Set yourself a task of practicing your skills. There will also be useful hints and tips
that will guide you in business and in the Competition.
▪ 2.3.2 Standards and Rules for South-East Asian Competition Chapters
The accompanying e-book ‘SEASAC Standards and Competition Rules’ are the important standards and
rules for the South-East Asian Sales Competition and should be read and studied BEFORE attending
SEASAC.
▪ 2.3.3 About Section 1 Chapters 1-13
This section contains coaching materials suitable for students to revise for the SEASAC
assessment/competition. It outlines the key sales processes and skills that need to be practised to
successfully compete in our sales competitions. Each section will contain an introduction, explaining why
this area is important. It will also contain recommended reading and ‘what you should know’ at the end of
the chapter. You are recommended to go back and reflect on ‘what you should know’ before moving onto
the next chapter to consider whether you have fully understood the information and where needed try to
get some skills practise. Each chapter also contains practical hints and tips that will guide you not only in
business but also in the competition.
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2.4 About the e-book SEASAC Standards and Competition Rules
The accompanying e-book, titled SEASAC Standards and Competition Rules contains what you need to
know before entering a SEASAC competition. The Rules may develop through time and change slightly in
response to feedback; it is therefore advisable to ensure that if you are reading a PDF version of the e-
book that you are looking at the latest version.
Please note that the competition director’s rules on the day are final. If you are a student, the competition
rules are necessary for universities thinking about participating and should be studied before organising
or attending and this manual contains supporting information to prepare students for it.
2.5 Final comment on getting the best from this e-book
It is not possible to incorporate everything you need to know into this document. You are recommended to
work through the core materials and the recommended reading and practise your skills.
Please remember to look in the additional reading folder for links and book recommendations!
Students and coaches should particularly note that in the summary sections of Sections 5 –11 there
are practise requirements for gaining successful assessment marks in the competition.
Remember: You don’t learn to swim by reading a book
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2.6 Summary
This manual contains advice on the sales process in B2B scenarios. You should be familiar with the
definitions before moving onto the other chapters. It is best not to try and work through this coaching
material in a single session. Like driving a car, you may learn the process quickly however it can take some
time before mastering the techniques.
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Chapter 3 Securing a sales meeting
3.1 Introduction to securing a sales meeting:
Securing a sales meeting is a very important element of the sales process. However, this manual only
touches this subject lightly. This is because this training manual primarily focuses on developing the core
skill of a salesperson and securing the sales meeting is not a direct focus of the SEASAC competition.
Despite this, the ability to win an appointment is an important step in the sales process and students should
be aware that they need resilience in winning a client meeting. All meetings incur costs for both client and
customer and that value should be recognised.
3.2 Recommended reading for sales meetings:
Some of useful suggestions, preparation, and techniques to run successful sales management meetings
can be found from these following books and web links:
Pashina, L., (2019). Sit Your Way to Success: From Sales Meetings to Dinner Parties, Where You Sit
Matters, 1st Edition, New York: CC Ink Press. [Chapter 3: Conference Meeting, Chapter 6: Large Audience
Meeting, Chapter 6: Private Office, and Chapter 7: Restaurant Meeting].
Brown, J., and Fuller, F., (2020). A Dragon Walks into a Meeting: A Tactical Guide to Client Management,
1st Edition, Atlanta, GA: How2Conquer. [Chapter 1: We have relationships with people, not entities; Chapter
2: Create connection and seek to understand; Chapter 3: When it gets negative, starting by assuming all
sides have the best intentions]
https://www.pipedrive.com/en/blog/sales-meeting
https://salesbenchmarkindex.com/insights/4-keys-to-successful-sales-management-meetings/
https://autoklose.com/ideas-to-make-your-sales-team-more-motivated/
https://www.ringcentral.com/us/en/blog/sales-meeting-agenda/
3.3 Sales meeting; what you should know:
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
● discuss the sales funnel,

● reflect on the use of CRM systems.
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3.4 The Sales Funnel
When working in a sales department, sales representatives usually have to track down possible interested
companies, analyse the companies, find the right contact person in the company, contact the person and
convince them to take the time to sit down with the salesperson. Figure 1 shows the sales funnel, which
reveals that it takes several customers and several sales meetings to acquire one new customer.
Figure 1 Prospective customer in the pipeline (Donaldson, 2007, p. 258)
Nowadays many ways exist for sales representatives to find new customers. Sales meetings can be
achieved by contacting prospects through:
● Internal sources, for example, former customers, company records or surveys.

● External sources, for example, networking, friends, non-competing salespeople or business
organisation, member lists, social media.
● Promotional sources including responses to media advertising or e-mails.
● Personal actions, for example, referral of an existing customer or cold calling (cf. (Honeycutt, Ford,
and Simintiras, 2003, 65- 66).
Sales representatives need to contact their leads carefully, since "cold calling" (calling a customer without
having had any previous contact or connection) is not allowed or accepted in many ASEAN countries
3.5 Use of Sales Software

There are many types of sales software available to track and record customer leads. These are called
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. A CRM system can be very useful for retaining
knowledge on who has been contacted, contact details, discussion notes and follow-up actions.
It can also allow for information to be highlighted from one department to another. For example, a sales
engineer may know that a customer requires an upgrade and can forward the suggestion to the sales
department via the CRM system.
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However, be careful. Retention, protected storage and use of records are a sensitive subject, especially
within the European Union (EU). If you are dealing with clients within the EU you should conform to the
General Data Protection Regulation (GRPR), details of which can be found at https://gdpr.eu.
Failure to do so in business can lead to large fines.
3.6 Tips
● Do not think that because you may not have won an audience with a client this is always to do with
you. There are many reasons why this may be the case, you need to be persistent and understand
that rejection is not personal.
● Take notes of all reasons for rejection and work out whether you can find counter arguments to
overcome them.
● Keep track of who you have called and identify characteristics of successful calls in order that you may
be able to focus on that type of customer/approach/industry section.
● Take a few moments on each day to reflect on what you have learnt.
● Think of contacting prospective clients as ‘prospecting’, not ‘cold-calling’,

i.e. as if you are seeking valuable stones. When you are prospecting you
will often have to put in a lot of effort before hitting a valuable seam. The
more effort you put in the more likely you are to hit gold.
● When appropriate, ask an existing client to recommend you or give you an introduction to their friends,
colleagues or other useful contacts. In SEASAC sales meetings it may be appropriate to mention the
name of the person who ‘referred’ you to the client depending on the case. Referrals are a powerful
sales tool and you perhaps can use this cleverly within your own sales competition, e.g. “Thank you
for seeing me (name of) Buyer, Do you know (insert name of contact/friend/first referrer)? They
recommended that I speak with you.”
3.7 Summary
This section has introduced the concept of winning a sales meeting. Companies and salespeople spend
considerable time making appointments and there is a cost of servicing or selling to customers/clients. This
manual focuses on what happens in the sales meeting; however, students should be aware that the sales
meeting is only part of the overall sales process. The cost of unsuccessful sales meetings is not just the
travel and day cost but the labour and research in winning the meeting. Referrals are an effective way of
both winning meetings but also establishing credibility.
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Chapter 4 Selling Techniques
4.1 Introduction to sales techniques

In this chapter, some frequently used selling techniques will be explained. Once the salesperson is familiar
with the terms they may consider one or more are appropriate approaches within a sales meeting. This
chapter illustrates ‘transactional selling’, ‘consultative selling’, ‘SPIN-Selling ©’, and ‘negotiation selling’. In
addition, ‘relationship selling’, and ‘value-added selling’ are explained within this chapter.
4.2 Recommended reading on sales techniques
Some recommended reading on sales techniques can be seen from these following books and web links
Gitomer, J., (2015). The Sales Bible: The Ultimate Sales Resource, The 3rd Edition; New York: Wiley.
[Chapter 2.1 The book of wow; Chapter 2.2 The book of questions; Chapter 2.3 The book of Power; Chapter
3.1 The book of Introduction; Chapter 4.2 The book of presentations; Chapter 5.1 The book of objection;
Chapter 5.2 The book of closing; Chapter 5.3 The book of persistence].
Hopkins, T., (2015). How to Master the Art of Selling. The 5th Edition, Scottsdale, Arizona: Tom Hopkins
International, Inc. [Chapter 2: Twelve sources of sensational selling success; Chapter 3: Question right and
sink your teeth into sales success; Chapter 4: Creating the selling climate; Chapter 7: Finding the people
to sell].
Klaff, O., (2011). Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal,
The 2th Edition. London: McGraw-Hill. [Chapter 4: Pitching your big idea; Chapter 5: Frame stacking and
hot cognitions; Chapter 6: Eradicating neediness].
https://www.newbreedmarketing.com/blog/selling-techniques
https://corporatevisions.com/selling-techniques/
https://entrepreneurhandbook.co.uk/sales-techniques/
https://www.superoffice.com/blog/science-based-selling/
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4.3 Sales techniques - What you should know
By the end of this section the student should be able to:
● explain the difference between different selling techniques,

● critically evaluate which technique is relevant to a specific situation.
4.4 Transactional Selling
In Transactional Selling the buyer already knows what they need and is looking for a simple way to
purchase. This form of selling is often referred to as simple selling, product selling or personal simple selling.
There is usually little opportunity for the salesperson to add value to the purchasing process. In transactional
sales the buyer is looking for a quick and cheap purchase. The customer is motivated to buy a product
because of its intrinsic value. (cf. Rackham/DeVincentis, 1998, 72). The process of a transactional sale
may require:
● a professional first impression including ice breakers to warm up the buyer,

● a needs identification,
● an offer presentation,
● objection treatment,
● closing,
● follow-up care.
If the product to be sold is rather simple, the buyer usually does not look for the added value then
transactional sales are the most cost-effective way of conducting the sale. Early career salespeople can
learn the key elements of this form of selling very quickly.
During the preparation for such a sales meeting they learn how a professional sales meeting is structured
and how to overcome communication barriers. In addition, the salesperson becomes familiar with the
development of a professional offer presentation, how to identify buying signals from the customers, and
the appropriate use of closing techniques.
4.5 Consultative Selling
In Consultative Selling the buyers have, either not fully defined their problems or needs, or they have an
incomplete understanding of the product they plan to buy (cf. Rackham/DeVincentis, 1998, p. 73).
The consultative sales representative can create value to the customer by:
● helping them to understand their problems, issues and opportunities in a new or different way.
● showing customers new or better solutions to their problems.
● acting as advocates for their customers within their supplier organisation.
A salesperson who has an in-depth understanding of the buyer's business and changing needs is in the
best position to uncover a customer's pain points and can help create innovative solutions.
(Rackham/DeVincentis, 1998, 128-129).
Often the nature of the product or service is complex which requires a significant amount of face-to-face
time with the buyer to create value for the buyer. Examples of such products or services are complex
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financial products or among many others high-tech offerings. Figure 2 reveals that the sales representative
can create value for the buyer on each of the steps of the sales process (Rackham/DeVincentis,1998, 74).
According to Rackham/DeVincentis the seller can create the most value early in the process by helping
customers define their needs and solutions.
Figure 2 Adding value in transactional vs. consultative sales processes (Zoltners, Sinha, and Lorimer, 2004, p. 86)
According to Rackham/DeVincentis (1998) the SPIN selling © technique requires the salesperson to ask
the buyer the following four types of questions. It reveals how asking situation questions, problem questions,
implication questions and need-payoff questions impacts the sales meeting. In Negotiation Selling the
salesperson aims to optimise their profits while making sure to close the meeting/ sale successfully. The
most important stages of a negotiation meeting are:
● Offer Presentation.
● Determination of the value gap between customer and the sales representative.
● Value Enhancement.
● Closing.
In a professional preparation for a price negotiation meeting, ensuring a value-orientated argument and
displaying a good track record helps in building up the value of the product. Capitalising on the track record
is one of the key elements of successful negotiations.
4.6 Relationship Selling
The importance of Relationship Selling depends on the nature of the sale about to be made. If it is a
transactional sale, there are usually several competitors with similar offers. Hence the relationship with the
customer is likely the deciding factor in determining what offer the buyer takes. In Consultative Sales having
a great relationship with the buyer is not enough to make the sale, whereas in Relationship Sales, in addition
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to being likeable, the salesperson and their company have to create some sort of significant value to the
customer in order to make the sale. This means a good personal relationship may open the door but the
salesperson has to show the capability to create value to the business of the buyer in order to make the
sale (Rackham/DeVincentis, 998, p.82).
Buyers may seem interested in a product but seem to be unwilling to buy, thus showing a price gap. This
means that the buyer is willing to buy but the price the salesperson is offering is higher than the perceived
value for the buyer. The gap could be also articulated as a value or condition gap, which indicates that the
salesperson has not sufficiently understood or found the pain points of the buyer. In such a situation the
salesperson likely would have made the sale applying the value-added selling method (see Chapter 5).
4.7 Value-added Selling method
The Value-added Selling method has the goal to create enough ‘added value’ that the price of the product
is not so important anymore for the buyer. To achieve this goal, the salesperson needs to acquire an in-
depth understanding of the buyer's needs, wants and concerns. (Reilly, 2010, p. 39).
In this selling method buyers and sellers view each other as partners. In this context it is essential to enlarge
the definition of ‘value’. Price is what buyers pay; value is what they receive. Hence, the value of something
is ‘the long-term impact of the product or service the salesperson is selling’, focusing on the customer-value
means that the salesperson has to define value in buyers' terms. To maximise the full potential of customer
value all three dimensions of value must be sold: the product, the salesperson’s company and the
salesperson themselves. (Reilly, 2010, p. 27).
Maximising the full value involves the sales representative creating value at each step of the typical buying
process. In accordance with Figure 2, in the “recognition needs” stage of the sales, the salesperson can
help define problems and needs in a new or different way. In the evaluation of option stages, the
salesperson may come up with a superior solution that buyers may not have considered or understood,
therefore salespeople need to overcome concerns and make the payment convenient. Finally, in the
implementation stage salespeople need to ensure that the customer can use the product hassle-free
(Rackham/DeVincentis,1998,p. 67).
All the mentioned sales techniques aim to help the sales representative to increase their sales
effectiveness, which is the ability to "win" at each stage of the customer's buying process, and ultimately
earn the business on the right terms and in the right time frame. Depending on the prospect, the salesperson
should adapt their selling style to maximise their sales success. Intrinsic value customers see little value in
high sales efforts because they see all the value in the product. The opposite of ‘intrinsic value customers’
are ‘extrinsic value customers’ who want to be advised by their salesperson. In this context consultative
selling creates most value for extrinsic value customers and transactional selling for intrinsic value
customers.
4.8 Tips:
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This SEASAC Coaching Manual focuses on training students in international selling situations where the
buyer is looking for an added value the salesperson can offer. Consider this when preparing for the
SEASAC competition.
● A buyer’s first focus is likely to be on price, think about how you can change thinking to ‘overall value’.
● Perhaps generate examples of where price did not represent good value.
● Ask enough questions or research your product well enough to create a persuasive value proposition.
● Come up with innovative solutions, this may be a combination of product/service and or price (terms).
4.9 Summary
There is no single ‘right’ approach to selling. Different theorists offer constructive but different focus on
alternative methods. As a student of ‘sales’ and ‘sales education’ it is important that you have a toolkit of
different techniques at your disposal as one ‘shoe does not fit all’. Creating value supports profitability and
price as it is not solely about the value of the product or service, but its perceived value.
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Chapter 5 Learning International Sales Skills
5.1 Introduction to international sales skills
For the SEASAC competitions the final assessment is a live role play between the student as a seller and
a business-to-business (B2B) buyer. The goal of this chapter is to give an overview of the international
sales process.
5.2 Recommended reading for International Sales
Lynch, J., (2014). The International Sales Handbook. New York: Mandrill Press [Chapter 1: International
Sales; Chapter 2: Things to be beware of before you sign up; Chapter 3: Corruption].
McManamon, P., (2019). The Intentional Sales Manager. The 1st Edition. New York: Sandler Training.
[Chapter 2: The need to change; Chapter 3: The sand trap; Chapter 4: How to alienate salespeople; Chapter
12: The question of questions].
http://www.tradeready.ca/2017/topics/marketingsales/top-5-international-sales-tips-straight-from-the-
experts/
https://www.salesforce.com/products/sales-cloud/resources/international-sales-strategy/
https://douglawrence.com/five-steps-international-sales-success/
https://blog.wranx.com/the-key-to-international-sales-success
http://www.tradeready.ca/2018/topics/marketingsales/6-international-sales-tactics-to-grow-your-business/
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5.3 What you should know
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
● Explain the model for international selling.

● Identify what you need to research before a sales meeting.
● Practise key skills in rapport building.
● Explain the difference between a ‘feature’, ‘advantage’ and a ‘benefit’.
5.4 Model for international Selling
Figure 3 introduces a flow chart of a typical cross-national meeting process by using the SPIN-selling ©
method, it should be remembered that this method is not the only one available, however in the international
competitions it is a useful method for students to use.
Figure 3 Flow chart of a typical process during an international sales and negotiation meeting.
Sales representatives go through each stage when having a first sales meeting with a customer from
another country.
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5.5 Preparation for International Sales Meetings
The following chapters guide sales students through the preparation and implementation stages of an
international sales meeting. In this chapter, the necessary steps during preparation for an intercultural sales
meeting are elaborated upon. To become successful in the longer-term, sales representatives should
prepare for each sales meeting and for each individual customer.
▪ 5.5.1 Preparing for Sales Meeting
Establishing a goal for the sales meeting is an essential first step of sales meeting preparation. Such a goal
can be to close the deal, arrange another sales meeting within next week, or something else. It
is of course possible that the customer is not willing to agree on what the sales representative wanted, so
having a backup goal can ensure a follow-up with the customer at a later point in time and can retain the
possibility of a future business relationship.
▪ 5.5.2. Acquiring Product and Company Knowledge
An adequate amount of time should be spent on preparing for the sales meeting by studying and knowing
the product/ service. The understanding of product/service is crucial for the sales representative to
communicate effectively and to address the needs of the customer during the product presentation. Hence,
product/service understanding is closely related to sales success (Anderson and Robertson, 1995).
According to Donaldson (2007: 63) product/ service knowledge is a necessity but not sufficient prerequisite
for effective selling.
▪ 5.5.3 Features/ Advantages versus Benefits
Salespeople should not assume that the buyer is familiar with your products or service features. Even an
experienced buyer may not know everything. This Chapter outlines the differences between ‘features’,
‘advantages’ and how this compares to ‘benefits’.
A ‘feature’ is a point of interest contained within your product of service, an advantage is why that is better
(than the competition or for the customer/client). An ‘advantage’ is why your feature is better over an older
feature or a competitor’s feature.
A ‘benefit’ is what is to be gained for the customer/client. There may be times when people buy features,
such as early technology adopters, so they can show-off what they have, however, when money is limited
and you are doing a value-added sale, clients very often want demonstrable benefits. Too many features
and the buyer may feel that they are paying for things they do not need. When in doubt, sell ‘benefits’,
especially those that match explicit needs.
Note comment
▪ 5.5.4 Checklist: Product Knowledge
● Memorise the technical details of the product/service you are selling.

● What are the technical details of your product?
● Study the strengths and weaknesses of your product vs. competitors.
● What is the USP (Unique Selling Point/Proposition) of the product/service?
● Find out the benefits of the product/service to the customer.
● How is the product/service used?
● What needs does the product/service fulfil?
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Today, companies and sales representatives sell three forms of products/ services: tangible products,
intangible products, for example services such as software, and consulting. The focus of this manual is on
product and service selling, meaning tangible and intangible products. In addition, sales representatives
are expected to be acquainted with their company's history, ownership and the ambitions of the owners (cf.
Donaldson, 2007, p. 64).
Tutors are reminded to see the exercise entitled ‘Creating a Unique Selling Proposition’.
▪ 5.5.5 Checklist: Company Knowledge
● Study the history, the values and the products of the company you are representing.
● Know the Unique Selling Proposition of the company you represent by heart.
● Know how the product has an advantage over the competitor’s product.
▪ 5.5.6 Acquiring Knowledge of Customer, Market and Competitors
It is important to study the customer's profile and to do thorough customer research including what the
market there is for the goods and services offered by your customer. Sales representatives, who understand
their customers, are in a better position to identify their customer's problems and to build up trust between
the parties. Then, the current customer's challenges can be effectively addressed during the sales meetings
(Dalrymple and Cron, 1999, 386).
For the sales representative it is crucial to discover customer personality traits early on. If the customer is
task oriented or relationship-oriented, being well informed gives the sales representative the chance to
adjust his/her selling style to the customer. Awareness about possible obstacles eases the sales process
significantly because it enables a friendly atmosphere during the sales meeting, which improves the
chances of a positive closing at the end of the sales process (Winkelmann, 2013, 357).
▪ 5.5.7 Checklist: Customer Knowledge
● Study the customer, for example, location, what products the customer is interested in, buying
habits, buying motives, or, if possible, financial status and credibility (Guenzi and Geiger, 2011,p.
313).
● Find out how the customer will or could use the product.
● Try to find out how the purchasing decisions are made and who is involved.
According to Dannenberg and Zupancic (2009, p.13), during the presentation phase salespeople often
confuse “social competence with ingratiation, exaggerated friendliness or sweeping concessions, such as
discounts." Sales representatives need to find out what the worries and needs of the customers are.
Knowing about the market the customer is doing business in gives the sales representative additional
information, which helps them to tailor the product presentation towards the needs of the customer
Furthermore, it gives you - as a salesperson - an idea of how long the sales process might take.
Experienced sales representatives additionally acquire detailed knowledge of the competitors' products.
The more information you have about the competitors and their products, the better you can identify the
benefits of your own product and match them during product presentation to the customer needs
(Donaldson, 2007, p.63).
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5.6 Tips
● It is a common error for salespeople to focus on features. Sometimes to the point of confusing the
client rather than focusing on benefits. Benefits should always match the pain/problem or have an
emotional appeal.
● Really try to understand the component parts of the buying process and then, practise, practise,
practise, so that you can focus on listening without worrying about the process.
● Always focus on solving the customers ‘pain’ or ‘problem’.
5.7 Summary
It is important to do your research before you visit your customer, especially for the first time. You are not
expected to know all the answers about them or their company, however you should be aware that they
may be interested in your company, this is the first level of ‘qualifying’ your customers.
Small talk does not come easy to many students; however, it is important in establishing rapport and do not
focus on features unless you know for certain that the buyer fully understands them. It is much safer to
focus on benefits.
▪ 5.7.1 What you need to practise before your assessment/competition.
You should spend time and energy mastering the skills of:
● Preparing for a meeting.

● Practising describing products and services using benefits.
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Chapter 6 Cultural Aspects of International Sales
6.1 Introduction to cultural aspects in international sales
This section focusses on the cultural aspects of international sales. Not everyone thinks or acts the same.
Even although countries may be famous for stereotype actions, these vary a lot between individuals so
advice in this Chapter must be tempered with the view that situations will vary between individuals
depending on context. However, showing respect for other cultures is very important in common courtesy
and in sales.
In international business relationships the culture of sales representatives and customers are usually quite
different from each other. A mutual understanding that differences in culture are very likely to impede the
effectiveness of international sales meetings is necessary to achieve and maintain a sustainable business
relationship. Therefore, proper culture specific preparation for an international sales meeting is very
important (Donaldson, 2007, 152).
As in all sales meetings, it is essential to mirror the actions of the customer and not to assume any behaviour
simply due to the culture as even with certain cultural backgrounds, behaviour might still differ.
6.2 Recommended reading for this chapter
Some recommended reading on international sales can be seen from these following books and web links:
Deeter-Schmetz, D.R., Lauer, T.P., and Rudd, J.M., (2019). Understanding cross-cultural sales manager–
salesperson relationships in the Asia-Pacific Rim region: a grounded theory approach. Journal of Personal
Selling & Sales Management, 39(4), 334-351.
Tu, Y., (2013). A Comparison on Intercultural Business Negotiations of Asia’s Four Little Dragons.
International Journal of Business and Social Research, 3(4), 65-79.
https://commisceo-global.com/blog/tips-doing-business-asean-countries
http://www.australianbusiness.com.au/international-trade/export-markets/se-asia/top-tips-for-business-
negotiations-in-se-asia
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09557570903104032
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6.3 Cultural Aspects of International Sales: What you should know
At the end of this section you should be able to:
● Critically discuss your awareness of potential cultural differences

● Explain how you would research different cultures before going into a sales meeting
6.4 Diverging Cultural Concepts
The more a sales representative researches the culture of the customer in advance, the easier the sales
meeting and minimising the risk of offending your customer is likely to be. "The likelihood of developing
interpersonal relationships increases when salespeople are sensitive to different cultural practises"
(Tanner, Honeycutt, Erffmeyer, 2009, 353).
6.5 Gaining Customer Trust
Cultural differences in the selling process can significantly disrupt international sales meetings if either the
the customer or sales representative are not aware of their differences. Therefore, sales representatives
should learn about cultural differences in selling, while internalising the key steps of a salesmeeting (Tanner,
Honeycutt, Erffmeyer, 2009, p. 196).
6.6 Communication
Here we will examine how cultures may communicate differently.
▪ 6.6.1 Verbal Communication
When selling in an international environment, customers and salespersons usually do not speak English as
their native language. Nevertheless, English is used most frequently when selling within Southeast Asia.
Using English as the common spoken language can cause semi-invisible barriers, because non-native
English speakers may not be able to express themselves as precisely as they could in their native language.
Hence, it is crucial to always be aware of possible language related misunderstandings during sales
meetings.
Consequently, keeping the content clear, concise and concrete reduces the chances of miscommunication.
In addition, be aware of the average loudness and the tone of conversation of the environment/culture your
customer is living in (Lewis, 2002, p.131).
Intercultural communication problems impede the efficiency of communication between the sales
representative and the customer. This leads to misunderstandings and can cause a significant amount of
frustration on both sides.
Interruptions are common in Eastern Southeast Asian and Mediterranean countries, where the participants
of a sales meeting are comfortable, when several people talk at once and sometimes interrupt each other.
On the other hand, interruptions are likely to not give a good impression in Austria, Germany, Finland or in
the UK.
▪ 6.6.2 Non-Verbal Communication Style
ASEAN culture is incredibly focused around etiquette and polite exchange, deeply entrenched with
longstanding cues of non-verbal communication that itself can carry even more meaning than spoken word.
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According to Finlay (2018), non-verbal communication style in ASEAN countries can be exemplified in the
following.
Greeting
The western practice of handshaking is acceptable and will often do so to make Westerners feel more
comfortable, but a tradition that has permeated into all aspects of 21st century culture particularly in
Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam is the “Wai”. Used when greeting one another, to say
goodbye, or show respect, gratitude, or apology, the hands are placed together in prayer and raised
upwards towards the face, while the head lowers in a slight bow and the eyes are lowered.
The feet
Traditionally, ASEAN people consider feet to be the lowest and filthiest part of the body. As such, pointing
your feet at another person or sacred item – such as a statue of the Buddha – is considered extremely
disrespectful especially in Buddhist countries (e.g., Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam).
This is something of added importance for foreigners, who are often accustomed to crossing their legs while
seated and are not usually aware of the direction in which their crossed foot is pointed. It is also considered
rude to put your feet up on a table or other surface, and like many ASEAN cultures, it is nearly universally
required to take your shoes off before entering a home, business, or even the local store.
The head
Conversely, the head is the most sacred place on the human body and like many cultures of Southeast
Asia, it is forbidden to touch someone on their head. This is particularly true for children. A child’s “Kwan”
[Thai word] or individual spirit, is not strong enough to be touched, and some ASEANs believe the child
could become ill or experience nightmares if this taboo is broken. Because of this respect for the Kwan, it
is also considered rude to stand over someone older and therefore wiser than yourself. While a person may
be physically taller and naturally have their head “over” another, ASEAN people will lower their head when
passing or interacting with those older or superior to themselves.
Walking
ASEAN value quiet and low-impact steps, a behaviour especially trained among young ASEAN girls who
are taught to put their body weight on their toes and walk slowly. Traditionally, this method could have been
important to help make wooden and bamboo floors last longer and while today it is not as scrutinized,
humble and peaceful steps are valued among members of society.
Pointing with finger
Pointing solely with the index finger, common among Western cultures, is used only during an argument.
Otherwise pointing is reserved for addressing inanimate objects, and even then, is it more polite to point
with your entire hand rather than a single finger. To indicate another person, ASEAN people will lift their
chin slightly in their direction.
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Throwing things
Tossing any item – especially money – is considered extremely rude. ASEANs expect others to take the
time to respectfully hand items over properly, either with both hands or with the right hand. Money should
be unfolded when handing over in payment.
▪ 6.6.3 Values and Norms
Values and norms differ from country to country. What is acceptable in one country might be unacceptable
behaviour in another. Even within Southeast Asian countries, differences can be significant and can cause
sales deals to fail.
▪ 6.6.4 Dealing with Europeans
Europe is not one homogenous country, some cultures, such as the UK, have a high percentage of atheists,
agnostics or humanists, and some countries are predominantly Catholic or Protestant. There is a high
degree of tolerance between religion and humanist practices, however, it is best to avoid religious
discussion or phrases (such as ‘bless you’) in any conversation with customers.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘bumping elbows’ or imaginary handshakes were deemed to be
acceptable, and humorous, greetings.
▪ 6.6.4 Concept of Time
Agreeing on the timeframe of the sales meeting (when arranging the visit or at the latest during the
introductory phase of a sales meeting) is a prerequisite for success. Cultural differences in viewing time,
timeframes and punctuality have the potential to cause culturally related problems and misunderstandings.
▪ 6.6.5 ASEAN views on punctuality
Punctuality is so important. When making business connections in ASEAN countries, make sure you keep
an eye on the clock while you are getting ready for your meeting because your ASEAN business associates
will do so. Punctuality may not be the first in the line when it is considered in the frame of daily life of some
ASEAN countries like Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and the Philippines but it is in business. Never
be late, never make people wait in ASEAN.
▪ 6.6.6 Punctuality in Europe
A key concept of sales is trust, and trust involves reliability. Being on time in Europe is a method of
demonstrating reliability. European buyers expect sellers to be on time, and certainly no longer than five
minutes late. Ideally, you should be a few minutes early as they may have back-to-back meetings. You may
have driven a long way for a meeting, however a buyer may either cut your time with them or perhaps not
see you at all if you are late. If you are thinking you may be running late you should immediately phone
ahead to check if it is still appropriate to turn up. It may be better to rearrange rather than only have a few
minutes with the buyer if they are short of time.
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▪ 6.6.7 Dress in Europe
The standard of acceptable attire varies within business sections. For example, creative and some software
industries tend to dress less formally. Ties and suits are less fashionable than in the past, however, may
still be relevant depending on the formality of the client. Some clients have ‘dress-down’ days, and some
keep a change of clothes in the office in case of visitors or going out to visit. When in doubt check out the
dress code before visiting. You are representing your company so consider what would give the best
impression of the business and yourself.
6.7 Tips
Communication tips
● try to avoid slang words.
● avoid words which are likely to be unfamiliar to the customer, this may include ‘technical’ jargon.
● adjust your presentation speed to be clearly understood.
● adjust the tone and volume of voice to your counterpart.
● adjust your vocabulary to the skills of your customer.
● Follow up with written email of what has been agreed and ask for clarity if it is not correct.
● Remember to smile and listen.
Personal presentation tips
● Wear appropriate clothes for the event you are attending, for example casual jeans do not look good
in a SEASAC competition. Remember the saying - You never get a second chance at a first
impression!
● Wear clothes suitable for the weather.
● Ensure that you present yourself as clean, fresh, and prepared.
Punctuality tips:
● Please ensure that you are on time as advertised for all parts of the competition.
● Make contact if you are going to be unavoidably late (telephone or text), for example if your car breaks
down and there is no public transport operating.
6.8 Summary
With different cultures there are different understandings of socially accepted forms of behaviour. This can
lead to business difficulties as you may mistakenly offend your customer. Even within the same culture it is
possible to accidentally offend someone. Demonstrating genuine empathy, self-awareness and credibility
you are more likely to be accepted across differing cultures.
6.8.1 What you need to practise before your assessment/competition.
You need to practise:
● Positive body language

● Awareness of other peoples’ cultural positions
● Dressing appropriately for business
● Timekeeping
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Chapter 7 Preparing for the International Sales Meeting
7.1 Introduction to preparing for the international sales meeting
Preparing for your sales meeting, whether it be in a competition or in day-to-day business can mean the
difference between success and failure. You should do sufficient research to ensure you have targeted both
the ‘right company’ and the ‘right person’ within the company. The ‘right person’ may be the buyer, or
perhaps the person who recommends you to the buyer, or even the Head of a buying team. In any event
at some point in the sale meeting you should establish the buying process (what it is, who is involved,
timescales).
7.2 Recommended reading for business meeting preparation
Some recommended readings on business meeting preparation can be seen from these following books
and web links:
Lent, R.M., (2015). Leading Great Meetings: How to Structure Yours for Success. The 1st Edition. Stow,
MA: Meeting for Results [Chapter 1: How you define the work of the meeting; Chapter 3: How you design
the discussion; Chapter 4: How you intend to reach decisions; Chapter 5: How you plan to spend meeting
time; Chapter 6: How you arrange the meeting space; Chapter 7: One plan to manage all].
Massimilian, D., (2016). How to Lead an Effective Meeting (and get the results you want), 1st Edition,
Dallas, TX: Massimilian [Chapter 1: Preparation; Chapter 3: Agenda; Chapter 4: Delivery; Chapter 5: Follow
Up].
https://www.inc.com/kevin-daum/7-critical-ways-productive-people-prepare-for-meetings.html
https://hbr.org/2015/03/a-checklist-for-planning-your-next-big-meeting
https://www.introhive.com/resources/how-to-prepare-for-client-meetings/
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At the end of this chapter you should be able to:
● Explain what you need to prepare for your meeting.

● Prepare a presentation.
● Consider a range of objections and make plans to overcome them.
7.4 Question Preparation
Here we introduce the concept of asking questions during a sales meeting. A common failing within sales
meetings is the inability to ‘listen’ so when you are considering your range of questions you should also
think about the techniques to support active listening. We will discuss this in Chapter 11.
The number of questions which you should prepare for the sales meeting varies depending on the
knowledge you have about the customer, the sales meeting time frame and the proposed product/service
you are offering. Identifying customer needs can be done by applying the SPIN-selling© method, which is
detailed in this manual. This is a conversation/listening technique; a specific way of asking questions which
is very helpful in moving the sale towards a successful conclusion.
The SPIN-selling© technique will be explained in more detail and the reader will learn what kind of questions
sales representatives should ask a customer. Being ready to ask the right questions during a sales meeting,
significantly increases the chance of success.
● Prepare questions which you are going to ask during the sales meeting and your product
presentation by using your fundamental research about your customer.
● Avoid rhetorical questions, which are questions where you think the answer is obvious.
● Avoid "why" questions because they demand for justification and might make the customer feel
uncomfortable. Instead sales representatives should use the word "how" (Heim and Sanchez, 1999,
p. 235). However, asking ‘why’ something is important may, in certain instances, reveal that the
customer really has another underlying need. You are not asking ‘why’ for justification but being
inquisitive.
Questions provide a source of material for a meaningful dialogue with the client and an opportunity to
demonstrate your interest in them.
7.5 Product Presentation Preparation

Strong product presentations require sophisticated presentation skills, knowledge of the product and the
ability to integrate the customer into the presentation.
▪ 7.5.1 Devising a presentation
You should aim to be developing a precise presentation by tailoring the benefits of your product to the
customer.
The acquired knowledge about the product, company, customer and market introduced in this manual, form
the foundation of a strong product presentation. Under all circumstances, sales representatives should
avoid presenting only the features of the proposed product or service. Customers want to hear how the
product/service can benefit them.
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Applying all the acquired customer knowledge by tailoring the benefits of your product to the needs of the
customer is crucial for a powerful and convincing product presentation. Industrial customers are looking for
credibility, reliability, and responsiveness. Sales representatives need to be able to provide answers rather
than aggressiveness or persuasiveness in their approach (Hayes and Hartley, 1989, cited in Donaldson,
2007,p. 70).
In some real-life B2B cases you may be asked to ‘pitch for business’ without the opportunity of speaking
with the client. In these cases, you find similar companies where you can demonstrate having added value,
and without breaching confidences, highlight your product, savings and company values. Even when
promoting your company, focus on benefits, for example you may have branches in Europe (a feature) but
how does your customer ‘benefit’ from this?
▪ 7.5.2 Presentation Competence
While preparing for your presentation, make sure to focus on the individual benefits of the product rather
than the features of the proposed product. Practise your presentation until you feel confident with it. You
are strongly encouraged to find a partner to practise role-plays with to exercise your own selling skills.
Successful sales representatives show enthusiasm during their product presentation hence, a confident
presentation involving the buyer increases the chances of a successful business deal.
In the digital world, an increasing number of products or services can be presented by using digital media.
When you decide to use digital media during your presentation, keep the following in mind:
● If you use it, make sure to know how to use it effectively

● Make sure you know why you are using digital tools
● Is the use of digital media likely to gain the customer's trust?
● Does the product I am selling require digital media to be used?
Remember that eye contact and smiling is important in sales meetings. How much you focus on your
presentation depends on the recipient.
There are three types of common ways of taking in information. Visual, auditory and kinaesthetically (i.e.
by doing). Visual customers will prefer graphs and visual presentations, auditory customers will prefer to
listen to the benefits, and kinaesthetic customers are interested in experience. In a first meeting it is difficult
to know what type of customer is in front of you. So, you may consider such questions as “I have some
graphs here, would you like to see them?, or would you prefer me to highlight what they say?” A kinaesthetic
customer may wish to visit the premises or try out the goods. To cater for these different typesof customers
consider how you will prepare and attempt to work out their preferred way of taking in information. People
are not exclusively designed to absorb information in one way only, however by havinga choice of information
available, even if you do not use it, you will have a better opportunity of the customerunderstanding and
retaining your information.
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7.6 Preparing for Objections
An ‘objection’ is a reason why someone may not want to buy. It is rare not to experience an objection, for
even if someone wants to buy your product or service, they often want to feel they have negotiated on price
or delivery.
To become a successful sales representative, preparing for objections is very important. Most customer
objections can be anticipated, which means proper preparation for a sales meeting includes coming up with
effective and appropriate responses to the most common objections. Develop a list, which includes common
objections and ways of handling them. Chapter 8.4.3 highlights typical objections and techniques to handle
them.
▪ 7.6.1 Forestalling Objections
Once a sales representative feels prepared to appropriately respond to objections, as a second step they
can anticipate familiar objections customers often raise. To forestall is to prevent something by setting an
action ahead of time. This is recommended when products have certain limitations, which can be easily
detected by customers.
Examples: "Previous customers have raised their concern about the price of the product. Let me show you
how little it will really cost you to get the best."(Weitz, Castleberry, and Tanner 2009, 283-284).
Task-oriented customers (for example some Austrian or German customers) may demand facts and figures
and will question you about many details of your offer (Morrison and Conaway, 2007, 9). Therefore, by
studying the customer and implementing additional information into the presentation, one can anticipate
certain kinds of objections.
▪ 7.6.2 Negotiation Preparation
Before going into a sales meeting, or a SEASAC Competition you should be familiar with the principles of
negotiation. Failure to be able to negotiate or be confident can lose sales.
Please be sure to study Chapter 10 on Negotiation.
7.7 Tips
For the SEASAC competition consider using, and practising, the SPIN© question process see Chapter 8.
● Do not ‘rattle off’ (fire) questions one after another, take time to listen and think
● Do not assume the client is giving you a full answer.
● Many sales are lost because the seller is too keen to tell product features- understand and clarify
needs including explicit and implicit costs/pain BEFORE doing a product presentation.
● People often buy emotionally and justify rationally after the sale.
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7.8 Summary
It is often easy to spot when a salesperson has not prepared for a meeting. They may ask inappropriate
questions, are caught out with lack of product/competitor knowledge and generally talk for longer to cover
for inadequacies in preparation.
Be sure to practise how to:
● give confident presentations

● effectively overcome objections
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Chapter 8 International Sales Meeting
8.1 Introduction to International Sales Meetings
In this chapter you will find an overview of the typical sequence of a sales meeting process cycle. It helps
you practise the stages of a sales meeting, with feedback forms for every stage. The feedback forms are a
tool for lecturers and students to help evaluate the performance of sales students during sales meeting
role-plays. These forms allow trainers to give sales trainees immediate feedback on their sales performance
and enable a continuous improvement of their sales skills. This chapter is key to student preparation for the
sales competitions.
8.2 Recommended reading for preparation of international sales meeting
See accompanying book SEASAC Standards and Competition Rules.
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
● Describe the process of a sales meeting

● Be able to undertake a needs analysis using the SPIN© method
● Be able to handle objections
8.4 Student Preparation Checklist for International Sales Meeting
You can improve your chances of sales success on the international market by collecting information about
the culture-specific selling process of the region your customer comes from. The more the way of selling
varies from your home country, the more challenging it can be to overcome these differences.
Preparing for the sales meeting is a salesperson's/ your own responsibility and will be discussed in this
Chapter.
Firstly, it is necessary to be aware of the typical phases of a sales meeting, which can be summarised as
follows:
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Figure 4 Sales processes fig 4
This may also look like:
Strictly speaking there is no absolute right and wrong way, however missing out part of the process makes
a sale much harder. In the competition, it will also lose you points. It becomes obvious that you have
skipped important parts when you ask for the sale and if the customer then asks more questions how the
product will fulfil a need then you may realise that you have carefully listened to his/her requirements fully
or adequately matched your product benefits to the needs. In this sense you are trying to close (hence a
‘trial close’), and then may have to take a step back in the process before agreeing terms.
To achieve your goals as a sales representative, it is important to acknowledge these stages. This is a
structure of a meeting.
Keep in mind that preparing for a sales meeting will improve your performance, but there is always a chance
that a customer asks a question you cannot answer. In such situations it is important to stay calm. Assure
the customer that you will get back to him or her with the answer after your meeting, for instance because
you need to consult with your company first. If your initial sales meeting was successful, the negotiation
process typically takes place at a separate meeting.
8.5 Initial Phase of the Sales Meeting
The aim of this Chapter is to learn how to open an international sales meeting appropriately. This stage of
the meeting is often crucial for the sales representative since first impressions can already pre-determine
the outcome. Hence, language, gestures, facial expression and the salesperson's posture are key elements
during the introductory phase of a sales meeting (Weis, 2010, p.299). Try to avoid cultural
misunderstandings especially during this early stage of the meeting, since the established level of trust is
still very low.
The following aspects are useful for giving a good first impression: (Weis, 2010, p. 299)
● Dress appropriately according to the results of the research regarding your customer. A positive and
friendly appearance is likely to help build up trust that the customer puts in you.
● In Southeast Asian countries establishing eye contact while shaking hands is common (this also
applies in Europe).
● Try to match your grip to the person with whom you are shaking hands.
● Be polite to your customer, even if the customer is not.
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● Ask for permission to sit down.
● Exchange your business cards.
● Keep your introduction short and precise while using positive language as well as positive.
● Be self-aware of gestures and facial expressions.
According to Going Global (2020), doing business in Southeast Asia is an interesting and eye-opening
experience. Business culture in this area is quite different from that of the West, and there are certain
customs and expectations that businesspeople over here are expected to follow to keep their
clients/customers happy. Here are our top tips for doing business in Southeast Asia.
Business Cards
Business cards are incredibly important in Southeast Asia. It is essential to always have at least 20-30
business cards with you, because if you meet a big group of people, or attend an event where you are
hoping to make contacts, the giving of the business card is the most important part of the encounter.
Normally, you will meet someone, and conduct the appropriate greeting, and then straight away, business
cards will be exchanged. Asians give their business card with both hands, so that the writing is facing
towards the receiver, and bow their heads slightly. It is a good idea to do the same back to them. Do not
put the card away after receiving it. If you are sitting down, place it on the table in front of you for the duration
of the encounter, and pack it away when you get up to shake hands. If you are standing, hold it in your
hands.
Students entering international competitions in person and mixing with European students are strongly
recommended to have a LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) profile.
Face Matters
Face is one of the most important aspects of Asian culture, and business is no different. Firstly, it is
incredibly important to never cause anyone to lose face. If you have a problem with something they have
done, pull them aside and speak to them in private. Never, ever lose your temper – make points gently and
fairly, beginning and ending with a compliment where possible. Secondly, if you are looking to close a deal,
it is integral to meet your clients or customers face-to-face, and often the meeting will not be short. You may
find yourself drinking with them far into the night. The next day, you may feel that perhaps it was not such
a good idea, but when you get that signed contract because of it, we expect you will change your mind!
Face and the Europeans. Europeans and other westerners are likely to be assertive and are likely to ask
direct questions, however, this does not mean that ‘face’’ is not important to them. They blame the ‘boss’
or spouse for not making an answer as they may not want to say ‘no’. It is always a good idea to ask what
the sales buying decision process is, so that you know you are dealing with the decision maker and cannot
be ‘put-off’. Whilst the concept of face is not openly discussed, it is recognised that no-one wants to ‘look
stupid’ and therefore whilst it is fine to ask a direct question, it should not be one that can make the person
look small or insignificant. Asking for a sale is acceptable, done with a smile on your face.
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The ‘Yes’ Factor
In Asia, it is not common to hear “no” to anything. Business culture in Southeast Asia is nowhere near as
direct as it is in the West. It is important to give the people you are (or are hoping to) doing business with,
a way out. If you ask them for a yes or no answer, you will hardly ever get a no. But if you get silence, a
hesitation, or sometimes even a yes, the answer can often be no. It can be frustrating but remember that it
is just as difficult for them when you try to be direct with them. You are in their country, their culture, and it
is necessary to conduct business in the manner that suits them.
Connections
Connections and networks matter everywhere, but nowhere are they more important than in Southeast
Asia. Many businesspeople find that it is not during the day, but during the evening, upon attending social
events, that they make their most important business contacts, and sometimes even strike crucial deals.
You may find that upon calling up a company without any contacts, you will not hear back from them again,
but as soon as you say that you know someone’s senior boss, you will get that return phone call or e-mail
and quite likely a meeting.
Titles
Asians are not particularly interested in speaking with low-ranking members of a company. If you are not
as yet senior in your company, you may consider adjusting your title to include manager or CEO or
something that sounds quite important (of course, clear this with your manager first). This will greatly aid
your encounters and boost willingness to do business with you.
Paying The Bill
In Southeast Asia, it is usually the boss, the head of the table, the eldest (or perhaps someone who is all
three) who pays the bill. It is considered an honour for them to do so, so insisting on taking the check is
considered quite rude. Allow them to pick up the tab and thank them graciously for it.
In Europe it is normally the seller who picks up the bill, unless there are strict company rules by the buyer’s
organisation that forbid this, in which case the bill may be split.
▪ 8.5.1 Business cards in Europe
Do not be surprised if a European plays little regard to your business card. If they are interested in learning
more about you they will look you up on Linkedin. At networking events, you might be asked to exchange
Linkedin contacts. In Europe this network is heavily used by recruiters and as a pre-screening method. It is
important to have a recent complimentary photo, an ‘elevator pitch” (insert link back to elevator pitch) and
achievements. At the time of writing LinkedIn is the most common business-to-business exchange forum.
You would normally send an invite before (but after the meeting has been arranged) or after the meeting.
You may say at the meeting “Are you on Linkedin? I will send you my contact details.” Alternatively, when
you leave the meeting, you send a contact request very soon after.
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8.6 Small talk
When you meet your customer for the first time you should greet her/him with a culturally specific, post-
COVID-19 pandemic greeting, whether this is online or in person and with a genuine smile. The amount of
small talk depends on culture and time available. Do not launch into a sales pitch, after the small talk, you
can state the reasons why you are here and may ask for agreement on how to proceed.
Religion, politics and income are among the conversation topics sales representatives should avoid in sales
meetings throughout the world, as you build rapport with your customer. Students in competition have so
much to think about and are often nervous, however some correctly timed small talk helps put everyone at
ease. Too long and you have less time to listen to the customer, too short and you have not built up rapport.
Some countries like more small talk, some less. The following example shows a possible culture-specific
appropriate way to gain customer trust. For example, in the U.K. a popular conversation topic is ‘the
weather’.
❖ Establishing customer trust in Italy can take a long time and might even mean becoming friends with
the customer.
❖ Explain the purpose and secure timetable of the meeting.
❖ Find the right moment to make the transition to get down to business. Make sure that the proposed
meeting time is agreed on by your customer. You could then ask: “How does that sound to you?”
❖ “This meeting is going to last 20 minutes, is this okay for you?”
❖ Explain the reasons and the target for your meeting before you move into the needs identification
stage (perhaps ask, if that was okay also).
❖ After gaining commitment from the customer to continue, smoothly transit into the need identification.
You could say: “Thank you, in order to find out if we can help you in your business with our offer, I
would like to continue by getting to know your business better.”
❖ This leans into the ‘situation’ questions, part of the SPIN needs identification process.
According to Santander Trade Market (2020), as the first meeting usually serves the purpose of establishing
rapport, important decisions are only made in subsequent meetings. Small talk in ASEAN countries is
expected before meetings and it is considered rude to directly delve into negotiations.
8.7 SPIN © - Needs Identification
In order to identify customer needs, the SPIN-selling © technique was chosen, because this popular method
is widely used in sales meetings around Southeast Asia. This technique, developed by Neil Rackham in
1988, helps the sales representative to assess the needs of the customer and tailor the product presentation
towards the demands of the customer. 'S' stands for ‘Situation’ questions, 'P for ‘Problem’ or ‘Pain’
questions, 'I' for ‘Implementation’ questions and 'N' for ‘Need-Payoff’ questions. Figure 5 below gives an
overview of the SPIN-selling© technique, which when applied correctly, enables you to obtain a clear
understanding of the customer's situation. This gives the salesperson the chance to customise the product
presentation later in the sales meeting to the observed customer needs.
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▪ 8.7.1 Situation Questions
By asking open-ended questions about the customer's current situation, you can determine relevant facts
about the company the customer is representing. The goal is to build a foundation, before presenting any
new product or service (Heim and Sanchez, 1999, 198). Situation questions are the least powerful SPIN -
questions and should always be expressed in the present tense.
Try to keep these questions to a minimum, since you should have researched the customer profile during
your preparation for the meeting. The more sales experience you have, the less situation questions you
should ask (Rackham/DeVincentis, 1988, 69). Prepare carefully and make sure you only ask those situation
questions, which enable you to proceed in your sales meeting.
Figure 5 SPIN-selling technique ©(Rackham/DeVincentis,1988)
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Examples of Situation questions
● Who is involved in the decision-making process in your company? How many people are
involved? (this lets you know the next stages of the sale).
● How many employees do you have compared to last year? Why did the number
increase/decrease? (or a relevant question to your product).
● How is your current order situation in comparison to your competitors? (maybe classified nosey in
some cultures, gentler, are you doing well?).
● Who are your customers? (for example, Businesspeople? Families?).
● What are the criteria you will base your purchasing decision on? (lets you know whether you can
tailor your product to customers criteria).
▪ 8.7.2. Problem Questions
Continue the SPIN-selling© process by uncovering the problems, difficulties or dissatisfactions the
customer is currently facing, by asking problem-focused questions. These should help to uncover latent
customer needs.
Examples of 'Problem questions' (Rackham, 1988, 70)
● What kind of challenges do you currently face with any of your suppliers?
● How satisfied are you with the quality of their product/service?
● How satisfied are you with the price--performance ratio?
● Which part of the system creates errors?
● What makes this operation challenging/difficult?
● What kind of challenges are you facing with the current application?
You can create your own pain problems that suit your product offering.
▪ 8.7.3 Implication Question
Whenever a customer does not see the significance of the problem he is facing, implication questions are
very helpful, they reveal what will happen to the company if the mentioned problems continue or change
for the worse.
Examples of 'Implication questions':
● What effect do these problems have on your output?

● How would it affect your project, were there delivery delays?
● Could this lead to increased costs?
● Is this significant enough to slow down your expansion?
● What effect/impact does poor quality of the product/service have on your customer satisfaction?
Try to quantify the ‘pain cost’ of the problem in order to present a cost-effective solution.
▪ 8.7.4 Need-Pay-Off questions
Need pay-off questions are the most powerful questions and the most difficult to ask. When asking need
pay-off questions, the customer is asked to talk about the usefulness of a future solution.
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Examples of 'Need-pay-off questions' (Rackham,1988, 82):
● Why is it important to solve this problem?

● How would solving this problem help?
● What benefits do you see?
It is recommended that during this phase of the meeting you take some notes, however still trying to
maintain eye contact. If you are unclear, ask questions of clarification. Nod and show understanding.
8.8 Tips - SPIN©
● Do not be so focussed on your list of questions that you do not listen to the answers- the answers
may lead onto unscripted questions that give you a greater insight to the customers' unmet needs.
● Practise bridging the questions so that they naturally fall together.
● Take notes of key points.
● Try to estimate the value of the customer's pain or the value in what they would like to gain.
● Work out the key variables that may be needed for negotiation, e.g. speed of delivery, cost saving,
outsourcing costs, improved customer USP, etc.
● Summarise what you have heard and get agreement that this is correct.
● Practise flowing into the presentation phase.
8.9 Presentation Phase of the Sales Meeting

Donaldson (2007, 68) refers to the presentation stage as the following: "The ability of the salesperson to
make effective presentations in line with customer's needs makes the difference between success and
failure in selling." Accordingly, the correct needs identification is an essential step, but not sufficient to be
able to satisfy/exceed the customer's expectations.
A strong product presentation requires:
● sophisticated presentation skills,

● knowledge about the product, and
● their ability to integrate the customer (and their needs) into the presentation.
To bring your presentation to perfection, practise it until you feel confident with the product. In addition,
tailor your product presentation towards the expressed needs of your customer. Persuasively match the
features of your product with the customer's problems and present only problem-solving benefits for the
customer.
▪ 8.9.1 Present Benefits instead of Features and Involve the Customer in the Presentation
For a successful product presentation, it is essential to present individual benefits adapted to the customer's
needs, which you discovered during the ‘needs assessment’, rather than just presenting features. A feature
could be for instance that the product (for example some software) comes with value-added services, such
as a service hotline. The individual benefit for the customer might be that the customer wants to take
workload from their IT staff and by using the 24/7 service hotline the software users could solve possible
questions without contacting their own IT department.
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Presenting benefits and involving the customer can be achieved by using professional and appropriate
visual aids. They help to intensify and reinforce your presentation of the reasons to buy as well as the
product benefits.
Prepare your presentation by including any of the following tools (cf. Weitz, Castleberry, and Tanner 2009,
p. 254-264).
● verbal tools such as stories and humour, though be careful with the content of this.
● visual tools such as product demonstrations, graphics, charts and media to display images.
● handouts to help customers remember key facts.
● value analysis to quantify the solution.
Decide on the appropriate visual aids tool depending on your research about your customer prior to the
sales meeting. Examples include pen presentation, product folder, and tablet presentation.
While trying to involve the customer in the presentation, always keep the following in mind: The toughest
customers are usually not the ones who raise their voices or have a list of seemingly endless complaints.
The challenging ones are rather the quiet customers, who do not object, do not question and then often do
not buy (Weitz, Castleberry, and Tanner, 2009,p. 300). If the meeting and the presentation does not go well
and questioning your potential customer reveals irreconcilable differences between you, a professional
retreat is then inevitable.
▪ 8.9.2 Gain Agreement through Trial Closes during Product Presentation
As soon as the sales representative feels that the presentation might already have convinced the customer,
they should take the initiative to close the sale. For a sales representative it is crucial to recognise signs
indicating that the customer is ready to buy. Customers often reveal non-verbal or verbal signs, showing
willingness to buy.
Such buying signs can be diverse, including the following (Buhr et al., 2011, p. 165).
● Your customer is actively looking for advantages the product can offer.
● Your customer asks questions concerning the execution of the contract, delivery times, or the
service package.
● Non-verbal signs, such as head nodding or the customer bending forward and opening his/her
arms and hands, can reveal strong interest in the product.
Gaining agreement through trial closes can be achieved, by asking closed questions after the presentation
of a set of benefits to the customer. Trial closing is a process that helps to determine if the customer is
already willing to buy. The goal of the question is to receive a "Yes" commitment. Only then should the
sales representative move on to close the sale (cf, Donaldson, 2007, p. 68).
Examples on how to gain agreement through trial closes:
● Ask a question using an "if/then" scenario.

● "How do you feel about what I've said so far?"
● "How does all of this sound?"
● "Am I still making sense?"
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▪ 8.9.3 Closing of the Initial Sales Meeting
As soon as a sales representative feels that the presentation has convinced the customer, they should take
the initiative to close the sale. If the sales representative misses the opportunity to ask for commitment from
the customer, because they are too busy presenting the product, they will probably lose the sale
(Donaldson, 2007,p. 70).
Make sure to summarise the product benefits confidently and persuasively at the end of the product
presentation. This is important because only customers, who are convinced of the value of the product they
are about to acquire, will become or remain your customers (Buhr et al,, 2011, p.161). In this context it is
essential to be patient and to avoid pressuring the customer by trying to close too soon.
▪ 8.9.4 Handling Objections
It is very common that customers raise concerns or bring up objections at any point during your sales
meeting. Here it is essential to keep the following in mind (cf. Weitz, Castleberry, and Tanner, 2009, p. 278;
Buhr, 201, p. 141).
● Objections are feedback, which show the interest of the customer.

● Objections are opportunities instead of rejections.
● Sales representatives should encourage customers to voice their concerns because the worst type
of objection is the one the customer refuses to reveal, since a hidden objection cannot be dealt with.
● Having a positive attitude towards objections is crucial in becoming a successful sales
representative.
● Always invite objections, refrain from arguing or contradicting and never take objections Personally.
● Allow the customer to fully state his objection and refrain from interrupting him by listening closely,
as if you had never heard this objection before.
● Repeat the objection in a shortened form.
▪ 8.9.5 Types of Objections
Some of the most common objections are highlighted below. Sales representatives should prepare
responses to the objections, which have the aim of resolving customer objections (Weitz, Castleberry, and
Tanner, 2009, p. 280-284).
Objections related to Needs:
● "I do not need your product."

● "I've never done it that way before."
● "We always do it like that."
Objections related to the Product:
● "I don't like the product or service features."

● "I don't understand."
● "I need more information."
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Objections related to the Source:
● "I'm not sure I can trust your company."

● "I don't think your company is capable of handling this deal."
Objections related to Time:
● "I'm just not interested today."

● "I need time to think about it."
Other Objections you might hear:
● "I prefer to do business with German-owned firms."

● "We have no room for your line."
● "There is no demand for your product."
● "Sorry, but I don't do business with women."
● "I've heard complaints from other companies who use your product."
● "Sure, we can do business. But I need a little kickback/extra to make it worth my time and trouble.”
● "I believe we might be able to do business if you are willing to start meeting me in a more social
setting.”
● "It's a lot of hassle in paperwork and time to switch suppliers."
Objection related to the Price:
● "The product seems very expensive."

● "This year's budget has already been negotiated."
● "The value does not exceed the cost."
To increase your overall sales, you should avoid price discussions during early stages of a sales meeting.
In this context, a possible response could be asking for further specification on what the customer is looking
for to develop a customised offer (which includes the price).
Objections are resolved in a step by step process:
1. When you are not sure that you understood the objection, start by clarifying the objection.
2. Acknowledge the concern.
3. Treatment: Prove experience in solving exactly the concern brought up, followed by the objection
treatment.
4. Ask for verbal confirmation from the customer that the objection has been resolved.
Clarify the objection
Ensure that you understand the concern or objection of the customer by asking questions such as "'Do I
understand you correctly that you are concerned about the sustainability of our production process?" "'DoI
understand you correctly that you cannot make a decision merely based on looking at my product folder?"
Objections are classified as unsatisfied needs or excuses. It is vital for the sales representative's success
to unmask excuses, which are concerns that hide the customer's true objections. The tone of voice or the
nature of the reason may reveal that the customer is not stating a serious objection, but an excuse. Since
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a salesperson cannot be sure about the nature of the objection, a follow-up question might reveal if the
concern is real.
Examples:
Customer: "I wish it came in green."
Sales representative: "If it came in green, would you buy it?"
If the customer's answer is "Yes", the objection is real, otherwise it was an excuse.
To become a successful sales representative, it is essential to discover the true objection before offering
what you think is a solution (Weitz, Castleberry, and Tanner, 2009, p. 287).
2. Acknowledge the concern
Objections should always be treated seriously. Real objections might appear irrational to the sales
representative, but they are always logical to the customer. In such a situation, sales representatives should
show real concern for the problems of the customer, and they should help, counsel and advise the customer
in their interest. Once customers realise that concerns are treated seriously, buyers become more
comfortable raising objections. The more they trust sales representatives, the more honest and the stronger
the business relationship can become (Weitz, Castleberry, and Tanner, 2009, p. 278).
Examples:
"I'm glad you mentioned that, Mr. Customer."
"I can see what you mean. I'd probably feel the same way."
"If I were purchasing this product, I'd also want an answer to that question."
3. Address the objection
Above all, always tell the truth during the sales meeting, especially during objection treatment, because
there is an absolute necessity for dignity, confidence and relationship development.
Once you are sure that you understand the objection, there are several ways of how to react to the objection.
Below you find seven possible ways of reacting to an objection.
If the customer has made a factually incorrect statement, use direct or indirect denial to respond to it. In
direct denial the sales representative makes a relatively strong statement to indicate the mistake the
customer has made.
Example:
Customer: "I'm not interested in doing business with you. Your company was involved with fraud not too
long ago."
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Sales representative: "I'm not sure where you heard that, but it is simply not true. Our company has not
been involved in such activities. Our record is clean. If you would like to tell me your information source, I'm
sure we could clear this up."
Since customers do not like to be told that they are wrong, most of the time indirect denial is more
appropriate to tell someone he/she is not correct.
Example:
Customer: "Your machines break down much more often than most of your competitors."
Sales representative: "I can see why you would think that. 10 years ago, that statement would have been
correct. However, our new quality assurance program has changed that. Just last year Syncos Rating, a
well-known independent quality evaluator, has rated us as number one in our industry for the fewest
breakdowns" (Weitz, Castleberry, and Tanner, 2009, p. 288-290).
The fourth objection treatment method is called the referral method. Sales representatives come up with
example, where customers realise that their initial opinion about a product was incorrect (Nichols, 2004
cited in Weitz, Castleberry, and Tanner, 2009, p. 293).
When applying this objection treatment method, the correct order of the objection treatment, as pointed out
in bold in the listed example, is vital (Weitz, Castleberry, and Tanner, 2009, p. 293).
In the revisit method, also called the boomerang method, the sales representative turns the objection into
a reason to buy the product.
Example:
Customer: "I do not think sparkling water in glass bottles would sell well in my grocery store. They are really
heavy and not very customer friendly."
Sales representative: "It is interesting you mention that. In fact, I am certain that reusable glass bottles
would fit the green image of your store and would support it in many ways. Also, when there is a deposit
on your glass bottles, customers are very likely to become regular customers, because they will always
bring their empty bottles back to your store."
The acknowledge method is important when customers are just letting off steam about a situation they do
not like. The best way to act is to let the customer talk, then acknowledge that you have heard the concern
-[pause)- and move on to another topic. Try to avoid using this method by finding out if one of the other
objection treatment methods can be applied (Weitz, Castleberry, and Tanner, 2009, p. 294).
Example:
Customer: "Don't you use trains in your promotion of the new event? I hate trains, they are always late.
Why can't they keep to their scheduled timetable?”
Sales representative: "I understand your concern. I have commuted on trains for quite a while in the past
and so I know what you are talking about. [Pause] Where were we? Oh, yes, I was just about to explain our
voucher system to you ..."
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During early stages of a sales meeting customers might come up with objections the sales representative
does not want to treat right away, because they prefer to answer it later during his/her presentation. In such
a situation the sales representative can use the postponing method by asking the customer for permission
to answer the question later.
Example:
Customer [very early in the meeting] ะ "How much does the software package cost?"
Sales representative: "I would prefer to answer that question in a few minutes. I really cannot answer that
question until I learn more about what kind of programmes and features you are looking for. Is it okay for
you if I come back to your question in a few minutes?"
Most of the time, the customer will be okay with the response. If they insist on an answer, it is better to try
to answer right away, because otherwise the sales meeting might end unsatisfactorily (Weitz, Castleberry,
and Tanner, 2009, p. 294).
8.10 Confirm objection resolved
After dealing with a concern, ensure that the objection is resolved. Do not carry on with your sales
conversation unless you receive positive feedback from your customer.
Examples:
● "Did that answer your question?"

● "Does that make sense?"
● "Do you have any further questions?"
● "Do you want to come on our company tour to see our production process?"
Customer: "No, thank you that won't be necessary.”
8.11 Tips
In order to make a sale, you must not only ask questions, you need to ask the right questions, often these
are based on what the customer has replied to an earlier question, so you must listen very carefully and
seek clarification if you don’t understand.
Try to understand and clarify each stage before moving onto the next, for example if you can ascertain the
cost of not using your service is X, then anything less than x is going to be a benefit to the customer.
Keep a look out for buying signals during this phase, such as nodding and asking relevant questions.
Never assume. If a customer asks a question, rather than rushing into an answer, especially a negative
answer ask, “That’s an interesting question, why did you ask that?”
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8.12 Summary
This chapter is the core to the final assessments and SEA Sales competitions. Mastering this process helps
‘qualify’ the customer (i.e. matches them with your product/service) and makes the close or next step easier.
You need to practise these skills:
● How you will conduct a meeting and monitor your time in the meeting
● Building up your confidence and expertise in the meeting process
● Small talk and agenda setting and developing your SPIN© questions
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Chapter 9 Asking for Business and Closing the Deal
9.1 Introduction of asking for the business

This is often a difficult area for students, and during sales competitions and in real life it takes practise and
confidence.
When the business deal can be signed within one meeting or a longer sales process is about to come to
an end, the following closing strategies, soft or hard selling, will be likely to be more successful depending
on culture. There are two main ways of bringing of selling. ‘Hard selling’, this is a ‘push’ strategy and ‘soft
selling ', which is a ‘pull’ strategy. It depends on context, which is the best method, however in B2B sales,
where you are trying to establish long-term relationships the hard-sell method risks reputational damage if
you over-sell a product. You are also likely to have the customer return or complain, this is commonly called
‘buyer’s remorse’, when the customer feels they feel their purchase was unnecessary. Hard selling includes
tools such as applying time pressure and pushing for next steps. Soft selling gives the customer more
options and time on how to follow up. Poor hard-sell tactics are not commensurate with professional sales.
9.2 Recommended reading for asking for business and closing the deal
Some recommended reading for asking for business and closing the deal can be read from these
following books and web links:
Lax, D., (2006). 3-d Negotiation: Powerful Tools to Change the Game in Your Most Important Deals, The
1st Edition, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. [Chapter 12: Shape perceptions to claim
value; Chapter 13 Solve joint problems to create and claim value].
Blount, J., (2020). INKED: The Ultimate Guide to Powerful Closing and Sales Negotiation Tactics that
Unlock YES and Seal the Deal. The 1st Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [Chapter 34: Explain
your position; Chapter 35: Align on an agreement; Chapter 36: Lock it down].
https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/powerful-selling/s15-closing-the-sale-the-power-of-.html
https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/dealmaking-daily/7-tips-for-closing-the-deal-in-negotiations/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10907942_Negotiating_the_Spirit_of_the_Deal
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9.3 Asking for business and closing the deal; what you should know
At the end of this chapter you should be able to:
● Explain the difference between soft-sell and hard-sell.

● Critically analyse body language for ‘closing’ signs.
● Critically apply a range of closing methods in context.
9.4 When to ‘close’ - observation of body language
It is essential to watch the customer's behaviour and for signs they are ready to buy the product. Non-verbal
signs for willingness to buy the proposed product or service include nodding, reaching for the product,
breathing deeply, smiling in agreement Verbal signs include the direct verbal articulation of the readiness
to buy, questions concerning purchase details, customer service and warranty questions and finally the
request for references (Weis 2010, p. 311).
Ideally, your customer and you find common ground and sign a written contract. If the deal cannot be closed
at that meeting, agreeing a follow-up or agreeing on a course of action is vital. Scheduling a negotiation
meeting gives both parties time to rethink their strategies and goals. If the meeting does not lead to any
kind of result, a professional retreat is inevitable.
9.5 Types of closing
There are many types of ‘closing’ techniques. These can be tried at the ‘trial close’ part of the process and
revisited after or during the negotiation phase. You should be practised and familiar with each of the main
types of closing that we list below and be ready to use whichever is appropriate during your sales visits.
▪ 9.5.1 The ‘IF’ Close
One of the most powerful methods of closing, the IF close is when you say “If (I do whatever) then do, we
have a deal?” For example, “If I can speak to my boss and get 5% off, can we do a deal?” “If I can deliver
faster than Tuesday, will you give me the order?” “We do not normally offer any discounts but IF I can get
something off, do we have a deal?”. Essentially “IF I (match customers' needs or discount) do we have a
deal?”
This is a ‘conditional close’, i.e. you are not making any offers until the customer commits to giving you an
order. Experienced buyers may use this the other way around. Buyer “IF I place an order in the year for
10,000 units will you supply drops of 50 at the 10,000-unit price, then we have a deal?”
▪ 9.5.2 The Assumptive Close
This is a very good close when the conversation has gone well, the buyer is smiling agreeing and nodding.
You then assume that they want the product, and do not ask.
For example, you say “I am pleased that you like our products and you have told me that you need new
supplies next week, how many would you like?” In several circumstances this works well, however the
rapport must be high and the buying signs should be strong.
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▪ 9.5.3 The Ask Close
Straightforward, and clear, it is simply “How many would you like?”. Other examples are “Can we agree this
now?”, “Can we do business on that basis?”, “Can we agree this deal?” At this stage, the customer should
say ‘yes’ or bring out an objection for you to overcome.
▪ 9.5.4 The Alternative Close
The Alternative Close is when you present a choice of ‘two alternatives’ both of which you can supply.
Examples are: “We can offer you Plan A service, or Plan B service, which one would you like?”,
“Would you like the black version or the red version?”
Sometimes you can use the alternative close to arrange a follow up meeting, such as ‘Would Tuesday or
Wednesday of next week suit?”, however, in some circumstances this is seen by experienced buyers as
being manipulative and ‘pushy’, an alternative may be what day this week or next would suit you, or the
assumptive close, “what is the best date for you?”
▪ 9.5.5 The Summary Close
The summary close is where you list the positive aspects of your product, some cases you may list the
negatives, however the positive list should greatly exceed the negative list and you show and/or tell this to
the client and simply ask them to agree that this is right and can you move on to the next stage (or are they
happy to give you an order).
▪ 9.5.6 The Silent Close, sometimes referred to as the ‘self-closing’ technique
This close is difficult, but effective. If you present all the product benefits showing that it has matched the
needs, then you just smile and be silent. People are not often comfortable with silence, and you should be
patient and ‘keep quiet’. The buyer will then say ‘I want this’ or raise an objection for you to overcome.
There is no loss of face, however, if rapport has been established there is a discrete signal that you are
waiting on a decision. This close takes practise, patience and self-discipline not to fill the silent space.
▪ 9.5.7 Closes - Conclusion
There are many types of methods of ‘closing’, these are some of the most common, and perhaps effective
closes. You should be experienced and skilled in them all as you may have to choose a variety depending
on context, customer and situation. You may also need to mix and match, for example, after the product
presentation, or summary close, you may simply ‘ask’ for the sale, only to be given an objection. You may
say, ‘IF we can agree a solution to this would you then buy?”
It is important that you are familiar with the main methods of closing the sale or reaching an agreement.
Remember that ‘closing’ is not always about making a purchase there and then, it can be about ‘moving
the relationship forward towards a sale’ or ‘building a long-term relationship’, however at some point the
customer has to buy otherwise the investment in time is not rewarded.
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9.6 Tips
In SEASAC you are likely to be judged on how well you ‘close’ the deal or confirm your arrangements for a
future meeting, so these closing methods should be practised.
● Salespeople often do not want to be ‘rejected’ and therefore are often reluctant to ask for the next
stage. However, think of it not as ‘rejection’ but as an opportunity for clarification on how well the
product or service fits the customer needs, and an opportunity to reframe the presentation to fit.
● A method, which should not be over-used or introduced clumsily, is the scarcity or time-limited
principle- e.g. I have only x number of these at this price as there has been a raw material price
increase, or the first ten of these are available at this price or this offer ends Friday.
● Begin with a close, for example, at the beginning of the meeting in your agenda setting, ask
permission if it is okay to have the meeting and if the product is interested would they be willing to –
(in the case of a SEASAC competition) give you a second meeting, or potentially buy the product?
So, when you reach the closing section of the sales meeting you can say ‘remember at the beginning
of this meeting you said we could have a second one, can I schedule that now?’
● Never forget to thank the buyer for the sale.
9.7 Summary
Before moving to the next section, you should be familiar with the expression ‘trial close’ and ‘close’. The
word ‘close’ can have negative connotations because ongoing relationships are never ‘closed’ however you
do ultimately need to sell products. ‘Closes’ clumsily executed can be perceived as ‘pushy’ and can hurt
relationships therefore you should have practised a range of ‘closes’ and in which context they can be used
prior to real-life or competitions.
You should be practising:
● Your observation skills and looking for buying signals.

● Different methods of ‘closing’ so they become second nature.
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Chapter 10 Negotiation of International Business Deals
10.1 Introduction to negotiation
In industries, where it is common that your negotiation partner is from another country, cultural differences
in negotiations are perceived to be low. When all negotiation partners involved are aware of their cultural
differences and/or have established a negotiation process, which works for all partners, international
business deals can take place. Hence, negotiations in very connected global industries are likely to be
similar across Southeast Asia.
Most substantial negotiation obstacles due to cultural negotiation differences occur, where negotiators are
not used to negotiating across cultures. To achieve a business deal, you must be able to interpret and
understand the arguments and reactions of the customer. This often requires time-consuming preparations,
depending on the origin of the customer and personal level of experiences in negotiating with customers
from a specific culture (Ghauri and Usunier, 2003, p. 467). However, while there may be country cultural
attitudes, how a customer behaves can also be because of how, and where, they were educated, their
biology or experience. So never fall into the trap of cultural stereotyping.
While it is common to focus on price during the negotiation stage, there are significant cultural differences
in how to achieve the negotiation goals. This section outlines the basics of negotiation and the cultural
differences that may arise during negotiation.
10.2 Recommended reading on negotiation
Some recommended readings for negotiation can be seen from these following books and web links:
Wheeler, M., (2013). The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World. The 1st
Edition, New York: Simon & Schuster. [Chapter 5: presence the mind; Chapter 6: The swings of things;
Chapter 7: Situational awareness; Chapter 8: Openings; Chapter 9: Critical Movement; Chapter 10:
Closing]
Deeter-Schmetz, D.R., Lauer, T.P., and Rudd, J.M., (2019). Understanding cross-cultural sales manager–
salesperson relationships in the Asia-Pacific Rim region: a grounded theory approach. Journal of Personal
Selling & Sales Management, 39(4), 334-351.
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Tu, Y., (2013). A Comparison on Intercultural Business Negotiations of Asia’s Four Little Dragons.
International Journal of Business and Social Research, 3(4), 65-79
https://commisceo-global.com/blog/tips-doing-business-asean-countries
http://www.australianbusiness.com.au/international-trade/export-markets/se-asia/top-tips-for-business-
negotiations-in-se-asia
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09557570903104032
By the end of this section, you should be able:
● Describe where negotiation takes place in the sales process.

● Explain the principles of negotiation.
● Be able to identify ‘tradeables’ suitable for negotiation.
● Be able to practise the skill of negotiation.
● Demonstrate cultural sensitivity during negotiation.
10.4 Cultural aspects of Negotiation
There are many differences between cultures, not just between European and ASEAN but even within each
country in the South-East Asia region. In some cases, there are differences between districts within
countries. Students are highly recommended to read Katz (2017) to gain a deeper understanding of the
major players within the ASEAN region.
There are similarities and sometimes subtle differences between the attitude and styles, the pace of
negotiation, method of bargaining, decision making and contract forming.
It cannot be assumed that a method used in one country will be acceptable in another. SEASAC students
who may travel or take part in the European Sales Competitions may lose points for discounting at a level
that may be expected in Asia. The secret is to know the business sector, identify what the normal level of
discount, if any, is offered.
Polite ‘Bartering’ i.e. exchanging a discount for a concession, such as quick payment, or volume, is an
acceptable practice in most parts of the world. SEASAC does not condone or approve of immoral practices
and many companies and governments are making these illegal. Professional sales is about developing an
honest relationship with customers, satisfying needs and making a sustainable profit. Professional sales is
not about profiteering.
10.5 Goals of Negotiations
Due to cultural differences, the customer's and the sales representative's objectives may be different. These
unconscious differences have the potential to disrupt negotiations especially in Southeast Asia; these have
been mentioned in section 10.4.
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10.6 Cultural checklists for negotiation
Cultural differences will continue to interfere and disrupt intercultural business communications (Lewis,
2002, 140), In order to minimise the risk running into cultural misunderstandings, a close analysis of any
possible problems between you and your conversation partner is essential.
The following two checklists aim to help in preparing for an initial intercultural sales meeting and during the
negotiation meeting.
Checklist: Cultural aspects during the initial intercultural sales meeting
● Study the customer's national culture to detect possible cultural hurdles.

● Evaluate the extent of the language barrier.
● Check for differences in the verbal communication style.
● Check for differences in the non-verbal communication style.
● Evaluate differences in values and norms.
● Check for differences in the valuation of time.
● Check for culture-specific dress codes.
Checklist: Cultural aspects during the negotiation meeting
● Check for negotiation style differences.

● Check for negotiation goal differences.
● Check for differences in the concept of compromise.
● Check for the value of silence during negotiations in different cultures.
▪ 10.6.1 A reminder about the ‘trial close’ and what happens with objections
According to Dannenberg and Zupancic (2009, 123), negotiations "[...] can only begin once a customer has
accepted that a product, together with all of its performance characteristics (which also include the price),
is fundamentally suitable." Hence, the buyer's objections need to be overcome first. Once the customer
shows signs of willingness to buy the product, the ‘trial closing’ technique can be used.
The trial closing is when you ask for the sale, it is called this because the customer may then raise objections
that you have to overcome. In the case where they do not raise objections, the ‘trial close’ really becomes
the ‘close’.
Most of the time negotiations take place in a follow-up meeting, giving the customer and the sales
representative time to prepare for the negotiation. Very often the sales representative creates an offer,
which provides the basis for a negotiation.
The goal of the negotiation is to develop a contract all negotiation partners can agree on, in this context,
negotiation requires slightly different skills than selling and can be subdivided into several stages, which
will be described in this manual. During negotiation preparation it is necessary to supply yourself with the
most current pricing information. Knowing your own production and sales prices and those of the
competitors is essential for successful negotiation. (Weitz, Castleberry, and Tanner, 2009, p. 297). It is
important to set objectives for the negotiation meeting and decide on a negotiation strategy, for example,
stable and aggressive, or submissive and responsive (Donaldson, 2007, p. 72).
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Developing a list of questions to ask the customer during negotiations can be very helpful.
10.7 Negotiation Meeting
Negotiations usually take place in a separate meeting, which gives both parties time to prepare for it and
establish their negotiation strategy.
In this chapter the necessary steps during a follow-up negotiation meeting are elaborated. Long-term
successful sales representatives prepare for each negotiation meeting individually.
▪ 10.7.1 Preparation of an International Sales Negotiation Meeting
The goal of this chapter is to learn how to prepare for an international sales negotiation appropriately. The
preparation should include the following (cf. Ghauri and Usunier in Ghauri and Usunier, 2003, 463-470):
● The more information you can collect about the buyer, the better. Gather professional and personal
information about the buyer or the team of buyers.
● Find out about the other parties' decision-making process.
● Study your competitors; the more you know about your competitors and the market, the better
you can prepare yourself for price negotiation.
● Obtain information about likely intercultural obstacles, which might occur during the price
negotiation.
● Define your desired outcome of the meeting.
● Define the price limit, where you are willing to agree on a deal.
● Prepare and define a walk-away option, which - even if a deal cannot be made during the price
negotiation meeting - keeps the door open for a future business contract.
Decide on your negotiation strategy and how you will react to likely strategies of your negotiation partner.
Negotiation strategies can be many, ranging from the extremely "tough" strategy, where a party starts with
a high initial offer and avoids making concessions, to the extremely "soft" one, where the negotiator grants
concessions hoping for the other party to reciprocate.
Aherman & Asherman (2001), suggest that there are four stages to negotiation.
1/ Non-task sounding (i.e. rapport building).

2/ Task- related exchange of information (i.e. gather needs information).
3/ Persuasion (i.e. exchanging views to modify each parties’ expectations).
4/ Concessions and agreement.
Asherman & Asherman (2001) suggest that Americans see persuasion as the ‘heart of the matter’ and rush
through the early stages and that there is a tendency to be more interested in logical arguments rather than
the people who are customers.
▪ 10.7.2 Stages of an International Negotiation Meeting
During the sales negotiation meeting keep the following in mind:
● Using the power of ‘silence’ often increases your negotiation strength. According to the saying
"speech is silver, silence is golden", limit your talking time and point scoring and rather listen to the
customer. Seek information by questioning the customer.
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● Analyse non-verbal communication signs and try to read your negotiation partner's body language,
in to discover the true message (cf. Ghauri and Usunier, 2003, p.475).
● Bring the negotiation process forward by summarising and drawing conclusions, such as "I hear you
are saying ..... so I feel that (Donaldson, 2007, p.73).
● Before price negotiation begins, establish the value of the product. The higher the customer
perceives the value of the product to be, the more he/she will be willing to pay for it. (Weitz,
Castleberry, and Tanner, 2009, p. 297).
● Once the discussion process is far enough advanced that you have sufficient information about the
customer, limit your presentation and rather propose solutions.
● Summarise agreed points, reflect them and make a fair and flexible proposal (cf. Donaldson, 2007,
p. 73).
The bargaining stage is usually the central stage of a negotiation meeting. As Figure 6 shows, negotiation
involves manoeuvring between the salesperson and the customer. According to Weitz, Castleberry, and
Tanner (cf. 2009, p. 297) when the customer raises a price objection, sales representatives too often quote
the lowest possible price as quickly as possible.
Before you start bargaining, determine the price gap between the two parties. When making a new proposal,
apply the negotiation strategy you decided on during meeting preparation and keep your proposal as simple
as possible.
Skilled sales representatives use many tools, which help to close the gap, e.g. by capitalising their own
performance record and emphasising the extra service, which can convince the customer of your proposed
price; offering special discounts, as long as the discount is justifiable, can trigger an agreement (Donaldson,
2007,p.73).
Especially in Middle Eastern cultures including Turkey and Greece negotiations take time and often success
is determined by how far the customer can move you away from your opening offer (Gesteland, 2003, p.
210).
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The most important stages of a negotiation meeting are listed below:
Figure 6 Basis for Negotiation (Donaldson, 2007, p. 72)
1. Presentation of the Offer
a. Determination of "price limit" (last price, where an agreement is possible) during the preparation for
the meeting.
b. Present your own performance record to establish the value of the company, the sales representative
and the product (cf. Weitz, Castleberry, and Tanner, 2009,297).
c. For example, “Our company’s references include for instance Samsung and HP, who are the leaders
on the market and put a lot of value on efficiency, which proves the competitiveness of our product.”
d. Present the offer including the price. If the buyer says the price is too high or responds with an offer
from a competitor, compare the offers and take your time to evaluate and check the comparability with
your own offer.
2. Determining the Value Gap between Customer and Sales Representative
a. The gap between the buyer's perception and your proposal can be located in perceived value, price,
service, total cost of ownership, etc.
b. At this stage, listening and asking questions, rather than making statements, strengthens your own
position.
c. Find out how far apart the value/price expectation between you and your customer is and be persistent
in doing so, for example “Do you have other quotes for similar products?”
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3. Value Enhancement
a. Convince the customer of your proposed price by:
● Arguing value-oriented, e.g. by value-building for your own product/service or introducing the "total
cost of ownership" concept.
● Capitalising your own performance record (as introduced in 1b).
● Emphasising the extra services, you offer, e.g. personal service, adjustment of payment conditions.
b. Make concessions in small steps, for example, offer special customer discounts for any of the following
reasons, but make sure you always get something in return: (Ghauri and Usunier, 2003, p. 471).
● The customer is a regular customer.

● The customer is a new customer with high potential for future business.
● Come up with a "special TOP-management price", as long as the price the customer is willing to pay
is still higher than your "limit price".
4. Closing the Deal or Retreat/Withdraw Professionally
a. If the customer shows signs that they are ready to buy, do not hesitate and close the deal.
b. If an agreement is not possible, close the meeting professionally and leave a positive impression, to
stay in touch for future business opportunities.
▪ 10.7.3 Respective power of the buyer/seller relationship
You may assume the buyer has all the power, for example in the UK powerful supermarket buyers use their
dominant position to dictate price reductions or special delivery terms. When you are in a negotiation it pays
to remember, ‘Can you sell to other customers and make more profit?’, ‘Can you spread your risk and not
be too dependent on few customers?’
10.8 Negotiation - Looking for a Win-Win
Negotiation is an important and essential skill to practise in B2B selling and important in the SEA Sales
competitions.
In any negotiation there is a balance between how much the customer values the product or service and
how much they are willing to pay for it; your role is to create value in the customer’s eyes.
Win-Win: The key to retaining profit is to create win-win scenarios. This is where the customer feels they
have a good deal and you also feel that you have a good deal.
A deal where the supplier loses money is not good for the supplier, or even the customer, as in the long
term if you make losses you will not be able to give them the quality product/service that they need.
▪ 10.8.1 Things you should not forget when negotiating:
Intangible value- if you are a supplier who has a proven reliability with the client or had a positive referral
from a trusted and respectable source by the customer, do not fail to mention this during the negotiation.
Customer’s like to buy from reliable sources, with suitable guarantees.
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If you have a long-term track record with a customer it builds trust and reliability, essential qualities to make
negotiation easier as you share a mutual understanding of boundaries and limits.
Tangible value-
Clarifying the need and how your solution is cost effective is the way to make the saving tangible. For
example, if the cost of your service is 100 and the cost of the customer’s time to do the service is 150, then
you simply need to show a saving. It may not always be as easy to show a saving, sometimes the customer
does not even know the cost of what he is doing, so you may have to provide a time-limited, perhaps cost
reduced, pilot scheme to prove your point.
Negotiation is most effective when it is combined with an obvious value-proposition and/or a ‘closing
statement’ (see Section 9 on closing).
For example:
You: “This service will cost $1000”

Client: “I can only afford $900”
You: “That’s no problem, I have this model/service X that I can do for $900 or you can have the model we
discuss for $900 plus $110 for later payment as I’ve shown you it will save much more than that, which
option would you prefer?
This is an example of the ‘alternative close’.
Another option:
You: “This service will cost $1000”
Client: “I can only afford $900”
You: “We don’t normally do discounts, however I can speak to my boss, IF I can get some discount can I
tell him we have a deal?”
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10.9 Tips for negotiations
● Remember what is valuable to your client may cost you next to nothing.
● Negotiate only once your customer concedes they would like the item!
● Give nothing without something in return, it is a win-win.
● Remember the variety of ‘closes’ that you should be using at this stage.
● Do not give away margin unnecessarily- remember the cliché, “Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity”.
● Prepare your options before going into a sales meeting (or competition!)
● Do not assume your customer wants a discount- (in a competition you are likely to be asked for
something)
● Splitting the difference between customers' prices and yours is not always the best option.
● If you must give discounts, manage expectations by offering small reductions, however, try and offer
added value. For example, 5% of extra goods does not cost you 5%.
● Use the ‘absent principal’ principle, (principal= boss, principle=chain of reasoning) which goes along
the lines of “My partner/boss/dog/manager (select the most appropriate) says I must not give any
more than X%, so can we agree on this as I don’t have the authority to go any further?
● Begin with very small concessions to manage expectations.
● When confronted with unreasonable demands, ask for an explanation, this forces customers to justify
these demands.
● Do not let your emotions get the better of you, keep calm and remain in adult-to-adult conversation.
10.9 Summary
Inexperienced salespeople often give margin away because they ‘like to be liked’, all concessions should
be given in return for moving closer to the sale. Think out of the box and what you would be prepared to
give away, never be the first to give anything away and the smaller your initial discount the more you are
managing expectations that you can only move in small increments.
Before your assessment you should be practising:

● Your negotiation techniques combined with closing methods.
● Your conversation techniques to understand ‘tradeables’, i.e. what you can trade.
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Chapter 11 Listening – possibly the hardest part of the sales process
11.1 Introduction to listening
Many sales opportunities are missed because of poor listening skills. This is an area, like much of sales,
that needs a lot of skills practise. Reading about this subject will give you a background, but only practise
will enable you to sharpen these skills. Many people think they are great listeners, but self-perceptions are
not always an external reality. So even if you think you are a ‘good listener’ then focus on this chapter to
be ‘an effective listener’. You are strongly encouraged not to skip or miss any exercises in this area, but
also to persist in developing your skills and not give up. Coaches and tutors are reminded to look at the
relevant class exercises supporting this chapter.
11.2 Recommended reading
COMER, L.B. and DROLLINGER, T., 1999. Active empathetic listening and selling success: A conceptual
framework. The Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 19(1), pp. 15-29.
Shrivastava Archana, (2014), Active Empathic Listening as a Tool for Better Communication, International
Journal of Marketing and Business Communication. Volume 3 Issue 3 & 4, pp. 13-18.
11.3 Listening- what you should know
By the end of this chapter you should be able to:
● Describe why listening is important.

● Explain the different types of listening.
● Be able to demonstrate the difference between ‘open’ and ‘closed’ questions.
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11.4 Dimensions of listening
Listening can be described as having different ‘dimensions’, these are ‘sensing and ‘processing’. The
processing of listening can on different levels. This section explains more detail on sensing, processing and
levels.
▪ 11.4.1. Sensing
‘Hearing’ is not the same as ‘listening’. We often hear people speak but do we really understand what they
are saying? We communicate sounds by speaking but we also use facial expressions and other body
language to place emphasis and give meaning. We often mistake hearing for listening. Do not assume that
when a customer is speaking that you really understand what they are saying.
▪ 11.4.2 Processing
Once you have heard the sound, you need to understand what is said. Often our processing is interrupted
as we are constantly thinking about our next question. Salespeople need to be fully ‘in the moment’, trying
to understand what the customer is thinking and feeling and emotions. This may require you to think about
whether you really understand the customer and may involve you asking some additional questions.
Ask yourself during each conversation- “Have I really understood what has been said?”, “Have I understood
the implication of what has been said?” If not, seek clarification. This is especially important when
conducting a conversation in a language that is not your native language, in order that you do not miss
opportunities to understand needs or perhaps listen for ‘closing signals’.
When you are listening, there are different levels. For example, in the ‘evaluating level’ you may be trying
to work out the meaning of what is being said. In the ‘active listening’ level you are seeking clarification of
meaning (see section on ‘open’ and ‘closed’ questions).
▪ 11.4.3 Active listening
When you are engaged with the client in active listening you are demonstrating understanding by body
language, paraphrasing, summarising and responding to what they are saying. In essence you are ‘actively
listening’ to them. This requires practise as you may be listening, however the customer needs to feel and
think that you are listening to them.
▪ 11.4.4 Empathic listening
The next level is empathic listening. Empathy is sometimes misdescribed as ‘sympathy’, however empathy
is the ability to put yourself into someone else’s shoes. Empathy is to imagine what it is like to be in their
position. A problem with empathy is ‘assumptions’, you should not ‘assume that you really know how a
customer feels, unless they tell you”. We can often be limited by projecting our views onto others.
Salespeople may think something is expensive, however you do not know for certain the customer's
perspective, the price of an expensive car may be perceived differently from someone with average income
to another with high income.
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▪ 11.4.5 Active empathic listening
The combination of active, empathic listening builds relationships and is very successful in sales. This is
called ‘active empathic listening’. This is adult-to-adult conversations, where you are able to demonstrate
genuine concern for your customer’s pain/problems, use body language effectively with the result that the
customer feels and thinks that you fully share a mutual understanding. This is easier said than done. You
should be ‘in the moment’, using reflexivity and not appear focussed on your questions, even though they
are still there needing to be asked. Those who can master this skill will be able to increase their sales ability.
11.5 Use of ‘open’ and ‘closing’ questions within the sales process
Questions support the use of building rapport, creating evaluation, understanding empathy.
An ‘open question’ is a question which demands an answer that is not a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. A ‘closed question’ is
one that demands a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer or a similar one-word or short reply.
At the start of the sale process, you are likely to build up rapport by asking open questions. An example
would be, “How are you today?”, “How are you enjoying your new role as buyer?”
In the SPIN© process you may use ‘open’ questioning for greater understanding such as “Can you explain
to me your buying process?” and “Can you tell me what the implications are if we can improve your
efficiency?”
The use of ‘closed questions’ can be effective when used at the appropriate time. “If I can provide a cost-
effective solution would you be interested?”, “Can I confirm that this is costing you x per month?”, and
“Would you like these delivered this week?”
Using ‘open’ and ‘closed' questions in the right balance combined with active empathic listening is a skill
that requires practise but is very effective in the sales process.
11.6 Tips
It can be useful to repeat some key sayings back to your customer, just to acknowledge that you have
understood them and to check your understanding.
Remember to summarise the next steps.
Do not pose questions in rapid fire, be careful to listen to the answers.
Try and link your next question to the customer's answer so that it does not sound that you are reading a
pre-prepared list of questions (you may have a list but be prepared to waiver from it should you hear
something interesting).
Page 60 of 65
11.7 Summary
Listening is not only about hearing; it is also about showing empathy and understanding. Only by doing
these can you collaborate with your customer to provide a professional solution that builds long lasting
relationships. Listening is a skill that really needs practise.
Before your assessment/competition you should be practising:
● Developing your listening skills, in particular noting how you change questions based on your ability
to actively listen to what is really being said.
● The ability to demonstrate empathy with others through listening and positive body language.
● The use of ‘open’ and ‘closed’ questions in a balanced way.
Page 61 of 65
Chapter 12 - Summary of SEASAC Coaching Manual
The sales process should be constructed between parties for it to be successful. It is a relationship, which
if successful can be rewarding for all parties concerned. Failure to understand the process or failure in
listening can lead to failure. Trying to get the balance between ‘convincing’ and not being ‘pushy’ requires
practise and relationships. If you skip parts of the process, customers may not believe that you have
effectively listened to them and not be convinced in your presentation.
To internationalise the sales process, practising the stages of a sales meeting is necessary. In order to
enhance your sales skills, it is essential to continuously work on your selling skills through role-playing with
your peers. Feel free to use the role plays and the feedback forms introduced in this chapter. Ask for
feedback from your colleagues. This manual provides cases, which you can use as the sales scenario
foundation for the role plays. Test and compare your skills while training with peers and coaches to practise
the key elements of an initial sales meeting.
Sales can be rewarding; it builds confidence, and these skills are transferable into other areas such as
leadership, management and in your personal life. Remember, that if you do not succeed it is not personal
rejection, it may just be the wrong product for the wrong person, somewhere there will be the right product
for the right person; you need to be persistent and develop resilience.
12.1 A final few words about competing in SEASAC
Please view this short video by Dr Colin Mackenzie about competing in SEASAC.
Please click bit.ly/shortvideoDrColin or scan barcode to view video
12.2 Things to reflect upon
1. “If a person you’re selling to agrees to buy, will this improve their life?
2. When your interaction is over, will the world be a better place than when you began?
If the answer to any of those questions is no, you’re doing something wrong” (Pink, 2014, p. 233).
Page 62 of 65
● Case Studies for Sales Training
● There are case studies available for university lecturers and coaches. These will help you practise
and apply the skills learned within this manual. The objective is to improve students’ competences
as a competitor at the Southeast Asia Sales Competition and moreover as a salesperson.
Therefore, you are encouraged to practice the role-playing exercises.
● Cases help to practise and apply the skills learned within this manual. You should practise your
selling skills in several roles. You can improve your skills by pairing up in groups of three students,
one acting as the salesperson, one as the buyer and one as an observer, who will evaluate the sale
performance.
● The objective of these cases is to practise initial sales meetings and follow-up sales meetings,
solely based on the information that you have at hand. The scenarios can be very diverse, and
these cases should show that the more skilled and knowledgeable you are as a salesperson, the
greater your chances are to make a quality sale.
● Being part of the role plays, either as a buyer or seller, gives you the chance to learn the sales
process and improve and optimize your selling skills. It is also helpful to compare your own team’s
performance with those of the other teams in the class.
● Coaches and tutors should see the link in the training folder.
● Case materials have been put into the coaching folder for this chapter so that it is available for the
university lecturers.
Page 63 of 65
● References
Anderson, E., and Robertson, T., (1995). Inducing Multiline Salespeople to Adopt House Brands. Journal
of Marketing, 59 (April 1995), 16-31.
Buhr, A., Christiani, A., Detroy, E.N., Fink, K.J., Fradrich, S., Kreuter, D., and Limbeck, M., (2011). Das
Sales-Master-Training: Ihr Expertenprogramm fur Spitzenleistungen im Verkauf, 2nd Edition, Gabler Verlag,
Wiesbaden, 141,161, 165.
Dalrymple, D., and Cron, W.L., (1998). Sales Management: Concepts and Cases. 6th Edition, New York:
Wiley, 386, 389.
Dannenberg, H., and Zupancic, D., (2009). Excellence in Sales, London: Springer Gabler.
Donaldson,B., (2007). Sales Management: Principles, Process, and Practice, 3rd Edition, Basingstoke and
Hants: Palgrave Macmillan, 63-64, 68-265.
Gesteland, R.R., (2003). Cross-cultural Business Behavior: Marketing, Negotiating, Sourcing, and
Managing Across Cultures, 3rd Edition, Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press, 27-342.
Ghauri, P.N., and Usunier, J-C., (2003). International Business Negotiations. 2nd Edition, Bingley, UK:
Emerald, 475.
Ghauri, P.N., and Usunier, J-C., (2003). Some General Guidelines for Negotiating International Business,
463-470, 472, In Ghauri, P.N., and Usunier, J-C., International Business Negotiations, 2nd Edition, Bingley,
UK: Emerald.
Guenzi, P., and Geiger, S., (2011). Sales Management: A Multinational Perspective, Hampshire, UK:
Palgrave Macmillan, 284, 313-320.
Hayes, H.M., and Hartley, S.W., (1989). How Buyers View Industrial Salespeople, Industrial Marketing
Management, 18(2), 73-80 Cited in Donaldson, B., (2007), Sales Management: Principles, Process, and
Practice, 3rd Edition, Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave Macmillan.
Heim, S., and Sanchez,D., (1999). The New Conceptual Selling, New York: Warner Books, 195-236.
Honeycutt, E.D., Ford, J.B., and Simintiras, A.C., (2003). Sales Management: A Global Perspective,
London: Routledge, 65-66, 128.
Lewis, R.D., (2002). When Cultures Collide: Managing Successfully Across Cultures. London: Nicholas
Brealey Publishing Limited, 115-140.
Page 64 of 65
Morrison, T., and Conaway, W.A., (2007). Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Europe. How to do Business in 25
European Countries, Avon, Mass: Adams Media, 9, 11, 238.
Nichols, M., (2004). Sell It Again, This Time with Feeling, Business Week Online, August, 30, 2004. Cited
in Weitz, B.A., and Castleberry, S.B., and Tanner, J.F., (2009). Selling: Building Partnerships, Boston:
McGraw-hill, 293.
Rackham, N., and De Vincentis, J., (1998). Rethinking the Sales Force, Hamburg: McGraw-hill, 67-82, 128-
129.
Reilly, T.P., (2010). Value-Added Selling: How to Sell More Profitably, Confidently, and Professionally by
Competing on Value – Not Price, 3rd Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 27,39.
Roman, S., and Ruiz, S., (2003). A Comparative Analysis of Sales Training in Europe: Implications for
International Sales Negotiations, International Marketing Review, 20(3), 304-327.
Tanner, J.F., Honeycutt, E.D., and Erffmeyer, R.C., (2009). Sales Management: Shaping Future Sales
Leaders. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 188-209, 353.
Weis, H.C., (2010). Verkaufsmanagement, 7th Edition, Kiehl, Herne, 299, 311.
Weitz, B.A., Castleberry, S.B., and Tanner, J.F., (2009). Selling: Building Partnerships, Boston: McGraw-
Hill, 82, 254-264, 276-304, 487.
Wignaraja, G., (2002). Firm Size, Technological Capabilities and Market-oriented Policies in Mauritus,
Oxford Development Studies, 30(1), 87-104 Cited in Roman, S., Ruiz, S., (2003). A Comparative Analysis
of Sales Training in Europe: Implications for International Sales Negotiations, International Marketing
Review, 20(3), 305.
Winkelmann, P., (2013). Marketing und Vertrieb: Fundamente fur die Marktorientierte
Unternehmensfuhrung, 8th Edition, Munich: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 357.
Zoltner, A.A., Sinha, P., and Lorimer, S.E., (2009). Building a Winning Sales Force: Powerful Strategies for
Driving High Performance, New York: AMACOM, 86, 147-171, 384.
Page 65 of 65

SEASAC Coaching Manuals - For Teachers and Students

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South-East Asian Sales Competition (SEASAC)

Colin Mackenzie; Pornlapas Suwannarat;

Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland) Bina Nusantara University (Indonesia)

Editors: Dr Colin Mackenzie and Dr Pornlapas Suwannarat.

Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................. vi

Chapter 2 The SEASAC Coaching Manual and SEASAC Rules ........................................................ 3

2.1 Introduction to the SEASAC Coaching Manual and Standards ........................................................ 3

2.2 Definitions used within this manual ................................................................................................. 3

2.3 Who is this e-book for? ................................................................................................................... 4

▪ 2.3.1 Coach/tutor access .......................................................................................................... 4

▪ 2.3.3 About Section 1 Chapters 1-13 ........................................................................................ 4

2.6 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 6

Chapter 3 Securing a sales meeting ................................................................................................... 7

3.1 Introduction to securing a sales meeting ......................................................................................... 7

3.2 Recommended reading for sales meetings ..................................................................................... 7

3.3 Sales meeting; what you should know: ........................................................................................... 7

3.4 The Sales Funnel ........................................................................................................................... 8

3.5 Use of Sales Software .................................................................................................................... 8

3.7 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 9

Chapter 4 Selling Techniques........................................................................................................................... 10

4.1 Introduction to sales techniques ................................................................................................... 10

4.2 Recommended reading on sales techniques ................................................................................ 10

4.3 Sales techniques - What you should know .................................................................................... 11

4.4 Transactional Selling .................................................................................................................... 11

4.6 Relationship Selling ...................................................................................................................... 12

4.7 Value-added Selling method......................................................................................................... 13

4.8 Tips: ............................................................................................................................................. 13

4.9 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 14

Chapter 5 Learning International Sales Skills .................................................................................. 15

5.1 Introduction to international sales skills ......................................................................................... 15

5.2 Recommended reading for International Sales ............................................................................. 15

5.3 What you should know ................................................................................................................. 16

5.4 Model for international Selling ...................................................................................................... 16

5.5 Preparation for International Sales Meetings ................................................................................ 17

▪ 5.5.1 Preparing for Sales Meeting .......................................................................................... 17

▪ 5.5.2. Acquiring Product and Company Knowledge................................................................. 17

▪ 5.5.3 Features/ Advantages versus Benefits ........................................................................... 17

▪ 5.5.4 Checklist: Product Knowledge ....................................................................................... 17

▪ 5.5.5 Checklist: Company Knowledge..................................................................................... 18

▪ 5.5.6 Acquiring Knowledge of Customer, Market and Competitors .......................................... 18

▪ 5.5.7 Checklist: Customer Knowledge .................................................................................... 18

5.7 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 19

▪ 5.7.1 What you need to practise before your assessment/competition .................................... 19

Chapter 6 Cultural Aspects of International Sales ........................................................................... 20

6.1 Introduction to cultural aspects in international sales..................................................................... 20

6.2 Recommended reading for this chapter ........................................................................................ 20

6.4 Diverging Cultural Concepts ......................................................................................................... 21

6.5 Gaining Customer Trust ............................................................................................................... 21

6.6 Communication ............................................................................................................................ 21

▪ 6.6.2 Non-Verbal Communication Style .................................................................................. 21

▪ 6.6.3 Values and Norms ......................................................................................................... 23

▪ 6.6.4 Dealing with Europeans ................................................................................................. 23

▪ 6.6.4 Concept of Time ............................................................................................................ 23

▪ 6.6.5 ASEAN views on punctuality .......................................................................................... 23

▪ 6.6.6 Punctuality in Europe ..................................................................................................... 23

▪ 6.6.7 Dress in Europe............................................................................................................. 24

6.7 Tips .......................................................................................................................................... 24

6.8 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 24

6.8.1 What you need to practise before your assessment/competition............................................. 24

You need to practise ....................................................................................................................... 24

Chapter 7 Preparing for the International Sales Meeting................................................................. 25

7.1 Introduction to preparing for the international sales meeting.......................................................... 25