Personal Selling:

A Relationship Approach

The Approach
Things to Learn
The best ways for gaining entry to the prospects
office
Effective techniques for telephoning the prospect
and selling the interview
Proper sales etiquette
Things to Learn
How to make a good first impression with the
client
Ways for getting the prospects attention at the
beginning of the interview
What Is the Approach?
First time the salesperson and the prospect come
into actual contact with one another
Most important 30 seconds in the selling process
Must establish rapport and attract the prospects
attention
Gaining Entry
The Letter (or Email)
- Least valuable means of gaining entry

The Cold-Call
- Impact of a personal visit vs. the cost of extra time expended
- Buffers

The Telephone
- Make appointments with new prospects
- Take care of routine contacts that do not require a personal visit
The Telephone Track
Precall Planning and Organization
- Prospects full name
- Call at the right time
- Work with the screener
- Dont leave your number
- Sell to the gatekeeper
The Telephone Track
Precall Planning and Organization (continued)
Suggestions for Telephone Delivery
- Oral skills and listening habits must be good
- Keep lips half an inch from the mouthpiece, open your mouth
wider, enunciate more, use simple language, and avoid
technical terms and slang
- 140 words per minute is about the right pace for the phone
- Vary your tone
- Watch your voice factors, pitch, tone, volume, and rhythm for
hidden messages
- Use positive language
- Communicate friendliness
The Telephone Track
Identification
- Use the prospects name
- Your name (salesperson)
- Your company name
The Telephone Track
The Lead-in Statement
Should immediately follow the introduction
- A third-party reference
- Literature sent to the prospect by the salesperson or the
companycould be resent ad material
- A statement of a known problem in the prospects industry or
profession
- Pertinent points made by a recognized figure in the prospects
industry at a recent conference or in an article
- The inactive account approach
The Telephone Track
An Interest-capturing Statement
Give the prospect a reason to continue the conversation
- Major benefit and feature
- Ask a question

Stating Purpose of Call and Asking for An

Appointment
- Provide just enough information to create a desire to learn more
- Give more than one choice of appointment times
- Avoid the use of weasel words (maybe, if, could, possibly,
perhaps, and like)
The Telephone Track
Handling Objections
- Objections are good reasons to make an appointment
- Be respectful; not all prospects become customers on your
timeline
- Dont burn your bridges
- Keep lines of communication open
The Telephone Track
Voice Mail
Avoid leaving a message, if possible
If you do leave a message:
- Speak slowly, but enthusiastically
- State your name, company, and phone number at the start and
at the end
- State your desire to help; state a benefit and/or a referral
- Provide a choice of times
The Telephone Track
Think About Selectivity (Knowing When to Back
Off)
- Ideally, you should spend your time only with prospects who
want what youre selling and who will make a commitment to
buy
Establishing a Rapport
Appearance
- Know the prospects (and his or her companys) style
- Joe Weldon, marketing manager of cellular equipment at
Geodesic in Navi Mumbai
- Grimy business card
- Cluttered car
Establishing a Rapport
Shaking Hands
Shaking hands properly:
- Extend your hand and grip the other persons hand so that the
webs of your thumbs meet
- Shake just a couple of times. The motion is from the elbow, not
the shoulder
- End the handshake cleanly, before the introduction is over
- If you want to count, a good handshake is held for three or four
seconds at most
Dont use the bone-crusher, the pump-handle, the limp-digits,
the wet-rag, or the no-release clamp
Establishing a Rapport
Posture
Erect stance, head straight, shoulders pulled back projects:
- Confidence, competence, dignity, and enthusiasm
Slumped body, rounded back, bowed head, slack shoulders
projects:
- Negative messages
Establishing a Rapport
Eye Contact
Correct, early eye contact projects honesty, sincerity, and
attentiveness
- Too long
- Too short
Establishing a Rapport
Small Talk
- May relieve tension
- Common ground to start
- Mary Baker, sales representative for a textile company
Other methods other then small talk
- Assure the prospect that no high-pressure or manipulative
techniques will be used
- State that the interview will not take long and mean it
- Discuss a mutual acquaintance with the prospect
- Ask the prospects advice on a particular matter
- Use appropriate humor
- Genuinely flatter the prospect (do this carefully)
Establishing a Rapport
Etiquette
- Drive a nice, but not flashy, car
- Do not demand to see the buyer
- If you smoke, avoid smoking until the interview is concluded
- Remember the buyers name
- Dont treat someones office as your home turf
- Put cell phones, pagers, and BlackBerrys on hold
- Thank the prospects for taking time to see you
- Avoid distracting and annoying mannerisms
- Be friendly, not chummy
- Be honest
- Dont waste others time
Gaining Attention
Bad Attention
Weasel-worded introductions
Show stoppers
Telling (Declaration)

Good Attention
The Introduction Approach
- Simplest but weakest
The Referral
- Testimonial letter
- Tape-recorded message
- Competitors name
Gaining Attention
Good Attention (continued)
Offering a Benefit
- Most widely used
- Good if benefit is of real interest
- Best if addressed to buyers dominant buying motive
The Curiosity Approach
- The number 12,639
Gaining Attention
Good Attention (continued)
The Compliment Approach
- Sincere
- Specific
- Things of real interest to the prospect
Plaques or other mementos of achievement on the
prospects wall
The appearance of the prospects business, interior or
exterior
An especially pleasant receptionist
The prospects recent promotion
The prospects family or personal achievement
Recent business successes by the prospects company
Pictures of the prospect
Gaining Attention
Good Attention (continued)
The Product Approach
- Charles Ward, Brown & Bigelow (a picture is worth a 1,000
words)
Getting Agreement on a Problem or Situation
- A question that confirms the existence of a need that the
product or service can resolve
- The Survey Method
Gaining Attention
Good Attention (continued)
Qualifying the Buyer
- Be careful; you dont want to antagonize the buyer
The Survey Method
- IBM, Unisys, and National Cash Register
- Two sales: selling the prospect on the idea of a survey and the
sale itself
- Large accounts with complex operations
The Next Step
Once the approach is completed, salespeople
should spend time with prospects, discovering
their needs and problems.