Understanding the Sales Process

Renuka Timilsena
 Sales Process
• It includes all the steps followed by the
salesperson to perform the selling function
successfully
• The selling process starts with pre-sale
preparations and ends with closing the sales
and follow up
 Continue…
Pre-sale Prospectin
Preparation g

Approaching Pre-
the prospect approach

Sales Handling
presentation & customer
Demonstration objections

Follow up Closing the

action sales
 1. Pre-Sale Preparation
• Sales person prepares with adequate
knowledge about the organization,
competitor’s product, pricing, discount, credit
terms, etc
• Such information increases seller’s and buyer’s
confidence
• Following information should be included in
pre-sale preparations
 Continue…
• Know your:
– Customers
– Organization
– Products
– Market & competition
– Resellers (intermediaries)
 2. Prospecting
• Finding qualified potential customers
• A prospect is the qualified person or organization
that has need to buy, ability to pay, authority to buy,
favorably approachable and has eligibility to buy
• A prospect is not a lead (suspect)
• When a lead fulfills all the above five criteria, he/she
is a potential prospect
 Continue…
• Two main reasons to find a prospect:
– It increases sales by increasing new customers
– Helps in replacing the customer that will be lost
over time
• The goal of sales process is to convert the
prospect into customer and repeat customer
Characteristics of a Good Prospect
• Need to buy
• Ability to buy
• Authority to buy
• Favorably approachable
• Eligibility to buy
 Method of Prospecting
• Cold Canvass prospecting method
• Endless chain method
• Trade shows & exhibitions
• Center of influence method
• Direct mail method
• Telephone prospecting
• Inquiries
• Other methods
 Cold Canvass Prospecting Method
• The sales person sells via door to door or telephone
• S/he goes in town and knock every door to find the
prospect among suspects
• One of the disadvantage of this method is waste of
time
• To overcome this, cool canvass method is used
• Cool canvass is a selective type of cold canvass where
only certain group of people are canvassed
 Endless Chain Method
• It is based on the idea that at each interview, sales
person should secure the names of at least one
additional prospect
• They can ask for the prospect’s relatives, friends, etc
at the time of interview
• Prospects obtain from this method are called
referred prospects
 Trade Shows and Exhibitions
• A company will sponsor a booth at trade shows and
exhibition
• The sales person will be present at the show and
demonstrate the product
• People who walk up to the booth or display will be
catered by the sales person
• They only have few minutes to obtain their names,
addresses, etc
• Through this a list of prospects can be collected
 Center of Influence Method
• Sales person take the help of influential people for
prospecting customers
• Influential people include doctors, teachers, social
workers, businessmen etc
• They may or may not purchase the product but can
influence others to purchase
• Thus, their recommendations convert prospects into
customers
• It is a modification of endless chain method
 Direct Mail Method
• It helps to reach more people faster and saves time
• It includes contacting large number of people spread
over extended geographical area
• It is a cost effective method, where salesperson
arouse interest in prospects via letters or cards
• It is effective method for introducing new product or
such that are purchased time and again
• Salesperson is likely to get cold reception after the
card or letter when they follow up
 Telephone Prospecting
• It is similar to earlier method where large number of
prospects are contacted over huge geographical area
• It is costlier than direct mail method
• Wide variety of directories are full of prospects
• Telephone, membership directories, etc can be used
• Sales person must plan the call and develop
telephone personality
 Inquiries
• Most organizations receive inquiries from their
advertisements and catalogs
• For e.g.: A magazine reader sees the advertisement
& inquires additional information
• These readers are source of prospects
• Each inquirer is sent a cover letter & information
about the advertised product
• Sales person follows up these leads (suspects)
 Other Methods
• Sources of prospects can be
– Existing customers
– Former customers
– Personal observation at functions, travelling,
schools, colleges, etc
Process of Evaluating & Qualifying Prospects

• The process of identifying prospects who should be

contacted is called qualifying
• One approach to qualify prospects is called MAAN
(Money, Authority, Approachable, and Need)
• Questionnaires can be used for qualifying prospects
 3. Pre-Approach Planning
• Sales person gathers additional information about
the prospects & their needs
• Approach means meeting with the prospects in
person
• After the prospects have been identified & qualified,
preparations must be done to meet them or for
approaching them
 Continue…
• Preparation includes getting answer to:
– Who is the prospect?
– What are the prospect’s need?
– What other information is required?
– Where does one obtain the information?
 Needs & Importance of Pre-Approach
Planning
• Saves time, effort, & energy
• Makes sales person confident & enthusiastic
• Identify the needs & requirements
• Avoid mistakes
• Plan sales talk
 4. Approaching the Prospects
• Approaching means meeting with the prospects in
person
• Face to face, first impression
Models of Sales Approaches
Model of Sales
Approaches

Problem
solution model

Need
Stimulus
satisfaction
response model
model

Mental State
Model
 Stimulus-Response Model
• It states that people will respond in a predictable
manner to a specific stimulus
• Stimulus can be: physical appearance, mannerism,
voice, price concession, announcement of price
changes, preferential treatment, etc
• This theory states passive role of prospects

Stimulus Response
(Correct selling (A successful
statements) sale)
 Continue…
• This method is appropriate in simple situations
• Major disadvantage is that people often do not
respond in an expected way
• It is structured because it emphasizes saying the right
thing at the right time (on the basis of carefully
scripted presentation) by guiding the prospect along
a standard question-answer sequence
• It is sales person focused method
 Mental State Model
• This suggest that prospects goes through a logical
sequence of mental states in any buying situation
• They are:
– Attract attention, maintain interest, create desire & get
action
• Sales person leads prospects from one to another
mental steps in a persuasive manner
• It is also known as ‘formula approach’ or ‘persuasive
selling’
 Continue…
• It has wide acceptance because of it’s simplicity
• One disadvantage is: during a sales presentation, it is
impossible to know when one mental state stops and
another starts
• It is seller focused & focuses on buyer’s mental states
rather than their needs
• It is semi-structured in nature
 Need Satisfaction Model
• It is based on notion that the customer is buying to
satisfy a particular need or set of needs
• It is a sales person task to identify the needs & help
buyer to meet them
• Unlike the before models, this method focuses on
the customer rather than on the salesperson
• It is unstructured in nature
 Continue…
• The sales person uses a questioning to uncover
important buyer needs
• Customer response dominate the early portion of sales
interactions
• Customer prefer this model
Open Probe Support Close

●
Sales person
●
● Sales person makes
●
● Ask questions ●
●
● Start sales a value proposition
about customer shows how it & closes the
interaction needs can be met transaction
 Problem Solution Model
• It is an extension of need satisfaction selling
• It goes beyond identifying needs to developing
alternate solutions for satisfying those needs
• Sales person must be able to get the buyer agree that
problem exists & solving it is worth the time & effort
• This appears to be much successful in technical
industrial sales situation Continue
Define Generate Evaluate
selling
alternativ alternati
proble e ve
until
purchase
m solutions solutions
 5. Sales Presentation
• It involves a persuasive vocal & visual explanation of
a business proposition
• After approaching & deciding on a model, the sales
person must start the presentation
• Effective sales presentation has the capacity to
convince the prospects
• While giving sales presentation, the sales person
should always try the features & attributes of the
product with customer’s need
 Importance of Sales Presentation
• Need & problem identification
• Convincing the prospects
• Act immediately
• Building credibility
 Advantages of Planning the Sales
Presentation
• Helps new sales person
• Ensures effective presentation
• Saves time of buyer & seller
• Increase sales volume
• Creates professionalism
 Types of Sales Presentation

Sales Presentation

Standard Memorized
Outlined Presentation Program Presentation
Presentation
Standard Memorized Presentation
• Includes all the key selling points & a standard sale
theory is made that is memorized by the sales person
• 80% - 90% of talking is done by sales person
• The prospects respond occasionally to
predetermined questions only
• Advantage: Ensures effective presentation that
includes complete accurate theory
• Disadvantage: It may sound artificial & is inflexible
 Outlined Presentation
• It is more flexible & need not be memorized
• It includes systematically arranged outline of the
most important sales point
• Few memorized parts may include standard
introduction, standard answer to most common
objections & standard close
• Advantage: Informal, flexible, natural, serve as a
guide
• Disadvantage: Chance of being sidetracked from the
sales story
 Program Presentation
• It is based on needs & problems of the
prospect
• This method consists of complete written or
illustrated presentation which is developed
from a detailed & comprehensive analysis of
customers’ needs
• Includes four basic steps
 Continue…
Getting Presenti
permissi Making Preparin ng the
on to the g the program
make a survey program /proposa
survey l

• Advantage: Opportunity to determine the real needs

& problems of the prospects
• Disadvantage: Time consuming & expensive,
customers are suspicious of surveys which are
intended to uncover their true needs
 Delivering the Presentation
• Establish rapport with the customer
• Identify the customer’s need or problem
• Solve the problem by linking product features to
customer benefits
• Making the buying decision easy
 6. Product Demonstration
• It is a promotion where a product is demonstrated to
potential customers
• Example: Showing how a fire extinguisher puts off
fire, & making prospects try out the products
• Benefits: simulate interest, conveys ownership,
provides proof, and combats concerns
• Guidelines: Keep it simple, customize the demo as
per customer, tell the customer’s story, rehearse, use
the demo as the proof point, do not repeat yourself,
prospect participation, after the demo-close the deal
 7. Handling Customer Objections
• Objections highlight the issues important to buyer
like price, sincerity of the sales person, quality of the
product, reliability of service, amount of risk involved
• Objections are not a bad thing as sales person will
get a chance to convince buyers
• Common objections can be price objections,
product/service objections, company objections,
time objections, sales person objections, hidden
objections
Reasons for Customer’s Objections
• Price incompatibility
• Complacency
• Fear of change
• Value not apparent
• Product/service not needed
• Desire for more information
• Trust issues
Preparation of Meeting Objections
• Develop a positive attitude
• Anticipate objections
• Forestall objections
• Evaluate objections
• Time & answer
• Develop a skill
 Effective Methods of Handling Objections

• The indirect or “Yes-But” method

• Boomerang method
• Question method “why” method
• Postponing the answer method
• Admit the objection
• Deny the objection
 8. Closing the Sale
• It is the action on the part of the salesperson of
concluding the sales transaction
• A good salesperson is always a good closer
• A poor salesperson is always a poor sales closer
• Importance:
– Ability of salesperson can be evaluated
– Relation of sales to income
 Methods/ Techniques of Closing Sale
Effectively
Summarizing the
Assumptive Building a series
selling points
close method of “yes” method
method

Standing room Decision on

Impending
only method minor points
event method method

Offering T-account or Balance- Trying a trial

indicements method sheet close method order
 Assumptive Close Method
• Easiest of all
• Salesperson assumes that prospect will buy
• The attitude is reflected throughout the presentation
• Impression of pressure must not be there
• Ask prospect about color, size, pattern, cost, quality,
etc
• Difficult for prospect to say “no” if all the
characteristics that s/he asked for matches
 Building a Series of “Yes” Method
• Set of questions is framed that normally produces
positive answer “yes”
• As the prospect is in “yes” mood, s/he is likely to say
“yes” to buy the product
• Based on the fact that if the prospects are favorable
towards the various segments of the product, they
are likely to be favorable in buying it
 Summarizing the Selling Point Method
• If buyer is still undecided, the salesperson can sum
up the main features & benefits of the product
• It is used when the buyer wants sound, logical
reasons for making purchase
• Remind them the benefits of product
 Decision on Minor Point Method
• Induce a series of decisions on minor points like
color, size, weight, etc that will ease up buyer to
make major purchase decision
• Method used when the prospect have difficulty in
making a decision or when they are not in mood to
buy
• Example: Do you want to invest in extended warranty
for the copier?
 Impending Event Method
• People are afraid to loose something in value
• To make prospect purchase, highlight on what they
shall loose if the postpone the purchase in terms of
money, health, comfort, etc
• Example: Insurance customer if not purchase now,
after one year age will rise leading to higher
premium
Standing Room Only (SRO) Method
• Designed for use when product have sold rapidly &
for various reasons the supply is limited
• Implying that the prospect must make up mind in
hurry
• This method can be used when:
– If an item is in heavy demand & only few stocks left
– If the item is a sample and the price is unusually
attractive
– If the item is the last one in stock which will fit the
customer
 Offering Inducement Method
• It includes offering special inducements to all buyers
• Such inducements quicken the pace of closing the
sale
• Inducement may include free accessory, price
concession, free extra unit, free home delivery, free
installations, etc
• This method should not be used as a trick
T-account or Balance Sheet Close Method

• Also called Ben Franklin close, in which the

salesperson & the prospect build together a pros &
cons list of whether to buy the product, with the
salesperson trying to ensure the pros list become
longer than cons
Pros Cons
 Trying a Trial Order
• As a last resort, or to sell products that are not well
known, some sales people attempt to close by
encouraging the prospect to order a small number of
units on a tryout basis
• At the end, trial attempts are made to close the sale
for one or more units
 9. Follow up Action
• The term follow up means providing opportunities to
get more feedback on how people feel about the
usefulness of the idea or service that was rendered
(suggested or presented)
• After sales services
• Methods: Personal visit, telephone, email, written
correspondence, etc
• Builds long term relationship
 Importance of the Follow Up
• Provide reassurance that the purchase was the right
one
• Ensure that the customer is satisfied with the
purchase
• Obtain feedback from customers
• Maintain long term good relationship with the
customers
• To maintain goodwill & take corrective action
• To help in enhancing the sales person reputation
• To obtain repeat business
 Effective Process of Follow Up
• Say Thank You
• Check in
• Keep the lines of communication open
• Think second sale
• Ask for referrals
The End!