Copyright 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin
 Chapter 2

The Process of Selling and Buying

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Learning Objectives
• Recognize key drivers of change in selling and sales management.
• Understand best practices in selling.
• Explain historical basis for stereotypical views of selling.
• Point out reasons why sales jobs can be highly satisfying.
• Identify and explain key success factors for salesperson performance.
• Discuss and give examples of different types of selling jobs.
• List and explain roles of participants in an organizational buying center.
• Describe relationship between buying centers and selling centers and the
nature of team selling.
• Outline stages in organizational buyer decision making.
• Point out the nature of different organizational buying situations.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-3 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Drivers of Change in Selling and
Sales Management
• Building long-term relationships with customers.
• Creating sales organizational structures that are more
nimble and adaptable to the needs of different customer
groups.
• Gaining greater job ownership and commitment from
salespeople.
• Shifting sales management style from commanding to
coaching.
• Leveraging available technology for sales success.
• Better integrating salesperson performance evaluation.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-4 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 What Customers Expect
1. Responsiveness to needs, problems; provides service.
2. Knowledge of products and customer applications.
3. Customer advocacy; partnership development.
4. Ability to keep customer up-to-date.
5. Quality product/service.
6. Offer of technical support.
7. Offer of local or easily accessible representation.
8. Ability to provide a total solution.
9. Understanding of customer’s business.
10. Competitive price.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-5 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 How Sellers are Responding
• Establishing a customer-driven culture.
• Market segmentation.
• Market adaptability.
• Information technology.
• Customer feedback and measuring customer
satisfaction.
• Sales, service, and technical support systems.
• Recruiting and selecting salespeople.
• Training and development.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-6 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Attractiveness of Sales Careers
• Autonomy and opportunities for personal
initiatives
• A variety of challenging activities
• Financial rewards
• Favorable working conditions
• Excellent opportunities for development
and advancement

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-7 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Source: Christine Galea, “2002 Salary Survey,” Sales & Marketing Management, May 2002, pp. 32–36. © 2002
VNU Business Media. Used with permission.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-8 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-9 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Selling Success Factors
1. Listening skills
2. Follow-up skills
3. Ability to adapt sales style to situation
4. Tenacity
5. Well organized
6. Verbal communication skills
7. Able to interact with people at all levels of an
organization
8. Ability to overcome objections
9. Closing skills
10. Personal planning and time management skills

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-10 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Selling Activities

Servicing the
Working with Servicing the Managing
Selling account
others product information

Attending Training and

Entertaining
conferences recruiting Traveling Distribution
and meetings

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-11 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Matrix of New Selling Activities
Communication Sales Relationship Team Database
Email Set up appts Web page Conference calls Collect new
Technology

Dictaphone Script sales pitch from information

Internet database Enter information on
Laptop (CD) Use software for customer laptop
background Update customer files
Voicemail
Cell Phone Laptop for presentation
Pager VCR for presentation
Web page Provide tech ability to
customers
Newsletters
Audiovideo conference
Provide tech info
Overnight services
Maintain virtual office
Practice language skills Adaptive selling Bring in vendor/alliance Mentor
Nontechnology

Conduct research at Develop relationship Make sale and turn

customers’ site Hand-hold customer over to someone else
Avoid potential litigation Write thank-yous Coordinate with sales
Plan for multiple calls to Purchase dealers support
close deal Call on CEOs
Sell value-added services
Build rapport w/ buying
Respond to referrals center
Write thank-yous Network
Target key accounts Build trust
Pick up sales supplies Train brokers
Consultative sales
Listen
Ask questions
Read body language
Sell unique competencies
McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-12 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-13 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 B2C versus B2B Selling
• Most salespeople are involved in retail selling –
selling goods and services to ultimate
consumers (B2C)
• A much larger volume of sales is accounted for
by industrial selling, recently referred to as
business-to-business selling (B2B):
– Sales to resellers
– Sales to business users
– Sales to institutions

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-14 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Types of B2B Jobs
• Trade selling – increase business by providing
customers with merchandising and promotional
assistance
• Missionary selling – persuade customers to buy
products from distributors or other wholesale
suppliers
• Technical selling – increase business from by offering
current customers technical/engineering assistance
• New business selling – identify and obtain business
from new customers

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-15 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Stages in the Selling Process
Prospectin
g for
Customers
Opening the
Relationship
Qualifying
the
Prospect
Presenting
the Sales
Message
Closing the
Sale
Servicing
the
Account

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-16 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Prospecting for customers is…
• A core competency
• A sales fundamental
• Critical to increasing sales
• Hard work
• Carries a delayed payoff
• Requires design and discipline
• Enhanced by software

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-17 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Opening the Relationship
• Often referred to as “the approach.”
• Determine who is likely to have the
greatest influence to initiate the purchase
process
• Generate enough interest to obtain the
information needed to become a qualified
prospect
• Identify key decision makers, desires, and
relative influence

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-18 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Qualifying the Prospect
• Is the prospect a worthwhile customer?
• Does the prospect have need for my
product?
• Can I prospect so aware of that need that I
can make a sale?
• Will the sale be profitable to my company?

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-19 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Sales Presentation
• Purpose
– Transmit information
– Persuade the prospect to become a customer
• Common complaints about sales presentations:
– Running down competitors
– Being to aggressive or abrasive
– Have inadequate knowledge of competitors’ products
and services
– Inadequate knowledge of client’s
business/organization
– Poor delivery

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-20 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Closing the Sale
• Begins with the first contact
• Requires “asking for the order”
• Can be tested throughout the presentation
—Trial Close
• Requires understanding the prospect and
buying process
• Should be paced by the salesperson
• Requires continual improvement
McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-21 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Servicing the Account
• Excellent service after the sale bolsters
customer loyalty
• Follow up on each sale to check satisfaction with
– Product
– Installation
– Training
– Maintenance
– Billing
• Satisfied customers = Repeat customers

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-22 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Participants in the Buying Process
• Initiators – perceive a problem or opportunity requiring a
new product of service
• Users –must use or work with the product or service
• Influencers –provide information for evaluating
alternative products or suppliers
• Gatekeepers – control the flow of information to others
• Buyers – actually contact the selling organization and
place the order
• Deciders – final authority to purchase
• Controllers – determine the budget

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-23 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Organizational Buying Decision
Stages
1. Anticipate or recognize a problem or need
2. Determine and describe the traits and quality
needed
3. Search for and qualify potential suppliers
4. Acquire and analyze proposals/bids
5. Evaluate proposals and select suppliers
6. Select an order routine
7. Perform evaluation and give feedback

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-24 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Organizational Buying Situations
• New-task purchase – first-time purchase
of a complex and expensive product or
service
• Modified rebuy – requires some
modification to existing purchase decision
and may open the door for new suppliers
• Straight rebuy – reorder an item
purchased many times in the past

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-25 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Key Terms
• drivers of change •business-to-business (B2B) •selling center
• best practices market •team selling
• autonomy •industrial selling •matrix organization
• sales activities •trade servicer •key account
• job variety •missionary seller •organizational buying
• intrinsic rewards •detailer •decision stages
• extrinsic rewards •technical seller •derived demand
• work-family conflict
•new business seller •single-source suppliers
• telecommute
•buying center •commodity products
• virtual office
•initiator •slotting allowances
• adaptive selling
• •user •new-task purchases
job enlargement
• cost of a sales call
•influencer •modified rebuy
• retail selling •gatekeeper •straight rebuy
• end-user consumer •buyers •repeat purchases
• business-to-consumer •decider •out supplier
(B2C) market •controller
•perceived risk

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-26 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Mark W. Johnston Greg W. Marshall
Rollins College Rollins College
McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2-27 Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.