FUNDAMENTALS OF SELLING

Customers For Life Through Service

13th Edition

Charles M. Futrell

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2014 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Chapter
6
Sales Knowledge:
Customers, Products,
Technologies
6-2
Chapter
6-3
6
The Tree of Business Life: Knowledge
T Guided by The Golden Rule:
Rule

Se
al
Be an expert on everything
T T 
hic

rvi
associated with your product(s)
T T TT
ce
Et

 Use wisdom when applying

T T T T knowledge
 Remember, customers rely on you
Builds to truthfully provide knowledge
and wisdom
True

 Realize that people do not care

how much you know until they
know how much you care

Relationships
T C
I

6-4
Sources of Sales Knowledge
 Sales training
 Experience

6-5
Knowledge Builds Relationships
 Knowledge increases a salesperson’s
confidence
 Knowledge increases a buyer’s confidence
in salesperson
 More knowledge leads to more sales and
more relationships

6-6
Know Your Customers
 Find out all you can

6-7
Know Your Company
 General Company Information
 Company growth and accomplishment
 Policies and procedures
 Production facilities
 Service facilities

6-8
Know Your Product
 Product knowledge may include:
 Performance data
 Physical size and characteristics
 How the product operates
 Specific features, advantages, and benefits of
the product
 How well the product is selling in the
marketplace

6-9
Know Your Resellers
 Understand the channel of distribution
 Know as much about each channel member as
possible
 Likes and dislikes of each channel member’s customers
 Product lines and the assortment each one carries
 When each member sees salespeople
 Distribution, promotion, and pricing policies
 What quantity of which product each channel member
has purchased in the past

6-10
Advertising Aids Salespeople
 Main ingredients of a firm’s promotional effort
 Types of Advertising Differ
 National advertising
 Retail advertising
 Cooperative, or co-op, advertising
 Trade advertising
 Industrial advertising
 Direct-mail advertising
 Internet advertising
6-11
Exhibit 6.2: Advertising and Sales Promotion
Information the Salesperson Provides the Buyer

6-12
Why Spend Money on Advertising?
 Companies advertise because they hope to:
 Increase overall sales and sales of a specific
product
 Give salespeople additional selling information
for sales presentations
 Develop leads for salespeople through mail-ins
and ad response
 Increase cooperation from channel members
through co-op advertising and promotional
campaigns
 Educate the customer about the company’s
product
6-13
Why Spend Money on Advertising?,
cont…
 Inform prospects that a product is on the
market and where to buy it
 Reduce cognitive dissonance over the
purchase
 Create sales or pre-sell customers between
sales calls

6-14
Sales Promotion Generates Sales
 Consumer sales promotion
 Trade sales promotion
 Point-of-purchase (POP) displays
 Shelf positioning
 Shelf facings
 Premiums
 Sales promotion on the Internet

6-15
What’s It Worth? Pricing Your Product

 Price refers to the value or worth of a

product that attracts the buyer to exchange
money or something of value for the
product

6-16
Exhibit 6.4: Examples of Prices and Discounts
Salespeople Discuss in Their Sales Presentations

6-17
Know Your Competition, Industry,
and Economy
 Understand competitors’
products, policies, and practices

6-18
Personal Computers and Selling
 The top 10 PC applications include:
 Customer/prospect profile
 Lead tracking
 Call reports
 Sales forecasts
 Sales data analysis
 Sales presentation
 Time/territory management
 Order entry
 Travel and expense reports
 Checking inventory/shipping status
6-19
Exhibit 6.6: Top 10 PC Applications

6-20
Knowledge of Technology Enhances
Sales and Customer Service
 Personal Productivity
 Contactmanagement
 Calendar management
 Automate sales plans, tactics, and tickets
 Geographic information system
 Computer-based presentations

6-21
Knowledge of Technology Enhances
Sales and Customer Service, cont…
 Communications with Customers and
Employer
 Word processing
 E-mail
 Fax capabilities and support
 Customer Order Processing and Service
Support
 Salespeople's mobile offices

6-22
Exhibit 6.8: Salespeople Rely on Mobile
Technology to Serve Their Customers

GPS Device
Cell Phone

PDA
6-23
Sales: Internet and the World Wide Web

 The Internet
 The World Wide Web
 Web page
 Links
 Surfing the Internet

6-24
Web Sites Can Provide Valuable
Information to Salespeople

6-25
Global Technology Provides Service

 Increased worldwide interaction

6-26
 Technology Etiquette
 Netiquette – etiquette on the internet
 Cell Phones
 Voice Mail
 Faxes
 Speakerphones and Conference Calls

6-27