Professional Selling: A Trust-Based Approach

Front Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 2
Copyright......Page 3
Contents......Page 8
Preface......Page 20
About the Authors......Page 28
Evolution of Personal Selling......Page 30
Industrial Revolution Era......Page 32
War and Depression Era......Page 33
Professionalism: The Modern Era......Page 34
Salespeople and Society......Page 35
Salespeople and the Employing Firm......Page 36
Classification of Personal Selling Approaches......Page 37
Mental States Selling......Page 39
Problem-Solving Selling......Page 41
Sales Process......Page 42
Summary......Page 45
Case 1.1: Biomod, Inc.......Page 49
Case 1.2: Plastico, Inc.......Page 50
Advancement Opportunities......Page 52
Prestige......Page 53
Classification of Personal Selling Jobs......Page 54
New Business......Page 55
Combination Sales Jobs......Page 56
Empathy......Page 57
Interpersonal Communication Skills......Page 58
Comments on Qualifications and Skills......Page 59
Part 1 The Foundations of Professional Selling......Page 60
Developing Trust and Mutual Respect with Clients......Page 62
Why Is Trust Important?......Page 64
How to Earn Trust......Page 65
Knowledge Bases Help Build Trust and Relationships......Page 69
Sales Ethics......Page 74
Summary......Page 80
Case 2.1: Schmidt Business Forms......Page 86
Case 2.2: Sales Ethics: A Case Study......Page 87
Understanding Your Buyers Is the Key to Sales Success......Page 90
Types of Buyers......Page 91
The Buying Process......Page 94
Types of Purchasing Decisions......Page 105
Understanding Communication Styles......Page 108
Multiple Buying Influences......Page 111
Current Developments in Purchasing......Page 116
Summary......Page 119
Case 3.1: Candoo Computer Corporation......Page 130
Case 3.2: American Seating Company......Page 132
Capturing the Power of Collaborative Communication in Sales Conversations......Page 134
Sales Communication as a Collaborative Process......Page 135
Verbal Communication: Questioning......Page 136
Verbal Communication: Listening......Page 145
Verbal Communication: Giving Information......Page 149
Nonverbal Communication......Page 151
Summary......Page 155
Case 4.1: Pre-Select, Inc.......Page 163
Case 4.2: STAGA Financial Services......Page 164
Part 2 Initiating Customer Relationships......Page 166
Identifying Sales Opportunities: Three Examples......Page 168
Prospecting: Importance and Challenges......Page 169
Locating Prospects......Page 171
Strategic Prospecting Plan......Page 176
Preparing for Sales Dialogue: Gathering and Studying Prospect Information......Page 177
Summary......Page 181
Case 5.2: Prospecting and Gaining Prospect Information......Page 186
Planning Sales Dialogue and Presentation......Page 188
Sales Communications Formats......Page 189
Engaging the Customer......Page 204
Summary......Page 205
Case 6.2: The Overhead Door......Page 209
Part 3 Developing Customer Relationships......Page 210
Face-to-Face with the Customer: Salesperson Behavior Is Key to Success......Page 212
Needs-Gap Analysis: Selecting Appropriate Customer Offerings by Assessing Needs......Page 213
Benefit Selling: Features, Potential Benefits, and Confirmed Benefits......Page 214
Encouraging Buyer Feedback......Page 217
Sales Tools for Maximizing Presentation Effectiveness......Page 218
Group Sales Presentations......Page 228
Summary......Page 232
Case 7.2: All Risk Insurance and National Networks......Page 237
Anticipate and Negotiate Concerns and Resistance......Page 240
Securing Commitment and Closing......Page 251
Summary......Page 256
Case 8.2: Data Computers......Page 260
Part 4 Enhancing Customer Relationships......Page 262
Building Goodwill......Page 264
Harness Technology to Enhance Follow-up and Buyer–Seller Relationships......Page 266
Assure Customer Satisfaction......Page 269
Work to Add Value and Enhance Mutual Opportunities......Page 278
Summary......Page 281
Case 9.2: Whatever It Takes to Get the Order......Page 287
The 3 Ts of Sales Success: Task-Oriented Planning, Technology, and Teamwork......Page 290
Effective Self-Leadership......Page 291
Increasing Customer Value through teamwork......Page 308
Summary......Page 313
Case 10.1: Emron Control Corp.......Page 322
Case 10.2: Mark Cassidy and Milligan Adhesives Corporation......Page 323
Experiential Exercises......Page 326
1.1 Discovering Attitudes Toward Sales Careers......Page 327
1.2 Words That Identify Salespeople and a Sales Career......Page 330
1.3 Salesperson and Buyer Interviews......Page 333
A.1 What Are the Options?......Page 337
A.2 How Salespeople Spend Their Time......Page 341
A.3 What Attributes Are Essential to a Successful Sales Career?......Page 343
A.4 Résumé Writing I: Identifying Your Accomplishments and Skills......Page 345
A.5 Résumé Writing II: Preparing Your Résume......Page 350
A.6 Résumé Writing III: Developing a Marketing Letter......Page 358
2.1 Ethics Scale......Page 361
2.2 Building Relationships after the Sale......Page 364
2.3 Comparing the Traditional Selling Process with the Process of Trust-Based Relationship Selling......Page 366
3.1 Gathering Information about the Buyer......Page 369
3.2 Key Questions during the Buying Process......Page 372
3.3 Triggering the Buying Process—Needs Awareness......Page 374
4.1 Activating the ADAPT Process for Developing and Confirming Customer Needs......Page 377
4.2 Role Plays for ADAPTive Questioning......Page 380
4.3 Effective Questioning......Page 384
4.4 Thank-You Letters......Page 387
5.1 Assessing the Effectiveness of Different Customer Contact Methods......Page 391
5.2 Assessing the Lifetime Value of a Customer......Page 394
5.3 Prospecting Effectiveness......Page 396
6.1 Developing Feature and Benefit Statements for Your School......Page 398
6.2 Presentation Effectiveness—Discussion Questions......Page 401
6.3 Sales Call Planning Report......Page 402
7.1 Helpful Hints for Sales Presentations......Page 408
7.2 Generating Buyer Involvement......Page 410
8.1 Why Salespeople Fail to Gain Commitment......Page 414
8.2 Gaining Commitment—Caution Signals......Page 415
8.3 Reasons for Sales Resistance......Page 417
8.4 Negotiating Buyer Resistance......Page 421
9.1 Postpresentation Follow-up: Analyzing a Sales Call......Page 423
9.2 What to Do after Gaining Commitment......Page 426
9.3 Enhancing Customer Relationships......Page 428
10.1 Written Sales Proposals—Summarizing Quantitative Data......Page 430
10.2 Gaining Commitment with Buying Teams......Page 432
Glossary......Page 436
Notes......Page 446
Index......Page 452