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Introductory concepts @ OxfordCambridge.Org all for free and free for all.The information gathered here are under KeyPoints format and may be use:- Either to give the reader an overview before deciding for a full scale study of the subject.- Or to guide readers in expanding their knowledge on the given topic. Some recommendations, perhaps:- Identify all the KeyPoints on which you feel a need to expand your knowledge.- Choose a good book or two and/or info from Internet.- And then work towards gaining that knowledge.Please enjoy!
After developing the KeyPoints outlined in this publication, you should mainly be able to:☺ explain the scope of selling☺ describe what sales staff do☺ explain how companies communicate☺ identify the needs of different types of customers☺ explain the steps involved in an organisational buying process☺ identify different types of buying decisions
After developing the KeyPoints outlined in this publication, you should mainly be able to:☺ respond to different types of organisational buyers☺ explain buying motives☺ explain how needs develop☺ deduce what a buyer can afford☺ begin a relationship properly☺ deal effectively with grievances☺ know how to build trust
Defining Personal Selling - Summary☺ Personal selling is an interpersonal
communication process, that involves satisfying the needs of customers and building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with them.
☺ Sales personnel should be able to analyze customer needs and effectively explain these needs to the organisation.
☺ Adaptive learning occurs when an organisation uses knowledge acquired from the sales force to improve its current activities.
☺ Generative learning, on the other hand, occurs when an organisation uses this knowledge to develop new products.
☺ Sales personnel are involved in finding new customers, increasing sales to existing customers, demonstrating products, negotiating, and writing orders.
Defining Personal Selling - Summary☺ Sales personnel work with other
company employees to make sure that the product meets the customer's demands.
☺ Because the role of the sales force is changing to accommodate long-term relations with customers, organisations are changing their structures.
☺ Hierarchies structures tend to be replaced with flatter, more efficient ones that focus on core processes such as customer relations, and multifunctional teams are becoming more important in organisations.
☺ Sales personnel work with other company employees to make sure that the product meets the customer's demands.
Defining Personal Selling - Summary☺ Because the role of the sales force is
changing to accommodate long-term relations with customers, organisations are changing and will change their structures.
☺ Hierarchies structures tend to be replaced with flatter, more efficient ones that focus on core processes such as customer relations, and multifunctional teams are becoming more important in organisations.
☺ Organisations use marketing communications to provide customers with information about a product and how it can be purchased.
Buying Processes - Summary☺ Customers that Sales personnel
encounter include producers, resellers, government agencies, institutions, and consumers.
☺ Producers can act as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or as end-users and resellers.
☺ Government agencies and institutions such as churches, hospitals, and colleges have intricate purchasing procedures that Sales personnel need to acquaint themselves with before negotiations can begin.
☺ Selling to an organisation requires more skill than selling to ordinary consumers because negotiations are more complex.
☺ Sales personnel need to interact with a wide variety of people in the customer's company and coordinate various departments in their own companies.
Buying Processes - Summary☺ The buying process involves
recognizing the need for a product; defining and specifying the product; soliciting, analyzing, and evaluating proposals from suppliers; placing the order; and evaluating performance.
☺ It is in the interests of the salesperson to be involved in the early stages of the buying process and to stay involved in the evaluation of a product for future business opportunities.
☺ A customer makes new-task, straight re-buy, or modified re-buy decisions for different types of products at different stages of a company's life.
☺ These decisions focus on different areas of the buying process and entail different strategies on the part of the salesperson.
Customer Needs - Summary☺ Customers base their buying
decisions on rational or emotional buying motives, or on a combination of these.
☺ Sales personnel need to relate their products to the rational and emotional needs of customers at the levels of product features, advantages, and benefits.
☺ Needs develop differently in large and small sales.
☺ For example, in large sales, customers consider more closely the risks of wrong buying decisions.
☺ They also must justify their purchases rationally and tend to involve others in their buying decisions.
Cultivating Relationships - Summary☺ Successful companies can maintain
a competitive edge by developing partnerships with customers.
☺ When customers need to make buying decisions, they are more likely to return to companies with whom they have a good relationship.
☺ When establishing a good customer relationship, the salesperson should set realistic expectations, monitor order processing, and ensure proper use of the product.
☺ The salesperson may need to provide technical assistance or training to make sure that the customer is able to use the product effectively.
☺ Successfully handling complaints at the beginning of the buyer-seller relationship is particularly important.
Cultivating Relationships - Summary☺ The salesperson should encourage
the customer to present his or her problem in detail so that the grievance can be fully understood.
☺ Once the nature of a customer's problem has been established, the salesperson should put forward a solution and explain the reasons for the action.
☺ Following through with action improves customer satisfaction and supports the salesperson's previous assurances that the company is dedicated to customer service.
☺ Trust develops from a combination of five factors - dependability, competence, customer direction, honesty, and geniality.