Midterm Exam 1. In the last twenty years, how has communication changed in the sales environment? Communication in the sales environment has changed greatly for the last twenty years following the advancement in technology. The sales environment has been meant more and more pervasive following the drastic change in technology. Advances in computer and telephone have meant it easy to improve the communication between the sales people and customers. Use of internet has helped in delivery of product and service information to customers through the use of emails in a timely manner. Therefore, advancement in technology over years has improved the sales environment for both the sales people and their customers.
2. How can a salesperson increase the value of the customer offering?
There are various ways through which a salesperson can increase the value of the customer offering. First is by enhancing good communication with the customers whereby he or she should provide all information about his or her products or services on a timely manner in order to help the customer make a decision. In addition, responding to the customer requests quickly is another way in which a salesperson can increase the value of customer offering. Customers are extremely conscious about how the salespeople respond to their request. Faster response is a motivation to customers thus ensuring quality customer offering. Finally, is by satisfying customer demands and preferences immediately as they rise. This enhances customer satisfaction thus helping the salespeople to retain more customers (Futrell, 2007).
3. How does the customer influence the goal salespeople define for a sales meeting?
Customers’ influences to a great extend the goal salespeople define for a sales meeting. This is because such a goal focuses on customer welfare in closing a sale. Every goal defined in a sales meeting is a focus towards developing a sale relationship with customers. Therefore, customer demands and preferences form the platform for defining the goal for a sale meeting. This implies that the goal defined should focus on customer’s demands and preferences.
4. Describe the three common areas of customer concerns.
There are three common areas of customer concern namely communication, job site cleanliness and professionalism. There should be clear communication between the sales people and the customers. There is great need for sales people to provide timely information about their products and services to their customers. When the customer approaches a sales people for a contract then the sales people need to provide timely response. This helps to build up a strong sale relationship with the customers. In addition, there is great need for the sales people to portray professionalism in their work in order to enhance customer value. They should provide quality customer service at all times of their operations. Quality customer service leads to customer satisfaction thus enhancing consumer retention. Finally, job site cleanliness is another area of customer concern which calls for all sales people to offer customers with good experiences which will boost their relationship (Futrell, 2007).
5. What is the difference between the selling process and the sales presentation?
According to Futrell (2007), selling process involves the entire steps taken by a sales person in order to execute a sale transaction right from the start to the end. It entails, going in to an initial contract between the sales person and the customer, then follows product demonstration, trial periods, price negotiations, finalizing the contract via signing and then delivering the product. On the other hand, sales presentation is a line of talk used by sales person to persuade people to close a sale. Generally, sales presentation is geared towards initiating and closing a sale of a product or service. It starts by introducing a product or a service to a customer who knows nothing about it or describing a product of a service to a customer who has developed interest in it. Therefore, selling process entails the steps involved in sale of a product or service while sale presentation is the talk aimed at persuading a customer to close a sale. This implies that sales presentation is a step in selling process (Futrell, 2007).
6. Please describe five elements to consider when planning a sales call and explain each one.
There are five elements to consider when planning a sales call. First is the prospect’s current situation which entails carrying a self-evaluation to discover one’s goal for the client, the value one’s services can offer the client and also the action plan for the entire sale call. Secondly is the establishment of the development goals for the prospective customer. This involves various goals which will help the salesperson to make different sales conversations with his or her customers. Another element is establishment of the desired next outcome which is an evaluation of what one wants to get from the sale call. Fourth is the discovery of one’s strengths which entails establishment of driving forces working in the favor of the salesperson. It also addresses the relative vulnerabilities which may affect the sale call. Lastly, is the action plan for the next call which involves developing a plan of what the salesperson needs to get done (Miller, 2003).
7. Relationship selling must address the question “What do customers want?”. How would you respond?
Relationship selling entails providing customers with information to help them make wise decision in order to achieve their short and long-term objectives. The most important part of relationship selling is analyzing the customer needs and wants. This is to imply that relationship selling focuses on answering the question “What do customers want?”. The main objective of relationship selling is customer retention. One of the most important factors to ensure customer retention is addressing their wants. This draws a conclusion that in order to maintain and grow the relationship then sale people need to focus on customer wants.
8. Why should salespeople learn different approaches to closing?
Sales people need to know different approaches to closing because they provide various ways of persuading customers in order to make a sale. It makes them to be dynamic thus giving them confidence to persuade their customers to close a sale. Having different approaches for closing a sale helps salespeople to utilize one approach when the other does not work hence ends up making a quality sale close. A salesperson with many different sale closing approaches will be able to make quick sale close as compared to another with few different closing approaches (Miller, 2003).
9. Should a sales person mention a discount at the beginning, middle, or end of a sales presentation? Why? (the answer is only one!)
Miller (2003) argues that a salesperson should mention a discount at the middle of the sales presentation. This is because it is the right time since for him or her to back up the sale after persuading the customer by creating awareness of the product or service. Mentioning discount should come up after the beginning of the sale in order to act a catalyst to close a sale.
10. Choose any social media tool that you want and apply a strategy to utilize it in your selling process. (just pick up one social media, just one)
Twitter.
References
Futrell, C. (2007). ABC's of relationship selling through service (9th ed.). Boston, Mass.: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Miller, W. (2003). Proactive selling control the process--win the sale. New York: AMACOM.
