To satisfy a Need / Want with your product for Mutual Benefits. To Identify / Generate / Influence a Need / Want.

2. Product
Customer
Competitors

3. Competitors

4. The salesperson has to accept the competition
because there is no other choice.

5. The salesperson should accept the fact that:
“These are the days of great product
standardization, few brands, if any, are superior
over the others according to all standards”

6. The basis of handling competition is to
SELL THE DIFFERENCE
The difference may be in the product efficacy,
safety, price and dosage.
Or
May be in the salesperson personality,
presentation, and knowledge.

7. WHATIS THE IMPORTANCEOF KNOWLEDGEABOUTCOMPETITION?
Knowledge of competition provides the
salesperson with a broad background for better
handling of his job & helps him orient himself
in his territory.

8. 1.PRODUCT COMPARISON
 The salesperson should be fully aware of the
information about his product and the
competing products, so as to discover the
strong and weak points of competitors.

9. 2.COMPETITOR SELLING ACTIVITIES
 What are the products recommended to the
doctor by the competitive salesperson, and
whether the specifications of these products
recommended meet the doctor’s
requirements or not.
 How does the representative tell his story, the
visual aids used, the give - away, models,
charts, samples, reports, and demonstrations.

11. The salesperson can collect information about
competitors through …
1. Careful and analytical reading of competitors
aids such as brochures, posters, charts and
inserted leaflets…etc.
2. Medical journals
3. Asking doctors and retailers
4. Listening to doctors complaints
5. Competitive salespeople

13. 1. Do not include any reference of competitor
in your sales presentation unless it is strictly
needed.
2. Never initiate the subject of competition, let
the doctor make the first reference.
3. Do not allow the situation to take you away
from the primary task, which is to explain
your product.

14. 4. Never make a statement about the
competitor before checking its accuracy.
5. Never criticize competitors since criticism
can be interpreted as poor salesmanship.
6. The salesperson should always remember
that the doctor may like the competing
brand, and as a result he might consider the
criticism as criticizing his own judgment.

15. Pre-call
Planning
Opening
Probing
Reinforcing
Gaining
Commitment

17. Being well informed about the product, the customer
and the competitors, the salesperson can prepare
himself for the call.

18.  In particular, the pre-call planning is to find
the doctor’s basic problem or need for which
the salesperson’s product is the right
solution, and to find the right way to
approach the doctor.
 Then, the salesperson has to plan how to
concentrate on the problem or the need and
its solution when talking to the doctor.

19. The pre-call planning gives the salesperson a
clear and detailed picture of each doctor, so
that a customized story can be built for each
one.

20. THE FIRSTSTEP: IDENTIFY THE DOCTOR
 There are as many types of doctors as there
are people.
 Some doctors are nervous, others are
disagreeable, many are timid, sympathetic,
calm, talkative, insulting, cooperative,
hesitant, undecided and intelligent.

21. THE SECOND STEP: COLLECT INFORMATION
 Present products and why he uses them.
 The standards he uses in judging products..
 The prescription philosophy as well as any
personal peculiarities, preference, and
prejudices.
 The problems he is facing, his needs and wants.
 The objection and resistance that might be
encountered during the call.

22. THE THIRDSTEP : ASURANCE
It takes place during the first few minutes of the
salesperson interview, the salesperson can
revise the data he had collected so as to assure
them or exclude the information.

23. BENEFITS OF PRE-CALLPLANNING:
1. Reduction of uncertainty
2. Higher quality of interviews
3. Better interpretation of the product in terms
of the doctor’s needs
4. Increased confidence of the salesperson
5. Sounder selling in shorter and more
successful calls

25. Opening is the skill of capturing the customer’s
attention and focusing the sales call.

26. 1. It helps you establish the purpose of the
visit.
2. Allows you to highlight an important product
benefit early in the call.
3. It helps you direct the conversation toward
customer needs.

27. Generally, you determine when to open, since it
naturally follows the casual conversation that
often precedes the business part of the call.

28.  However, sometimes a customer will directly
signal you to open, by saying
“What brings you here?”
“What can I do for you today?”
 Also, a doctor may tell you, with a facial
expression or body position, that it’s time to
get down to business.

29. OPENING INVOLVES TWO STEPS:
Step 1:
Identify known or presumed customer need.
Step 2:
Propose feature and benefit that satisfy this
need.

30. IDENTIFY A KNOWN OR PRESUMED CUSTOMER NEED
The first step in opening is to identify a known
or presumed customer need.

31. PROPOSE FEATURE, ACTION AND BENEFIT THAT
SATISFY THE NEED.
The second step of opening is to propose the
feature and benefit that satisfy the customer’s
need.

33. Probing is the skill of questioning.

34. Type Definition Example
OPEN
A question that invites an
extended explanation
Sales Rep:
“Doctor, what sort of problems do you have
with newly born calves?”
Doctor:
“there are several, diarrhea is the most
dangerous one.”
Closed
A question that can be
answered in a single word,
often “yes” or “no”
Sales Rep:
“Do you always face diarrhea in newly born
calves?”
Doctor:
yes

35. The general purpose of probing is to uncover
customer needs and concerns.
1. It allows you to guide the customer to reveal
his needs.
2. With effective probing skills, you take control
of the sales interview.

36. Type Function Example
OPEN
Allows the customer to
describe a need
Sales rep:
“Doctor, what sort of problems do you have
with your NSAID?”
Doctor:
“High prices is the major complaint.”
Closed
Allows you to direct the
customer to a presumed
need
Sales rep:
“Do your patients ever complain about high
cost therapy?”
Doctor:
”Yes”

37. BEGIN WITH AN OPEN PROBE
NEED INPUT
BEGIN WITH AN OPEN PROBE
NO NEED INPUT
SWITCH TO A CLOSED PROBEREINFORCING

39. You probe to uncover needs that can be
satisfied by the features and benefits of your
product, then you reinforce, you show the
customer why your product is needed.
Reinforcing is the skill that firmly establishes
you as a problem-solver and promotes your
product to the customer.

40. Reinforcing is the skill of satisfying customer
needs with product features and benefits.
When you have successfully used the skill of
probing, your customer will either state or
confirm a clear need that can be satisfied by a
feature and a benefit of your product.

41. Step 1
1. Agreement
2. Paraphrase the customer need
Step 2
1. Propose a feature and a benefit that satisfy this
need

42. The first step in reinforcing is to paraphrase the
customer need.
This shows the doctor that you understand
his/her need and consider it important.

43. First
You make a direct expression of agreement.
Some examples are:
 “Exactly.”
 “That can be a real problem.”
 “Absolutely”
 “That’s a significant issue.”
 “Without question.”
 “Good point, Doctor”

44. THEN
You restate the customer’s need.
Restating is repeating the customer’s need in
different words.
When you restate, do not repeat the doctor’s
exact words, paraphrase them.

45. PROPOSE A FEATURE AND A BENEFIT THAT
SATISFY THE NEED
The second step in reinforcing is to propose a
feature and a benefit of your product that can
satisfy this need.
In this way, you show the customer how your
product can be the solution to the need. To
present the feature and benefit, link them in
one statement

46. RESPONDING TO COMPLIMENTS:
When a customer makes a positive reference to
your company, your product line, or your fellow
employees, you should reinforce it. To respond
to a positive remark, you should express
agreement with the comment and expand it to
emphasize the positive impression

48. Gaining commitment is getting the customer
agreement to take a specific action with respect
to your product.
The action may be anything from reviewing a
clinical paper to using your product on a trial
basis.
The key is to make a specific agreement with
the doctor about action steps that will lead
towards product usage.

49. Gaining commitment is the skill of obtaining
the customer’s agreement to act.

50. How do you know when a customer is ready to
commit to using your product?
Customer signals are important in gaining
commitment. When the customer gives you a
clear-cut acceptance signal, this is your signal
to seek commitment.
Whenever a customer gives you an acceptance
signal you should attempt to gain commitment,
even if it happens before you have probed for
needs.

51. It involves two steps:
Step 1
Review the benefits accepted by the customer
Step 2
Ask for action

52. REVIEW THE BENEFITS ACCEPTED BY THE
CUSTOMER
When you attempt to gain commitment, it is
crucial to review all the benefits accepted by the
customer during the sales call. In your review,
you do not need to include features.
Your review of all the accepted benefits should
draw the customer’s attention to areas in which
your product meets his/her needs.

53. PROBE FOR AN ACCEPTANCE SIGNAL
If you decide to try to gain commitment without
receiving an acceptance signal, you summarize
the accepted benefits and then probe for
acceptance signal.
The purpose of this probe is to test the doctor’s
frame of mind. You need to know whether
he/she is ready to agree to act.

54. ASK FOR ACTION
A request for action is actually a paraphrased
sales call objective.
When you ask for action you must be specific.

55. ADVANTAGES SPECIFIC REQUEST:
1. Strengthen your role as a problem-solver.
2. Will help you evaluate your progress after the
call.

56. You can make your requests more specific by
including any of the following kinds of
information;
1. Asking for use in a specific number of
patients.
2. Specifying a time period for trial use of the
product

57. Requests for action fall into four general
categories:
1. Trial-use
2. Continued-use
3. Expanded-use
4. Back to use

58. Type Purpose Example
Trial-use
To get a doctor to prescribe
the product on a trial basis
New business is obtained
Continued-use
To get a doctor to continue
prescribing the product at
the same level
Current business is
maintained

59. Type Purpose Example
Expanded-use
To get a doctor to
prescribe more of the product
for the same indication
Or
To get a doctor to
prescribe the product for a new
indication
More business is
obtained
Back to use
To get the doctor to prescribe
the product again
Retaining business

60. 1. Review accepted benefits
Principal benefits accepted;
No acceptance signal
2. Ask for actions
2. Ask for action
Acceptance Signal
1. Review accepted benefits
1a. Probe for acceptance signal

62. 1. He is not yet prepared to accept your work
for a new piece of information.
2. Because he is expressing a competitor’s
counter-claim and wants to know whether
this counter-claim is justified.
3. He does not understand your explanation for
an important point.
4. He is interested in your story and wants it to
be reassured.
5. He wants to test your belief in your product.

63. Objections can be turned into assets and
opportunities by the skillful salesperson, and
therefore they should be welcomed, and highly
interpreted as requests for additional
information.

64. As a professional salesperson, you have to be
able to identify and respond to these four types
of customer resistance:
1. Misconception
2. Lack of interest
3. Real objection
4. Skepticism

65. Type Definition Example
Misconception
An incorrect negative
assumption about your
product, due to a lack of
information or misinformation.
X single daily dose does not
offer anything more the
competitors
Real objection
A legitimate shortcoming or
disadvantage of your product.
X price is too expensive for me.

66. Type Definition Example
Lack of interest
Disinterest in your product
because of satisfaction with a
competitor product.
I am very satisfied with Y
Skepticism
Disbelief that your product can
provide the stated benefit.
I find it hard to believe that X
has such a prolonged effect.

68. DEFINITION
An incorrect negative assumption about your
product due to a lack of information or the
misunderstanding of information.
It is always accompanied with strong feeling
and may be aggressive attitude.

69. HOW TO DEAL WITH MISCONCEPTION
1. You should resolve it immediately.
2. Paraphrase the doctor objection and magnify
it.
3. Provide the correct information to satisfy the
doctor

71. DEFINITION
A legitimate shortcoming or disadvantage of
your product.
It is the most serious attitude, and handling it
inefficiently may spoil the call.

72. HOW TO DEAL WITH REAL OBJECTION
Acknowledge the doctor opinion, since you can
not deny it.
Use the YES…BUT technique.
Minimize the doctor objection by maximizing
the other great benefits of your product.
i.e. showing the doctor that your product
benefits outweigh its disadvantage.
Try to position your product in an indication in
which its disadvantage is not of great
importance.

74. DEFINITION:-
Disinterest in your product because of
satisfaction with a competitor product.
It is the most common situation in the field.
It is a challenging situation and when you pass
it, you will enjoy success.

75. HOW TO DEAL WITH LACK OF INTREST
FIRST
You should identify the competing product in
use, and you may know it through:
Pre-call planning
Directly ask the doctor
Doctor may voluntarily tell you
SECOND
Analyze the competitor, ask series of closed
probes to uncover area of dissatisfaction, and
this will be your entrance gate.

76. THIRD
Express your product advantages and benefits
over the competitor and acquire the doctor
agreement.
Support this step with more benefits, and then
ask for actions to switch the prescription.

77. NOTE
Fully detailed knowledge about the competitor
is essential.
Be prepared with more than one area of
dissatisfaction, as the doctor may not respond
to the first one and sort them according to the
doctor priorities.

79. DEFINITION
Disbelief that your product can provide the
stated benefit. It occurs after you reinforce the
suspected benefit.

80. HOW TO DEAL WITH SKEPTICISM
1. Restate what you have just said using strong and
confident words.
2. Voice tone provides you with 50% of success.
3. Offer documents such as trials, medical
journals….etc.
4. Give it to the doctor and ask for commitment
and action. Set a date in which you will deliver
the document and Stick accurately to it
5. Provide the requested document and highlight
the area of the doctor interest with light marker.
6. Get the doctor agreement and then ask for
action

82. A 2-leg
sits on a 3-leg
and eats a 1-leg.
Comes a 4-leg
and takes away the 1-leg from the 2-leg.
The 2-leg gets angry
and takes the 3-leg
and beats the 4-leg.

84. 1. You are selling your product not the visual
aid.
2. Know your visual aid in details
3. Use it to support what you say, not to do the
selling for you.
4. Make it clean and ready to use.
5. Use pen or marker.
6. Keep control of the visual aid.

85. 1. Attract attention
2. Increase retention
3. Improve comprehension

86. 1. Make it concise with what you are saying.
2. Rap it unless it is in use.
3. Make it seen by your audience not you.
4. Use it to illustrate point by point.

87. See You Soon IN
Another
Presentation