Chapter 13: Professional Selling

by Jeff Tanner and Mary Anne Raymondby Jeff Tanner and Mary Anne Raymond
Principles of Marketing

Chapter 13Chapter 13
Professional SellingProfessional Selling
©2010 Flat World Knowledge, Inc.

©2010 Flat World Knowledge, Inc. 3
Learning Objectives
1.Recognize the role professional selling plays in
society and in firms’ marketing strategies.
2.Identify the different types of sales positions.
The Role Professional Salespeople PlayThe Role Professional Salespeople Play

What Salespeople DoWhat Salespeople Do

Fiduciary—selling the company’s products
Ethical—fair to the buyer
Can lead to conflicting roles
for the salesperson!
Salesperson’s ResponsibilitiesSalesperson’s Responsibilities

Limited sales time leads to focusing
on customers with the most potential.
Getting the order is critical for success.
Being liked is necessary but not sufficient
for continued success in selling.

Salespeople are boundary spanners and are
the first to learn about what competitors are
doing.
Through interaction with customers, they can
learn of customer’s needs.
Entering this information into databases
allows marketing personnel access.
The sales force can be the eyes and ears
for market planners.

Types of Selling PositionsTypes of Selling Positions

Account ManagersAccount Managers

Key TakeawaysKey Takeaways
There are four types of salespeople
1. Prospectors
2. Trade sales
3. Missionary
4. Account manager
Salespeople
1. Create value
2. Manage relationships
3. Gather information

Customer Relationships and SellingCustomer Relationships and Selling
StrategiesStrategies
Learning Objectives
1. Understand the types of selling relationships
firms seek.
2. Be able to select the selling strategy needed to
achieve the desired customer relationship.

Customer RelationshipsCustomer Relationships

• Transactional Relationships—each sale is a separate
exchange, and the two parties have little or no interest in
maintaining an ongoing relationship.
• Functional Relationships—develop when a buyer
continues to purchase a product from a seller out of
habit.
• Strategic Partnership—buyer and seller commit time and
money to expand “the pie” for both parties.
• Affiliative Selling Relationships—more likely to occur
when the buyer needs a significant amount of expertise
from the seller and trust is an issue.
Types of Sales RelationshipsTypes of Sales Relationships

• Script-Based or Canned Selling—Salespeople memorize
and deliver sales pitches verbatim.
• Needs-Satisfaction Selling—asking questions to identify a
buyer’s problems and needs, and then tailoring a sales
pitch to satisfy those needs.
• Consultative Selling—the seller uses special expertise to
solve a complex problem in order to create a somewhat
customized solution.
• Strategic Partner Selling—both parties invest resources
and share their expertise with each other to create
solutions that jointly grow one another’s businesses.
Selling StrategiesSelling Strategies

• The sales-strategy types and relationship
types discussed don’t always perfectly
match up.
• Different strategies might be more
appropriate at different times.
• When is each method more appropriate?
Depends on how the buyer wants to buy, and what
information the buyer needs to make a good decision.
Choosing the Right Sales StrategyChoosing the Right Sales Strategy

The Typical Sales ProcessThe Typical Sales Process

• Objections are concerns or reasons not to buy raised by
the prospect, and can occur at any time.
• Salespeople should probe to find out if the objection
represents a misunderstanding or a hidden need.
• Typical objections:
1. costs too much
2. don’t need it
3. competitor has a better product
4. don’t have the authority to buy
• Resolve objections by addressing each concern.
Overcoming ObjectionsOvercoming Objections

• Closing is asking for the order.
• Trial closes are attempts to lead the buyer
to make a decision.
• Complex selling situations may require
many sales calls.
ClosingClosing

• The four types of relationships between buyers and
sellers are transactional, functional, affiliative, and
strategic.
• The four basic sales strategies salespeople use are script-
based selling, needs-satisfaction selling, consultative
selling, and strategic-partnering.
• The sales process used to sell products is generally the
same regardless of the selling strategy used.
• Different selling strategies can be used within different
types of relationships.
• The strategy chosen will depend on the stage on which
the seller is focusing.

Learning Objectives
1. Describe the sales cycle.
2. Understand the selling metrics that salespeople
use.
3. Understand the selling metrics that sales
managers and executives use.
Sales Metrics (Measures)Sales Metrics (Measures)

The Sales CycleThe Sales Cycle

• The key metric that salespeople are evaluated upon is
the revenues they generate.
• Conversion ratios measure how good a salesperson is at
moving customers from one stage in the selling cycle to
the next.
• Activity Goals–number of sales calls of each type that has
to be made in a certain period of time.
• Win-Loss Analysis—a review of how well a salesperson
performed given the opportunities faced.
• Compensation—bonuses and commissions are important
metrics used by many salespeople.
Metrics Used by SalespeopleMetrics Used by Salespeople

• Sales managers are interested in the same
metrics as the salesperson, plus
1. market share
2. sales by product line
3. sales trends vs. forecast
4. salesperson results
5. selling costs
6. inventory levels
7. customer satisfaction
Metrics Used by Sales ManagersMetrics Used by Sales Managers

• The sales cycle is a basic unit of measurement indicating
how long it takes to close a sale.
• Salespersons who shorten the cycle are able to generate
more revenue.
• Sales executives track the same metrics as individual
salespeople but at the aggregate level.
• A firm’s sales trends affect many of the other decisions
the company’s executives have to make, including
manufacturing and output decisions.
• Sales managers also have to manage their company’s
selling costs.

Learning Objectives
1. Compare and contrast common ethical
challenges facing salespeople and sales
managers.
2. Describe steps companies take to ensure ethical
sales activities.
Ethics in Sales and Sales ManagementEthics in Sales and Sales Management

Many of the most common situations faced
by salespeople involve issues such as:
1. A customer asks for information about one of their
competitors, who happens to be firm’s customer.
2. How much should you spend on holiday season gifts
for your customers.
3. A buyer asks for something special, something not
supposed to be provided but could easily be done.
4. No one knows if a salesperson is at work or not, and it is
a nice day to play golf but without a prospective
customer!
Common Ethical Issues for SalespeopleCommon Ethical Issues for Salespeople

• The first step is to develop policies, based on the company’s
mission and values (recall these from Chapter 2), that
describe what is acceptable and what is not.
• Train all salespeople and sales managers on the policy.
• Training is to secure greater support and application of the
policy. Another reason is that should a salesperson engage in
an unethical or illegal activity, the company is protected.
• Enforce the policy and have procedures in place that make
enforcement possible.
• Codes of ethics, policies, and procedures affect all
employees. They are not created just because of salespeople.
Company SafeguardsCompany Safeguards

• Sales managers face the same challenges in managing
salespeople that all managers face.
• When should an order be recorded for revenue
purposes?
• Laws that affect sales operations include pricing
discrimination, hiring practices, and workplace safety as
well as others.
• Sales managers should also develop close working
relationships with the human resources and legal
departments. These professionals are charged with
staying abreast of legal changes that influence
management practice.
Challenges Facing Sales ManagersChallenges Facing Sales Managers

• Salespeople face unique ethical challenges because of
their job.
• American salespeople have the added constraint of the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
• Sales managers have all of the usual management
concerns, such as fair hiring practices. They also have to
develop policies and practices that codify ethical
behaviors, train salespeople on the ethics policies.
• Sales managers have to be aware of laws such as the
Universal Commercial Code and others that govern sales
transactions.

Integrating Sales and MarketingIntegrating Sales and Marketing
Learning Objectives
1. Identify the ways in which the marketing
function supports the sales function.
2. Describe how the sales group of a company can
support its marketing efforts.

• Marketing Shortens the Sales Cycle
• Marketing provides:
Lead Management—the process of identifying and
qualifying leads in order to grow new business.
Closed-Loop Lead Management—systems that are able to
track leads all the way from the point at which the
marketer identifies them to when they are closed.
Theses systems can result in better investment decisions
for marketing managers because they can learn what
works—what marketing actions shorten sales cycles and
create more sales.
What Marketing Does for SalesWhat Marketing Does for Sales

Lead Scoring—is a process by which marketing personnel
rate the leads to indicate whether a lead is hot (ready to
buy now), warm (going to buy soon), or cold (interested
but no immediate plans to buy).
Marketing personnel can also improve salespeople’s
conversions by providing materials that help buyers
make good decisions.
Marketing Improves Conversion RatiosMarketing Improves Conversion Ratios
by Scoring Leadsby Scoring Leads

• Salespeople talk to customers every day.
They are the “eyes and ears” of their
companies. More than anyone else in an
organization, they know what customers
want.
• Salespeople are responsible for voicing
their customers’ ideas and concerns to
other members of the organization.
• Salespeople monitor the competition.
What Sales Does for MarketingWhat Sales Does for Marketing

• Marketing personnel support a firm’s sales force
by shortening the sales cycle and improving
conversions.
• Lead management and lead scoring help
salespeople.
• Salespeople support marketing personnel by
communicating their customers’ needs and ideas
back to the them.
• Salespeople are also the first to spot the actions
of competing firms.

Learning Objectives
1. Identify the primary types of outsourcing
salespeople.
2. Characterize the strengths and weaknesses of
outsourcing sales groups.
Outsourcing the Sales FunctionOutsourcing the Sales Function

• Companies can outsource all or part of the sales cycle.
• Independent agents are salespeople who are not
employees of the company.
They are paid on a straight commission basis
They set their own hours, determine their own activities
Independent agents often sell competing products
• Manufacturer’s representatives are agents that sell
a manufacturer’s product.
They don’t sell competing products.
Are already selling to the desired market.
• Call centers are examples of outsourcing a portion
of the sales cycle.
Types of Outsourced SalespeopleTypes of Outsourced Salespeople

• Advantages
Gaining access to more buyers.
Outsourced salespeople have existing relationships.
Entering new product or global markets.
Outsourcing can be less expensive.
Only pays commissions when they sell products.
• Disadvantages
The primary disadvantage of outsourcing the selling
process is loss of control.
Advantages and DisadvantagesAdvantages and Disadvantages
of Outsourcingof Outsourcing

• Outsourcing the sales function can be done through
distributors, independent agents, and manufacturers’
representatives.
• The entire sales cycle can be outsourced or only parts of
it.
• Independent agents, distributors, and manufacturers’
representatives often have established relationships that
make it easier for a company to enter and penetrate new
markets.
• Outsourcing the sales function means that a company
will lose some control over its sales activities.

Chapter 13: Professional Selling

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