1

Chapter - 8

Customer oriented selling: The degree to which salespeople practice the marketing concept by trying to help their customers make purchase decisions that will satisfy customer needs

Saxe and Weitz have characterized customer- oriented selling as:

The desire to help customers make satisfactory purchase decisions

Helping customers to assess their needs

Offering products to satisfy those needs

2

Describing products accurately Avoiding deceptive or manipulative

influence tactics Avoiding the use of high pressure sales

techniques Research studies have shown that

successful selling is associated with the following:

1. Asking questions2. Providing product information, making

comparisons and offering evidence to support claims

3

3. Acknowledging the customer’s view point

4. Agreeing with the customer’s perceptions

5. Supporting the customer6. Releasing tension7. Having a richer, more detailed

knowledge of the customer8. Increased effort9. Self-confidence in one’s own ability

4

In order to develop personal selling skills it is useful to distinguish seven phases of the selling process

1. The opening – Initial impressions2. Need and problem identification – needs

analysis3. Presentation and demonstration –

Reference selling, guarantees, trial order4. Dealing with objections5. Negotiation6. Closing the sale7. Follow up

5

The opening : Initial impression can cloud later perceptions, so it is important to consider the ways in which a favorable initial response can be achieved

Need and problem recognition: Need analysis approach suggests that early in the sales process that sales person should adopt a question and listen posture

Use open ended questions to make the customer to talk instead of using close ended questions

6

The Presentation and Demonstration:1. Having identified the needs and problems

of the buyer, the presentation provides the opportunity for the salesperson to convince the buyer that they can supply the solution

2. Many sales situations involve risk to the buyer and the buyer may be reluctant to change from the present supplier. There are four major ways by which risk can be reduced:

3. Reference selling, demonstrations, guarantee and trail orders

7

Dealing with objections: Objections are any concerns or questions raised by the buyer

1. The effective approach for dealing with objections involves two areas

2. Preparation of convincing answers3. Development of a range of techniques for

answering objections in a manner which permits the acceptance of these answers without loss of face on the part of the buyer

8

Following techniques can be used to overcome objections – Refer fig 8.2

1. Listen and do not interrupt2. Agree and counter3. The straight denial4. Question the objections5. Forestall the objection – raise the

objection6. Turn the objection into a trail close7. Hidden objections8. Start high but be realistic

9

9. Attempt to trade concession for concession

10. Implement behavioral skills11. Buyers’ negotiating skills Closing the sale:1. The ability to close the sale2. Sales people to take the initiative3. Some sales people are reluctant to close

the sale fearing rejection by the buyer4. A major consideration is timing

10

Closing techniques which the sales person can use Refer to fig 8.4

1. Simply ask for the order2. Summarize and then ask for the order3. The concession close4. The alternative close5. The objection close6. Action agreement

11

Follow up For most companies repeat business is

the hall mark of success and the follow up call can play a major role by showing that the sales person really cares about the customer rather than only be interested in making sales

E-mail can be used for follow up especially in B to B situations

12