CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO SELLING

Qualities of High Sales Performers
	Sell to people Know when to close Exchange Information Regularly establish trust Engage in certain behaviors Provide value added to the customer Be perceived as a genuine advocates of prospects’ needs Click Here to take a Sales Personality Test
THE SALES EDGE - EVERYBODY SELLS
Human relation skills are basic selling skills. Skills are learned and practiced from birth. Everyone has a base upon which to build their selling abilities. Introverts and extroverts are successful in selling

The Value of Salespeople
Selling keeps products, services and ideas flowing.
Sales people are solutions providers	Growing corporate competiveness Latest sales strategies are essential Understand your customers problems
Businesses rely on salespeople for many functions	identify customer needs Help determine prices of the products their company sells. Inform customers of new products. Follow up on the customer once the sale is made.
Critical importance of salespeople is recognized by	Compensation places more salespeople above $100,000 annually than people in any other profession. Time and Cost of Sales Training Importance of Sales Training According to published data, the average cost per call for a professional salesperson in many industrial organizations exceeds $300
More salespeople earn above $100,000 annually than people in any other profession
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Importance of Sales Training
Salespople are cross trained on other tasks Cost of replacing a trained seller can be up to $500,000 Learning never stops Salespeople are most comfortable selling what they understand. Successful companies see sales training as the basis for gaining a competitive advantage. provide ongoing training Sales training builds confidence in the sales force and enables them to make superior presentations.

THE POSITIVE NATURE OF PROFESSIONAL SELLING False Negative Perceptions about selling abound
Personal Attributes Required	Personal Integrity Personality Structure Personal Relationships
Personal Abilities Demanded

Women in Selling

About 26% of all sales jobs and 10% of all sales managers
Women dominate some industries (Apparel, Business services, office equipment)
Still lagging in many industries
There is no evidence relating performance to gender
There are style differences.

PERSONAL SELLING

Definition of Personal Selling

Seeking	out people who have a particular need.
Assisting	them to recognize the existence of needs they have that could be met through your offering.
Demonstrating	how your offering fills that need.
Persuading	qualified prospects that your product will fill their needs.

Salespeople are made not born

They are made with
- concentrated attention
- repeated practice
- goal oriented direction
Become a Master Salesperson
Become a student of your profession
Learn throughout your career

REWARDS OF A SALES CAREER

Variety and Independence
No set routine
Each sales situation has a unique character
The variety of prospects and their needs.
Variety of activities in one day and from day to day
Security
Entrepreneurship
Professional salespeople are never unemployed.
Salespeople have an especially good opportunity to exercise a direct effect on their income and security by their own efforts.

Hierarchy of Personal Needs

MORE REWARDS OF A SALES CAREER
Opportunity for Advancement	Advancement in Direct Selling Entrepeneurship Promotion to Sales Management Involvement in Sales Training Moving Into Top Management Security
Personal Satisfaction is derived from	The knowledge that you are meeting your own highest personal needs for self-actualization. Knowing that you have been of service to someone else while, at the same time, you have met your own goals. Being able to control your own work time and activities on a daily basis.
DISADVANTAGES OF A SALES CAREER
Variable income Long hours Travel Handling rejection

CLASSIFICATION OF SALES JOBS
All sales jobs have some similarities
The need to understand the prospect’s problems The need for self discipline to relentlessly execute a sales plan The need for appropriate technical and/or product knowledge. The ability to translate products into benefits that resolve problems
Trade Selling	Taking orders and field service. Largely involves delivering orders and replenishing inventory. Expected to persuade customers to provide additional shelf space or more favorable placement of stock. Opportunity to increase sales comes most often through assisting the customer to move a larger volume of inventory. Often actually set up product displays in retail stores.
Missionary Selling	Educate those who ultimately decide what product will be used by the consumer. Often does not see immediate results from their efforts in the way of products sold. Still accountable for sales.
Technical Selling	Salespeople must also be competent in some technical specialty related to the products being sold. Usually called in by another salesperson who has already contacted the prospect and stimulated some interest. Often conducted by a sales team. Still need real sales skills because their role is more than just explaining the technical aspects of the product.
New Business Selling
Selling for a Manufacturer	Account representative	Established clients Many calls
	Detail salesperson	Concentrates on promotions Product introductions May not take orders directly
	Sales Engineer	Technical skills
	Industrial Products Salesperson - Non Technical	Tangible products Industrial customers Technical knowledge not needed
	Service salesperson	Intangible products Sells on benefits only
Selling at Retail	Largest group Real estate Retail clerks Insurance agents Telephone salespeople Direct (door to door) Party sales Multi level sales
The Order Taker and the Order Getter
Order Taker	"Responds" or "Reacts" to the expressed desires of customers is Uses suggestion selling to get buyers to purchase additional products.
Order Getter	are creative, persistent, and build strong relationships creative selling deals with intangibles and intangibles offers the possibility of the highest personal income of any type of selling. requires a high level of personal skill, dedication and effort. time is still spent in maintaining relationships with former or present clients.

Successful Salespeople
	Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” - Thomas Jefferson
CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL SALESPEOPLE
Enthusiasm Sincerity Empathy Goal Direction Resourcefulness Administrative Ability Perseverance Pleasant Personality Initiative Ability to Ask Questions	Willing to do what it takes to attain goals. Ability to find satisfaction in contributing to achievement of the goals set by their company. Enjoy serving the needs of others. Able to stay focused on daily activities. Other characteristics Strong positive self image High ethical standards Sensitivity to the needs of others. Able to win the trust of others

CREATE THE SALES EDGE
C	hange is often desirable, frequently necessary, and always inevitable
R	emember…only you can give yourself permission to approve of you. Unlock your mind from negative thinking
E	nvision yourself a success. What you think about you become.
A	ttitude does determine your altitude. It's what’s inside that makes you rise.
T	he right angle to solve a problem is the try-angle.
E	liminate failure as an option, and progress naturally emerges

T	he best is yet to come. yesterdays impossibilities are today’s possibilities.
H	ave your dreams. they are the stuff great people are made of. reach for the stars but keep your feet on the ground.
E	xtraordinary desire and persistance drives ordinary people to achieve great things. achievers are not extraordinary people.

S	even days without laughter makes one weak.
A	smile is the shortest between two people.
L	isten twice as much as you talk. You were given two ears and one tongue.
E	ncourgaging feedback is a process for learning about your impact on those around you.
S	uccess is the progressive realization of worthwhile, predetermined, personal goals.

E	xcuses are for losers. Winners have ways. May we all find the way.
D	etermine never to give up. It’s when things seem the worst that you must not quit.
G	oals are dreams with a due date.
E	xpect the best of yourself. Be somebody special. The best never consider success optional.