Sales Management and Personal Selling (BUS 3115) Fall 2003 Detailed Weekly Schedule

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1 Sales Management and Personal Selling (BUS 3115) Fall 2003 Detailed Weekly Schedule Below are the topics we ll cover in each class. I highly recommend you read the assigned chapters and jot down your answers to the questions prior to each class period in order to maximize your learning. I will add to our in-class discussion of the below topics other relevant material, audio/visuals, guest speakers, etc. in order to further emphasize these topics. Thus, missing class will surely jeopardize the completeness of your learning experience! Date WEEK 1 August 21 WEEK 2 August 26 1,2 Introduction to the course 1. What will we be doing this semester? Review the syllabus and expectations! Introduction to contemporary selling 1. How does professional selling fit into the marketing mix? Dig deep and refer back to the 4 Ps from your Marketing Principles course. 2. What is the difference between transactional selling vs. value-added selling? (pgs. 5-10) 3. What are the main process elements in the selling process demonstrated in the model for Contemporary Selling? (pgs. 2,12-15) Understanding sellers and buyers 1. Not all salespeople turn out to be successful. What are the key success factors for salespeople? (pgs ) 2,3 Understanding sellers and buyers (cont d) 1. All of the participants involved in the buying process on the buyer s side form the buying center. What are the 7 different participant roles in the buying center? (pgs ). 2. One widely recognized framework identifies 7 steps that organizational buyers take in making purchasing decisions. What are they? (pgs ) How do they differ from the end-consumer buying decision stages? (to answer this question think through this logically and based on your own experiences as an end-consumer) Value creation in buyer-seller relationships 1. What is the concept of value? How can a seller increase value? (pgs. 5, 57-61, 73-81) 2. The value proposition is the net bundle of benefits you, your company, and your products/services offer to customers. What are the 12 categories of value that can be communicated to buyers? (pgs ) Page 1 of 6

2 August 28 WEEK 3 September As a salesperson, you not only have to sell your products/services, but you also have to sell yourself. What are the dimensions of service quality and how can a salesperson demonstrate each dimension so that the customer chooses to work with him/her and not a competing salesperson? (pgs.65-66) 6 Ethical and legal issues in contemporary selling 1. Ethical relationships are the foundation of contemporary selling. Every day salespeople are asked to make ethical judgments. What are the ethical concerns facing salespeople as they relate to customers, employers, company policies, and international sales issues? (pgs ) 2. Over the years, a number of laws have been enacted at the federal, state, and local levels that either directly or indirectly influence the buyer-seller relationship. a. What is the Uniform Commercial Code? ( ; and pgs ) b. What is the difference between an express and implied warranty? (pg. 96) c. What is: collusion, restraint of trade, reciprocity, competitor obstruction, price discrimination, and competitor defamation? (pgs ) Prospecting and sales call planning 1. There are a variety of acronyms that can be handy for salespeople to use in remembering prospect qualification elements. The book adopts the MADDEN acronym. (pgs ) a. What does it mean to qualify a prospect? b. What are the MADDEN questions you should be able to answer in order to qualify a prospect? 2. Leads for potential prospects come from a wide variety of sources. What are some of these sources? (pgs ) 3. What is the difference between warm and cold calling? (pg.143) 4. At this point assume you ve qualified a prospect as a potentially good future customer. What information should you attempt to gather before you meet with the prospect? (pgs ) Why is it a good idea to be prepared with this information? (Think it through) Note: Read Appendix: Sales Proposals (pgs ) to get a sense for the Sales Proposal presentation assignment you will do in this course. 7 Communicating the sales message 1. It s time to communicate your sales message through your sales presentation via a meeting with your prospect and members of the buying center. What are the characteristics of a great sales presentation? (pgs ) 2. There are four basic types of presentation strategies. What are they and when is each most appropriate? (pgs. Page 2 of 6

3 September 04 WEEK 4 September 9 September ) 3. What are some tips for making a good first impression? (pgs ; and N= &site=eds-live you must be logged in to the FSC library to gain access to this link) 4. The approach is what sales professionals call the first part of the sales presentation. It is a transition point from the greeting to the main body of your presentation where you will deliver the primary sales message to the customer. What are the five common approach strategies? (pgs ) 5. The meat of the sales call is building a relationship. This includes identifying customer needs through appropriate questions, listening, and applying what you ve learned to then communicate a relevant and appealing sales message. a. Questions - What are the basic categories of questions? What is the SPIN approach to questions? (pgs ) b. Listening What are some tips for active listening? (pgs ) You not only have to listen for what is said verbally, but also what is said nonverbally. What are some common nonverbal communication behaviors? (pgs ) c. Communicating a relevant sales message What is FAB? (pgs ) 6. Good communication is important in all facets of life! What are some tips for being a better communicator? (pg. 176) Sales call role-play! Today we will spend the bulk of the class period in an interactive role-play applying the concepts of active listening, asking appropriate questions, and identifying and reacting to nonverbal signals, and tailoring your sales messages on the fly. More details will be provided. Product demonstration preparation Time will also be spent preparing you for your product demonstrations. Midterm exam Complete the midterm exam by 6:30 p.m. today. Product demonstrations Students will conduct their product demos today! Product demonstrations (cont.) We ll continue with the product demos today. It should not take the entire class period, but this will depend on the final count of enrolled students in the course. Page 3 of 6

4 WEEK 5 September 16 September 18 Other topics (TBD based on time): Profit forecast/cost analysis Intro to your Sales Proposal assignment Reinforcing what we ve learned so far with movie clips and other engaged learning activities 8,9 Negotiating for win-win solutions 1. Customer objections regarding the product fall into two broad areas that require different approaches to deal with the customer s concerns. What are they, broadly and specifically? (pgs ). 2. What are the guidelines for dealing with customer objections? (pgs ) 3. There are 9 tactical negotiation strategies for dealing with customer concerns. Each one can be effective in the right situation. What are they and when should you use each? (pgs ) Closing the sale and follow-up 1. Closing the sale means obtaining commitment from the customer to make a purchase. It is driven by the salesperson s perception of the customer s readiness to commit. What are some verbal and nonverbal signals the customer can give indicating s/he is ready to buy? (pgs , ) 2. There are many ways to close the sale. Successful salespeople learn how and when to use many different approaches. While the book discusses 7 tactical closing methods, it is critically important that any closing technique be customized to the particular buyer and situation. What are the 7 closing methods? (pgs ) 3. Customer care groups, call centers, technicians, and many others frequently represent a firm during the followup process. However, no matter who else has contact with your customer, ultimately you the client s primary salesperson are the person your customer views as the main representative of the firm. a. What is a performance gap and to what does it lead? (pgs ) b. What are a few guidelines for salespeople to follow in communicating with customers about problems after the sale? (pgs ) 10, 11 Salesperson self-management 1. Time everyone seems to need more of it, but unfortunately there is only so much to go around. What are some time-management recommendations? (pgs ) a. Effectively Manage Your Multi-Tasking Day =bth&an= &site=eds-live (you must be logged in to the FSC library to gain access to this article) b. 10 Time Management Tips That Work Interview 3-5 people on what they do to manage their time. What are the common themes for what works and what doesn t work? Jot down your notes and bring them to class today. Page 4 of 6

5 WEEK 6 September 23 September 25 Salesperson performance 1. A salesperson s performance (negative or positive) is a function of five factors. What are they? Describe the model presented in exhibit 11.1 (pgs ) 2. The job satisfaction of salespeople refers to all the characteristics of the job that people find rewarding, fulfilling, and satisfying or frustrating and unsatisfying. There are 7 dimensions to sales job satisfaction. What are they? (pgs ) 12, 13 Recruiting, selecting, and training salespeople 1. After the sales manager determines the job qualifications for his/her new sales positions, and after some applicants have been recruited, the final task is to determine which applicants best meet the qualifications and have the greatest aptitude for the job. To gain the information needed to evaluate each prospective employee, firms typically use some combination of 4 different selection procedures. What are they? (pgs ) 2. Once the individual is recruited, s/he needs additional instruction/training to make them an effective salesperson. Even experienced salespeople need to understand the company s policies and procedures as well as specific knowledge of the company s products and services. What are the 5 objectives of sales training? (pgs ) 3. For new trainees, the content of sales training tends to remain constant. What topics are usually covered in sales training programs and what are some ways that this information might get delivered? (pgs ) Compensating and evaluating salespeople 1. The way the reward structure is implemented in a sales organization is through the compensation plan. What are the components and objectives of financial compensation plans? (pgs ) 2. The process of evaluating the performance of salespeople is important. Measures beyond sales and profits may be used to measure salesperson performance. They fall into two broad categories, objective measures and subjective measures. (pgs ) a. What are some examples of objective and subjective measures? b. What is a 360-degree performance feedback? Real-world selling situations Today s class will focus on role playing real-world selling situations. Students always love this session! Here are a few examples we ll role-play: Prospect asks the seller to have a seat, but then remains standing. Phone rings on the prospect's desk. Prospect picks it up and starts carrying on a spirited conversation. Prospect says he/she likes everything about the proposal, but just doesn't have that kind of money. Also, Page 5 of 6

6 WEEK 7 September 30 October 02 WEEK 8 October 7 extending credit is out of the question for some reason. Prospect is very, very confused. Might be because he was at a party late last night. Might be because he is just not a very sharp individual (the world does have those kinds of folks some of them are buyers). Be willing to let loose and have fun with this. The more you re willing to let loose, the more fun you ll have. Bring in snacks if you d like. Sales presentations Students will conduct their sales presentations today! You will have buyers in the audience ready to tell you NO. Be prepared to think on your feet to respond back with a relevant negotiation strategy to deal with their specific concerns. Sales presentations (cont.) We will continue with the sales presentations today. Prep for final exam Any remaining time will be allocated toward reviewing for the final exam. In-class comprehensive final exam Page 6 of 6