Test one Flashcards
1
Q
What comes to mind when you here the term Sales Management?
A
- Retail Sales Management
- Territory Sales Management
- Wholesale Distributor Sales Management
- Customer Sales Management
- Regional Sales Management
- Key Account Sales Management
2
Q
Marketing Strategy:
A
specifies a target marketand a related marketing mix.
3
Q
who specifies a target marketand a related marketing mix.
A
Sales people
4
Q
One of the most important, and expensive, tools that company’s wield to promote the purchase of their products
A
Personal Selling component of Promotion
5
Q
Promotion:
A
is concerned with telling the target marketor others in the channel of distributionabout the “right” product for them.
6
Q
Promotion includes:
A
- Personal Selling
- Mass Selling
a) Advertising
b) Publicity - Direct Marketing
- Sales Promotion
7
Q
What are the Top Five Customer Complaints about Salespeople?
A
- Does not understand our business
- Does not understand their product or how it is applied
- Does not respond to our needs
- Does not listen to our needs
- Should be more of our advocate
8
Q
What selling approaches exist in professional sales?
A
Transactional Selling and Relationship Selling
9
Q
Transactional Selling
A
- Get new accounts
- Get the order
- Cut the price to get the sale
- Manage all accounts to maximize short-term sales
- Sell to anyone
10
Q
Relationship Selling
A
- Retain existing accounts
- Become the preferred supplier
- Price so buyer andseller profit
- Manage all accounts with a focus on long-term mutual benefit
- Concentrate on select accounts
11
Q
Difference between relationship selling and transactional selling
A
Transactional selling is primarily found in CONSUMER sales while relationship selling is found in BUSINESS-T0-BUSINESS sales.
12
Q
What is the most common title for a prosessional sales person?
A
Account Manager
13
Q
How do professional sales jobs differ from other jobs?
A
- Implement the firm’s marketing strategies
- Are authorized to spend company funds
- Represent their company to customers and to society
- Represent the customer to their companies
- Operate with little direct supervision and thus must be self-motivated
- Frequently face rejection
- Need more tact and social intelligence
- Travel extensively, taking time from home and family
- Have large role sets (see Figure 1-3)
- Experience role ambiguity and role conflict–The two dimensions of role stress
14
Q
What are the primary stressors in a professional sales role?
A
Role Stress
15
Q
Salespeople tend to experience Role Stress, which consists of what two dimensions?
A
Role conflict and Role Ambiguity
16
Q
Role Conflict
A
Salespeople are often caught in the middle between what the business customer wants and what the company allows
17
Q
Role Ambiguity
A
Because each business customer has a unique set of needs, salespeople often face new situations in which they don’t know what to do
18
Q
What do customers want most from your sales organization?
A
More than anything else, customers want their salespeople to provide servicethat solves problemsand responds to their needs.
19
Q
What are the key sales management responsibilities?
A
Strategic planning Organizing the sales force Recruiting, selection, assimilation Training and development Motivation and leadership Performance evaluation
20
Q
Personal Selling and Sales Management are important to…
A
Our economy–“Nothing happens [in our economy] until somebody sells something.” –The number of sales jobs in the U.S. is large and steadily growing
Individual organizations–Companies typically spend a great deal on their sales force (15-20% of sales)–Salespeople implementthe marketing strategy
To students–Most common first job for college graduates is in entry-level sales–Sales jobs pay well!
21
Q
Challenges Facing Sales Force Management
A
1) Selling by, and to, executives
–Important customers expect to interact with top executives
2)Adapting to new technology
–Known as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and/or Sales Force Automation (SFA) programs
3)Sales force diversity
-Assuring women and minorities are represented in sales jobs of all industries
4)Complex channels of distribution
For example, integrating both outside andinside sales forces to meet customer needs
5)Globalization–Facing increasing competition from foreign firms
22
Q
How does ethical sales behavior tie-in to sales management?
Sales Ethics and Social Responsibility
A
Salespeople have the potential to engage in unethical behavior that cheats customers
Sales today is much more ethical than it used to be, yet there are still many high-profile cases of unethical behavior–For example, the Wells Fargo scandal of 2016
Sales managers must strive to maintain ethical standards, which is always the best long-term solution
23
Q
Personal Selling:
A
are personal presentations by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationships.
24
Q
Nature of Personal Selling:
A
- Is most effective in building up buyers’ preferences, convictions, and actions
- Creates value for your customer(s)!
- Allows all kind of customer relationships to spring up
- Is a company’s most expensive promotion tool
- Buyers feel a greater need to listen and respond to personal selling
25
How can Salespeople add value in a selling situation to your business customer?
1. Provide interface between the buying& sellingcompanies
2. Identify/Activate key players in task of co-creating value 3.Build a “bond” by encouraging two-way communication
4. Create climate of co-market leadership
5. Encourage mutual understanding of each organization
6. Facilitate “useful/fruitful” meetings between organizations
7. Manage break-down of value added activities between org’s
8. Help foster trust and commitment
9. Help to provide closure on value added solutions
26
Salesperson:
```
an individual representing a company to customers by performing one or moreof the following activities:
•Prospecting
•Communicating
•Selling•Servicing
•Information gathering
•Relationship building
```
27
Role of the Sales Force:
* Serve as a critical link between a company and its customers
* Coordinate marketing and sales
* Implementing sellers “go-to” market strategies
28
Types of Sales Force Structure:
1) Territorial
2) Product
3) Customer(or market)
29
Territorial:
Assigns each salesperson to an exclusive geographic territory in which that salesperson sells the company’s full line
30
Product:
Salespeople specialize in selling only a portion of the company’s products or lines
31
Customer(or market):
Salespeople specialize in selling only to certain customers or industries (also called “account” and “channel” managers)
32
8 generic steps in the Selling Process:
Prospecting-> Planning the Sales Call->Making the Sales Call->Needs Assessment->Strong Presentation-> Responding to Objections->Obtaining Commitment-> Follow-up
33
1. Prospecting
The method or system used by the sales force to find new customers.
Identyifying and qualifying leads
34
Identifying leads
Names and addresses of good prospects can be obtained via:
–Referrals
•Customer referrals
•Internal referrals (e.g., “C” level managers)
–Outside agencies and publications
•LinkedIn, Sales Genie, etc.
–Networking by the salesperson
35
Qualifying leads
A prospect is qualified if these three conditions are met:
1. The customer has a need for the products being sold
2. The customer can afford to buy the products
3. The customer is receptive to being called on by the salesperson
36
2. Planning the sales Call
2. Planning the sales Call
•Include all the information gathering activities salespeople perform to learn relevant facts about the prospects, their needs, and their overall situation
•Key to this step is to define the objectivefor the sales call
–However, the objective may have to be altered on the fly based on new information discovered during the sales call this is known as adaptive selling
37
3. Making the Sales Call
•The first minute or so of the sales call
–Make a favorable first impression
–Establish rapport
•Small talk
•Gain the buyer’s agreement to move into need assessment
38
4. Need Assessment
```
•Salesperson uncovers buyer’s needs by asking a series of probing questions
•Listening is key
•SPIN technique
–Situation questions
–Problem questions
–Implication questions
–Need-payoff questions
```
39
5. The Presentation
•A discussion of how the product/service will benefit the customer
–Should focus on customer needs
–How does it make their business better
•Built around a forceful product demo
•Prepared presentation vs. Adaptive selling•
Tips for effective presentations
–Keep it simple
–Talk the prospect’s language ($s)
–Stress the application of the product to the prospect’s situation
–Seek credibility at every turn
40
6. Meeting objections
•Objections should be welcomed because they indicate that the prospect has some interest in the proposition
•In responding to an objection:
–Listen to the buyer, clarifythe objection
–Respondto the objection
–Confirmthat it’s no longer a concern
41
7. Gaining commitment
Asking the buyer to commit to some action that moves the sale forward.
42
8. Follow-up
Following up to ensure that the customer is fully satisfied builds trust and is consistent with the concepts of relationship marketing.
43
Professional Sales:
is the process of selling goods and services to target organizations (your customer) rather than individual customers or households. This variety of “sales” isallbutinvisibletothegeneralpublic.
44
“Organization” (ie. Company, Firm):
A profit generating corporate or non-corporate entity.
45
“Supplier” (ie. Vendor):
Companies that sell goods and services to other companies.
46
“Customer”:
is an economic entity that purchases goods and services.
47
“Prospect”:
is a potential customer.
48
“End User Groups”:
The departments of a company that actually use, incorporate, consume or re-sell the products or services that the purchasing department procures.
49
“Purchasing Departments” (ie. Purchasing):
The department within a company responsible for procuring products and services used, incorporated, consumed or re-sold by the company.
50
“Purchasing Agent”:
is the individual within a company responsible for the procurement, of all or specific product and services used, incorporated, consumed or re-sold.
51
Will Consumer Sales experience help us in Pro sales?Source: “B2B Sales”, Trimnell, Chapter 1, 1stedition & Instructor notes...Why or Why not?
* A majority of commonly taught sales tactics were created for Consumer selling!
* Businesses (you are selling to) do not behave like consumers!
* Businesses’ (you are selling to) needs, decision making processes, and communications methodsare usually unfamiliar to most Consumer experienced sales personnel!
52
Will Consumer Sales experience help us in Pro sales?
“Tactics that work in Consumer sales are ineffective–and sometimes detrimental –when applied to Pro Sales
53
How and Why is Pro Sales different from Consumer Sales”
| What are the 5 primary differences?
1) Greater rewards
2) More complexity
3) Multiple customers and stake holders
4) High dollars and higher stakes
5) Longer deal cycles
54
1) Greater reward
| YOU make more money in pro sales
Most Consumer Sales people have a much lower compensation level because: (1) The products they sell have very low profit margins (2-5%) at the end of the supply chain. (2) of the low level skills and experience needed for most Consumer sales.
55
2) More complexity …what makes it more complex
* Knowledge of your Firm’s total portfolio of products
* Understanding of how the products are applied by end-users
* Knowledge of the business processes of your customers
* Knowledge of your competitors and their product portfolio
* Understanding of your diverse customers and their customers
* Understanding of the desires of stakeholders within your Firm
56
__________ & _________ are in areas that most people consider to be both “hard” and “boring”. However, there exists an opportunity for those eager souls willing to put in the effort to position themselves as a highly valued and unique commodity in their market of expertise!
B2B products & services
57
3. Multiple Customers and Stakeholders
• Consumer Sales… you usually have 1 to 2 customers to satisfy!
• Pro Sales… you are having to convince a
committee of stakeholders!
• Consumer Sales… employs a “go, no-go” selling process!
• Pro Sales… often employs a hierarchy process to
approve a purchase! – Could include the Buyer’s
manager or a senior manager’s sign off – Could
include corporate managers (& CEO) sign-offs (major
Capital purchases)
• Consumer Sales… can often be an emotional “impulse” purchase!
• Pro Sales… lacks emotion and driven by business
need and/or ROI investment.
58
What falls short in pro sales environment
“Appeals to emotion and attempts to rely on personal charm fall flat in the Pro Sales Environment!
59
4. Higher Dollars and Stakes:
* Consumer Sales… aside from home and automobiles, most consumer purchases are not financially life threatening! – Many are emotionally driven – Most include discretionary funds
* Pro/Business Sales… purchases affect the bottom line of the company – Impacting the health of the company – Impacting employees of the company – Impacting the company’s ability to thrive or survive! – Can often be in the millions of dollars!
60
5. A Longer Deal Cycle:
* Consumer Sales… even major purchase decisions can take less than 1 hour!
* Pro/Business Sales… Depending on scope of the deal, it can take weeks, months, or even years to close the deal!
61
Some final Pro/Business vs. Consumer Sales thoughts:
* Obviously, Pro Sales differs greatly from Consumer sales!
* Pro Sales offers greater rewards, but requires you to manage greater complexity and longer deal cycles.
* Pro Sales requires the salesperson to convince multiple parties within a customer’s organization.
62
Primary skill sets needed to succeed in pro sales?
1) Product/Technical knowledge
2) Perseverance
3) The ability to manage multiple, complex projects – Organizational skills!
4) An understanding of how large organizations work
5) Strong communications skills
63
Although “________” and “_________” aren’t the keys to Professional Sales success, it can be said that if you are reasonably outgoing and tolerant of different kinds of people, your success in Professional Sales will NOT be primarily a function of your personality!
Although “attitude” and “personality” aren’t the keys to Professional Sales success, it can be said that if you are reasonably outgoing and tolerant of different kinds of people, your success in Professional Sales will NOT be primarily a function of your personality!
64
Expect product/service diversity in Professional Sales:
• Can vary from non-complex products like office supplies or as complex as sophisticated manufacturing equipment.
• Level of compensation often in direct proportion to level of complexity.
– Meaning… the more complexity, the higher the
potential compensation!
• Compensation increases further if customization of the product or service is required to meet specific customer needs.
– This is often the case with business software
systems!
65
Expect specificity in Professional Sales!
• The products and/or services being sold are often very narrow in scope.
• This is often offset by the required expertise across many areas in order to support the sale of the product or service.
– Example: Water Heating…yes, boring…but factory sales personnel needed to understand: 1. how they are manufactured; 2. how they work; 3. how they are to be applied in the field; 4. how they are serviced…
66
“Field Sales” (ie. Outside Sales):
Sales persons that spend their time “in the field” calling on customer accounts and interacting with contacts at customer facilities.
67
“Inside Sales”:
Sales persons that service customers and sell via phone, email, and the Internet. Inside salespersons are stationed at a call-in centers. They mostly work with existing customer accounts that a field salesperson has already opened.
68
“Telemarketing”:
Limited use in B2B companies… usually outsourced to 3rd party firms used to prospect for new customers only.
69
The “_________” role is the back-bone of most Business Firms that sell complex products and services to other businesses
Field Sales
70
Successful “______" personnel are often future regional or national sales managers with V.P. of Sales not far behind
Field Sales
71
1. “Factory Sales”:
A Sales person who works directly for the manufacturer and work directly with Distributors licensed to sell the manufacturer’s products.
72
Pros, Cons, and solutions for factory sales
– PROs: close ties with manufacturing and product knowledgeable personnel.
– CONs: can often lead to restricted movement as in-house rules, protocols and red tape if sales office is collocated with other functional departments.
– Solution: Factory sales positions that are not co-located with manufacturing facilities but in regional offices or home offices within their respective territory.
73
2. “Distributorship Sales”:
A Sales person who works for a Distributor that is licensed to resell the goods of a manufacturer to the intended end-user or an entity that installs/applies the product for an end-user or to industrial firms that use the products.
– This sales role interfaces directly with the customer(s) noted above.
– Customers place orders for the manufacturer’s products with the Distributor.
– Customers obtain the products from the Distributor’s stock of products or may receive it directly from the manufacturer.
74
“Distributorship Sales”: Pros
• PROs…
– Distributors are focused on selling
– Top officers of Distributors almost always come from the sales ranks
– Less bureaucracy than typical fortune 500 Firm
– Environment is more entrepreneurial based as most Distributors are small to medium size companies
– Distributor salespeople tend to make more money than factor sales personnel (Factory Sales positions often have artificial pay ceilings to limit total income so as not to exceed cross functional management positions).
75
“Distributorship Sales”: Cons
– Distributor Sales people are often caught in the conflict between Manufacturer and Distributorship strategies and policies. (example: pressed to sell a less profitable product because of manufacturer desires for market share.)
– Less upward and cross-functional career development/movement.
76
3. “Sales Agencies”:
Is often an alternative to an “In-House” sales organization.
– Sales Agencies often cover more territory than a single “In-House” sales person and interface directly with the Distributors.
– Sales Agencies often have relationships with competitive distributors.
– Sales Agencies may or may not enter orders with the Manufacturer on behalf of the Distributor.
– Sales Agencies are usually paid on a “% commission” for all net sales of their Distributor customers. (usually an ongoing battle between Manufacturer & Agency)
– Sales Agencies typically do not provide any other value added activities. However, in some industries Agencies may provide warehouse stocking, 24/7 availability for Distributors, and even after sales product service.
77
"Self - Employed Manufacturer's representatives"
Is very similar to a Sales Agency but on a smaller, stand alone scale representing a limited number of manufacturer's in often less complex product categories
78
“Field Sales” involves key activities other than pitch products and accept purchase orders:
– You are an account management & inter-company liaison
• You need to be, or become, a “detail oriented
person”!
• Communicate… Communicate… Communicate!
– You will need to manage what most sales people call the “Small Stuff”
• Manage: project schedules… technical matters…
contract issues
– As a liaison to between your Firm and your Customer you will:
• Advise your company on the successes and
failures of your products & services in the
marketplace.
• In direct material sales, you will advise your Firm
how your company is perceived as a vendor, and in
which areas improvement is needed.
79
As the “__________”, you are on the front line with the customer and should have the most intimate knowledge of the customers wants, needs and complaints!
Factory Salesperson
80
What are the different types of “Field Sales” roles for PRO salespeople?
1) “Factory Sales”
2) “Distributorship Sales”
3) “Sales Agencies”
4) “Self-employed Manufacturer’s Representative”
81
Who are “life lines” of support for Professional sales people?
```
Sales Management
Sales Support Staff
Inside Sales (Customer Service)
Production Supply Chain
Accounting
Marketing (Communications)
Product Marketing
Technical Service
```
82
“The _______ cultivates good relationships with colleagues inside his own organization. He/she knows that such relationships can make the job infinitely easier – or more difficult, in the event that they turn sour” - Trimnell
wise salesperson
83
Sales Management:
Technically your “Boss” and his “Bosses”. Your sales manager is usually more of a source of support than a “Boss” providing constant direction.
– Sales Managers can help you assemble support (price positioning, personnel, funding, etc.) for your customers that is often beyond your reach.
– Sales Managers are responsible for obtaining key reports (travel, customer activity, cold calls, etc.) from each salesperson… be cooperative!
84
Inside Sales (ie. Customer Service):
Inside salespeople service mostly existing customer accounts and/or small “transactional” focused accounts.
– Inside salespeople may be paid partially on commission, or if “order takers” will be paid a flat salary.
– Inside salespeople can often provide insights about existing customers problems as a result of constant contact throughout each work day.
– “Field Salespeople” often start their careers in inside sales or spend time training with the inside sales team before taking on a sales territory.
85
Sales Support Staff:
Sales Support Staff: these often overlooked people are the administrative assistants & administrative staff that often report to sales managers.
– The Sales Support Staff is there to help you complete many of the administrative tasks you will be required to do.
– The Sales Support Staff is usually involved in month end sales roll-up activities that tie directly to your compensation!
– A good idea is to treat these lesser paid people with respect and gratitude as they are most likely helping a large pool of sales representatives.
86
Technical Service:
Technical Service: these highly trained (hopefully) people are there to assist end user customers, installers and sales representatives answer technical questions about the company’s products.
– Technical service can also help locate service professionals for those products that require installation/after sales service requirements.
– Technical service can also help identify any product quality trends of products in the field.
87
Product Management (ie. Product Marketing):
“Product Manager” or “Product Specialist” is a person within your Firm who is the “Guru” for a specific product line or category.
– PM’s work at Firm’s headquarters (corporate, division, primary manufacturing facility, etc.)
– The PM is the salesperson’s 1st source for when stumped by a customer’s technical question.
– PM’s do travel to visit customers, usually at the request of the salesperson!
– PM’s usually do not have sales responsibilities…a good thing since many do not have B2B sales experience!
– Salespeople should always be the interface between the PMs and the customer!
88
Remember, your customers are also business men and women that will often look to __________________ by probing for information that would typically not be given by the salesperson and/or looking to obtain an agreement that may not be in the best interest of your Firm.
Remember, your customers are also business men and women that will often look to exploit the inexperience of a PM by probing for information that would typically not be given by the salesperson and/or looking to obtain an agreement that may not be in the best interest of your Firm.
89
Marketing(ie. Marketing Communications):
Marketing(ie. Marketing Communications): The Marketing department is responsible for the creation & provision of many of the tools that sales people rely on to accomplish their jobs.
– In B2B firms, the Marketing function is often separate from the Sales function, but usually reports to the same senior manager (ie. V.P. of Sales & Marketing).
– PR & Advertising… can help develop ad templates that contain both your Firm’s brand & products with space available to customize customer specific information.
– Promotion… customer specific direct mail and product brochure materials… calendars… etc. for their customers. – Trade Shows… materials in support of local trade or company specific product shows.
90
Accounting:
Accounting: As a salesperson you will work with 2 areas of your accounting department: 1) customer accounts set-up group; 2) accounts receivables.
– Customer Accounts Set-up Group will be your contact when setting up new customer accounts.
• Key Ingredients: Bill-to and Ship-to information,
Credit worthiness, Sales Tax status, Base pricing,
Special discounts/rebates, etc.
– Accounts Receivables function manages customer payments.
• Some company’s enlist salespeople as bill
collectors (avoid these company’s).
91
Production Management (ie. Supply Chain):
Production Management (ie. Supply Chain): Includes the business functions that manufacture, ship and warehouse your products.
– Ensure you have key contacts… may not be direct but through other functions (ex. Customer service can provide some of this information)
– Key areas for 2-way communication:
• Territory Sales Forecasts
• Temporary “Blips” in demand (up or down)
• Temporary “Blips” in availability of products
• Shipment Performance
92
All potential “pain points” with your customer:
* Territory Sales Forecasts
* Temporary “Blips” in demand (up or down)
* Temporary “Blips” in availability of products
* Shipment Performance
93
Traditional Sales Cycle:
is all about speed and volume: funnel a bunch of potential customers through the pipeline, and a certain % of them will eventually buy something. It’s all about playing the sales version of law of averages.
94
Law of Averages (sales version):
* For every 100 cold calls you will secure 5 appointments.
| * For every 10 appointments you will make 1 sale.
95
Law of averages can vary based on:
– Can vary based on:
• Type of industry
• Level of competitive advantage
– Start with qualified leads
» From trade shows, ad responses, etc.
– Captive market (market demand with no or little competitive)
– Product w/unique & strong value proposition
» And… meeting known market needs
» And… solving know market problems
96
• Traditional Sales Cycle Objective:
is to channel a large number of prospects through a relatively small number of steps:
97
Steps of the traditional sales cycle process
1. Prospecting / Lead Generation
2. Appointment Setting
3. Sales Presentation
4. Closing the Sale
5. Repeat steps 1-4 as often as possible!
98
Top 6 Reasons Traditional Sales Cycle does not work in B2B:
1. Your sales territory often has a limited universe of B2B customers.
2. Your role as a sales manager will require more steps and work to obtain initial purchase order from a new account.
3. B2B customers make purchase decisions based on a wide variety of factors.
4. B2B customers often have multiple decision makers and stake holders in purchasing process.
5. Your role as a sales manager will require more steps and work than just asking existing account for purchase order.
6. B2B sales cycle has specific steps.
99
B2B Purchasing Process:
contains multiple steps, which are highly focused and tend to unfold slowly. At steps 1 through 7 (below), your counterparts on the customer side are going to be looking for a valid reason to buy from you – or to buy from someone else – or not to buy at all!
100
B2B purchasing steps:
```
Step 1 - Need Recognition
Step 2 - Need Specification
Step 3 - Identification of Supplier Candidates**
Step 4 - Supplier Candidate Evaluations**
Step 5 - Supplier Selection**
Step 6 - Price & Terms negotiations
Step 7 - Final Order Approval
Step 8 - Purchase Order Release
```
**Steps excluded w/existing customers!
101
The _______ the potential distributor, retailer or EUB customer, the more formal this process and inclusion of all steps!
Larger
102
Need Recognition:
is when an End-User-Group (EUG) of a Business Organization (BO) recognizes that it needs to buy something or needs to buy a category of products from a different supplier.
103
What’s Happening in need recognition?
* EUG is generally aware of a need.
* EUG has just initiated planning activities.
* EUG has yet to nail down details or made request known to the organization’s purchasing team.
* EUG may have reached out to potential suppliers to develop rough-cut specifications
104
In need recognition process Sales Activities Should Be
* Build awareness by making contact with EUG and make them aware of your company, products, and services.
* Discover needs by having frequent contact with existing EUG customers and initial contact with prospective EUG customers.
105
Need Specification:
is when an End-User-Group (EUG) of a Business Organization (BO) has now moved from idea to a defined set of specifications.
106
What’s Happening in need specification:
* EUG has defined the set of specifications.
* EUG has contacted their purchasing team group for involvement.
* Supplier salesperson will now be working with a committee composed of EUG and Purchasing group personnel.
107
In need specification process Sales Activities Should Be:
• Present initial sales presentation:
– Outline EUG’s needs/problems
– Outline how your company’s products and services
meet the needs or solve the problems
– Important to highlight those solutions that are
unique to your company
– Be prepared to speak with BO cross functional
committee or break presentation into 2 sections:
• Technical section for EUG
• Price/Cost to purchasing group
108
In order to do this, the salesperson must have an intimate knowledge of the competitor’s products & services?
important to highlight those solutions that are
| unique to your company
109
Identification of Supplier Candidates:
”Good” purchasing teams pursue offers from multiple suppliers of goods and services.
110
Whats happening in Identification of Supplier Candidates:
* BO committee is evaluating initial sales presentations from multiple suppliers.
* At this point of the process, other BO managers may begin participating in the selection process.
* BO committee’s goal is to determine which suppliers will be given the opportunity to present a formal Bid or Quotation.
111
In the identification of Supplier Candidates process Sales Activities Should Be:
* Present 2nd sales presentation that includes refinements based on discussions with EUG and/or Purchasing.
* Clarify any outstanding issues needing resolution in order to formalize bid/quote.
* Understand that at this point in process the salesperson may want to include key senior managers (ie. VP of Sales & Marketing, VP General Manager, etc.) to counter BO committee’s additional management participants.
112
Supplier Candidate Evaluations:
This is the “final step” that YOU as the salesperson can make an impact on the selection decision.
113
What's happening in Supplier Candidate Evaluations
* BO committee is ready to make the supplier selection decision.
* Most likely the BO committee is already leaning toward a favorite supplier prior to the final sales presentations.
114
In Supplier Candidate Evaluations activities should be
• Present your company’s final proposal ensuring that any outstanding issues have been resolved between your company and the prospective customer.
• If you didn’t bring in your senior management “guns” in step 3, now is the time to do so as a means to confirm your selection or cause the BO committee to reconsider your company.
• Submit your formal quotation ensuring that:
– It is submitted on time!
– It is in the format specified by the BO committee!
– It includes any last minute changes
115
Supplier Selection: Means what it says!...
The Business Organization’s selection committee is now deliberating on the final sales pitch and quotations submitted by each supplier.
116
In Supplier Selection activities should be
• Wait and be Vigilant!
– Remain readily available to the customer during
this time frame… that could last days or several
weeks.
– Take the time to anticipate questions and be
prepared with potential responses that could be
provided quickly to the BO committee.
• Ensure that those potential responses are reviewed by the appropriate senior manager within your organization.
117
Price and Terms Negotiations:
Often take place after the final supplier selection and may include last minute changes to the specifications
118
What's happening in Price and terms negotiation
• All the final signoffs have occurred and usually Finance/Accounting becomes involved looking for ways to sweeten their end of the deal!
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in Price and terms negotiation Activities should be
* Mentally prepare for this part of the process and have ready your counter support of your senior sales management and Finance team to assist with the price and terms negotiations.
* Revise and return the quote as soon as possible with any modifications that result from this negotiation.
• Finalize any additional “paperwork” required by the customer or your Firm as a result of the successful sale.
– This can include, but not limited to:
• Setting up customer account(s)
• Bill-to, Ship-to location(s)
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Final Order Approval:
Decision has been made to buy products and/or services from your Firm.
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Whats happening in final order approval
• Customer is generating the purchase order that will be communicated to your customer service team.
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In final order approval Activities Should Be
• Wait and be Vigilant!
– Again, remain readily available to the customer during this time frame.
– Your key contact will be their purchasing department.
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Purchase Order Release:
Purchase Order (PO) has been released from the customer and received by your Firm’s customer service team for processing.
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In Purchase order release Activities should be
• Follow-up with key functional areas of your Firm to confirm processing, shipment, and your customer’s receipt of the product(s)!
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Purchasing process:
| Need Recognition
Key B2B sales activity:
• Build customer awareness
• Investigate customer needs
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Purchasing process:
| Need Specification
Key B2B sales activity:
• Initial sales presentations
• Cross functional committee discussions
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Purchasing process:
| Identification of Supplier Candidates
Key B2B sales activity:
• Secondary sales presentation
• Secondary committee discussions
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Purchasing process:
| Supplier Candidate Evaluations
Key B2B sales activity:
• Final sales presentation
• Quotation
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Purchasing process:
| Supplier Selection
Key B2B sales activity:
• Wait and be vigilant
• Anticipate questions!
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Purchasing process:
| Price & Terms Negotiations
Key B2B sales activity:
• Revise quote if necessary
• Finalize any “paperwork” issues
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Purchasing process:
| Final Order Approval
Key B2B sales activity:
• Wait and be vigilant
• Anticipate any questions!
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Purchasing process:
| Purchase Order Released
Key B2B sales activity:
• Ensure purchase order received
• Verify/Validate order fulfillment process
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Selling to existing customers:
| Existing accounts Behaviors/Expectations:
* Often pull you into pricing/transactional issues with your Firm’s main office
* Often ignorant of sub-segment product deficiencies
* Often order based on past performance/product sales • Expect you to be product, market, technology trends expert!
* Don’t stay up with competitor product activities (exception is price)
* Often don’t know their customer product mix preference.
* Often don’t know if their customers are buying products from competitor distributors as well.
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Selling to existing customers:
| Sales activities may include
* Organize/Leverage your Firm’s “store set” resources to maintain high level of quality and consistency at store level.
* Provide “data based” product mix adjustments on regular basis – Most likely will vary from market to market
* Actively support price adjustments (up/down) based on competitive market data • Plan/Implement regularly scheduled merchandising “refresh” activities
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- Selling to existing Contractor & EUB customers
| Existing accounts Behaviors/Expectations:
* Often pull you into pricing/transactional issues with your Firm’s main office
* Often ignorant of sub-segment product deficiencies
* Often order based on past performance/product sales • Expect you to be product, market, technology trends expert!
* Don’t stay up with competitor product activities (exception is price)
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- Selling to existing Contractor & EUB customers
| Sales activities may include:
* Regularly communicating market, product, technology trends
* Regularly communicating Contractor’s sales performance relative to market
* Develop plans to help Contractor grow their sales $
* Coordinate product training with Manufacturer involvement
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End-User-Business Sales Realities
When selling non-CAPX materials to small (especially independent) End-User-Businesses (EUBs), the traditional sales cycle may get your foot in the door for a trial period but may require a B2B sales cycle to retain the business long term
