Mastering Personal Selling: Building Strong Customer Relationships
Personal Selling
Personal selling involves direct interaction between a company and its customers to present information and build relationships.
Philosophy
The core philosophy of personal selling emphasizes adopting the marketing concept, valuing personal selling as a strategic tool, and becoming a problem solver and partner for customers.
Major Developments
Several key developments have impacted the field of selling, including:
- Advances in information technology and electronic commerce
- The increasing importance of information as a strategic resource
- The focus on building and maintaining customer relationships
- The recognition that sales success depends on creating and adding value for customers
Types of Sales
There are two main types of sales roles:
- Inside sales: Selling from an office environment using phone, email, and other remote communication tools.
- Outside sales: Meeting with customers in person, typically at their location or in the field.
Selling Channels
Personal selling occurs across various channels, including:
- Services channel: Providing support and assistance to customers in industries such as hospitality, real estate, and media sales.
- Business-to-business channel: Facilitating transactions between businesses, often involving industrial salespeople.
- Customer channel: Selling products or services directly to end users, such as in retail or direct sales environments.
Sales Training
Salespeople can acquire the necessary skills and knowledge through various sources:
- Corporate-sponsored training programs
- Training provided by commercial vendors
- Certification programs
- College and university courses
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
CRM systems are software tools that help businesses store and manage customer information, enabling them to better understand and serve customer needs.
Importance of Mastering Personal Selling
Developing strong personal selling skills is crucial for managerial personnel and professionals, as it helps them persuade, influence, and build relationships even in situations where a direct purchase is not involved. This enhances the value of their knowledge and expertise.
Relationship Strategy Target Groups
A successful relationship strategy focuses on building strong connections with four key groups:
- Clients (business owners, investors, decision-makers)
- Team members and colleagues
- Industry professionals (lawyers, architects, financial advisors)
- Networking and referral contacts (other professionals, industry associations, past clients)
The Marketing Concept
The marketing concept emphasizes that achieving organizational goals depends on understanding the needs and wants of target markets and delivering products that satisfy those desires. This approach prioritizes customer focus and customer satisfaction.
Consultative Selling
Consultative selling involves salespeople acting as consultants, working closely with customers to understand their needs and provide tailored solutions. Key features of consultative selling include:
- Viewing the customer as a person to be served
- Identifying buyer needs through two-way communication
- Emphasizing need identification, problem-solving, and negotiation
- Providing service at every stage of the personal selling process
Strategic Selling
Strategic selling focuses on building long-term relationships with key clients, understanding their specific needs, and providing solutions that align with the firm’s resources and market opportunities.
Strategies for Strategic/Consultative Selling
The strategic/consultative selling model encompasses four key strategies:
- Relationship strategy: Establishing, maintaining, and strengthening high-quality relationships with customers. This involves maintaining high ethical standards, projecting a professional image, and effectively managing the relationship process.
- Product strategy: Equipping salespeople with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about product selection and positioning to meet customer needs. This includes becoming a product expert, selling benefits, and configuring value-added solutions.
- Customer strategy: Understanding customer wants and needs and ensuring that the company does everything possible to fulfill them. This involves understanding the buying process, buyer behavior, and developing a strong prospect base.
- Presentation strategy: Developing a well-defined plan for achieving objectives during each sales call. This includes preparing sales presentation objectives, creating a presentation plan, and renewing commitment to customer service.
Building Strategic Account Relationships
The process of building strategic account relationships involves several key steps:
- Learning about the potential partner
- Meeting with the proposed partner to explore the benefits of the alliance
- Presenting the profit impact and strategic alliance benefits
Creating and Delivering Customer Value
Delivering customer value involves four key steps:
- Understanding customer needs
- Creating value propositions
- Communicating the value
- Delivering on the value proposition
Relationship Challenges
Salespeople face various challenges in managing customer relationships, including:
- Building new relationships
- Transforming existing relationships
- Managing ongoing relationships
Developing a Relationship Strategy
A successful relationship strategy involves:
- Maintaining high ethical standards
- Projecting a professional image
- Effectively managing the relationship process
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in building strong relationships. It involves being aware of our own emotions and those of others, motivating ourselves, and effectively managing our feelings. Key components of emotional intelligence include:
- Self-awareness
- Self-confidence
- Trustworthiness
- Adaptability
- Optimism
Culture and Ethics
Culture encompasses the beliefs, values, knowledge, customs, and objects that people use to adapt to their environment. Cultural differences can present challenges in building relationships and may raise ethical considerations. Salespeople must be aware of and respect cultural differences to build trust and rapport with customers.
Legal Issues
Companies operating internationally must comply with local laws and regulations. Bribery and corruption are illegal and unethical practices that should be avoided. Salespeople must adhere to ethical guidelines and legal requirements in all business dealings.
Corporate Guidance
Companies often provide guidance to employees on ethical behavior in various situations, including:
- Sharing confidential information
- Reciprocity
- Bribery
- Giving gifts
- Entertainment
- Business defamation
- Use of the internet
Influence of Values
Personal values, attitudes, and behaviors are interconnected. Deep personal beliefs (values) shape our attitudes, which in turn influence our behaviors. Salespeople should strive to maintain positive attitudes and ethical behaviors in all interactions.
Relationship and Value-Added Selling
The key to success in personal selling lies in establishing, building, and managing strong customer relationships. Businesses are defined by their customer relationships, and sales success depends on adding value for customers. Value-added selling involves implementing creative improvements in the sales process to enhance the customer experience.
Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal cues such as tone of voice, gestures, and appearance play a significant role in building rapport and trust. A firm handshake, for example, conveys respect and professionalism. Other important nonverbal cues include remembering names, facial expressions, appearance, and voice quality.
Partnering
Partnering involves developing strategically developed, high-quality, long-term relationships that focus on solving customer problems. Three key elements of successful partnerships include:
- Shared values
- Clear understanding of the partnership’s purpose
- Commitment to a shared vision
In a true partnership, the salesperson’s role evolves from selling to supporting the customer’s success.
Self-Concept
Self-concept encompasses everything we know and feel about ourselves. It shapes our perception of ourselves and influences our interactions with others. To develop a more positive self-concept, salespeople can focus on the future, let go of past mistakes, develop expertise in their field, and maintain a positive mental attitude.
The Win-Win Philosophy
The win-win philosophy emphasizes mutual benefit and satisfaction for both the buyer and seller. It fosters collaboration and long-term relationships. Win-win individuals focus on solutions, take responsibility, learn from the past, and make commitments to themselves and others.