Adaptive Selling for Relationship Building Chapter 5 Adaptive Selling for Relationship Building

C. 5 - Opening Chapter Profile. Mr C. 5 - Opening Chapter Profile Mr. James Ellington Director of Sales & Analytics Tandy Brands Former Texas State University Professional Selling student Former SIFE/Enactus Lead Presenter (salesperson) Works for a national sponsor of our free enterprise group – Tandy Brands

Types Of Presentations Standard Memorized Presentation (Canned) Completely memorized sales presentation Ensures that the salesperson will provide complete and accurate information about the firm’s products and policies Effectiveness limited – no interaction Outlined Presentation Prearranged presentation that lists the most important sales points to be discussed when calling on a customer Can be very effective because it is well organized/natural/flexible

Continued Customized Presentation A written and/or oral presentation based on a detailed analysis of the customer’s needs Presentation builds respect Allow for expressing empathy The company may want to bring in a specialist

Adaptive Selling and Sales Success Adaptive selling- selling behavior and approaches are altered during a sales interaction or across customer interactions, based on information about the nature of the selling situation Forces the salesperson to practice the marketing concept Selecting the appropriate sales strategy for a sales situation and making adjustments during the interaction are crucial Does not mean the salesperson should be dishonest

Knowledge and Adaptive Selling Knowledge is a key ingredient in selling (Product, company, customer, and competitors) Enables the salesperson to build self-confidence, gain the buyer’s trust, satisfy customer needs, and practice adaptive selling

Product and Company Knowledge Purchasing agents rate product knowledge as one of the most important attributes of good salespeople Generally, the service provided is more important than the performance of the product The most important knowledge is how the product will satisfy the customer’ needs (not technical details) Need to watch competitive offerings International salespeople must recognize that customers in different cultures can seek different benefits for the same product

How to create knowledge Ask other salespeople Role play selling situations/practice Get feedback from sales managers/professors Go to training events Use CRM systems to store/access information – Netsuite, Salesforce.com

Retrieving Knowledge Cloud computing – Customer Relationship management – CRM Using a CRM has a positive impact on adapting while in a sales call Genius management – tapping into in-house experts Tagging – including key words with a person’s name on web pages & documents

Read Manuals and Trade Publications Outlets of resources for the companies industry include: sales manuals, newsletters, sales meetings, plant visits and business and trade publications Keys to a successful salesperson: understand your company ask questions about new programs and products collect competitors information

Organizing Knowledge Of Sales Situations and Customers Into Categories It is very important to know information about the different types of sales situations and customers salespeople may encounter and which sales presentation works best in each situation Develop categories to reduce complexity of selling and free up their mental capacity to think more creatively Leads to better performance in many areas, not just in personal selling Used to focus on benefits the customer seeks, the person’s role in the buying center, the stage in the buying process, or the type of buying situation International salespeople need to avoid stereotyping buyers on the basis of their national origin

Develop an Intrinsic Orientation Toward Your Work (Not in text) Intrinsic orientation- get rewards from doing the job itself Extrinsic orientation- views their job as something that has to be done, either to get extrinsic rewards (e.g., more pay) or to avoid punishments (e.g., getting fired) Selling frequently emphasizes extrinsic rewards Note: This information is not included in the latest edition of text, but is important

The Social Style Matrix: A Training Program For Building Adaptive Selling Skills See course packet or P. 137 for self-assessment A popular training program that companies use to assist salespeople in adapting their communication styles David Merrill and Roger Reid discovered patterns of communication behaviors, that people use when interacting with one another

Dimensions Of Social Styles Assertiveness- the degree to which people have opinions about issues and publicly make their positions clear to others (Assertive people- speak out, make strong statements, and have a take charge attitude) (Less assertive people- keep opinions to themselves, rarely dominate a social situation) Responsiveness- based on how emotional people tend to get in social situations (Responsive people readily express joy, anger, and sorrow; more concerned with others and informal and casual in social situations) (Less responsive people-cautious, intellectual, serious, formal, and businesslike)

Social Styles - Drivers high on assertiveness and low on responsiveness swift, efficient decision makers base decisions on facts, take risks affecting bottom line competitive Salespeople should be direct & businesslike Example: Donald Trump – P. 134

Social Styles - Expressives high on assertiveness and high on responsiveness warm,approachable,intuitive,and competitive direct time & effort toward achieving their vision impatient salespeople need to demonstrate how their product will help the customer achieve personal status & recognition Example: President Obama – P. 134

Social Styles - Amiables low on assertiveness and high on responsiveness close relationships and cooperation are important enjoy working with people and make decisions slowly avoid conflict Salesperson should stress product benefits Example: Paul McCartney – P. 134

Social Styles - Analyticals low on assertiveness & low responsiveness like facts, principles, and logic analyze the past; past is good indicator of future events salespeople need solid, tangible evidence when making presentations Example: Hillary Clinton P. 134

Categories Of Social Styles Exhibit 5.5 – Page 136

Identifying Customers’ Social Styles P. 136 & 137 Concentrate on the customer’s behavior and disregard how you feel about the behavior Avoid assuming that specific jobs are associated with a social style Attempt to get customers to reveal their styles rather than react to your style Test your assessments

Versatility Versatility- the effort people make to increase the productivity of a relationship by adjusting to the needs of the other party You will be more effective if you are versatile Successful salespeople are versatile

Found on P. 139

The Role Of Knowledge Adapt & Succeed

Systems For Developing Adaptive Selling Skills P. 140 Example: Global assignments benefit from categorizing customers according to their culture Concentrate training efforts on building relationships between the customer and the salesperson and spending less time on product knowledge There are several other prominent sales training methods

Limitations Of Training Methods The social style matrix and expert systems are limited Salespeople must focus the style of sales presentations toward customer’s individual needs Accurately fitting a customer into one particular category is very difficult

Sales Force Automation Systems System provides information and suggestions on a particular customer and product offered by the company Contains an online collection of information such as policy manuals , sales literature, analyses, price lists, and product descriptions Sales Coaching module uses the first-hand experiences and observations of high-performance salespeople working for the company

Questions?