personal selling presentation

Personal Selling: The Ultimate Guide to Humanizing Your Sales Efforts

Discover the personal selling process and how it can benefit your organization and customers.

FREE SALES PLAN TEMPLATE

Outline your sales strategy in one simple, coherent plan.

Updated: 01/24/23

Published: 01/24/23

It should go without saying that your business needs sales to succeed. However, it’s important to remember that sales alone aren’t enough. Personal selling garners better results than pushy, traditional sales efforts.

When you connect with your prospects, you’ll understand their problems and can better communicate how your offering helps them. Your customers are then more likely to see you as a partner that cares about their success, not a company that values profit over people.

In this guide, you’ll learn the benefits of personal selling, the personal selling process, and how you can implement this strategy in your business.

What is Personal Selling?

Personal Selling Advantages and Disadvanta-ges

Personal Selling Process

Personal Selling Strategies

Personal selling examples, what is personal selling.

Personal selling is a method that personalizes and humanizes the selling process. It allows businesses to help prospects resolve challenges with the use of their product or service, rather than simply selling at them.

Personal selling involves direct communication between a salesperson and a potential customer. This can occur in person, over email, on the phone, or via video .

Personal selling is most commonly used for business-to-business (B2B) selling, although it can also be used in retail and trade selling.

Personal Selling Advantages and Disadvantages

As with any business methodology, personal selling comes with its pros and cons. Weigh the following before implementing personal selling in your business.

Personal Selling Advantages

Personal selling gives you a leg up. A whopping 92% of all customers expect a personalized experience. What’s more, 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from companies that nail personalization.

It should come as no surprise that personal selling offers several critical advantages. That includes the following.

You can build strong relationships.

You can use detailed and personalized communication to build trust and develop strong relationships with clients.

You can handle objections quickly.

Your sales team can tailor responses to questions, concerns, or objections potential customers may have based on specific knowledge of their needs. This can ultimately move them closer to purchase.

You can assess needs and deliver support.

Using the personal, one-on-one approach allows you to better assess prospects’ needs. That includes what their goal is and why they’re interested in your product. You can then deliver the right type of support.

You can achieve greater success rates.

With a personal relationship, your salespeople are 50% more likely to make the sale at about a third of the cost of traditional methods.

You can reduce churn.

By building a strong relationship, you’re more likely to deliver on clients’ needs and build loyalty. This makes them less likely to leave.

Deeper connections lead to stronger relationships and a greater degree of trust and loyalty. When you show your customers you care, they’ll reward you with their business and referrals.

Personal Selling Disadvantages

Few disadvantages come with personal selling. Typically, it’s a process that reaps more positive outcomes for businesses than not.

With that said, it’s wise to be aware of any possible drawbacks that your team might encounter.

Personal selling is resource intensive.

Because research takes as much as 6 hours a week , personal selling can seem more expensive on the front end. However, the payoff is often worth the investment.

Success takes time.

Hitting as many prospects as possible in a short period may yield more immediate sales than personal selling. However, the personalized nature of personal selling gives you stronger relationships and a higher close rate long-term.

Your pool may be smaller.

While reps cannot reach a large pool of people at once, they devote time to identifying good-fit — and therefore, more qualified — leads in the process.

As you might already see, these drawbacks usually lead to greater advantages and positive outcomes.

Think about it this way: Although personal selling can be expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive, these factors also mean reps are fostering strong, trusting relationships with qualified leads . These leads are more likely to convert into paying customers and stick around for a long-term partnership .

Now, let’s review a common approach to the personal selling process and what it entails.

The Personal Selling Process

• Prospecting
• Pre-approach
• Presentation
• Handling Objections

The personal selling process consists of seven equally important steps. Each allows your sales team to better understand and serve your prospects and customers — ultimately leading to higher close rates and customer satisfaction.

Download these 101 questions to ask contacts when qualifying, closing, negotiating, and upselling.

1. Prospecting

The first step in the personal selling process is seeking out potential customers — also known as your prospects or leads.

Prospecting can be done through inbound marketing, cold calling, in-person networking, or online research that includes LinkedIn and other social media.

An important part of the prospecting stage is lead qualification . Remember, personal selling is all about finding solutions for your customers. However, not everyone is fit to be a customer.

By gathering as much information as possible about your prospects before hopping on a call, you’ll make the most of your time. What’s more, you’ll also demonstrate that you’ve done your research.

While lead qualification is time-consuming, it’s worth your time. Two-thirds of lost sales are due to sales reps not qualifying leads.

Therefore, you must qualify your leads to avoid spending precious time and resources on prospects who have little to no chance of becoming customers — and to minimize customer churn .

Check out our free Sales Enablement course on how to develop a lead qualification framework for your sales and marketing teams.

2. Pre-approach

During the pre-approach stage, your sales team should prepare to make initial contact with any leads they’ve discovered while prospecting.

Pre-approach typically involves extensive online research about the prospect, the market, and his or her business. This stage also includes building and practicing a sales presentation tailored to the prospect.

3. Approach

In this stage, the sales team should make initial contact with a prospect by reaching out, introducing themselves, and starting a conversation. This might happen via a phone call, video call, email, or in person.

The ultimate goal of the approach stage is to better understand the prospect and know their wants, needs, and problems. For this reason, your sales team should focus on asking questions in this stage to know if and how your product can solve their pain points.

What you learn from those questions will help you tailor your presentation to speak to their specific needs.

4. Presentation

In the presentation stage, your sales team shares your product or service.

Throughout the presentation, your sales team should focus on how your offering benefits the prospect, using information gathered in the pre-approach and approach stages. This will ensure the presentation is relevant to the prospect and their needs.

Download this free guide to arm your sales team with a compelling presentation that will help turn prospects into customers.

5. Handling Objections

At this point in the personal sales process, a prospect will likely have questions and objections. It’s the job of your sales team to correct any misconceptions , handle any objections, and answer any questions — without seeming pushy or losing trust.

The purpose of this stage isn’t to change a prospect’s mind or force them to buy. On the contrary, it’s simply to learn more about how to best help the prospect reach a solution.

If your prospect doesn’t reach out with any questions, encourage your team to follow up to see how they can help.

After overcoming any objections and barriers to the sale, your team should try to finalize the sale — otherwise known as “closing” the deal. This stage involves settling any negotiations, payments, invoices, contracts, or paperwork to wrap up the deal.

7. Follow-up

The final stage of the personal selling process is to follow up. Here, your sales team contacts the customer after a sale to ensure they’re having a great experience and receive effective onboarding .

This stage is important because it allows your sales team to maintain customer relationships. This can secure future renewals and upgrades.

Following up also gives you insights into potential challenges and allows you to connect customers with your service team if necessary. Customer service is critical.

• 90% of Americans use customer service as a factor in deciding whether or not to do business with a company.
• 80% of American consumers will switch providers because of poor customer service.
• 89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer service experience.

More importantly, happy customers become brand advocates who refer you to their friends and colleagues. And not only are people 92% more likely to trust referrals, but up to 87% of marketers and sales reps agree that referrals are the strongest leads.

For that very reason, you might say that there’s an eighth step — asking for referrals. This should be part of your ongoing follow-up process. Because you want to ensure customer satisfaction before asking for a referral, it remains part of the seventh step.

Now, we’ll review some strategies you can incorporate into your personal selling process to make the most of your efforts.

• Be natural and personable.
• Remember your buyer personas.
• Ask the customer plenty of questions.
• Focus on end benefits, not product features.
• Personally address any customer concerns.
• Ask for the sale.
• Follow up after a purchase.
• Consider an email tracking software.

Personal selling can be a complicated job. Here are some personal selling strategies to help diversify the way your team approaches selling to customers.

1. Be natural and personable.

The first thing your sales reps are selling is themselves . If a prospect doesn’t like a rep, they won’t trust anything they say.

Encourage your team to ask questions and build two-sided relationships. Having greater connections and natural conversations allows you to show empathy, all while opening the door to sharing success stories and building trust.

2. Remember your buyer personas.

As your team prospects and qualifies leads, ensure they remember your organization’s buyer personas . If your company typically targets customers with a certain budget or team size, don’t waste time working with leads outside of those specifications.

Salespeople often make the mistake of trying to sell to anyone and everyone. However, by focusing on nurturing good-fit leads, they’re 50% more likely to make the sale, and at 33% lower costs.

3. Ask the customer plenty of questions.

Your team should listen more than they talk. They won’t know how to help and sell to customers if they don’t know their questions or concerns.

Also, encourage reps to ask questions about what motivates prospects. Here, you can learn what features match your prospects’ goals and needs.

4. Focus on end benefits, not product features.

Once your team learns about what your prospect needs, have reps focus on explaining how the prospect will benefit from your offering.

Consider making a list of all the benefits your product offers. This can help you paint a picture of how you can help customers. This preparation will help your reps talk with your customers instead of talking at them.

5. Personally address any customer concerns.

As your team works with potential customers, they should consider themselves personal advocates. If prospects have any concerns or questions, your reps should do their best to personally address each objection.

This builds trust with prospects and moves them closer to purchase. After all, 88% of customers say trust is the most important thing, even in times of change.

6. Ask for the sale.

Fourty-eight percent of sales calls end without an attempt to close it — which decreases the likelihood of success.

Your team should ask for the sale after you address any concerns or objections. Research and test various closing phrases to see what comes naturally to your sales team.

7. Follow up after purchase.

Your relationship with your customers doesn’t end once they buy your product or service. The simple act of following up can be a differentiator. In fact, 48% of salespeople never follow up.

Following up with customers (via phone, email, or in person) keeps the relationship alive.

8. Consider using email tracking software.

Personal selling involves a great deal of tailored communication and interactions with leads and prospects. Email tracking software can alert your team when potential customers open their emails so they know who’s interested and who to follow up with to stay top-of-mind.

While 88% of people are more likely to respond to personalized emails, knowing how many times each email is opened gives you strong indications about how interested people are, even if they don’t respond.

• Catering Services
• Travel Services

Office Equipment

Real estate.

In this section, we’re going to review a handful of businesses that use personal selling. While personal selling is used across industries, we chose examples that illustrate significant purchase decisions that often require a close relationship between a salesperson and prospect.

Get inspired below.

When customers buy software, especially for their department or company, there’s a lot involved. Buyers need to weigh a full suite of tools and a variety of solutions.

Plus, customers will require buy-in across their company. Most business buying journeys involve between 6 and 10 decision-makers, so the sales cycle can be lengthy.

For these reasons, personal selling in the software industry becomes necessary to best serve customers. The salesperson can help customers understand how the tool can be tailored to their needs and articulate the features to others in their organization.

A prime example of personal selling for department-wide software is HubSpot. HubSpot offers a range of software solutions for marketing, sales, and customer service. This requires the sales team to spend time prospecting and educating customers about how these tools can help their businesses.

Other examples include Workday for human resources, Slack for business enablement, and Xero for accounting.

Catering companies base their services on events — and because each event is different, they must customize their offering based on what each customer needs. For this reason, caterers employ salespeople that speak with prospects to better understand their needs.

These salespeople are also responsible for building a custom catering plan for customers, managing the execution of the service, and checking up on customers after the event(s). These are all important parts of the personal selling process.

Travel is another industry that relies on personal selling. Salespeople must explain each travel experience in detail, conduct more intimate conversations about what a customer wants, and present multiple travel options before a customer makes a purchase.

Companies often need to make office-wide equipment purchases — for chairs, computers, desks, and more. This process typically requires personal rapport between the office equipment salesperson and the business.

Not to mention, office equipment is a competitive space. For this reason, salespeople must work to understand the customer’s needs and explain why their product is the best choice.

Real estate, for both individuals and businesses, is a significant purchase. Aside from the sheer cost of real estate, the purchase process involves detailed questions as well as multiple property walkthroughs (which are synonymous with sales presentations).

For this reason, real estate agents are responsible for finding good-fit prospects and educating them on each property.

Start Personal Selling

Personal selling centers around a genuine interest in helping customers solve their problems using your product or service — not forcing a sale for the sake of quotas or the bottom line.

Encourage your sales team to use these strategies to build and maintain authentic relationships with your customers. Soon, your customers will become strong advocates for your brand.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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What is Personal Selling and Why is it Important?

Discover personal selling, why it’s important, and how it can help your business increase sales.

Customers like to do business with people they know, like, and trust, which is why personal selling is such an important technique in sales and business.

Personal selling is a marketing technique that involves direct, face-to-face interaction with potential customers. Not only does this technique build relationships, but it also improves customer satisfaction, builds trust, and helps build brand awareness.

Personal selling involves person-to-person communication, which requires interpersonal skills and expertise to persuade leads to buy products and services.

There are many different types of personal selling, including retail sales, business-to-business sales, and telemarketing. Personal selling is especially effective with high-end products like cars and homes but is just effective with smaller purchases, especially for repeat sales and sales referrals.

Having a personal selling strategy is important for many reasons. Continue reading to learn more about the personal selling process and how it can benefit your customer relationships.

What is personal selling?

Personal selling is a type of marketing strategy that involves one-on-one interaction with prospective customers to sell a product or service.

While personal selling is a part of marketing, there are several key differences between the two. Personal selling and marketing are both important components of building a brand strategy , but they differ in their approach and objectives.

Marketing entails a broader set of activities that are designed to create awareness of a company's products or services, generate interest among potential customers, and ultimately lead to sales. Marketing can involve a wide range of tactics, including advertising, public relations, content marketing, email campaigns, social media, and more.

Personal selling is a technique that involves face-to-face selling between a sales rep and a prospective customer. With personal selling, sales representatives try to persuade a potential customer to purchase your product or service. This technique helps to build relationships with customers and ensure customer satisfaction.

Types of personal selling

There are several types of personal selling, each with its own features and objectives. Here are some of the most common types:

• Retail sales : This is the most common type of personal selling. It involves experienced salespeople selling products directly to consumers in retail stores or online. The salesperson is responsible for explaining the features and benefits of the product, answering any questions the customer may have, and closing the sale. Examples of retail sales include a salesperson at a clothing store, electronics store, or car dealership.
• Business-to-business (B2B) sales : B2B sales involve selling products or services to other businesses. The salesperson may need to work with a team to understand the needs of the business and to tailor their sales pitch to meet those needs. Examples of B2B sales include a salesperson selling office equipment to a company or a sales representative selling industrial machinery to a manufacturer.
• Telemarketing : Telemarketing involves sales reps making sales calls to potential customers over the phone. The salesperson is responsible for making a persuasive sales pitch and overcoming any objections the customer may have. Examples of telemarketing include a salesperson calling customers to sell them credit cards, insurance policies, or subscriptions to a service.
• Direct selling : Direct selling involves salespeople selling products or services directly to consumers in their homes. The salesperson typically demonstrates the product, explains its features and benefits, and helps the customer place an order. Examples of direct selling include a salesperson selling cosmetics, kitchenware, or cleaning products to customers in their homes.
• Consultative selling : Consultative selling involves salespeople acting as consultants to their customers, helping them to identify their needs and offering solutions to meet those needs. The salesperson may need to conduct a needs analysis, provide product demonstrations, and offer customized solutions to the customer. Examples of consultative selling include a salesperson selling software solutions to a business or a financial advisor helping a client plan for retirement.

Why is personal selling important?

Personal selling is important because it involves direct communication between a salesperson and a prospective customer, with the aim of persuading them to purchase a product or service or increase revenue through personalization .

Personal selling typically happens with face-to-face meetings, but it can also be conducted via phone, video conferencing, or other communication channels.

The focus of personal selling is on building relationships with customers and tailoring the sales approach to their specific needs and preferences. Examples of personal selling might include a car salesperson meeting with a potential customer to show them different car models and features, a real estate agent giving a tour of a property to a prospective buyer, or a financial advisor meeting with a client to discuss investment options. Personal selling can also help you build a personal brand strategy .

The focus of marketing is on reaching as many people as possible and generating interest and demand for a product or service, which you can do by using personal selling techniques.

Personal selling process

The personal selling process typically includes several steps, each designed to move the potential customer closer to making a purchase. Understanding these personal selling techniques is crucial so you can optimize the selling process.

By following these steps, salespeople can effectively move prospects through the customer journey and increase their chances of making a successful sale.

Prospecting

So, What is the first step in the personal selling process?

The first step in the personal selling process is prospecting. This involves identifying potential customers who may be interested in the product or service being sold. Prospecting can be done through various means, such as referrals, cold calling, networking events, or social media.

Pre-approach

Once potential customers have been identified, the salesperson needs to do some research and preparation before making contact.

This involves gathering information about the customer, such as their needs, preferences, and buying habits, as well as information about the product or service being sold.

The salesperson may also prepare a sales presentation or demonstration to use during the approach stage.

The approach stage is where the salesperson makes initial contact with the potential customer. The goal is to make a good first impression and establish rapport with the customer. The salesperson may use various techniques, such as a warm greeting, a compliment, or an opening question to engage the customer and start a conversation.

Presentation

Once the salesperson has established a rapport with the customer, they will move on to the presentation stage. This involves showcasing the product or service being sold and explaining its features, benefits, and value proposition.

The salesperson may use various presentation techniques, such as product demonstrations, testimonials, or case studies, to illustrate the product's benefits and persuade the customer to make a purchase.

Overcoming objections

During the presentation, the potential customer may raise objections or concerns about the product or service being sold. The salesperson needs to be prepared to address these objections and provide satisfactory answers that alleviate the customer's concerns.

This may involve providing additional information, offering solutions, or addressing any misconceptions the customer may have.

The final stage in the personal selling process is closing the sale. This involves asking for the customer's business and finalizing the transaction. By the closing stage, you should have formed a personal connection with the customer.

The salesperson may use various closing techniques, such as offering a discount, creating a sense of urgency, or emphasizing the benefits of the product or service, to encourage the customer to make a purchase.

After the sale, following up with the customer to get feedback after the purchase is key to strengthening the personal relationship and nurturing future sales.

It's important to note that not every sales conversation will lead to a sale, but by understanding the personal selling process, salespeople can increase their chances of success, build stronger customer relationships, and improve the customer experience.

Advantages and disadvantages of personal selling

Personal selling advantages and disadvantages may come into play when deciding to use this concept for your business. It can be a very effective component of a well-designed marketing strategy, so knowing the pros and cons is essential.

• Customization: With personal selling, you have the power of personalization at your side. For example, a salesperson selling office equipment to a business can identify the specific needs of the business and provide customized solutions that meet those needs.
• Relationship-building: A financial advisor who engages in personal selling can build a strong relationship with clients by providing personalized financial advice, answering questions, and demonstrating a genuine interest in the client's financial well-being. This can lead to long-term business relationships and referrals.
• Immediate feedback: A salesperson who is selling a new product can observe the customer's reactions and adjust their sales pitch accordingly. For example, if the customer seems hesitant about the price, the salesperson can explain the value of the product and offer additional information to address the customer's concerns.

Disadvantages

• High cost: Personal selling strategies can be expensive. For instance, a company that employs a sales team to sell industrial machinery to other businesses may incur significant costs associated with travel, equipment, and salaries. This can be particularly true if the sales cycle is long and requires multiple visits.
• Limited reach: With personal selling, you may not reach as many people as you would with other marketing techniques. For example, a salesperson selling cosmetics to customers in their homes can only reach a limited number of customers at a time. This can make it difficult to generate significant sales or reach a wider audience.
• Inconsistent quality: A company that relies on untrained or inexperienced salespeople to sell its products may encounter issues with quality and effectiveness. This can result in missed sales opportunities and negative customer experiences. For example, if a salesperson is not knowledgeable about a product, they may not be able to answer customer questions or provide effective solutions.

Humanize your sales process with personal selling

You can improve your customer experience by adding personal selling to a well-thought-out marketing strategy. But to get started with personal selling for your business, you need to have the right tools and resources, which you can get with Mailchimp.

Mailchimp has all the tools and resources you need to seamlessly strengthen your business, build your brand, and humanize your sales process. Contact us today to get started.

9 Tips for Personal Selling that Guarantee Success in 2024

Don’t get me wrong—I love email and phone as tools for sales communication. But there’s nothing like a face-to-face conversation with your prospects. That’s what personal selling is all about.

In years past, doing a sales pitch in person was about going door-to-door or office-to-office to sell your products or services to new leads. Now, face-to-face selling has taken on new technologies, using Zoom and other video conference apps to “meet” customers and prospects.

So, why is personal selling still so important for sales? Let’s talk about how this process works, plus personal selling advantages and disadvantages.

What is Personal Selling?

Personal selling is the act of doing a sales pitch with the prospect face-to-face.

This can be done by sales consultants sent by companies to promote their products to a prospective customer at the customer’s location, also known as a missionary salesperson, or done on-site on the sales rep’s own turf, such as in a retail store or demo center.

There is also a third type, where sales representatives arrange a meeting with the prospective buyer at a third “neutral” location and pitch the product or service through a presentation.

The most common type of personal selling is the one done on-site—you see it with car dealerships, realtor agents, home improvement solutions, and much more. When the purchase is substantial, the client often needs to go on-site to decide, allowing the salesperson to promote the product or service directly to the prospect.

Why is the Personal Selling Process Important?

Today's prospective buyers are intelligent, well-informed people who try to make smart decisions with their investments. But, unfortunately, they’re also overwhelmed with choices—the market is extremely competitive, so it's not as hard to find an alternative as it once was.

This is where you can see the importance of personal selling—making long-lasting connections and being there for the customer. Person-to-person communication during a sales pitch allows the agent to answer any concerns and form a meaningful relationship.

No matter how much money you put into marketing and public relations, nothing can sell your product better than a sales expert.

Tip: If your sales team might not be up to the task, consider hiring a sales consultant to help you!

Pros & Cons of Personal Selling

No sales tactic is perfect, and personal selling is no exception to this rule. So here we’ll take a look at the pros and cons of this personal selling sales process.

Advantages of the Personal Selling Process

As we focus on the pros of personal selling, consider that face-to-face selling involves significant preparation. Be sure to roleplay potential scenarios with your fellow sales team members and managers who are experienced in handling objections, and be prepared to deal with a fast round of questions. When in doubt, you can always consult our curated list of sales consultant tips to get you started.

Personalize Sales Messages

Because those face-to-face meetings are individual, they can be adjusted according to the potential buyer's interests and motivations.

The sales representative will see people’s specific pain points and target them accordingly. The tone of voice and language used is also adjusted so that the salesperson can promote the company's products in the best light possible.

Demonstrate the Product

Direct contact also allows for a sales presentation and demonstrations of the service or product , which can be hard to do on a sales call or via email.

The prospect can see how this product can help them specifically, whether it's an individual buyer or a company representative.

Answer Questions On The Spot

During this presentation, questions can arise, and who better to answer them than a skillful sales representative?

Yes, your website might offer a section with frequently asked questions, but the chances are that it doesn't cover all the potential topics a customer might care about.

Another specific is that often, certain questions will not arise until the prospect sees the product or service in action, especially when we're talking about a more complex idea.

Focus on Qualified Leads Only

Personal selling is a very targeted technique, and you don't go meeting every potential customer.

I previously talked about different types of personal selling: on-site and arranged meetings.

With on-site selling, prospective customers come to you and seek out your company's product. Therefore, they are already aware of its main characteristics and, most importantly, are interested in purchasing. Spend time asking the right questions and addressing the prospect’s objections and pain points.

When heading out to an arranged meeting, you should have thoroughly researched the prospective customer and reviewed their lead generation data thoroughly. For example, where did they find out about your product? Were they a referral from someone else? Did they respond to a specific sales promotion? Are they long-time customers to whom you are upselling a new product? These bits of information are helpful when executing an effective sales strategy.

The ability to perform targeted selling is also the main feature that makes the personal selling process so successful and important in business. While it can seem time-consuming, the targeted nature not only means higher returns on investment but also provides an opportunity to receive extra income .

Form Better Customer Relationships

Technology is great, but nothing compares to face-to-face interaction. During a real-life sales meeting, your representative has the chance to forge long-lasting, high-quality relationships and increase the number of loyal clients. First, build trust and rapport with the prospects, so they remember you when they make a “yes” purchase decision. Then, follow up with them, ensure they are happy with their purchase, and ask for referrals.

Disadvantages of Personal Selling

While personal selling has some great advantages, there are a few considerations to account for before diving into such a program.

Training is Expensive

Personal selling is not an easy process. Sometimes, even experienced salespeople will have difficulty closing a deal in person, especially if they are used to online or over-the-phone communication with their qualified prospects.

To get an effective team of personal sales experts, you'll likely have to hire a trainer or invest in a sales training program for your team.

The main problem, however, is that you won't know whether a specific sales representative is good or not at door-to-door or business-to-business selling until you send them out into the field, and there will be a few failures before success. Of course, this is true in every business area, but the situation is a bit different in personal selling.

You can do a lot of experiments in marketing, SEO, and even sales when it's done through cold calling or email, and it doesn't cost that much. However, you only have one chance when selling products and services in person, and it’s unlikely to happen in the first few tries. This is what makes hiring the right salespeople in the first place so important.

Costs Per Sale are Elevated

Every deal requires the company to provide specific supplies and cover the costs of the sales rep, and in the end, you can spend only a certain amount of money on selling a deal.

The overall promotional costs include but are not limited to: travel expenses, commission , salary, supporting material, office supplies, product guides and brochures, telecommunication, bonuses, and more.

All of that puts even more pressure on the sales rep to close the deal and be successful, which can lead to high sales rep turnover.

Added Sales Administration Tasks

With digital communication and behind-the-desk sales, a CRM system is convenient. Updating notes, logging phone calls and emails, and reviewing updates is often automated. However, you need to take special care towards documentation when you're on the road. While cloud-based software goes a long way in solving the problem, it’s difficult to actively take notes on your CRM while you’re in the middle of a face-to-face sales pitch.

Instead, some sales reps will record their presentations with voice memos, then transcribe them the next time they get a free minute to themselves ... but many do not. Poor data leads to poor reporting, leading to poor sales strategy decision-making.

Examples of Personal Selling

Now, let’s look at some examples of face-to-face sales and the personal selling techniques that make them successful.

Office Equipment

As new products and technologies emerge, and general wear and tear occur, businesses will need to replace or upgrade their current office equipment on a rolling basis. From desks to chairs to computers to photocopiers, an office equipment supply company may get a lead from an office manager who filled out a coupon request on their website or called for a quote.

First, the salesperson might want to visit the customer to see the prospect’s place of business to get a better overview of the equipment and supplies that may be opportunities for a sale. Then, the salesperson can invite the buyer (and any other decision makers they want to bring along) to test out equipment first-hand at the supplier’s showroom.

Techniques Used: In-person research, showroom demonstration

Automotive Sales

Car salespeople spend hours upon hours training on each model car before they hit the sales floor. They know buyers do their homework and have different brand impressions and loyalties. Therefore, they spend a tremendous amount of time preparing their sales pitches. The general flow of car sales is pretty standard — choose a model, do a walk-around, test-drive, and negotiate. Sales consultant training is used by automotive companies to specifically train each brand to the company’s standards (ex. Honda, Toyota, Lexus, Jeep, Ford, etc.) and how to sell upsells such as gap insurance, tire, and roadside coverage, etc.

During these other hands-on activities, the prospect will ask their key questions, describe pain points, and present objections. Again, the salesperson is there to answer questions in a friendly, confident manner while building rapport with the customer.

Techniques Used: Expert training in FAQs, sales consultant training, and established sales process/flow.

Travel Sales

Travel is another industry that uses personal selling due to its many complexities and options. A travel advisor must be able to explain each travel experience in detail, ask an entire litany of questions (interests, scheduling, airline preferences, hotel brand preferences, dining options) and assemble a proposal that works. They use various software for travel agent databases and computer systems, attend training, become certified ambassadors for different brands, etc. They also learn the profit structure around each area of travel, as there are some travel pieces (such as domestic airfare) that pay no commission to travel agents. Travel agents/advisors typically spend a lot of time in industry groups on social media, LinkedIn, and travel websites, learning the latest from peers.

As travel providers release different packages and pricing, a travel agent must follow many plans, which is why it can be worth it for the customer to pay an agent to take care of these time-consuming tasks. When using personal selling, the agent typically will put together a photo-intense presentation or video series to present to the prospect. They even may use modern 3D virtual reality technologies for an immersive experience.

Techniques Used: Ongoing training, industry trade groups, photographic and video presentations, virtual reality

9 Personal Selling Strategies For 2024

Now that you understand the advantages and disadvantages of personal selling, let’s break down some helpful strategies you can use when employing this method.

1. Use Personal Selling Only When Necessary

This sales method will not work for everyone, so you must ensure you can benefit from it. Personal selling is best suited:

• When you’re selling custom, technical, or expensive equipment such as high-ticket software and real estate
• When your product needs a real-life demonstration before it can be purchased
• When you’re looking to introduce a new series of products or services
• When you have infrequent but valuable purchases
• When you have a small number of very high-value clients

There are exceptions to every rule, but these are the main reasons you want to opt for a personal selling strategy instead of other tactics.

2. Optimize Your Lead Qualifying Process

Qualifying prospects is a vital part of personal selling. You can’t engage with every single lead and hope for the best. The best strategy is to carefully select prospects such as those on your existing email list, with the most significant potential of turning into clients.

To do that, you’d have to optimize the entire process of qualifying leads:

• Create an ideal customer profile and use this persona as your target prospective customer when developing your sales pitch
• For high dollar purchases, use wealth screening to determine purchase habits
• Try to define their needs and pain points
• Fully understand their decision-making process
• Research the competition

In preparing for personal selling, an essential step is the qualification of leads. An effective framework for lead qualification is the BANT methodology , which stands for Budget, Authority, Needs, and Timeline. This approach helps you understand if the prospect has the budget for your product or service, the authority to make a decision, a need that your product or service can fulfill, and a reasonable timeline for the purchase.

3. Gather Enough Information About The Prospect

When you have the main customer profile ready, try to gather information about the prospect—little things that show you pay attention and you’ve done your research can make a significant difference during the pre-approach phase of sales.

Understand how they communicate with people—very professional and formal, or witty and casual. This will help you set the tone for the entire meeting, presentation, and how you conduct the pitch.

What ultimately matters the most is that you clearly understand (and can articulate) how you can help your prospects overcome their most crucial problems or achieve their objectives.

4. Establish a Connection Beforehand

Unless you work on-site, you’ll have to first communicate over the phone, by email, or using social media like LinkedIn to arrange a meeting in person.

Be friendly and build rapport before you see each other face to face. This will give you an advantage when the actual pitch starts because there will be a feeling of familiarity, removing some of the stress you might feel before a presentation.

A great way of also doing this is by sending personalized videos .

5. Organize and Plan With an All-In-One CRM Tool

Every sales force needs a powerful tool to optimize the sales process—otherwise, they risk losing important clients.

With a CRM , you can put all of the prospective customers in one place, sort them by probability, update what you've already done to prepare yourself for the pitch, and so much more.

For example, with Close, you can directly email prospective customers, create a list of tasks for each, keep all your contacts in one place, call them, and build sales workflows that allow you to scale your personalized sales outreach .

The personal selling process is creative and requires a lot of planning, so don't waste your time with administrative tasks or using multiple tools to schedule and prepare yourself for a meeting.

Start automating your sales process with Close instead for a seamless and easy experience.

6. Prepare Your Presentation and Rehearse

Rehearse your pitch multiple times. Then, show it to colleagues, your spouse, your mom, and anyone who will listen. The idea is to get used to talking about the product or service confidently, without mishaps. Ask them to pretend to be customers and ask genuine questions they may have. Then, adjust your pitch to clarify those areas if you keep getting the same questions.

7. Be Prepared for All Types of Questions

You can’t predict the future, but you can try to predict the most plausible questions the prospective customer might ask. You don't need to create the ultimate sales guide for your team—even getting started with a minimum viable version of sales documentation is better than showing up unprepared.

Listen carefully and take notes if needed. Knowing what you’re trying to sell is essential while being honest and transparent. Make it personal and give examples relevant to their business to show how they can benefit from this deal.

8. Choose The Best Meeting Place

The best idea would be to have a private meeting, especially if you have an entire presentation or a product demonstration. Invite the prospect and use a presentable meeting room if you have an office.

If you don’t have one available, you can always hire a conference room in a third location or offer to come to their office if you’re pitching to a business.

9. Ask for Feedback and Follow Up

The sales process does not end with the final word of your pitch. At the end of your sales conversation, when all the questions are over, calculate your chances based on the interaction and try to close the deal.

Whatever the outcome is, make sure to ask for feedback and always follow up even after the meeting is over and you go your separate ways. If the answer is no, remember that customer needs change, and establishing a long-term relationship with the prospect and occasional check-ins can result in future opportunities for doing business together.

Ready to Make an Impact?

In personal selling, it's essential to be prepared for anything to make the best impression on your prospect. By following the tips above, you'll be able to qualify leads, build a personal connection with your prospective customers, and present your product or service in the most effective way possible.

And remember, there is nothing more valuable than experience—take notes, keep improving, and you can take over the world of personal selling!

Want to learn how to better prep and pitch better? Get the sales pitch guide from Close:

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Personal Selling: Definition, Techniques, and Examples in 2024

• March 4, 2024

Once upon a time, sales was 100% personal selling. But now, thanks to globalization, advances in technology, and the rising cost of travel, personal selling is just one of many techniques available to salespeople to warm up a lead and close a deal.

Personal selling should be part of a wider sales mix, alongside telesales, email marketing, sales promotion, advertising, and public relations. But personal selling must not be overlooked: it remains an extremely important part of a salesperson’s arsenal and is a skill every good salesperson must master.

What is personal selling?

Personal selling is when a salesperson meets a potential buyer or buyers face-to-face with the aim of selling a product or service. The most traditional form of sales, many salespeople are lured to the industry by the adrenaline rush of high-stakes personal selling; picture those whisky-swilling Mad Men, or the ultra-driven salesmen of Glengarry Glen Ross.

These days, there’s a lot more to sales than attending meetings.

Why? Simply put – the expense.

Think about it: each face-to-face meeting requires significantly more investment – from both sides – than just contacting a prospect via email or phone. Suddenly, you’ve got travel expenses. And the time it takes to prepare for, travel to, and take the meeting only adds to the cost. This is why it’s vital to consider the value and type of product you’re aiming to sell – as well as the likelihood of closing the deal – before automatically opting for personal selling.

But face-to-face meetings certainly still have their place. Consider this: 68% of B2B customers are lost due to indifference or perceived apathy rather than mistakes. Attending a sales meeting is a prime way to combat this issue by showing you care enough to invest time and money in your prospect on good faith.

Fifty-eight percent of buyers state that sales meetings are not valuable, and that there should be a greater focus on the value businesses can deliver to them. On the face of it, this doesn’t sound like great news for salespeople who shine in meetings. But it does mean that over 40% of prospects are open to sales meetings. The other 60% may just need convincing that a meeting will help you add real value to their business.

Personal selling Techniques

1. focus on the right leads.

With the extra time and monetary investment required for face-to-face sales meetings, it’s essential businesses lock down ROI by choosing the right prospects to meet in person through a comprehensive lead-qualifying process.

Not every meeting will lead to a sale, but you can get yourself closer to hitting those sales stats by asking yourself:

• What is the value of this potential sale?
• What is the size of the business you’re selling to?
• Is your product or service genuinely going to serve the business well?
• Could building a strong relationship with the DM lead to more business down the line?
• Is a sales meeting actually going to help close the sale? Perhaps the DM is extremely time-poor and prefers email or telephone communication?
• What value can you add in a sales meeting?

2. Exceed expectations through preparation

Salespeople who turn up to a meeting without preparing properly are a serious irritant for buyers. In fact, 82% of B2B buyers think sales reps are unprepared. This suggests that many prospects have been deterred from sales meetings – which they may consider a waste of time – due to negative past experiences.

It’s your job to change their mind.

Buyers don’t want to work with pushy salespeople. For buyers, a positive sales experience involves a sales representative who:

• listens to their needs
• is invested in the success of their business
• provides relevant information

Yet, just 13% of prospects believe a sales rep can understand their needs – suggesting salespeople have a reputation for not listening properly and just pushing ahead with a boilerplate pitch.

Active listening is of course vital for sales reps – not just in the meeting, but ahead of it. Note down every piece of information you receive via call or email and use this to your advantage in the meeting to prove you understand the business’s real needs. And practice active listening outside of meetings – when your mind is racing, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Put yourself head and shoulders above the competition by over preparing. Don’t just research the company so you can show off by reciting stats or dates in the interview – learn about their pain points, their budgets, and what they’re trying to achieve. You can then position your product or service as a solution that helps them achieve their wider goals.

Your presentation should never be boilerplate: use the information you’ve gathered through research and listening to tailor it specifically to the company’s goals and how your product or service slots into their strategy.

3. Add value in the meeting

These days, it’s drummed into sales reps that they must add value in meetings, demonstrating that they’ll continue to provide useful assistance should the client sign on the dotted line. Doing this successfully demonstrates that you know what you’re talking about, and also that you care about working with the company long-term to help them achieve their goals, thereby building trust.

But what are the best techniques for adding value in that initial meeting?

Sixty-nine percent of buyers state that providing primary research data that’s relevant to their business is the best way for reps to add value. Furthermore, 95% of customers choose to buy from providers that offer relevant content at every stage of the buying process.

The amount your company is willing to invest in research or content ahead of the meeting will no doubt vary depending on the size of the potential deal. But there’s always some level of research salespeople are able to do ahead of the big date.

Use your company’s tools to pull data surrounding the business and its competitors that the organization hasn’t gathered itself. Give an analysis of the top-level findings in your presentation, explain how your products and services can help with the challenges you’ve uncovered, and then send the DM the data and your analysis. Ask your content team to create a bank of assets surrounding regular FAQs and industry pain points – whether blogs, infographics, videos, or ebooks – so you’re able to send links to additional helpful information during or after the meeting.

4. Make it clear you’re in this together

The best-performing sales reps use collaborative words like “we” or “us” instead of words like “I” or “me.” This is a simple method for making the prospective buyer feel like you’re on their side and want nothing more than to see their business thrive.

Asking intelligent, in-depth questions surrounding their business challenges, and coming back with potential solutions related to your products and services, takes this a step further, as does turning up to the meeting with the research and data outlined above.

However you do it, make sure your client leaves the meeting seeing your relationship as a partnership.

5. Tell a story

An important stat to remember when crafting your pitch: following a presentation, 63% of prospects remember stories, but just 5% remember statistics. Storytelling hooks in prospects significantly more than a bunch of dry numbers.

Turn how you can add value to your client into a story, with a clear beginning (now), middle (how you’ll work with them) and end (the results they can expect).

Ensure case studies are told in story form, too. Where relevant, you can also tell the story of your company to gain buy-in: you’ll be seen less as a faceless entity, and more as a friendly brand.

When to Use Personal Selling?

Although personal selling can be used in most business scenarios, it is especially effective when you have a:

• Highly specialized offering: Personal selling is an effective way to introduce a specialized product, as it allows you to explain and demonstrate how the product is specifically tailored to your prospect’s needs. It also allows for more personalized conversations with potential customers, allowing them to ask questions and learn about the benefits of the product.
• Small market with a few large buyers: When there are only a few buyers in the market, you can reach them all through personal selling. Your sales reps can visit each buyer directly and provide detailed information about your product, convincing them of its value.
• High-end/complex product: Personal selling is especially useful when selling high-end or complex products. It allows you to explain why the customer should invest in this product, rather than settling for cheaper options available on the market. You can also demonstrate how the product works in detail, which is often necessary with more complicated items.
• Highly competitive market: You’ll need something to make your product stand out from the rest if you’re in a highly competitive market. This can be done through personal selling. Your sales rep can demonstrate how your product is different and has features that other products don’t.
• Lack of funds for other advertising channels: There are times when your company isn’t doing very well. But even if you can’t afford other advertising channels, such as TV or radio advertisements, you can still use personal selling to market your products.
• Trade show or an exhibition to leverage: Personal selling is perfect for leveraging trade shows and exhibitions, as you can use these events to introduce your product to a large group of people at the same time. Your sales reps can also go ahead and engage with each interested customer individually, explaining why they should choose your product over the competition.

Personal Selling Examples

An example of the importance of genuinely making your customer feel like you’re on their side and building trust comes from Andrew Peterson, CEO of Signal Sciences. While at college he worked at The North Face, and says his favorite customer interactions were always those where he’d recommend the customer go to another brand to find the product they needed.

Speaking to Inc , he said: “Don’t get me wrong, I loved The North Face and all of their products! But I was always more intent on getting the customer the best product for what they were looking for. When that wasn’t something from our company, I’d tell them what they should get instead and where to get it from. Funny thing was, they always ended up buying at least something from me because they were so shocked I wasn’t just pushing our products on them. A great lesson I learned from this is that the best salespeople are the ones you trust.”

When working in sales, Richard Nieset, chief customer officer at Pixlee, found a unique way to tackle one of his employer’s toughest clients in a brilliant example of personal selling. Having been warned that the contact was a “pain in the butt” who led on salespeople but never committed, he went to a meeting armed with a toy gun filled with six bullets.

Speaking to Inc, he explained: “Here was my deal: He could ask me for anything he needed from us and anything we could possibly do, we would do. But each time he asked, he had to give me one of those bullets. When I got all six bullets, I would get to ask for something in return. And you can probably guess what that was going to be. Eventually, I got him to agree, leading to one of the largest deals in our company history.”

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Distributing and Promoting Products and Services

The importance of personal selling.

• What is personal selling?

Advertising acquaints potential customers with a product and thereby makes personal selling easier. Personal selling is a face-to-face sales presentation to a prospective customer. Sales jobs range from salesclerks at clothing stores to engineers with MBAs who design large, complex systems for manufacturers. About 6.5 million people are engaged in personal selling in the United States. Slightly over 45 percent of them are women. The number of people who earn a living from sales is huge compared, for instance, with the nearly 300,000 workers employed in the traditional advertising sector. Personal selling offers several advantages over other forms of promotion:

• Personal selling provides a detailed explanation or demonstration of the product. This capability is especially desirable for complex or new goods and services.
• The sales message can be varied according to the motivations and interests of each prospective customer. Moreover, when the prospect has questions or raises objections, the salesperson is there to provide explanations. In contrast, advertising and sales promotion can respond only to the objections the copywriter thinks are important to customers.
• Personal selling can be directed only to qualified prospects. Other forms of promotion include some unavoidable waste because many people in the audience are not prospective customers.
• Personal selling costs can be controlled by adjusting the size of the sales force (and resulting expenses) in one-person increments. In contrast, advertising and sales promotion must often be purchased in fairly large amounts.
• Perhaps the most important advantage is that personal selling is considerably more effective than other forms of promotion in obtaining a sale and gaining a satisfied customer.

The Selling Process

Selling is a process that can be learned. Experts have spelled out the steps of the selling process, shown in (Figure) , and professional salespeople use them all the time. These steps are as follows:

Prospecting and qualifying: To start the process, the salesperson looks for sales prospects , those companies and people who are most likely to buy the seller’s offerings. This activity is called prospecting . Because there are no surefire ways to find prospects, most salespeople try many methods.

For many companies, the inquiries generated by advertising and promotion are the most likely source of prospects. Inquiries are also known as sales leads. Leads usually come in the form of letters, cards, e-mail addresses, telephone calls, or through social media sites. Some companies supply salespeople with prospect lists compiled from external sources, such as Chamber of Commerce directories, newspapers, public records, club membership lists, internet inquiries, and professional or trade publication subscription lists. Meetings, such as professional conventions and trade shows, are another good source of leads. Sales representatives attend such meetings to display and demonstrate their company’s products and to answer the questions of those attending. The firm’s files and records can be another source of prospects. Correspondence with buyers can be helpful. Records in the service department can identify people who already own equipment and might be prospects for new models. Finally, friends and acquaintances of salespeople can often supply leads.

One guideline is that not all prospects are “true” opportunities for a sale. Just because someone has been referred or has made an inquiry does not mean that the person is a genuine prospect. Salespeople can avoid wasting time and increase their productivity by qualifying all prospects. Qualifying questions are used to separate prospects from those who do not have the potential to buy. The following three questions help determine who is a real prospect and who is not:

• Does the prospect have a need for our product?
• Can the prospect make the buying decision?
• Can the prospect afford our product?

Exhibit 12.9 Steps in Making a Successful Sale (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license.)

Approaching customers: After identifying a prospect, the salesperson explains the reason for wanting an appointment and sets a specific date and time. At the same time, the salesperson tries to build interest in the coming meeting. One good way to do this is to impart an interesting or important piece of information—for instance, “I think my product can cut your shipping and delivery time by two days.”

Presenting and demonstrating the product: The presentation and demonstration can be fully automated, completely unstructured, or somewhere in between. In a fully automated presentation, the salesperson shows a movie or slides or makes a PowerPoint presentation and then answers questions and takes any orders. In today’s business world, in which relationships are most important for long-term sales, canned or structured presentations are not well received, nor do they support the idea of building a great bond with the customer. A completely unstructured presentation that has no set format is a much more successful approach. It may be a casual conversation, with the salesperson presenting product benefits and assisting the customer in solving his or her problems (like a partner on the client company’s team) in a way that might interest the potential buyer.

Handling objections: Almost every sales presentation, structured or unstructured, meets with some objection. Rarely does a customer say, “I’ll buy it,” without asking questions or voicing concerns. The professional salesperson tries to anticipate objections so they can be countered quickly and with assurance. The best way to counter objections is to have a thorough knowledge of the product offering so that a solution can be found that overcomes the objection.

Often employed in business, the “higher authority” objection is frequently used when one of the parties says, “This agreement looks good, but I’ll have to run it by my committee” (or wife or any other “higher authority”). The result is that that sales presentation turns out to be just a preliminary, nonbinding round. After the higher authority responds, often disapproving the agreement, the sale goes into round two or starts all over again.

For example, when a customer wants to buy a house, car, or anything expensive, the salesperson will say, “If we find the house (or car) that you really like, is there any reason you could not make the purchase today?” Once they get the green light, the salesperson will spend whatever time it takes to find the right product for the customer. However, if the client says his uncle has to give the final approval because he will be loaning the money, the salesperson will try and set up an appointment when the uncle can be present.

Closing the sale: After all the objections have been dealt with, it’s time to close the sale. Even experienced salespeople sometimes find this part of the sales process awkward. Perhaps the easiest way to close a sale is to ask for it: “Ms. Jones, may I write up your order?” One of the best techniques is to act as though the deal has been concluded: “Mr. Bateson, we’ll have this equipment in and working for you in two weeks.” If Mr. Bateson doesn’t object, the salesperson can assume that the sale has been made.

Following up on the sale: The salesperson’s job isn’t over when the sale is made. In fact, the sale is just the start. The salesperson must write up the order properly and turn it in promptly. This part of the job may be easy for many consumer products, but for B2B products or services, it may be more complex. An order for a complex piece of industrial equipment may include a hundred pages of detail. Each detail must be carefully checked to ensure that the equipment is exactly what was ordered.

After the product is delivered to the customer, the salesperson must make a routine visit to see that the customer is satisfied. This follow-up call may also be a chance to make another sale. But even if it isn’t, it will build goodwill for the salesperson’s company and may bring future business. Repeat sales over many years are the goal of professional salespeople.

concept check

• What are the advantages of personal selling?
• Explain the selling process.

Summary of Learning Outcomes

About 6.5 million people in the United States are directly engaged in personal selling. Personal selling enables a salesperson to demonstrate a product and tailor the message to the prospect; it is effective in closing a sale. Professional salespeople are knowledgeable and creative. They also are familiar with the selling process, which consists of prospecting and qualifying, approaching customers, presenting and demonstrating the product, handling objections, closing the sale, and following up on the sale.

• Intro to Business. Authored by : Gitman, et. al. Provided by : OpenStax. Located at : http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected] . License : CC BY: Attribution . License Terms : Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]

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What Is Personal Selling? – Features, Types, & Examples

Sales isn’t easy. With the increased competition, a salesperson might have to meet the prospective clients one-to-one, explain the features and persuade them to purchase the offering through an individual-to-individual interaction.

This sales technique is personal selling, and it’s an efficient way of increasing sales using in-person interaction.

What Is Personal Selling?

Personal selling is a personalised sales method that employs person-to-person interaction between a sales representative and prospective customers to influence the customer’s purchase decision.

Precisely, it’s a promotional technique where a salesperson:

• Uses person to person communication:  Personal selling involves direct contact of the salesperson and the customer.
• To sell an offering:  The purpose of personal selling is to motivate and persuade the customer to purchase the intended offering a detailed explanation or demonstration of the product. 
• Using a personalised sales strategy:  This strategy involves the salesperson to understand the needs and wants of the customers, develop personalised connections, communicate the value of the offering in a way that persuades the customer to buy the offering.

Today, personal selling is considered a business-to-business selling technique but is also used in trade and retail sales.

With the advent of the internet and other communications methods, personal sales isn’t limited to just face-to-face meetings. Salespersons now use video calls, phone calls, IM, and even emails, along with in-person interactions to develop a relationship with prospective customers.

Objective Of Personal Selling

• Build brand and product awareness  by educating customers on the company’s offerings and their benefits.
• Increase sales  by identifying and persuading the prospects to buy a business’s offering.
• Building close long-term relationships  with the customers by enforcing person-to-person two-way communication.
• Supporting the customers  of complex, technical, or high-priced items by providing detailed technical information.
• Stimulating the offering’s demand  by helping the customers throughout their decision-making process and guiding them towards the business’s offering.
• Reinforcing the brand  by building long term relationships with the customers over time by meeting them and helping them in their decision-making process.

Features Of Personal Selling

Personal selling differentiates itself from other sales and promotional techniques by possessing the following characteristics:

• Human contact:  It involves person-to-person interaction where a seller interacts directly with the prospective customer and executes a personalised sales strategy according to the customer’s needs, wants, and expectations.
• Development of relationship:  Personal selling involves developing a relationship between the seller and the buyer where trust is established, and the prospective buyer can rely on the salesperson. Moreover, this technique even results in the salesperson becoming a part of the buying process.
• Two-way flow of information:  Unlike mass marketing, personal selling is characterised by a two-way flow of information. The prospective buyers get their chance to ask questions and clear their doubts directly from the seller before purchasing.
• Quick communication:  Since personal selling involves person-to-person interaction, the communication flow is really quick.
• Flexibility:  It involves the salesperson to tailor the sales pitch according to the prospective audience’s persona and requirements, making this sales tool flexible.
• Satisfaction:  The process of personal selling requires the salesperson to understand the customer’s needs and satisfy the same by offering the customer the opportunity to buy something he has to offer.
• Persuasion:  Personal selling isn’t just about informing prospective customers about the company’s offerings. It also involves using the power of persuasion to make customers accept the seller’s point of view or convince the customer to take a particular action.

Importance Of Personal Selling

Personal selling is an essential sales tool in selling complex and technical offerings that require human contact, personalisation, persuasion, and quick communication.

Usually, high priced items use personal selling as it helps the business inform and persuade the customer using personalised selling methods to gain more trust.

It is also considered an important promotional tool in B2B sales as such sales involve fewer prospects and high transaction costs.

Types Of Personal Selling

Generally, personal selling can be categorised into three types based on the sales activity and salesperson involved. These are:

• Order Takers:  Order takers receive requests and queries from the customers. In simple terms, the customer approaches these salespersons. They usually hold positions like retail sales assistant or telemarketer and focus mainly on determining customer needs and pointing to inventory that meets such needs.
• Order Getters:  Order getters reach out to new prospects and persuade them to make a direct purchase. These are in-field salespersons who bring in new clients to the business.
• Order Creators: Order creators don’t close the deal, but persuade the customers to promote the business’s offering, leading to sales eventually. For example, a pharmaceutical company reaching out to a doctor to persuade him to prescribe the company’s medicine.

Personal Selling Advantages And Disadvantages

Personal selling, just like other elements of the promotion mix , comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

• Conveys more information:  Personal selling helps the business convey more information than any other form of promotion. It is all about understanding the customers’ needs, finding an opportunity in it, and capitalising on it by developing a relationship with them while convincing them to try the company’s product.
• Creates more impact:  It’s more impactful as the salesperson assist the customer throughout the buying process, answering questions, and solving doubts. 
• Supports two-way communication:  Unlike other promotional tools like advertising or public relations , personal selling allows the customers to communicate with the business and clear their doubts before making the purchase. 
• Boosts relationship with the customer:  Personal sales last long, include interpersonal relationships, and capitalises on trust between the salesperson and the customer.

Disadvantages

• Expensive:  Since personal selling person-to-person contact, it is substantially more expensive than other forms of sales tools as a human can approach only a few prospects in a specified time period.
• Labour extensive:  Personal sales require a lot of effort from the salespersons’ side, and it may take considerable time and resources to convert a prospect to a final customer.
• Limited reach:  Since personal sales is a one-to-one promotional tool, its reach is limited compared to other tools like advertising or public relations.

Personal Selling Examples

Personal selling is one of the most traditional sales methods used by businesses. The sales history started with personal sales where salesperson conducted face-to-face interactions with prospective customers, inquiring about their needs and wants, and suggesting their business’s offering to the customers.

Today, one can witness personal sales in:

• Retail Stores:  Retail stores like Walmart, Ikea, etc. employ a sales staff that help customers choose the best product according to their own needs and wants. 
• Door-to-Door Sales:  Some B2C businesses (like Gillette) and B2B businesses (like PayTM) employ sales staff that visit prospective customers homes and offices to educate them about the company’s offerings and persuade them to use or buy the same.
• B2B Outreach:  B2B salespersons often outreach prospective clients online or offline and use person-to-person communication to close sales.

How Personal Selling Works?

The personal selling process involves a business to hire skilled sales staff that can approach prospects, understand their pain points, and satisfy their needs by making them buy or try the business’s offerings.

These salespersons receive specialised training to develop an apt sales funnel, have a fruitful interaction with prospective customers, gain trust, develop relationships, and eventually, conduct sales.

Personal Selling Process

Salespersons follow a specific personal selling process to make the sales happen. This process involves eight steps. These are:

• Prospecting:  The first step involves the salesperson to generate prospects, i.e. target customers belongs to the market segment the business targets. Sales representatives use several techniques to generate such prospects, like cold calling,  cold emailing ,  social selling , referrals, etc.
• Qualifying leads:  Once prospects are found, salespersons classify them as qualified or unqualified based on whether the prospect will be interested in trying or buying the offering. This is done by filtering clients who can afford the product, need the product, and are looking to make a purchase soon.
• Pre-approach:  This includes everything a salesperson does before he reaches out to the prospective customer. This involves researching the prospect and using this data to prepare and plan the sales pitch.
• Approach:  This is the first time the sales representative approaches the client and holds a one-to-one conversation. The salesperson uses this approach to learn more about the customer’s needs and understand their pain points to make a strategy on how to present the business’s offering to them.
• Sales presentation:  The salesperson uses the information collected during the approach phase and mends it to make a sales presentation that’s personal to the client. This presentation is usually made during a face-to-face or a person-to-person meeting where the sales representative demonstrates how the offering works and how it caters to the customer’s pain points.
• Handling objections:  Once the sales presentation is completed, the customer usually comes up with questions, doubts, and concerns. This phase involves the sales representative to handle such concerns and win the customer’s trust by answering questions and directing him in the right way.
• Closing Sales:  Once the objections are settled, the customer moves on to purchase the offering. The salesperson helps the client with every step to closing the deal.
• Following up:  After the sales, the salesperson makes sure that the customer is satisfied with his purchase, and to do that, the salesperson takes periodic follow-ups with the client.

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12.7 The Importance of Personal Selling

• What is personal selling?

Advertising acquaints potential customers with a product and thereby makes personal selling easier. Personal selling is a face-to-face sales presentation to a prospective customer. Sales jobs range from salesclerks at clothing stores to engineers with MBAs who design large, complex systems for manufacturers. About 6.5 million people are engaged in personal selling in the United States. Slightly over 45 percent of them are women. The number of people who earn a living from sales is huge compared, for instance, with the nearly 300,000 workers employed in the traditional advertising sector. Personal selling offers several advantages over other forms of promotion:

• Personal selling provides a detailed explanation or demonstration of the product. This capability is especially desirable for complex or new goods and services.
• The sales message can be varied according to the motivations and interests of each prospective customer. Moreover, when the prospect has questions or raises objections, the salesperson is there to provide explanations. In contrast, advertising and sales promotion can respond only to the objections the copywriter thinks are important to customers.
• Personal selling can be directed only to qualified prospects. Other forms of promotion include some unavoidable waste because many people in the audience are not prospective customers.
• Personal selling costs can be controlled by adjusting the size of the sales force (and resulting expenses) in one-person increments. In contrast, advertising and sales promotion must often be purchased in fairly large amounts.
• Perhaps the most important advantage is that personal selling is considerably more effective than other forms of promotion in obtaining a sale and gaining a satisfied customer.

The Selling Process

Selling is a process that can be learned. Experts have spelled out the steps of the selling process, shown in Exhibit 12.9 , and professional salespeople use them all the time. These steps are as follows:

Prospecting and qualifying: To start the process, the salesperson looks for sales prospects , those companies and people who are most likely to buy the seller’s offerings. This activity is called prospecting . Because there are no surefire ways to find prospects, most salespeople try many methods.

For many companies, the inquiries generated by advertising and promotion are the most likely source of prospects. Inquiries are also known as sales leads. Leads usually come in the form of letters, cards, e-mail addresses, telephone calls, or through social media sites. Some companies supply salespeople with prospect lists compiled from external sources, such as Chamber of Commerce directories, newspapers, public records, club membership lists, internet inquiries, and professional or trade publication subscription lists. Meetings, such as professional conventions and trade shows, are another good source of leads. Sales representatives attend such meetings to display and demonstrate their company’s products and to answer the questions of those attending. The firm’s files and records can be another source of prospects. Correspondence with buyers can be helpful. Records in the service department can identify people who already own equipment and might be prospects for new models. Finally, friends and acquaintances of salespeople can often supply leads.

One guideline is that not all prospects are “true” opportunities for a sale. Just because someone has been referred or has made an inquiry does not mean that the person is a genuine prospect. Salespeople can avoid wasting time and increase their productivity by qualifying all prospects. Qualifying questions are used to separate prospects from those who do not have the potential to buy. The following three questions help determine who is a real prospect and who is not:

• Does the prospect have a need for our product?
• Can the prospect make the buying decision?
• Can the prospect afford our product?

Approaching customers: After identifying a prospect, the salesperson explains the reason for wanting an appointment and sets a specific date and time. At the same time, the salesperson tries to build interest in the coming meeting. One good way to do this is to impart an interesting or important piece of information—for instance, “I think my product can cut your shipping and delivery time by two days.”

Presenting and demonstrating the product: The presentation and demonstration can be fully automated, completely unstructured, or somewhere in between. In a fully automated presentation, the salesperson shows a movie or slides or makes a PowerPoint presentation and then answers questions and takes any orders. In today’s business world, in which relationships are most important for long-term sales, canned or structured presentations are not well received, nor do they support the idea of building a great bond with the customer. A completely unstructured presentation that has no set format is a much more successful approach. It may be a casual conversation, with the salesperson presenting product benefits and assisting the customer in solving his or her problems (like a partner on the client company’s team) in a way that might interest the potential buyer.

Handling objections: Almost every sales presentation, structured or unstructured, meets with some objection. Rarely does a customer say, “I’ll buy it,” without asking questions or voicing concerns. The professional salesperson tries to anticipate objections so they can be countered quickly and with assurance. The best way to counter objections is to have a thorough knowledge of the product offering so that a solution can be found that overcomes the objection.

Often employed in business, the “higher authority” objection is frequently used when one of the parties says, “This agreement looks good, but I’ll have to run it by my committee” (or wife or any other “higher authority”). The result is that that sales presentation turns out to be just a preliminary, nonbinding round. After the higher authority responds, often disapproving the agreement, the sale goes into round two or starts all over again.

For example, when a customer wants to buy a house, car, or anything expensive, the salesperson will say, “If we find the house (or car) that you really like, is there any reason you could not make the purchase today?” Once they get the green light, the salesperson will spend whatever time it takes to find the right product for the customer. However, if the client says his uncle has to give the final approval because he will be loaning the money, the salesperson will try and set up an appointment when the uncle can be present.

Closing the sale: After all the objections have been dealt with, it’s time to close the sale. Even experienced salespeople sometimes find this part of the sales process awkward. Perhaps the easiest way to close a sale is to ask for it: “Ms. Jones, may I write up your order?” One of the best techniques is to act as though the deal has been concluded: “Mr. Bateson, we’ll have this equipment in and working for you in two weeks.” If Mr. Bateson doesn’t object, the salesperson can assume that the sale has been made.

Following up on the sale: The salesperson’s job isn’t over when the sale is made. In fact, the sale is just the start. The salesperson must write up the order properly and turn it in promptly. This part of the job may be easy for many consumer products, but for B2B products or services, it may be more complex. An order for a complex piece of industrial equipment may include a hundred pages of detail. Each detail must be carefully checked to ensure that the equipment is exactly what was ordered.

After the product is delivered to the customer, the salesperson must make a routine visit to see that the customer is satisfied. This follow-up call may also be a chance to make another sale. But even if it isn’t, it will build goodwill for the salesperson’s company and may bring future business. Repeat sales over many years are the goal of professional salespeople.

Concept Check

• What are the advantages of personal selling?
• Explain the selling process.

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Personal Selling Process

Everything you need to know about process of personal selling. Personal selling or salesmanship itself is a process.

There are several stages involved in the process and a salesman has to understand all the stages in the process to make the process more effective.

This process involves identifying the prospective buyer, establishing a contact and relationship with the buyer, presentation of the product to the buyer and demonstrating its uses and benefits, convincing the customers about the product by efficiently handling objections from the customers, negotiating the price and terms of payment and finally getting the orders.

The selling process is a set of activities undertaken to successfully obtain an order and begin building long-term customer relations. The activities apply to all forms of selling and can be adapted to most selling situations (including non-product selling such as – selling an idea).

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There are several stages involved in the process and a salesman has to understand all the stages in the process to make the process more effective:-

1. Prospecting and Evaluating 2. Approaching the Consumer 3. Preparing for the Sale 4. Making the Presentation 5. Overcoming the Objections 6. Closing the Sale 7. Following Up.

Personal Selling Process: Steps and Stages

Personal selling process – identifying the prospective buyer, pre-approach, approach, presentation, demonstration, overcoming objection, closing and a few others.

A follow up call from the sales personnel, after the sales process is over ensures customer satisfaction and establishes long term relationship between the seller and customer and improves goodwill.

1. Identifying the Prospective Buyer (Prospecting and Qualifying):

The first stage of personal selling process involves identifying potential customers. All prospects identified may not turn out to be actual customers. Hence identifying the right prospect is essential as it determines the future selling process. Marketers tap different sources to identify the prospective customers. Marketers search for prospects in directories, websites and contact through mail and telephone.

Marketers establish booth at trade shows and exhibitions, get the names of the prospects from existing customers, cultivate referral sources such as – dealers, suppliers, sales representatives, executives, bankers etc. After identifying the prospect the sales person qualifies the prospects on the basis of their financial ability, needs, taste and preferences.

2. Pre-Approach:

The next step to prospecting and qualifying is pre-approach. At this stage the salesperson needs to decide as to how to approach the prospective customer. The salesperson may make a personal visit, a phone call or send a letter, based on the convenience of the prospects.

3. Approach:

At this stage the salesperson should properly approach the prospects. He should properly greet the buyer and give a good start to the conversation. The salesperson’s attitude, appearance, way of speaking matters most at this stage.

4. Presentation and Demonstration:

At this stage the salesperson provides detailed information about the product and benefits of the product. The salesperson narrates the features of the product, explains the benefit and the worth of the product in terms of money.

5. Overcoming Objections:

After presentation and demonstration, when customers are asked to place order, they are reluctant to buy and raise objection. Customers give importance to well-established brands, show apathy, impatience, reluctance to participate in the talk etc. Customer may raise objection with regard to price, delivery schedule; product or company characteristics, etc. Salesperson handles such objections skillfully by clarifying their objections and convinces the customer to make purchase.

6. Closing:

After handling objections and convincing customers to buy the product, the salesperson requests the customer to place order. The salesperson assists the buyer to place order.

7. Follow-Up and Maintenance:

Immediately after closing the sale, the salesperson should take some follow up measures. The sales person assures about delivery at right time, proper installation, after sales service. This ensures customer satisfaction and repeat purchase.

In case of newly introduced product and product that requires demonstration and presentation, personal selling is effective.

Personal Selling Process – Prospecting, Evaluating, Approaching the Consumer, Preparing for the Sale, Making the Presentation, Overcoming the Objection and a Few Others

The activities involved in the selling process vary from salesman to salesman and also with selling situations. No one method is used by the two salesmen.

Generally, the following process is utilised in selling a product:

Process # 1. Prospecting and Evaluating:

Prospecting consists in developing a list of potential customers. The first step in the sales process is to discover the names of prospects from several sources such as the company’s sales records, consumer’s information requests from advertisements, other customers newspaper announcements, public records, telephone and trade directories, who’s who, yearbooks, and trade association list.

After developing the prospect list, a salesman evaluates each prospect to determine whether the prospect is able, willing, and authorized to buy the product. On the basis of this evaluation, names of some prospects may be deleted, while others are deemed to be acceptable and may be ranked in relation to their desirability or potential.

Process # 2. Approaching the Consumer:

This is most critical step because the prospect’s first impression of the salesman may be a lasting impression that has long- run consequences. One type of approach is based on referrals; the salesman approaches the prospects and explains that an acquaintance as associate or a relative has suggested the call. The ‘cold courses’ is an approach in which the salesman calls or potential customers without their prior consent.

‘Repeat contact’ is another common approach, when making the contact; the salesman mentions a prior meeting. What type of approach would be suitable depends upon the salesman’s preferences, the product being sold, the firm’s resources, and the characteristics of the prospect.

Process # 3. Preparing for the Sale:

This step consists in finding and analysing information regarding prospects specific product needs, current brands being used; feelings about other available brands and personal characteristics. This information is used in selecting an approach and in creating a sales presentation. The more information about a prospect that a salesman has, the better able he is to develop an approach and presentation that precisely communicates with the prospect.

Process # 4. Making the Presentation:

During the sales presentation, the salesman must attract and hold attention of the prospect in order to stimulate interest and convince and arouse desire for the product.

To attract such attention, the salesman should talk to the prospect briefly about the product either by asking a question that interests him or by display of some material, such as a sample, or by allowing the prospect touch, hold, or actually use the product. Demonstration may also be given about the product so that the prospect gets more involved.

Process # 5. Overcoming the Objections:

There are certain objections which can be anticipated and their answers formulated before the sales interview takes place. There are other objections which cannot be anticipated because they are usually related to the procedures of a particular business.

For these objections, the following methods may be used:

i. Direct denial method (also called the “head-on or contradiction” method), under which the salesman should never contradict the buyers’ observation. In such method, the salesman should keep in mind these guidelines; (a) He should not be offensive, rather he should smile; (b) The retail sales clerk should not attempt this method because he is seldom in a position to keep the customers; (c) The type of customer must be kept in mind so that his feelings may not be hurt; (d) It should not be used if the objection has any ‘ego’ involvement in it.

ii. The Boomerang method (also called the translation method), is so called because the object raised by the prospect often comes back at him as a valid reason for buying the product. This method is useful in meeting excuses that are not strongly backed by facts. It is effective only when the salesman is skilled in applying this technique.

iii. Indirect-identical method (also known as “yes but method or ‘sidestepping the question method), is most widely used method. It is a method of compromise because both salesman and prospects “bend” a little. They admit to each other that they both are right, but there is the other side of the problem to consider also.

iv. Compensation method, which merely acknowledges the validity of an objection, but points out some advantage that is supposed to compensate for the objection, such as lower price, or special care of the product.

v. The Pass-up method, is one where the salesman smiles and tries to pass over the objection especially when the objection is of trivial nature that it does not deserve a careful or thoughtful answer.

vi. The question method, under which the salesman asks questions regarding objections, so that further analysis be made. The “reason objections” are answered with the word why because why reopens the discussion and the possibility of making a sale.

The salesman, while using any of these methods of handing objections, must be sure that he is applying the right method in such particular situation.

Process # 6. Closing the Sale:

This step is the climax of the selling process in which the salesman asks the prospect to buy the product or products. “He who wins the last battle wins the war” is truly applicable to a salesman foreclosing in the test, of every salesman. Inadequate preparation, poor impression, failure in meeting objections or wrong approach on the part of the salesman may come in his way.

Buyer’s fears and the salesman’s attitude are two important obstacles of closing the sale. The sale must be closed only when the salesman knows that the customer is prepared for it. The close of the sale depends upon the conditions, personality for the parties and the nature of the goods.

Some of the effective ways of closing the sale are – (i) to take it for granted, (ii) offer some inducements, (iii) telling business stories how others have benefitted by the purchase of the products, (iv) fear of loss, (v) stressing minor but interesting details, and (vi) marketing a straight request for an order.

The salesman may employ a “trial close” by asking questions that assume the prospect will buy the product, e.g. he might ask the potential customer questions about financial terms, desired colours, or sizes, delivery arrangements, or the quantity to be purchased. The prospects reactions to such questions usually indicate how close the prospect indirectly respond that they will buy the product without having to state those sometimes difficult words “I’ll like it”. A salesman should try to close at several points during the presentation, because the prospect may be ready to buy.

Process # 7. Following Up:

After a sale is closed, it should be properly followed. The salesman should ensure that the delivery instructions given by the customer are properly followed. The salesman must visit the customer often to learn what problems or questions have arisen regarding the product. “After sales service” should be punctual, quick and satisfactory.

Personal Selling Process – Generating Sales Leads, Qualifying Sales Lead, Preparation for the Sales Call, Sales Meeting, Handling Buyer Resistance and a Few Others

The selling activities undertaken by professional salespeople includes the following steps:

Step # 1. Generating Sales Leads:

Selling begins by locating potential customers. A potential customer or “prospect” is first identified as sales lead, which simply means the salesperson has obtained information to suggest that someone exhibits key characteristics that lend them to being a prospect. For certain sales positions, locating leads may not be a major task undertaken by the sales force as these activities are handled by others in company.

For instance, salespeople may receive a list of sales leads based on inquiries through the company’s website. However, for a large percentage of salespeople lead generation consumes a significant portion of their everyday work. For salespeople actively involved in generating leads, they are continually on the lookout for potential new business.

In fact, for salespeople whose chief role is that of order getter, there is virtually no chance of being successful unless they can consistently generate sales leads.

Sales leads can come from many sources including:

i. Prospect Initiated – Includes leads obtained when prospects initiate contact such as – when they fill out a website form, enter a trade show booth or respond to an advertisement.

ii. Profile Fitting – Uses market research tools, such as – company profiles, to locate leads based on customers that fit a particular profile likely to be a match for the company’s products. The profile is often based on the profile of previous customers.

iii. Market Monitoring – Through this approach leads are obtained by monitoring media outlets, such as – news articles, internet forums and corporate press releases.

iv. Canvassing – Here leads are gathered by cold-calling (i.e., contacting someone without pre-notification) including in-person, by telephone or by email.

v. Data Mining – This technique uses sophisticated software to evaluate information (e.g., in a corporate database) previously gathered by a company in hope of locating prospects. Personal and Professional Contacts – A very common method for locating sales leads is using referrals. Such referrals may come at no cost to the salesperson or, to encourage referrals, salespeople may offer payment for referrals.

Non-paying methods including asking acquaintances (e.g., friends, business associates) and networking (e.g., joining local or professional groups and associations). Paid methods may include payment to others who direct leads that eventually turn into customers including using internet affiliate programs (i.e., paid for website referrals).

vi. Promotions – The method uses free gifts to encourage prospect to provide contact information or attend a sales meeting. For example, offering free software for signing up for a demonstration of another product.

Step # 2. Qualifying Sales Leads:

Not all sales leads hold the potential for becoming sales prospects.

There are many reasons for this including:

i. Cannot be Contacted – Some prospects may fit the criteria for being a prospect but gaining time to meet with them may be very difficult (e.g., high-level executives).

ii. Need Already Satisfied – Prospects may have already purchased a similar product offered by a competitor and, thus, may not have the need for additional products.

iii. Lack Financial Capacity – Just because someone has a need for a product does not mean they can afford it. Lack of financial capacity is major reason why sales leads do not become prospects.

iv. May Not Be Key Decision Maker – Prospects may lack the authority to approve the purchase.

v. May Not Meet Requirements to Purchase – Prospects may not meet the requirements for purchasing the product (e.g., lack other products needed for seller’s product to work properly).

The process of determining whether a sales lead has the potential to become a prospect is known as – “qualifying” the lead. In some cases, a sales lead can be qualified by the seller prior to making first contact. For instance, this can be done through the use of research reports, such as an evaluation of a company’s financial position using publicly available financial reporting services.

More likely, sellers will not be in a position to qualify leads until they establish contact with a lead, which may occur in activities associated with either Preparation for the Sales Call or The Sales Meeting.

Step # 3. Preparation for the Sales Call:

If a prospect has been qualified or if qualifying cannot take place until additional information is obtained (e.g., when first talking to the prospect), a salesperson’s next task is to prepare for an eventual sales call.

This activity in the selling process has two main objectives:

i. Learn More about the Customer:

While during the lead generation and qualifying portion of the selling process a seller may have gained a great deal of knowledge about a customer, invariably there is much more to be known that will be helpful once an actual sales call is made.

The salesperson will use their research skills to learn about such issues as:

a. Who is the key decision maker?

b. What is the customer’s organizational structure?

c. What products are currently being purchased?

d. How are purchase decisions made?

Salespeople can attempt to gather this information through several sources including- corporate research reports, information on the prospect’s website, conversations with non-competitive salespeople who have dealt with the prospect, website forums where industry information is discussed, and by asking questions when setting up sales meetings.

Gaining this information can help prepare the salesperson for the sales presentation. For example, if the salesperson learns which competitor currently supplies the prospect then the salesperson can tailor promotional material in a way that compares the seller’s products against products being purchased by the prospect.

Additionally, having more information about a prospect allows the salesperson to be more confident in his/her presentation and, consequently, come across as more knowledgeable when meeting with the prospect.

ii. Arranging Prospect Contact:

With some information about the prospect in-hand, the salesperson must then move to make initial contact. In a few cases a salesperson may be fortunate to have the prospect contact her/him but in most cases salespeople will need to initiate contact. In many ways arranging for contact is as much as selling effort as selling a product.

There are two main approaches to arranging contact:

a. Cold Calling for Presentation:

A challenging way to contact a prospect is to attempt to conduct a sales meeting through a straight cold call. In this approach the intention is to not only contact the prospect but to also give a sales presentation during this first contact period. This approach can be difficult since the prospect may be irritated by having unannounced salespeople interrupt them and take time out of their busy work schedule to sit for a sales meeting.

b. Cold Calling for Appointment:

A better approach for most salespeople is to contact a prospect to set up an appointment in advance of the sales meeting. The main advantages of making appointments is that it gives the salesperson additional time to prepare for the meeting and also, in the course of discussing an appointment, the salesperson may have the opportunity to gain more information from the prospect.

Of course, this way also has the added advantage of having the prospect agree to sit for the meeting, which may make them more receptive to the product than if the salesperson had followed the Cold Calling for Presentation approach.

Step # 4. The Sales Meeting:

The heart of the selling process is the meeting that takes place between the prospect and the salesperson. At this stage of the selling process the salesperson will spend a considerable amount of time presenting the product. While the word “presenting” may imply the seller is taking center stage and does most of the talking by discussing the product’s features and benefits, in actuality successful sellers find effective presentations to be more of a give-and-take conversation.

Additionally, the meeting is not just about the seller discussing the product, rather much more takes place during this part of the selling process including:

i. Establishing Rapport with the Prospect – Successful salespeople know that jumping right into a discussion of their product is not the best way to build relationships. Often it is important that, upon first greeting the prospect, the salesperson spend a short period of time in a friendly conversation to help establish a rapport with the potential buyer.

ii. Gaining Background Information – The salesperson will use questioning skills to learn about the prospect and the prospect’s company and industry.

iii. Access Prospect’s Needs – Taking what is learned from the prospect’s response to questions, the salesperson can determine the prospect’s needs. To accomplish this task successfully, sellers must be skilled at listening and understanding responses.

iv. Presenting the Product – The salesperson will stimulate a prospect’s interest by discussing a product’s features and benefits in a way that is tailored to the needs of the customer. Part of this discussion may include a demonstration of the product.

v. Assess the Prospect – Throughout the presentation the seller will use techniques, including interpreting non-verbal cues (e.g., body language), to gauge the prospect’s understanding and acceptance of what is discussed.

Step # 5. Handling Buyer Resistance:

It is a rare instance when a salesperson does not receive resistance from a prospect. By resistance we are referring to a concern a prospect has regarding the product (or company) and how it will work for their situation. In most cases, the resistance is expressed verbally (e.g., “I don’t see how this can help us.”) but other times the resistance presents itself in a non-verbal fashion (e.g., prospect facial expression shows puzzlement).

While handling sales resistance may sound like a difficult part of selling, most successful salespeople actually welcome and even encourage it as part of the selling process. Why? Because it is an indication the prospect is paying attention to the presentation and may even have an interest in the product if the resistance can be effectively addressed.

To overcome resistance, salespeople are trained to make sure they clearly understand the prospect’s concern. Sometimes prospects say one thing that appears to be an objection to the product but, in fact, they have another issue that is preventing them from agreeing to a purchase. Salespeople are rarely able to make the sale unless resistance is overcome.

Step # 6. Closing the Sale:

Most people involved in selling acknowledge that this part of the selling process is the most difficult. Closing the sale is the point when the seller asks the prospect to agree to make the purchase. It is also the point at which many customers are unwilling to make a commitment and, consequently, respond to the seller’s request by saying no. For anyone involved in sales such rejection can be very difficult to overcome, especially if it occurs on a consistent basis.

Yet the most successful salespeople will say that closing the sale is actually fairly easy if the salesperson has worked hard in developing a relationship with the customer. Unfortunately some buyers, no matter how satisfied they are with the seller and their product, may be insecure or lack confidence in making buying decisions. For these buyers, salespeople must rely on persuasive communication skills that help assist and even persuade a buyer to place an order.

The entire process is a wasted effort if sale does not take place. Hence, it is important for the sale to materialize.

A few of the effective closing techniques are:

i. Action Close – Here the sales person takes an action that will complete the sale like negotiation for supplying financial assistance to the prospects.

ii. Gift Close – The salesperson may provide an added incentive on immediate purchase.

iii. Benefit Close – Here the salesperson restates the benefits of the product in order to elicit a positive response from the prospect.

iv. Direct Close – It is a simple technique and is most appropriate if the buyer is showing strong positive buying motives. The salesperson gives a summary of the major points of the presentation and directly asks for the order.

v. Alternative Close – This technique provides the customers with alternatives with regard to the product like a black or red colour one or payment in cash or on credit basis.

vi. Objection Close – If an objection is the major hurdle in the way of making sales, the salesperson should try to gain a commitment from the buyer that if the objection is removed he will buy the product.

Thus, the close is the most important part of the selling process since all the efforts and presentation comes down to this moment.

Step # 7. Account Maintenance:

While account maintenance is listed as the final activity in the selling process, it really amounts to the beginning of the next sale and, thus, the beginning of a buyer-seller relationship. In selling situations where repeat purchasing is a goal (compared to a one-time sale), following up with a customer is critical to establishing a long-term relationship.

After a sale, salespeople should work hard to insure the customer is satisfied with the purchase and determine what other ways the salesperson can help the customer to be even more satisfied with the purchase. The level and nature of after-sale follow-up will often depend on the product sold.

Expensive, complex purchases that require installation and training may result in the salesperson spending considerable time with the customer after the sale while smaller purchases may have the seller follow-up with simple email correspondence.

By maintaining contact after the sale the seller is in a position to become more accepted by the customer who invariably leads to the salesperson learning more about the customer and the customer’s business. With this knowledge the salesperson will almost always be presented with more selling opportunities.

Personal Selling Process – 7 Important Stages: Prospecting, Pre-Approach, Approach, Demonstration, Handling Objection,Closing and Feedback

Personal selling or salesmanship itself is a process. There are several stages involved in the process and a salesman has to understand all the stages in the process to make the process more effective.

The following are the stages:

Stage # 1. Prospecting:

Prospecting refers to collecting the names, addresses and contact details of the prospective customers. The salesmen would like to visit these prospective customers for the purpose of sales. This stage involves a virtual preparation of a database.

Stage # 2. Pre-Approach:

This stage involves collecting information about the prospective buyers who have been identified in the previous stage. Such an understanding of the prospective customers before approaching them puts the salesmen in a much stronger position to deal with the prospective customers. The information about the prospective customers relates to their buying habits, their tastes and preferences, their decision making process, behaviour pattern and personality traits.

Stage # 3. Approach:

Approach refers to the actual interaction with the prospective customers. This is the stage where the salesmen get an opportunity to make presentations about the product to the prospective customers. This stage is very important as the decision to buy or not is made by the prospective customers is greatly influenced by this stage.

Stage # 4. Demonstration:

The salesmen during this stage have to demonstrate and also explain the various product features to the customers. Certain products cannot be sold without demonstration. A salesman should go by the AIDA approach-The demonstration should get the customers Attention, hold their Interest, build-up the Desire for the product and end in purchase Action.

Stage # 5. Handling Objections:

Any customer will have certain doubts and objections regarding the product. The salesmen have to give a patient hearing to the complaints and grouses of the customers and solve all the doubts. This stage is almost a question and answer session. The salesmen require a high degree of patience to make this stage successful.

Stage # 6. Closing:

This is the stage during which the salesmen have to close the process by clinching the deals. For this purpose, the salesmen should overcome all the objections. This is the stage during which the prospective customers are converted into actual customers.

Stage # 7. Feedback:

After getting the order, the salesmen still have to be in touch with the customers to ensure that the goods are supplied properly and the goods have reached the customers. This stage also enables the salesmen to secure information about the customer satisfaction levels and helps them to approach the customers again. The success of this stage establishes goodwill for the manufacturer.

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Personal Selling: Meaning, Process, Objectives, Importance, Advantages and Disadvantages

In this article we will discuss about:- 1. Meaning of Personal Selling 2. Features of Personal Selling 3. Process 4. Objectives 5. Role and Importance 6. Functions 7. Requisites 8. Advantages 9. Disadvantages 10. Challenges.

• Challenges of Personal Selling  

Meaning of Personal Selling:

Personal selling is an act of convincing the prospects to buy a given product or service. It is the most effective and costly promotional method. It is effective because there is face to face conversation between the buyer and seller and seller can change its promotional techniques according to the needs of situation. It is basically the science and art of understanding human desires and showing the ways through which these desires could be fulfilled.

According to American Marketing Association, “Personal selling is the oral presentation in a conversation with one or more prospective purchasers for the purpose of making sale; it is the ability to persuade the people to buy goods and services at a profit to the seller and benefit to the buyer”.

In the word of Professor William J. Stanton, “Personal selling consists in individual; personal communication, in contrast to mass relatively impersonal communication of advertising; sales promotion and other promotional tools”.

Personal selling is a different form of promotion, involving two way face-to-face communications between the salesmen and the prospect. The result of such interaction depends upon how deep each has gone into one another and reached the height of the common understanding. Basically the essence of personal selling is the interpretation of products and services benefits and features to the buyer and persuading the buyer to buy these products and services.

Features of Personal Selling :

The main features of personal selling are:

i. It is a face to face communication between buyer and seller.

ii. It is a two way communication.

iii. It is an oral communication.

iv. It persuades the customers instead of pressurizing him.

v. It provides immediate feedback.

vi. It develops a deep personal relationship apart from the selling relationship with the buyers and customers.

Personal Selling Process:

The process of personal selling includes prospecting and evaluating, preparing, approach and presentation, overcoming objections, closing the sale and a follow up service.

1. Prospecting and evaluating:

The effort to develop a list of potential customers is known as prospecting. Sales people can find potential buyers, names in company records, customer information requests from advertisements, telephone and trade association directories, current and previous customers, friends, and newspapers. Prospective buyers predetermined, by evaluating (1) their potential interest in the sales person’s products and (2) their purchase power.

2. Preparing:

Before approaching the potential buyer, the sales person should know as much as possible about the person or company.

3. Approach and presentation:

During the approach, which constitutes the actual beginning of the communication process, the sales person explains to the potential customer the reason for the sales, possibly mentions how the potential buyer’s name was obtained, and gives a preliminary explanation of what he or she is offering. The sales presentation is a detailed effort to bring the buyer’s needs together with the product or service the sales person represents.

4. Overcoming objections:

The primary value of personal selling lies in the sales person’s ability to receive and deal with potential customers’ objections to purchasing the product. In a sales presentation many objections can be dealt with immediately. These may take more time, but still may be overcome.

5. Closing the sale:

Many sales people lose sales simply because they never asked the buyer to buy. At several times in a presentation the sales person may to gauge how near the buyer is to closing.

6. Follow up:

To maintain customer satisfaction, the sales person should follow up after a sale to be certain that the product is delivered properly and the customer is satisfied with the result.

Objectives of Personal Selling:

The major objectives of salesmanship are as follows:

(i) Attracting the Prospective Customers:

The first and foremost objective of a salesperson is to attract the attention of people who might be interested to buy the product he is selling.

(ii) Educating the Prospective Customers:

The salesman provides information about the features, price and uses of the product to the people. He handles their queries and removes their doubts about the product. He educates them as to how their needs could be satisfied by using the product.

(iii) Creating Desire to Buy:

The salesman creates a desire among the prospective customers to buy the product to satisfy specific needs.

(iv) Concluding Sales:

The ultimate objective of personal selling is to win the confidence of customers and make them buy the product. Creation of customers is the index of effectiveness of any salesperson.

(v) Getting Repeat Orders:

A good salesperson aims to create permanent customers by helping them satisfy their needs and providing them product support services, if required. He tries for repeat orders from the customers.

Role and Importance of Personal Selling:

Personal selling consists of individual and personal communication with the customers in contrast to the mass and impersonal communication through advertising. Because of this characteristic, personal selling has the advantage of being more flexible in operation.

A salesperson can tailor his sales presentation to fit the needs, motives, and behaviour of individual customers. He can observe the customer’s reaction to a particular sales approach and then make necessary adjustment on the spot. Thus, personal selling involves a minimum of wasteful efforts. The salesperson can select and concentrate on the prospective customers.

Personal selling helps in sales promotion. It is very important to manufacturers and traders because it helps them to sell their products. It also helps them in knowing the tastes, habits, attitudes and reactions of the people.

The manufacturer can concentrate on producing those goods which are required by the customers. This will further promote the sales. Moreover, a good salesman is able to establish personal support with customers. This way, the business gains permanent customers.

Functions of Personal Selling:

The important functions of a salesperson are as follows:

1. Personal selling is an important method of demonstrating the product to the prospective customers and giving them full information about the product. It is easier to persuade a person to buy a product through face-to-face explanation.

2. In most of the situations, there is a need of explaining the quality, uses and price of the product to the buyer to help him purchase the want satisfying product. Thus, salesmanship is also very important from the point of the buyers.

3. A good salesperson educates and guides the customers about the features and utility of the product.

4. If a product cannot fully satisfy the needs of the customers, the information is transmitted to the manufacturer who will take appropriate steps.

5. Salespersons can also handle the objections of the customers. Creative salesman are always ready to help the customers to arrive at correct decisions while buying certain products.

6. There is direct fact-to-face interaction between the seller and the buyer. The salesperson can receive feedback directly from the customer on a continuous basis. This would help him in modifying his presentation and taking other steps to sell satisfaction to the buyer.

Requisites of Effective Personal Selling:

It is not possible to describe exactly the kind of person who will make a good salesperson. Sales skill has no clear correlation to any combination of appearance, education, technical expertise, or even persuasiveness. There have been successful salesmen who knew little about the technical qualities of the product.

On the other hand, there are many examples of technical champs who could not sell. However, in the modern era of severe competition in the market, it is not easy to become an effective salesman. A business enterprise can develop effective salesman to promote its sales.

In order to achieve effective personal selling, the following requirements must be fulfilled:

1. Personal Qualities:

An effective salesman must possess certain physical, mental, social and vocational qualities.

2. Training and Motivation:

In order to achieve effective personal selling, it is essential to train and motivate the sales persons. The training programme for the sales persons should be designed keeping in view the requirements of the business. The training programme should also aim at imparting knowledge of various selling programme should also aim at imparting knowledge of various selling techniques among the trainees.

For instance, a salesman must be trained how to understand the nature of a customer, how to arouse his interest in the product, and how to close the sales. It is also essential that the person selected for selling has aptitude for this vocation. He has the inner motivation of developing himself into a good salesman. The employer can also motivate him by providing financial and non-financial incentives.

3. Wide Knowledge:

A salesman should have wide knowledge about the following:

The salesman must know himself in order to make use of his personality in selling the products. He should try to know his strong arid week points and remove his weak points through training and experience. He should continuously undertake his self- assessment to know what he requires in order to be an effective salesman.

(b) Employer:

The salesman is a representative of his employer. He should have a thorough knowledge of the origin and growth of the employer’s business. He must know objects, policies and organisational structure of the employer’s firm. This will enable the salesman to make use of the plus points of the firm selling the product.

(c) Product:

The salesman must have full knowledge about the product he sells. He must know what the product is and what are its special features and uses. He should also know the whole process of production so that he may be able to answer the customer’s queries and objections satisfactorily. Mostly, the customers are ignorant about the features, technical details, and benefits of the product and they expect the salesman to give them sufficient information about it.

(d) Competitors’ Products:

The salesman must have complete knowledge about the competitive products because buyers often compare several products before purchasing one of them. The salesman should know the positive and negative features of the various substitutes so that he is in a position to prove the superiority of his product.

(e) Customers:

Before selling something, a salesman must have sufficient knowledge about the customers to whom he is going to sell. He must try to understand the nature of customers, their habits and their buying motives if he is to win permanent customers. There are a number of considerations which make the prospect to buy a particular product.

These considerations may be grouped under two categories of motives, namely (i) product motives and (ii) patronage motives. Product motives explain why customers buy certain products and patronage motives determine why customers buy from specific dealers. A salesman can understand the motives of the customers by his intelligence and experience.

He should deal with the customer according to his nature. He can mix with a customer who is extrovert and remain reserved with a customer who is introvert. He should also try to know whether a customer intends to purchase for personal use or for business use.

Advantages of Personal Selling :

1. The key advantage personal selling has over other promotional methods is that it is a two-way form of communication. In selling situations the message sender (e.g., salesperson) can adjust the message as they gain feedback from message receivers (e.g., customer).

So if a customer does not understand the initial message (e.g., doesn’t fully understand how the product works) the salesperson can make adjustments to address questions or concerns.

Many non- personal forms of promotion, such as a radio advertisement, are inflexible, at least in the short-term, and cannot be easily adjusted to address audience questions.

2. The interactive nature of personal selling also makes it the most effective promotional method for building relationships with customers, particularly in the business-to-business market.

This is especially important for companies that either sell expensive products or sell lower cost but high volume products (i.e., buyer must purchase in large quantities) that rely heavily on customers making repeat purchases.

Because such purchases may take a considerable amount of time to complete and may involve the input of many people at the purchasing company (i.e., buying center), sales success often requires the marketer develop and maintain strong relationships with members of the purchasing company.

3. Finally, personal selling is the most practical promotional option for reaching customers who are not easily reached through other methods. The best example is in selling to the business market where, compared to the consumer market, advertising, public relations and sales promotions are often not well received.

Disadvantages of Personal Selling :

1. Possibly the biggest disadvantage of selling is the degree to which this promotional method is misunderstood. Most people have had some bad experiences with salespeople who they perceived were overly aggressive or even downright annoying.

While there are certainly many salespeople who fall into this category, the truth is salespeople are most successful when they focus their efforts on satisfying customers over the long term and not focusing own their own selfish interests.

2. A second disadvantage of personal selling is the high cost in maintaining this type of promotional effort.

Costs incurred in personal selling include:

(i) High Cost-Per-Action (CPA):

CPA can be an important measure of the success of promotion spending. Since personal selling involves person-to-person contact, the money spent to support a sales staff (i.e., sales force) can be steep. For instance, in some industries it costs well over (US) $300 each time a salesperson contacts a potential customer.

This cost is incurred whether a sale is made or not! These costs include compensation (e.g., salary, commission, and bonus), providing sales support materials, allowances for entertainment spending, office supplies, telecommunication and much more. With such high cost for maintaining a sales force, selling is often not a practical option for selling products that do not generate a large amount of revenue.

(ii) Training Costs:

Most forms of personal selling require the sales staff be extensively trained on product knowledge, industry information and selling skills. For companies that require their salespeople attend formal training programs, the cost of training can be quite high and include such expenses as travel, hotel, meals, and training equipment while also paying the trainees’ salaries while they attend.

3. A third disadvantage is that personal selling is not for everyone. Job turnover in sales is often much higher than other marketing positions. For companies that assign salespeople to handle certain customer groups (e.g., geographic territory), turnover may leave a company without representation in a customer group for an extended period of time while the company recruits and trains a replacement.

Challenges in Personal Selling:

(i) At first personal selling is dyadic in nature. Dyadic simply means of or relating to two people. Thus, personal selling revolves around a marketing relationship developed between two people. Frequently, personal salespeople enlist the help of others in their organizations to sell to and service customers.

And just as frequently, personal salespeople find themselves making presentations to small groups of people or working with multiple individuals within customers’ firms. However, ultimately a successful marketing relationship is built by two people one person selling and person buying. Successful salespeople identify that person early on and work to win their trust and confidence.

(ii) Secondly personal selling is a process, not a single activity. And done correctly, the process continues indefinitely. Salespeople, sales managers, and others inside the seller’s organization frequently see the selling process as culminating or ending with a signed order.

However, in these days of so-called “relationship marketing” and “customer relationship management” successful organizations recognize that signed orders simply represent one point of positive feedback in an ongoing and continuous process.

(iii) Third, personal selling is highly interactive. In advertising, information flow occurs initially in a one-way direction. What feedback the advertiser receives arrives late well after an advertisement has aired.

Moreover, without costly research, the attitudinal effects of advertising may never be known. In personal selling, feedback is largely Personal Selling instantaneous and continuous.

The two-way flow of information that characterizes personal selling creates a communication channel rich with information, much of it nonverbal. Effective personal salespeople become adept at interpreting this information quickly and adapting their responses to it.

(iv) Personal selling is about problem solving. As the marketing concept is adopted by more and more firms, the emphasis of personal salespeople will be more on identifying customers with a true need for the firm’s products and applying those products to solve customer problems. Less emphasis will be placed on simply making a sale.

The focus on problem solving in personal selling reflects a larger trend toward building relationships between customers and clients. Marketers know that to develop these relationships, they must be willing to forego short term gains, particularly when the salesperson realizes that at that moment a purchase might not be in the customer’s best interests.

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