978-0134477404 Written Term Projects

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Written Term Projects for Selling Today 14e

Guidelines and Outlines

Students can gain a large amount of information by going into the business world

and interviewing salespeople and sales-related employees. The two written term project

outlines that are included in this part instruct students to set up interviews to acquire

The interviews the students conduct with industry salespeople provide excellent

applications of sales skills taught in the text. For example, students have to make a good

telephone contact to get an interview. They have to apply their relationship strategy when

they make a business contact during the first part of the interview. They need to ask good

questions to get the needed information, and, in Project 2, they have to sell the

forms for evaluation.)

It has been said that successful selling is 90% preparation and ten percent

presentation. This is especially true in selling situations today, with unique customer

needs, more complex products, more competition, longer sales cycles, and multiple

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meet the needs of the prospect. Poorly planned sales presentations are not convincing. A

salesperson cannot leave the sales presentation to the inspiration of the moment, any

more than a speaker can face an audience without having taken care and time to prepare a

speech. In almost every aspect of life, strategic planning is necessary to gain the desired

result.

The effective sales presentation is built with a strategic plan. Every step of the

either an individual or team assignment.)

Title Page

A. Name of product to be sold.

B. Name of company you are selling for.

B. Describe the appropriate salesperson’s attitude.

C. Describe the appropriate salesperson’s appearance.

D. Describe the methods used to strengthen a long-term relationship for repeats

and referrals.

E. Describe your communication style.

solving type of salesperson.

III. Developing a Product Strategy

A. Description of company

B. Description of product/created product solution

C. Description of technical expertise needed by salesperson

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F. Will you use a price or value-added product strategy?

IV. Developing a Customer Strategy

A. Describe the typical buying motives of prospect.

B. Describe the typical prospect as an individual (and as a company

representative, if appropriate).

C. How are prospects identified in most cases?

1. List presentation objectives.

2. Describe a typical sales cycle (how many calls).

3. Describe team versus one person, and group versus individual presentation

strategies.

4. Describe ways to achieve a good social contact.

5. Describe methods to achieve good business contact (prepare a business

1. List questions that will determine the prospect’s needs (prepare a need

discovery worksheet—see Table 11.2).

2. Match typical customer buying motives with features and benefits of the

product, company, and salesperson.

3. Create a summary of an appropriate need-satisfaction presentation strategy

1. List features/benefits you will discuss and demonstrate.

2. List selling tools you will use (prepare a demonstration worksheet form—

1. Anticipated sales resistance.

2. How will you overcome sales resistance? (Prepare a negotiations

1. Consider closing clues to be alert to.

2. List closing methods you plan to use (prepare a closing worksheet form—

1. List additional items you will suggest to the customer.

2. How will you assist the customer with delivery and/or installation; with

warranty and/or service contract; and in securing credit arrangements?

3. What type of postsale courtesy contacts will you make?

Suggested Techniques for Gathering Information

1. Conduct personal interviews with salespeople and sales executives.

2. Research trade journals and professional articles.

3. Research the company’s website and other recognized industry Internet sources.

4. Research key executives on sites like LinkedIn.

5. Read trade catalog references and reserve books in the library.

6. Send personal letters or emails requesting information.

7. Make personal observations of marketing activities.

1. A strategic selling research team will organize itself with specific assignment

areas for each section of the report.

2. A specific company that utilizes salespeople and sales management concepts must

be selected and agreed upon by all members of the research team. This company

3. Appointments should be secured with a sales manager from the company.

4. Due date: the entire sales management term project (all five sections) must be

completed and turned in by __________.

5. Double-space your project using Microsoft Word or other word processing

program. If submitting hard copies, print on one side of the page only.

6. Each section of the paper must be separated with a page identifying the section

number and title.

7. The first page must list the following information:

a. Title of the project.

8. The project should contain the following basic sections:

a. Preface (why you chose this area of sales, and major findings in project.)

9. Some suggested data-gathering devices for this project might consist of

a. Personal interviews with salespeople and sales executives.

b. Researching trade journals and professional articles.

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e. Reading references and reserve books in the library.

f. Personal letters requesting information.

g. Personal observation of selling and sales management.

10. It will be the responsibility of the team to receive approval for the company

selected before beginning work.

11. The team must secure a company sales manager to speak to the class about the

12. The five sections of the strategic selling term project are as follows:

Section I—Importance of Selling to the Company

Compare the relationship of selling to the other functions of the company. What

are the functions of advertising, trade shows, and public relations as they relate to the

company’s selling strategies? Describe the product or service and the company. What are

the main competitive (selling) advantages the company has over its competition (i.e.,

price and value-added new technology [relate to Chapters 6 and 7])? What is the general

approach to selling—high pressure, consultative, or low key? Describe in detail. How

much of the marketing budget is spent on selling versus advertising? How long is the

sales cycle? How many calls does it take to close a sale? (Describe each call.)

Section II – Description of the Sales Force

How many salespeople does the company have? What is the rate of turnover?

Describe in detail the type of salespeople the company seeks when filling positions

(relate to material in Chapters 3 and 4). Where do they seek applicants? How do they

select people they think will be the most successful? What do they think of testing

salespeople? How important is experience? What other items on a resume would be

important in making the selection? How important are appearance, attitude, social skills,

verbal skills, etc.? Do they ever use “team selling”? Who are the members of the sales

team?

Section III—Training Program for Salespeople

Describe in detail the training program for the salespeople. How much emphasis

is placed on product training, sales training, sales automation, motivation, company

policy training, and customer behavior training? Do they use in-house training (by

Why? How do they provide motivational training or incentives? Are there support

specialists (technicians, computer service personnel, sales managers, etc.) that help in

strategically planning sales proposals and presentation strategies for closing key

accounts? Do they or are they planning to use electronic catalogs to prepare proposals

and presentations? Do they provide salespeople or are they planning to provide them with

laptop computers?

Section IV – Customer Profiles

How are the prospects located? Does the company set up booths at trade shows to

attract leads? How are sales territories determined? How much time does the salesperson

spend traveling versus time in front of the prospect? How much time is spent away from

home at night, on weekends, etc.? Do salespeople travel by car or air? What percent?

How many calls does the salesperson make in a day or a week? Have territories ever been

reorganized or will they be in the future? Why? How are sales potentials/forecasts

determined for each territory? What are buying motives of a typical buyer? What is the

biological sketch (detailed) of the typical buyer? Is a computerized contact (prospect)

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Section V—Performance Standards and Compensation

What kinds of performance standards does the company have for salespeople and

sales managers? How often are performance standards evaluated? How are quotas sets?

How often are they revised? Have they been revised recently or will they need to be in

the future? Why? How do the quotas differ for beginners compared to experienced

people?

How often are salespeople and sales managers formally evaluated? By whom?

What changes have occurred or will occur in the future? Why? How is an evaluation

conducted?

Describe in detail the compensation package for salespeople and/or sales

managers. What is the average (ballpark) annual compensation amount for salespeople

and sales managers? Beginners versus ten years of experience? What percent of salary

does incentive pay usually amount to? How does compensation relate to performance

standards and evaluation? What are the pay periods? When is bonus or commission paid?

Do bonuses and commissions provide motivation? How much and why?