978-0134477404 Written Term Projects

subject Type Homework Help
subject Pages 7
subject Words 2040
subject Authors Barry L. Reece, Gerald L. Manning, Michael Ahearne

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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 worksheetsee 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.
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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 IImportance 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 sellinghigh 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?
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Section IIITraining 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 VPerformance 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?

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