Chapter 01 – Selling and Salespeople
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SECTION 2
CHAPTER–BY-CHAPTER
Chapter 01 – Selling and Salespeople
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CHAPTER 1
SELLING AND SALESPEOPLE
Outline of Chapter
I. Why Learn About Personal Selling?
A. Everyone Sells
II. Creating Value: The Role of Salespeople in A Business
III. What Do Salespeople Do?
A. Client Relationship Manager
IV. Types of Salespeople
A. Selling and Distribution Channels
1. Business–to-Business Channels
2. Consumer Channels
B. Describing Sales Jobs
1. Stage of Buyer-Seller Relationship: New or Continuing?
an Order
C. The Sales Jobs Continuum
D. Examples of Sales Jobs
V. Characteristics of Successful Salespeople
A. Self- Motivated
B. Dependability and Trustworthiness
C. Ethical Sales Behavior
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J. Emotional Intelligence
K. Are Salespeople Born or Made?
VI. Rewards in Selling
VII. The Building Partnerships Model
VIII. Selling Yourself
IX. Summary
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Teaching Suggestions
An alternative would be to use the PowerPoint slides provided with the text.
1. Begin the first class by asking students “Why are you enrolled in this course?”
and write their answers on the board. You will probably find that the students will
offer several reasons for enrolling in this class, but most of their answers will fall
2. You can continue this discussion about why the information in this course is
valuable for everyone, even students that do not plan to go into sales by posing
the following question: “Should a production manager have a basic knowledge of
selling? Why or why not?” This question provides an opportunity to discuss the
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3. You can begin the discussion of advantages and disadvantages of sales jobs by
asking those students who expressed an interest in taking a job in selling, “Why
are you interested in a selling job?” Write their responses on the board and then
4. Having discussed the benefits and drawbacks of a sales career, you are now ready
to discuss the role of salespeople in businesses. You may start this discussion by
talking about the different methods firms use to communicate with their
customers. You can stimulate class discussion by telling your students that the
cost of a face-to face customer contact with a salesperson is around $400, almost
10,000 times more expensive than some other methods (radio, newspaper). Why
is personal selling so expensive? The answer to this question is that it is more
effective at conveying messages to customers. Then ask why is personal selling
more effective in conveying messages?
Another approach is to simply ask your students what the advantages and
Ask, “Why is advertising more important for marketing consumer products?” The
more extensive use of personal selling for business-to-business products can be
5. You can begin the discussion about the activities of salespeople by mentioning
that how salespeople spend their time depends upon the type of selling job they
perform, but certain basic activities are common to all types of selling. In addition
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Now describe how the text is organized in terms of the activities performed by a
salesperson.
Part I discusses the knowledge and skills needed for successful selling, including
such topics as legal and ethical considerations, the buying process, how to
communicate effectively, and methods of adapting to customers.
6. Here, you can emphasize that there are many different types of selling jobs. You
may want to emphasize that retail salespeople, the salespeople consumers have
most contact with are just the tip of the iceberg. You can further develop this
7. Next, we want to talk a little about the creative aspect of selling. Tell your
students that the amount of vision that they can apply to their sales career is
8. This last discussion about creativity flows nicely into the Characteristics of
Successful Salespeople. As you present each of the characteristics, you might ask
if these characteristics are more important in some sales jobs and less important in
other sales jobs.
9. To conclude this class, you might want to ask students why they think building
partnerships are becoming more important in business. Also ask them, “What do
buyers and sellers have to do to build an effective partnership?” And finally,
“How will building partnerships affect the role of salespeople?”
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Suggested Answers to Ethics Problems
1. Let’s say you have excellent emotional intelligence. How can you avoid using that
to your advantage if it is detrimental to the buyer (e.g., if you manipulate the
buyer based on your skills)?
Any skill that a person has can be used in unethical ways. It is important to use
2. The chapter says that selling jobs can be a great way to get your foot in the door
at an employer. Let’s say you really want to be in product development, not sales,
yet the position that is being offered at the company is in sales. You hope that
after doing the sales job for six months to a year you’ll get promoted to the
product development job. Should you be honest and tell the interviewer (the sales
manager) that now? Or should you act like you want to be a career salesperson?
Why not be honest and tell the recruiter what your thoughts are? You can
Suggested Answers to Questions and Problems
1. There are many different go-to-market strategies. For which of the following
products/services do you think a sales-force intensive strategy would probably not
be used? Why? Make any assumptions needed and list your assumptions in your
answer.
a. Movie rentals.
Probably not. Too expensive. Would use regular retail outlets or web-based
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2. In “Building Partnerships 1.1” you read how the company has hunters and
gatherers. Which type of position appeals to you the most? Why?
3. Discuss the following myths about selling:
Salespeople rip people off.
Salespeople don’t’ just rip people off, rather they do serve a useful role in society.
Salespeople are born, not made.
Some skills and capabilities required for successful selling are working hard,
working smart, emotional maturity, dependability, and technical product
Selling is just a big bag of tricks.
The primary objective for most salespeople is to develop long-term relationships
with customers and get repeat business. This objective is particularly important in
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A salesperson should never take no for an answer.
Salespeople must satisfy the needs of their companies and their customers.
Companies want their salespeople to makes sales and so salespeople need to be
A good salesperson can sell anything to anybody.
Some skills possessed by good salespeople such as working hard, working smart,
4. Carly Anderson has been working as a receptionist at her father’s business for
two years since graduating from college. She is considering taking a selling job
with a pharmaceutical company. The job involves calling on doctors and
explaining the benefits of the firm’s products. What are the similarities and
differences between her receptionist job and the selling job she is considering?
Similarities: She will still have to be concerned about details and follow-up. She
will need to be exact. She will need to not puff or exaggerate her product’s
5. Nick Chattaway worked his way through college by selling Home Theatre Systems
at Best Buy. He has done well on the job and is one of the top salespeople in the
home electronics department. Last week Safety Harness, Inc. offered him a job
selling seat belt kits to school bus manufacturers. Explain the differences between
selling in a consumer electronics store and the Safety Harness, Inc. sales job.
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There are differences along several dimensions between department store selling
and trade selling. The nature of the customer, the nature of the salesperson’s
6. Poll at least five students who are not taking your selling course (and who, better
yet, are outside the business school or program). What are their opinions about
salespeople? How accurate are their opinions based on what you’ve read in this
chapter?
7. Think about what you want in your first job out of college. Based on what you
know so far from this chapter, how well does selling match your desires in a job?
8. According to the text, some sales jobs are located as inside sales instead of field
sales. Why would anyone want to be an inside sales rep?
People are different. Some people value structure and some need more
9. “Sales Technology 1.1” described the use of video resumes to set yourself apart.
Create a video resume for yourself and make it available to your instructor.
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10. Assume you are a sales manager and you need to recruit someone for the
following sales positions. For each position, list the qualities you would want in
the recruit:
a. Salesperson selling custom signage to small businesses.
Motivation to make lots of calls, ethical sales behavior, good communication
b. Salesperson calling on college book stores, selling university logo
backpacks. College textbook salesperson.
Interest in providing service to the bookstore personnel.
c. Used-tractor salesperson.
Persistence.
d. Salesperson selling janitorial services to a small local restaurant.
Knowledge of janitorial needs in general, ability to do follow up work after the
Suggested Answers to Case Problems
Case 1.1 Chicago Blackhawks
Questions
1. What impact would dropping one or more salespeople have on Chicago Blackhawks?
You might want to review the section entitled “What Salespeople Do” as you answer this
question.
Since Chicago Blackhawks in this case is dealing with businesses and not with
consumers, there is a need for someone to establish and maintain a relationship with the
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2. If you were Emily, what would you do? Why?
Case 1-2: Motion Industries
Questions
1. One of the skills that salespeople should possess is creativity. Come up with three
creative and totally ethical ways Brandon can use to get Chris’ attention.
This question is really designed to introduce a topic that will be covered later (in Chapter
2. Assuming that Brandon does get Chris’ attention with one of the methods you’ve
described and Chris is willing to speak with Brandon on the phone the next time he is
called. What should Brandon plan on saying, assuming he had just two or three minutes
of phone time?
Student answers will vary. Brandon needs to spend those few minutes securing an
appointment, not trying to actually sell anything on the phone. Perhaps he can talk about
Chapter 01 – Selling and Salespeople
End Of Chapter Role Play Case
You will be splitting the class into groups of three (see textbook for description) for this in-class
exercise. Hand a different role play sheet (found on the next three pages) to each student in a
team.
Chapter 1 Role Play Version A
As the NETSUITE recruiter, ask the following questions to the person in your team that you are
interviewing for a sales job.
• Why sales? Why are you cut out for sales?
Chapter 1 Role Play Version B
As the NETSUITE recruiter, ask the following questions to the person in your team that you are
interviewing for a sales job.
• You know, most students we interview want to start in sales but think they should move
into marketing soon after. How long would you plan to stay in sales? Why?
Chapter 1 Role Play Version C
As the NETSUITE recruiter, ask the following questions to the person in your team that
you are interviewing for a sales job.
Students who have just graduated from college can’t know much about selling. I should
hire someone with experience.
• What experience have you had selling? Tell me of a situation where you were
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EXERCISE 1-1 YOUR ATTITUDES TOWARDS SALES.
In the space below list twenty adjectives that you think describe salespeople
Did you draw on any experiences with any specific salespeople or type of salespeople that justify
those adjectives? If so, describe them.
At this point, most students have listed mostly negative adjectives and experiences. Some students,
especially those whose parents are salespeople or who may be salespeople themselves, have a more
positive list. But everyone has had some good experiences with salespeople. How did those
experiences make you feel?
What behaviors did the salesperson engage in that resulted in your good experience?
Where does the negative stereotype of salespeople come from?
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EXERCISE 1-2 HOW ARE SALESPEOPLE PORTRAYED?
Search the press for five portrayals of salespeople. Compare what is being written in the business
press versus the popular press. Do these articles reinforce a negative image of salespeople? If so,
How?
Call and interview someone who buys from salespeople as part of his or her job. For example, you could
visit a physician (or other health care practitioner) at the health center, a pharmacist, a locally-owned
retailer who is a dealer for one or more lines (like a car dealer, a farm equipment dealer, a tire dealer,
etc.), a manager of a department store, or the manager of a grocery store. Ask the following questions
A.
How do salespeople help the interviewee accomplish his or her job objectives?
B.
What is it that the interviewee likes about his or her favorite salespeople?
C.
What is it that the interviewee likes least about salespeople in general? About his or her least
favorite salesperson?
Compare the portrait drawn of salespeople by the press with that of your interviewee.