Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
CHAPTER 8
MAKING THE SALES CALL
Outline of Chapter
I. Making a good impression
A. Waiting for the prospect
II. Identifying the prospect’s needs: The power of asking questions
A. Asking open and closed questions
B. SPIN® technique
1. Situation Questions
2. Problem Questions
C. Reiterating needs you identified before the meeting
D. Additional considerations
E. Developing a strategy for the presentation
III. Offering Value: The solution to the buyer’s needs
A. Relating features to benefits
B. Assessing reactions
1. Using nonverbal cues
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
Teaching Suggestions
(an alternative would be to use the PowerPoint slides provided with the text)
1. Overview the chapter contents (Exhibit 8.1). Explain how critical these issues are to successfully
building relationships and partnerships.
2. Discuss several key points in making a good impression. Note that even before a rep says a word,
the rep’s nonverbals speak.
Talk about the importance of dressing appropriately.
3. Discuss attention getting approaches, called “openings” (Exhibit 8.2). Have class members
script a statement using each method assuming that they are selling a calculator to a fellow
student. Then have the students team up and go over these scripts. Following this, lead a
discussion of the following issues:
“Which method seemed more natural to you?”
4. Discuss the importance of discovering the need behind the need. Until you get to the root
problem (or need) both you and the prospect may have difficulty formulating a solution. A
5. Discuss discovering needs using open and closed questions. This is fairly easy for most students
to follow.
6. Discuss the SPIN technique. Some students have difficulty with this material. You may want to
complete question number 5 at the end of the chapter during class (either as a whole or as
groups). You may also want to use Exercise 8-3 here..
7. Discuss the methods and importance of relating features to benefits. To practice, call out several
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
8. Talk about the importance of assessing the buyer’s reactions to the rep’s presentation. The rep
must make any necessary adjustments.
9. Explain that, for a partnership to develop, credibility must be built. Ask class members for ways
110. Briefly describe selling to groups. Discuss the importance of understanding that each individual
in the buying group has unique needs, personality types, etc.
11. Summarize what was covered.
• Importance of making a good impression.
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
Suggested Answers to Ethics Problems
1. You’re an account executive for Wells Fargo Financial in Minnesota. You had an initial
appointment with a customer, June, to find out what her goals were financially. The meeting
went just like a typical first meeting should go and there was a beneficial product you could
create for her. However her husband could not meet with you…only the wife. After weeks of work
and preparation you have a loan that makes sense. The loan meets the goals June wanted, so you
have a second appointment with her… again without her husband to go over exact terms. You
asked when her husband could come in and sign the loan documents and she discloses to you that
her husband is not aware of the $35,000 of credit card debts the loan is going to pay off. Both
the husband and wife really need to be present at the time of the loan. Legally you can call the
husband and tell him about the loan application. What should you do?
2. You’re calling on an important prospect in the sportswear retailing industry and they start asking
you how other sportswear retailers are handling a specific problem. You know this is important
competitive information and that you should not provide details about a competitor. Instead you
decide to give the prospect the information, but not provide specifics (like the name of the retailer
you’re talking about). Is that okay?
competitor. Doing so will ruin your reputation and trust.
Suggested Answers to Questions and Problems
1. Think for a moment about trying to secure a sales job. Assume you are going to have an interview
with a district manager with a consumer products firm next week for a sales position. What can
you do to develop rapport and build credibility with her?
Use small talk and identify common interests, experiences, hobbies, background, etc. Use office
2. “I don’t need to discover my prospect’s needs. I sell frozen pizzas to grocery stores and
convenience stores. I know what their needs are: a high profit margin and fast turnover of
products!” Comment.
In many ways this is absolutely true! However, a smart rep will reiterate these assumed needs to
3. Develop the FEBA for one of the features shown in Exhibit 8.8.
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
4. Assume that you are selling swimming pool maintenance services to a homeowner. Develop a
series of open and closed questions to discover the prospect’s needs.
• Have you ever used our pool maintenance services before? What was your experience like?
5. Assume that you represent your school’s placement service. You are calling on a large business
nearby that never hires graduates from your college. Generate a list of SPIN® questions, making
any additional assumptions necessary.
• Do you ever hire people from the want ads? (situation question)
6. Prepare a list of features and benefits that could be used in a presentation to other students at
your college. The objective of the presentation is to encourage them to declare the same major
you are taking.
Answers will vary. For example:
Features Benefits
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
7. Sales Technology 8.1 told about the use of social media to gain information, and hence, do a
better job in gaining the prospect’s attention. Look at the profiles of two of your friends or
contacts on LinkedIn or Facebook or MySpace or some other social networking site. Using
strictly the information you find there, what are some ways you could gain that person‘s attention
in a sales call, assuming you didn‘t actually know them before the call?
8. In the boxed item Building Partnerships 8.1 you read of a salesperson who admitted that he
performed poorly in a sales meeting. Even though he knew what to do, he didn’t do it. Why do
you think that happened?
Sometimes we feel pressure to close sales today, due to poor performance in the previous month,
9. In which situations should a salesperson use the prospect’s first name? When should a more
formal salutation be used?
Many trainers note that a formal salutation (Mr. Jones, Mrs. Smith) should be used until the
prospect signals that using the first name is okay.
Some trainers state that it is okay to proactively ask permission to use a first name (e.g. “My
name is Steve. Do you mind if I call you Bob?”)
Still others claim it is safe to assume that a first name basis is always best because it seems more
10. You’re selling a new line of candy to a grocery store (choose some brand of candy). Make a list
of features and benefits for the grocery store, as well as a list of features and benefits for the
store’s customers (the shoppers who come in and buy candy).
Answer will vary. Here is one possibility:
Features of interest to the store’s customers
Benefits
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
$100 million advertising campaign.
Customers will have a desire to purchase the
brand.
11. In “From the Buyer’s Seat 8.1” you heard a buyer describe one good and one poor salesperson.
What can a company do to insure that salespeople act more like the good salesperson profiled?
Many companies have created incentive packages for their salespeople that do not encourage
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
Suggested Answers to Case Problems
Case 8-1: Presidential Aviation (Part B)
1. Develop a set of open and closed questions to fully discover Juan Espinosa’s needs.
Answer will vary. Here are some examples of the types of questions that might be asked.
How many airline trips do you take in an average month? (closed)
2. Develop a set of SPIN questions to discover Juan Espinosa’s needs.
Answer will vary. Here are some examples of the types of questions that might be asked.
How often do you fly each month? (situation)
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
Case 8-2: Citrix Systems
1. You are Jamie. What will you do now?
2. How can you avoid a situation like this in future calls with your manager?
It may be hard to do, but if could politely point out the non-verbals that Tracey was exhibiting and ask
Kyle, “Why was she acting that way? Don’t you think she was getting agitated?” Perhaps this will
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
End of Chapter Role Play
For the Instructor:
You will find buyer role play sheets on the next three pages of this Instructor’s Manual.
The primary purpose of this end of chapter role plays is to work on SPIN and the needs identification
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
BancVue Buyer Role Play Information
Chapter 8 End of Chapter Role Play Case
GelTech: Mr. McLane has asked to see you. You weren’t expecting this from
your earlier sales calls, but you welcome the opportunity to meet the decision
maker. His secretary called and made the appointment.
You are interested in finding a customer relationship management (CRM) software solution that would
integrate sales and marketing more efficiently. You think that the company could support salespeople
more efficiently if the company had better access to the salespeople’s records. There is no budget for any
software, so if you like what you see, you’ll have to meet with both the CEO and CFO to see if they’ll
allocate any funds for it.
Right now, sales reps turn in weekly call reports to report what they’ve done, and plans for the coming
week. How they keep track of their current accounts is a matter of preference, but most just use Microsoft
Outlook and sync to a PDA of their own choosing. Reporting is done by email. Some managers have
created Excel spreadsheets to track their salespeople’s account activity, and they ask their reps to turn in
reports in Excel but there is no company standard.
Note: do not read this to the seller. Answer questions as briefly as you can and
don’t give any information away.
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
GelTech Buyer Role Play Information
Chapter 8 End of Chapter Role Play Case
You are the owner of GelTech, and have 12 field and 18 inside sales reps working for you. Six of the
inside salespeople handle small accounts and the other 12 work with the outside (field) salespeople to
handle accounts or prospect for new ones.
Recently, you heard from one of your old friends whose daughter now runs the clothing company she
founded that your company is thought of as somewhat “old school.” The daughter was frustrated with
follow up and service of your salesperson regarding a fire suppression system in a new plant. Your friend
tells you that companies are beginning to question whether they should consider GelTech.
Note: do not read this to the seller. Answer questions as briefly as you can and
don’t give any information away.
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
HighPoint Solutions Buyer Role Play Information
Chapter 8 End of Chapter Role Play Case
HPS has 45 salespeople, 1 in each office plus 2 in some of the larger cities, who sell direct to clients.
There are also 10 salespeople who sell to CPAs and others, who then sell the company’s services to their
clients, companies that are typically much smaller than those sold to directly. This group is called the
distributor group and the other is the direct group. You are the VP of the distributor group. The other VP
was fired because sales had declined significantly.
The VP of marketing put in a budget for CRM (customer relationship management) software last year,
and the CEO approved it. She formed a committee to look for and select a CRM tool that will not only
support her marketing plans but also help the sales force. She chairs the committee; you and 2 of your
salespeople are on it, plus 2 sales managers from the direct side.
In addition, there have been some problems with service delivery. This occurs because salespeople turn in
forecasts that are often wildly optimistic, which makes allocating and managing capacity difficult.
Note: do not read this to the seller. Answer questions as briefly as you can and
don’t give any information away.
Chapter 08 – Making the Sales Call
EXERCISE 8-1 ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF VARIOUS APPROACHES
Comment on each of the following sets of statements. Pick the one in each set that is most effective and
appropriate. Explain your choice.
Introduction Opening
1.
Hi, I’m Larry Smith. Pleased to meet you.
2.
Hello, Mr. Walworth, I am Larry Smith, a representative of SK Technologies. We have been
interested in your firm for some time.
Benefit Opening
1.
Mr. Malley, your employees will have a much easier time cutting this new fabric.
Mr. Malley, this new fabric is somewhat more durable than nylon, and costs less.