Assignemnt:
Professional Selling
Directions: To complete the exam, create a separate word processing document to record your responses. Type your name, date, and course number/section at the top of each page. Number each question in the order presented here and be sure to label any sub-sections that are part of a question. Any references should be cited using APA guidelines. Pages should be single-spaced using 12 pt font size (Times New Roman).
Evaluation Guidelines: A perfect score on a question means that you demonstrated a superior level of understanding of the concepts relevant to the question, utilized the professional selling techniques and processes expected for that area of inquiry, were able to apply the concepts and techniques correctly and appropriately, and presented your ideas comprehensively and with precision. Additionally, 20% of each question's evaluation will be based on writing ability, correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling, as expected of a university student.
1.Assume you are interviewing for a sales position with a firm in which you are really interested. You have just spent 25 minutes with the sales manager talking about your needs, skills, and attributes. You know that the next step for all "good" job candidates is a visit to the regional office and an interview with the regional manager. You felt the interview went well, but you want to "test the waters" to learn how you stand.
a) You now need to obtain commitment towards getting that interview with the regional manager. What is your goal (i.e., what exactly will you attempt to get the manager to agree to do?)?
b) Given your answer in "a," describe exactly what you would say using each of the following methods:
• direct request method
• benefit summary method
• assumptive method
• compliment or vanity method
• alternative choice method
• combination method
c) If this were a real interview situation, which method would you recommend using? Why?
2.Identify a brand of a clothes dryer that you intend to buy in the near future for your laundry room in your house/condo. Assume that you object to the price of the dryer. Put yourself in the shoes of the sales associate who is trying to sell you the clothes dryer. Demonstrate four ways that the sales rep could handle your objection, using each of the four techniques for your objection:
a) viewing the objection as a question
b) responding to the question with a question
c) restating the objection before answering
d) using testimonials and past experiences.
3.Describe how you would strengthen a presentation for selling a snow removal service. You are calling on the safety manager of a large industrial plant. How would you approach this person if he were a(n):
a) Amiable
b) Analytical
c) Driver
d) Expressive
4.James is a new salesperson. He is attending his first Chamber of Commerce "After-Hours Get-Together" tonight. He knows that he will meet a lot of people who can help him become a successful salesperson, but he needs information on how to make the most of this networking opportunity. He really wants to obtain sales leads. What advice can you give him?
5.You are the account executive for a major New York ad agency, and you are trying the get the account for E-Trade. Your contact is their Director of Marketing. You have already arranged an appointment to meet with her. Your sales team is in the process of planning a sales call and developing sales objectives.
Complete the following:
a) Develop a list of background questions, the answers to which you need answers before making your first sales call on the Director of Marketing.
b) Using online resources, do a quick search to gather background information relevant to your call. Briefly describe your findings, specifically the current buying situation and how E-Trade currently promotes itself.
c) Write a series of SMART objectives for this initial sales call on the Director of Marketing.
d) Briefly discuss the best approach that you will use with this prospect and why you believe it is appropriate to use with her.
6.Use the SPIN technique to uncover the prospect's needs in each of the following sales situations. Demonstrate two (2) good examples of each of the SPIN questions for each prospect:
a) Your prospect is the president of a large publishing firm. You are a marketing consultant and want to get him to hire you to create a marketing plan for his company.
b) Your prospect is the human resources director for a bank. You work for an electronic payroll service and want them to hire your firm to do its payroll.
7.A good basis for any business that wants to build a partnership and goodwill is to do more than is expected. How can this be done under the following circumstances? (Give 4-6 examples of what you would do.)
a) You are a pharmaceutical salesperson calling on doctors.
b) You are a consumer products salesperson calling on grocery store managers.
8.Imagine you are an office manager for a dentist. You are about to experience a purchase decision that utilizesveach of the three business buying situations. Give an example of each buying situation and demonstrate your understanding of each.
9.3M is a diversified international company with a wide portfolio of businesses. The company enjoys leading market shares for its product and services, most of which are focused on technical differentiation. Products include everything from touch-screen displays, high-speed computing interconnects, and medical products to Scotch ® Tape and PostIt ® notes.
One of 3M's latest products is called a Digital Library Assistant (DLA), a small hand-held unit that is designed for public libraries, but it could be used by anyone with a collection of books or materials. The DLA, using mobile scanner technology, helps manage the collection in terms of shelving, sorting, and searching for books quickly and easily.
Information about more than 1 million items can be downloaded from a library's automation system into the DLA's memory card. The interface between the library's current system and the DLA is seamless and flawless. And, of course, the DLA has a comfortable ergonomic design with a swivel antenna that aids in reading books at all levels and in all positions.
3M is ready to market the system to Israel. You have been assigned to prospect for new accounts in that country.
a. Which prospecting methods will you use to find prospects in Israel?
b. How will you qualify the leads you find? Which qualifying factors will be the most important to ensure that your leads are GOOD leads?
c. How will you organize your prospecting activities? How will you keep good records?
10.Discuss the potential ethical issues, if any, for each of the situations described below. Which do you consider clearly unethical, which fall into an ethical "gray area," and which are not potentially unethical. Explain your answers.
a) The sales clerk at JCPenney told the woman who is trying on a bathing suit and asks for the sales clerk's opinion, "That swimsuit makes you look 5 pounds thinner."
b) The salesperson for the plant nursery offered to give the buyer an extra shrub if he bought two dozen shrubs.
c) The swimming pool salesperson neglected to tell the buyer that he would have to pay an additional $2,500 to have the ground prepared for the bargain $4,200 pool he just bought.
d) The wholesale flower seller claimed that his flowers were so beautiful that they "almost looked artificial."
e) The computer salesperson offered the buyer a free one-year service contract is he purchases the computer during this month.