You don't have to be born a world-class salesperson you can become one.
There is a common misconception that selling is an art. It isn't. It's a professional service that helps customers get what they need or want. To become a sales professional you need to understand what to do, how to do it and how to do it well. Selling Professionally will equip early career professionals with the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to succeed in sales. Using a blend of robust research and real-life examples, this book will be an invaluable guide in your learning journey.
Read this book and learn how to:
- Win customers and keep them
- Sell successfully in many different industries
- Pursue a successful career in sales
Table of Contents:
Introduction
PART 1 THE KNOWLEDGE BASE OF A WORLD-CLASS SALES EXECUTIVE
1 Organisational Knowledge
Introduction
What is a company?
Who needs a company?
How companies define their purpose: vision, missions and values
Company resources and capabilities
Company objectives and strategies
How marketing and sales plans fit into business plans
Summary
2 Product, Service And Sector Knowledge
Introduction
The factors that drive change in sectors and markets
Competitor analysis
Understanding the customer’s sector
Understanding products and services
The product life cycle
How consumers react to innovation
Product management
Summary
3 Market Knowledge
Introduction
What is a market?
Market segmentation
Criteria for segments
Targeting
Positioning
Re-positioning and de-positioning
Branding
Summary
4 Customer Knowledge
Introduction
Customer portfolio management
Consumer buying behaviour
Business buying behaviour
The purchaser’s supplier portfolio
The buying process
Where does customer need come from?
Summary
5 Commercial And Financial Acumen
Introduction
The building blocks of financial reporting
Double-entry bookkeeping
Where is the customer?
Budgeting
Variance analysis
The financial perspective in the sales role
Summary
6 Digital Knowledge
Introduction
The external digital world
Digital infrastructure in organisations
Digitally driven interactions
Summary
PART 2 THE SKILLS OF A WORLD-CLASS SALES EXECUTIVE – PREPARING TO SELL
7 Sales Planning And Preparation
Introduction
Understanding sales forecasts and targets
Prioritising customers to grow account value
Formulating and refining customer plans
Territory planning
Call planning
Summary
8 Gathering Intelligence
Introduction
Information-driven selling
Accessing and evaluating external sources of information
Internal sources and CRM analytics
Sharing intelligence
Contributing to the CRM system
Summary
9 Time Management
Introduction
Factors affecting how you manage time
The elements of time management
Protecting your time
Enjoying what you do
Summary
10 Collaboration And Teamwork
Introduction
The nature of collaboration
Creating teams
How teams develop
How teams succeed
How teams can fail
Sharing best practice
Working with marketing
Summary
11 Customer Experience Management
Introduction
Customer experience – the big picture
Customer experiences: product, process, people
Managing customer concerns
Proactively minimising customer concerns
Summary
12 Digital Skills
Introduction
Using digital tools for research purposes
Using digital tools to generate new business and engage with customers
Writing reports using word-processing software
Delivering presentations using digital media
Using your company’s CRM and associated IT systems
Summary
PART 3 THE SKILLS OF A WORLD-CLASS SALES EXECUTIVE – THE SALES PROCESS
13 Customer Engagement
Introduction
Self-awareness
Opening customer conversations
Enhancing and sustaining customer relationships
Summary
14 Customer Needs Analysis
Introduction
Desk-based needs analysis
Needs analysis in customer interactions
Question types
A system for designing follow-up questions
Listening for explicit and implicit expressions of need
Asking about the DMU
Budget availability
Summary
15 Preparing And Presenting Solutions
Introduction
Deciding to write a sales proposal
Writing major proposal documents
Giving presentations
Presenting value
Summary
16 Negotiation
Introduction
The background to negotiation
Planning to negotiate
Good practice in negotiation
Tactics you may encounter
Summary
17 Closing The Sale
Introduction
During the sale
What about my targets and deadlines?
Avoiding negative closing techniques
Outcomes of a close
Summary
PART 4 BEHAVIOURS OF A WORLD-CLASS SALES EXECUTIVE
18 Ethical Behaviour In Professional Sales
Introduction
Codes of conduct
The importance of trust in trade
What are ethics?
Ethical climate
Learning from ethical failings
Integrity
Bribery, gifts and entertainment
Misrepresentation
Conflicts of interest
Working relationships
Responsibilities online
Responsibilities in the wider world
Company property and resources
How to raise a concern or ask a question
Summary
19 Proactive Selling
Introduction
Seeking out prospective customers
Constructive communication with prospects/customers
Summary
20 Self-discipline, Resilience And Self-motivation
Introduction
Self-discipline
Resilience
Self-motivation
Building emotional intelligence
The growth mindset
Aiming for excellence
Summary 386
21 Continuous Professional Development
Introduction
Managing your learning journey 38
Critical thinking
Reflection
Learning from theories, concepts and models
Idea generation
Classroom scenarios
Computer-based scenarios
Succeeding in academic assessments
Learning at work
Changes at work
Summary
Conclusion
Appendix A: Ethical scenarios
Discussion points for ethical scenarios
Appendix B: The APS Code of Conduct
APS fundamental principles of sales professionalism
For further information
References
Acknowledgements
Index
The Authors
About The Association Of Professional Sales
