Sales Management

1. © Oxford University Press 2011
Sales Management
Pradip Kumar Mallik,
Associate Professor,
Department of Business
Administration

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Chapter - 2
Personal Selling- Approaches
and Strategies

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Learning Objectives
 Explain the various approaches of
selling from theoretical standpoint.
 Understand the interplay of different
factors that affect buyer-seller
relationship.
 Identify the dynamics of buyer-seller
dyad and recognize the factors
influencing them.
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Selling Approaches- A
Theoretical Perspective
 AIDAS approach.
 Right set of circumstances approach.
 Buying formula approach.
 Behavioral equation approach.
 Need satisfaction approach.
 Consultative approach.
 Customer relationship based
approach.
 Problem-solving approach.
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AIDAS Approach
 Prospective buyer passes through five
mental stages of attention, interest,
desire, action and satisfaction.
 Also known as formula-selling
approach.
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AIDAS Approach
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AIDAS (Stage 1: Attention)
 Sets the ball rolling in the mind of the
prospective buyer.
 Leads to customers wanting to know
more about the product/service.
 Conversational skills, openness,
assertiveness, risk-taking propensity,
rapport-building ability matter.
 Physical appearance and mannerism
of salesperson also matter.
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AIDAS (Stage 2: Interest)
 If the stage of attention is successful,
interest building is spontaneous.
 Expression of interest by the
prospective buyer may be overt or
covert.
 Covert interest can be gauged from
non-verbal cues and body language.
 Demonstration of product, sample of
product, illustrations, pictures,
flipcharts and videos enhance interest.8

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AIDAS (Stage 3: Desire)
 Prospective customer is a step closer
to the buying decision.
 Gaining interest and instilling a desire
should be sequenced intelligently.
 Achieved by handling objections and
enquiries.
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AIDAS (Stage 4: Action)
 Reply to all questions of the prospect.
 Remove miniscule doubts.
 Prompts customer to take action i.e.
buy the product/service.
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AIDAS (Stage 5: Satisfaction)
 First time acceptance of the product is
no assurance of successive buying.
 Customer may experience cognitive
dissonance.
 Satisfaction depends on match
between actual and expected
performance.
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Right Set of Circumstances
Approach
 Known as Situation-Response theory.
 Situation is the psychological driver
which evokes a response.
 Persuasive-selling situation has to be
created by the salesman.
 Internal and external factors act as
facilitators to evolve a selling situation.
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Right Set of Circumstances
Approach
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Buyer Formula Approach
 Need or problems of buyers are
starting points.
 Salesperson assists buyers in finding
suitable solutions to problems.
 Relationship established with
customer on a continuous basis.
 Decision to buy becomes a habit for
the customer.
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Behavioral Equation
Approach
 Based on J.A. Howards’s (1963)
stimulus response model of buying
behavior.
 Four essential elements of learning
process; drive, cue, response and
reinforcement.
◦ Drives: Strong internal stimulus that
propels a buyer’s response.
 Innate Drives
 Learned Drives
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Behavioral Equation
Approach
◦ Cues are weak stimuli that determine the
responsive pattern of the buyer.
 Triggering Cues
 Non Triggering Cues
◦ Response: Buying action of the buyer.
◦ Reinforcement: Psychological event that
consolidates the efforts of the buyer to
take a particular responsive action.
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Behavioral Equation
Approach
 B = P X D X K X V
Where,
B= Response, i.e., act of buying or patronizing a
supplier,
P= Internal response tendency or force of habit
D=Present drive level or the level of motivation
K=Value of the product or its potential satisfaction
to the buyer
V=Intensity of all cues, triggering and non-
triggering
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Need Satisfaction Approach
 Based on the notion that a buyer buys
a product or service to satisfy need(s).
◦ Need Identification
◦ Need Fulfillment
◦ Need Satisfaction
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Consultative Approach
 Based on the philosophy that
salespeople act as consultants to
prospects/customers.
 Proper diagnosis of the needs of the
prospects is the starting point of
consultative selling.
 Salesperson understands the
dimensions of the customer’s problem
and finds suitable solutions.
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Customer Relationship Based
Approach
 Emphasizes on relationship building
rather than buying-selling dyad.
 Service is the link of relationship.
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Relationships Help In…
 Eliciting fullest information and
queries.
 Reducing doubts.
 Driving out communication barriers.
 Handling future problems with ease.
 Reducing post purchase anxiety of
customer.
 Diminishing media expenditure.
 Staving-off competitive action, and
 Meeting future requirements of both 21

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Problem Solving Approach
 Identify genesis of a buying problem.
 Define a buying problem.
 Evaluate alternative solutions to the
problem.
 Help prospect select a specific
solution.
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Team Selling Approach
 Involves multiple personnel and
coordinated selling effort.
 Appropriate when customers have
complex needs.
 Useful in highly technical buying
situations.
 Used for handling national or key
accounts.
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Rules for Effective Team
Selling
 Select team members carefully.
 Have an orchestrator.
 Stage a pre-briefing session.
 Hold a debriefing session after
interacting with the customer.
 Be prepared with questions.
 Keep the number of members to a
minimum level.
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Rules for Effective Team
Selling
 Succulently answer questions of the
customer.
 Be flexible in the agenda.
 Team members must be at the same
wave length.
 The team should be committed to sell
something every time.
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Buyer-Seller Dyad
 MONASH marketing dictionary defines
buyer-seller dyad as the two-way flow
of communication between the buyer
and the seller.
 Situation is a necessary condition for
personal selling to take place.
 Complex web of associations
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Buyer-Seller Dyad
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Buyer-Seller Dyad
 Objectives and Strategic Dimension
◦ Retention Strategy
◦ Relational marketing
◦ Acquisition strategy
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Buyer-Seller Dyad
 Organizational Dimension
◦ Location
◦ Size
◦ Power structure
◦ Degree of centralization
◦ Organizational orientation
◦ Risk taking
◦ Purchase situation
◦ Types of contract
◦ Personal relationship
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Buyer-Seller Dyad
 Economic Value Added Dimension
◦ Buyers compare perceived benefits with
costs incurred.
◦ Sellers can add tangible or intangible
features at same or increased cost.
◦ Assessing value is linked to evaluative
criterion of the buyer.
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Buyer-Seller Dyad
 Structural Positioning Dimension
◦ Influences are exerted on buying/selling
decisions.
◦ Vertical and horizontal gaps are
impediments to a dyadic relationship.
◦ Presence or absence of interdependence
and cohesion amongst various
departments in the buying firm
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Buyer-Seller Dyad
 People Dimension
◦ Ability of product or service to satisfy the
specific needs.
◦ Complete cognizance of buyer’s personal
profiles.
◦ Ardent desire of the salesperson to
recognize the personal agenda of the
prospective buyer.
◦ Group dynamics between the
organizations of the buyer and the seller.
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Buyer-Seller Dyad
 Social Dimension
◦ Personal selling establishes social link
between a buyer and a seller.
◦ Social ties are established through
information exchange, learning and
recognition of each other’s social
systems.
 Cultural Dimension
◦ Cultural propinquity leads to healthy
relationship between buyer and seller.
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Buyer-Seller Dyad
◦ Values, customs, norms, ethos, and ethics
shape culture.
 Legal Dimension
◦ Legal disciplines are regulators of moral
and ethical behaviour.
◦ Legal enactments define and control the
respective rights and obligations of both
buyers and sellers.
◦ Regulatory agencies, consumer courts
and administrative support systems thwart
illegal trade activities.
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