Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic
Marketing: A
Global−Managerial
Approach, 14/e

15. Personal Selling Text © The McGraw−Hill
    Companies, 2002

Personal Selling 437

of what their new responsibilities would be, how they would be organized, and what

they should say to their customers about the benefits of the reorganization.^13

In other situations, salespeople may have some relevant selling experience or

computer skills but need to know more about the firm’s customers and their needs.

Even a firm’s own sales veterans may get set in their ways and profit greatly by, and

often welcome the chance for, additional training.

The kind of initial sales training should be modified based on the experience and

skills of the group involved. But the company’s sales training program should cover

at least the following areas: (1) company policies and practices, (2) product informa-

tion, (3) building relationships with customer firms, and (4) professional selling skills.

Many companies spend the bulk of their training time on product information

and company policy. They neglect training in selling techniques because they think

selling is something anyone can do. More progressive companies know that train-

ing in selling skills can pay off. Estée Lauder, for example, has selling skills for the

“beauty advisors” who sell its cosmetics down to a fine art—and its training man-

ual and seminars cover every detail. Its advisors who take the training seriously

immediately double their sales.^14 Training can help salespeople learn how to be more

effective in cold calls on new prospects, in listening carefully to identify a customer’s

real objections, and in closing the sale. Training can also help a salesperson better

analyze why present customers buy from the company, why former customers now

buy from competitors, and why some prospects remain only prospects. Later in this

chapter, we’ll talk about some key ideas in this area—especially those related to dif-

ferent kinds of sales presentations.

La-Z-Boy operates a sales

training institute to help furniture

retailers train their salespeople.

VCampus provides efficient online

learning and training in a variety

of fields, including sales.

Selling skills
can be learned

Training on selling techniques often starts in the classroom with lectures, case

studies, and videotaped trial presentations and demonstrations. But a complete

Internet

Internet Exercise The Motivating Tape Company sells various sales training

videos. Go to the firm’s website (www.achievement.com) and then scroll

down and select Sales Training Videos.Review the list of sales training videos

offered. If a sales manager were going to rely on some of these tapes for

training people just moving into a sales career, what key areas of sales train-

ing would he have to cover by some other approach?