Chapter - 8

Customer oriented selling: The degree to

which salespeople practice the marketing
concept by trying to help their
customers make purchase decisions
that will satisfy customer needs
Saxe and Weitz have characterized
customer- oriented selling as:
The desire to help customers make
satisfactory purchase decisions
Helping customers to assess their
needs
Offering products to satisfy those needs
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1.
2.

Describing products accurately

Avoiding deceptive or manipulative
influence tactics
Avoiding the use of high pressure sales
techniques
Research studies have shown that
successful selling is associated with
the following:
Asking questions
Providing product information, making
comparisons and offering evidence to
support claims
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7.

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9.

Acknowledging the customers view

point
Agreeing with the customers
perceptions
Supporting the customer
Releasing tension
Having a richer, more detailed
knowledge of the customer
Increased effort
Self-confidence in ones own ability

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2.

3.

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5.
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7.

In order to develop personal selling

skills it is useful to distinguish seven
phases of the selling process
The opening Initial impressions
Need and problem identification needs
analysis
Presentation and demonstration
Reference selling, guarantees, trial order
Dealing with objections
Negotiation
Closing the sale
Follow up
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The opening : Initial impression can cloud

later perceptions, so it is important to
consider the ways in which a favorable
initial response can be achieved
Need and problem recognition: Need
analysis approach suggests that early in
the sales process that sales person
should adopt a question and listen
posture
Use open ended questions to make the
customer to talk instead of using close
ended questions
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1.

2.

3.

The Presentation and Demonstration:

Having identified the needs and problems
of the buyer, the presentation provides the
opportunity for the salesperson to
convince the buyer that they can supply
the solution
Many sales situations involve risk to the
buyer and the buyer may be reluctant to
change from the present supplier. There
are four major ways by which risk can be
reduced:
Reference selling, demonstrations,
guarantee and trail orders
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1.

2.
3.

Dealing with objections: Objections

are any concerns or questions raised
by the buyer
The effective approach for dealing with
objections involves two areas
Preparation of convincing answers
Development of a range of techniques for
answering objections in a manner which
permits the acceptance of these answers
without loss of face on the part of the
buyer

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6.
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Following techniques can be used to

overcome objections Refer fig 8.2
Listen and do not interrupt
Agree and counter
The straight denial
Question the objections
Forestall the objection raise the
objection
Turn the objection into a trail close
Hidden objections
Start high but be realistic

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2.
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4.

Attempt to trade concession for

concession
Implement behavioral skills
Buyers negotiating skills
Closing the sale:
The ability to close the sale
Sales people to take the initiative
Some sales people are reluctant to close
the sale fearing rejection by the buyer
A major consideration is timing

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1.
2.
3.
4.
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6.

Closing techniques which the sales

person can use Refer to fig 8.4
Simply ask for the order
Summarize and then ask for the order
The concession close
The alternative close
The objection close
Action agreement

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Follow up
For most companies repeat business is
the hall mark of success and the follow
up call can play a major role by showing
that the sales person really cares about
the customer rather than only be
interested in making sales
E-mail can be used for follow up
especially in B to B situations

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