Reference no: EM132236218

Identifying Stages in the Personal Selling Process

This activity is important because marketing students should be aware that finalizing a sale is only a stage in the ongoing personal selling process. In most cases, there are a multitude of tasks that must be completed prior to obtaining a commitment to move forward with the deal.

As part of a class assignment, Joseph contacted a field salesperson and asked her to provide a list of everything she had done at work the previous day. Once the list was compiled and sent, Joseph next needed to sort each of these activities into one of the stages in the personal selling process in order to better understand how salespeople spend their time. Jerry Gorman, a B2B salesperson in his area, has agreed to help and has emailed Joseph a list of his activities from the previous day.

The goal of this exercise is to assist Joseph by categorizing each of the nine (9) activities into one of five (5) stages of the personal selling process: (1) prospecting and qualifying, (2) approach, (3) presentation, (4) handling objections, or (5) gaining commitment.

For each of the nine activities that Joseph has obtained from Mr. Gorman select the appropriate step of the personal selling process.

1. Researched leads obtained from booth visitors at an industry trade show he attended last week in order to determine which ones he should contact first.

(Click to select)  Prospecting and Qualifying  Approach  Presentation  Handling Objections  Gaining Commitment

2. Sent a connection request and note to a qualified prospect on LinkedIn.

(Click to select)  Prospecting and Qualifying  Approach  Presentation  Handling Objections  Gaining Commitment

3. Gained commitment from a top customer to make a referral on his behalf to a qualified prospect.

(Click to select)  Prospecting and Qualifying  Approach  Presentation  Handling Objections  Gaining Commitment

4. Took one of his top customers to lunch.

(Click to select)  Prospecting and Qualifying  Approach  Presentation  Handling Objections  Gaining Commitment

5. Met with a prospective new client and asked her questions about their most important business issues.

(Click to select)  Prospecting and Qualifying  Approach  Presentation  Handling Objections  Gaining Commitment

6. Highlighted key features, advantages, and benefits of his company’s solutions in a Web meeting with a prospective buyer.

(Click to select)  Prospecting and Qualifying  Approach  Presentation  Handling Objections  Gaining Commitment

7. During the Web conference, acknowledged prospect's concerns about price and explained how his firm’s solutions offer superior performance.

(Click to select)  Prospecting and Qualifying  Approach  Presentation  Handling Objections  Gaining Commitment

8. During a meeting with a new client, asked them what changes they’d like to make in the current proposal.

(Click to select)  Prospecting and Qualifying  Approach  Presentation  Handling Objections  Gaining Commitment

9. Asked client if they had a delivery date in mind in an effort to try and close the deals.