During the approach stage when selling a product like computer software it is important

It goes without saying that the selling process is important to your company’s success. Salespeople engage with prospects, explain the value of your product or service, and have a direct influence on your bottom line.

It’s no secret that salesmen are often the butt of jokes. You have probably come across a comic strip or a meme that mocks the conventional aggressive, tactless style of a traditional salesperson.

While stereotypical, in situations where this occurs sales can potentially harm your company and brand.

So, how can you leverage sales in a way that benefits your company?

This is where personal selling can help.

Like telesales, email marketing, sales promotion, advertising, and public relations, personal selling is part of a larger sales mix. It is an extremely vital aspect of a salesman’s armory and a talent that every competent salesperson must learn.

These selling methods, which stress a personal approach to sales, play an essential part in creating client connections. Sales departments or entrepreneurs use personal selling tactics to explain the benefits of a product or service, answer client inquiries, and resolve consumer concerns. Understanding how personal methods operate and how to employ them might help your sales pitches be more effective.

Personal selling is essential for a well-balanced sales organization, and we’ll explain why in this post.

What is personal selling?

Personal selling sometimes referred to as face-to-face selling is where a salesperson tries to convince a future customer into buying a product or service. It is a promotional method by which the salesperson uses his or her skills and abilities in an attempt to make a sale.

This process is quite unlike the adrenaline rush of high-stakes personal selling as depicted by the likes of the whiskey-swilling Mad Men.

Personal selling is now mostly utilized in business-to-business sales, although it is also employed in trade and retail sales.

Personal sales are no longer restricted to face-to-face interactions, thanks to the internet and other forms of communication. Salespeople today employ video conversations, phone calls, instant messaging, and even emails, in addition to in-person encounters, to build relationships with prospective clients.

There is more to the process than simply attending meetings which makes it unattractive to some businesses.

Why? Simply, the cost.

Consider this: each face-to-face encounter necessitates a substantially greater investment – on both sides – than just contacting a prospect by email or phone. Suddenly, you’re saddled with travel bills. And the time spent preparing for, traveling to, and attending the conference simply adds to the expense. This is why, before deciding on personal selling, you should think about the value and type of goods you want to sell, as well as the possibility of sealing the purchase.

Face-to-face meetings, on the other hand, have their uses. Consider this:

• 30% of SaaS companies reported their churn rates have increased in the past year largely due to neglect or apathy. Attending a sales meeting is an excellent strategy to tackle this issue by demonstrating that you care enough to invest time and money in your prospect on trust.
• 70% of sellers believe their sales meetings are ‘valuable’ to the customer. Buyers disagree – less than half (49%) share the same view. Instead, they desire to be shown the value sellers can provide to them. On the surface, this does not appear to be good news for salespeople who excel in meetings. However, it does imply that about 50% of prospects are willing to meet with a sales representative. The other 50% may just need to be convinced that a meeting will help you provide actual value to their business.

Personal selling advantages and disadvantages

As with many business processes and strategies, implementing them has advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of Personal Selling

For starters, personal selling is helpful for several reasons.

• It enables extensive and tailored communication between your company and potential clients.
• Allows your sales staff to individually answer any questions, worries, or objections potential consumers may have to get them closer to making a purchase.
• It establishes a personal, one-on-one relationship between your company and potential clients.

Disadvantages of Personal Selling

To be honest, there aren’t many significant negatives to the practice of personal selling – it’s often a procedure that yields more positive results for organizations than not.

However, there are a few potential negatives to be aware of so that you can attempt to mitigate them.

• Due to the time and money required, it becomes a costly approach to maintain.
• Because of the method’s individualized character, it takes more time, effort, and thinking.
• Reps are unable to contact many individuals at once because they are obliged to pick good-fit — and hence more qualified — leads in the process.

As you can see, the disadvantages may be turned into benefits and great consequences.

Consider this: while personal selling can be costly, time-consuming, and labor-intensive, these factors also mean that reps are cultivating strong, trusting one-on-one relationships with qualified leads who are more likely to convert into paying customers and stick around for a long-term partnership.

Not to add, by outlining a unique sales process for their team, businesses may take action against these potential disadvantages before they become an actual issue. Reps may then use the tailored sales process to engage prospects, allocate resources, discover gaps in the buyer’s journey, and more.

Does personal selling suit all businesses?

Most sectors might benefit from a more tailored sales process. This is because customers are humans who want to be treated as such. However, some businesses will profit more from this way of selling than others.

High-ticket sales. If your product is expensive, buyers will likely undertake extensive research before purchasing. Engaging your future customers in a personalized sales process allows you to immediately discuss the product’s merits and how they relate to the customer’s specific situation.

B2B markets. Contrary to popular belief, B2B sales can benefit from personal selling. When customers buy for a company rather than just themselves, they want to make sure the product fits all of the organization’s needs.

Highly technical or customizable products. A basic off-the-shelf product may typically be acquired without any effort. However, a bespoke product demo can clearly explain complicated features and verify that they match the customer’s demands.

High-competition industries. The lone supplier of a valued product/service will sell to you. Engaging your future customers in a personalized sales process, on the other hand, might help you stand out from the crowd if there is a lot of competition.

While certain markets may be able to get away with a more broad strategy today, personal selling has so many advantages that you will soon be unable to avoid it.

Qualities and skills needed.

Engaging your future customers in a personalized sales process requires a certain attitude. Soft skills training helps salespeople better interact with prospects at every stage of their journey.

Knowledgeability. Without knowledgeability, you’ll have a weak foundation. First, you must thoroughly comprehend your client’s company. Speaking to your prospects will provide you with opportunities to gain information. However, you should have already researched them. You must also know your product/service thoroughly to answer inquiries and provide significant recommendations that bring value to the prospect.

Be personable. It’s not only the words you use while talking to consumers. No matter how fantastic your sales script is, reciting features and advantages won’t help you connect with prospects. Instead, employ a more conversational tone to let prospects relax and open themselves.

Active listening. Remember that talks are intended to be two-way. Unfortunately, some salesmen sometimes get carried away while impressing a prospect. That is unless you are doing most of the talking. Be curious instead. Ask several inquiries. Listen to the prospect rather than merely waiting for a time to interrupt, and you’ll be in a better position to provide a personal service.

Empathy. Listening more to your prospect can help you better comprehend their difficulties. While it’s normal to focus on yourself and your product first, engaging future customers in a personalized sales process puts them first. Put yourself in their shoes and consider what is best for them, not you.

Honesty. Authenticity is key when communicating directly with a prospect; a cynical consumer will soon detect any attempts to seal a transaction at any cost. If you’ve done your homework, you should be certain that your product/service will benefit consumers. However, if the prospect has real worries, expressing them might strengthen your status as a trusted counsel.

Personal selling strategies

Focus on the right leads

With the additional time and monetary commitment necessary for face-to-face sales meetings, organizations must maximize ROI by selecting the proper prospects to meet in person through a thorough lead-qualifying process.

Not every meeting will result in a sale, but you may get closer to fulfilling your sales targets by asking yourself:

• What size business are you selling to?
• What is the monetary worth of a future sale?
• Is your product or service truly going to benefit the company?
• Could developing a solid connection with the business leadership lead to increased business in the future?
• Is a sales meeting going to help you seal the deal? Perhaps those in leadership are short on time and would prefer email or phone communication?
• What added value can you provide to a sales meeting?

Exceed expectations where possible

Buyers are irritated when salespeople show up to a meeting without adequately preparing. In fact, 82 percent of B2B buyers believe sales representatives are unprepared. This shows that many prospects have been discouraged from attending sales meetings – which they may regard as a waste of time – due to poor prior experiences.

It is your responsibility to persuade them otherwise.

Buyers dislike dealing with aggressive salespeople. A pleasant sales experience for buyers entails a salesperson who:

listens to their requirements, is involved in their business’s success, and delivers pertinent information

However, just 13% of prospects feel a sales agent can grasp their needs, implying that salespeople have a reputation for not listening properly and simply presenting a boilerplate presentation.

Active listening is, of course, essential for sales professionals — not only during meetings but also before them. Takedown every piece of information you receive via phone or email and use it to your advantage in the meeting to demonstrate that you understand the company’s true demands. Outside of meetings, practice active listening — it’s not as easy as it seems when your mind is racing.

Over-preparing will put you head and shoulders above the competition. Don’t just research the firm so you can wow a future client by repeating statistics or dates — learn about their pain issues, finances, and goals. You may then portray your product or service as a solution that assists them in achieving their overall objectives.

Your presentation should never be boilerplate; instead, utilize the knowledge you’ve gleaned through research and listening to personalize it, particularly the company’s goals and how your product or service fits into their plan.

Add value to the meeting.

It’s now expected of salespeople to offer value in meetings, indicating that they’ll continue to provide meaningful support after the customer signs on the dotted line. Doing so successfully displays that you know what you’re talking about and that you care about long-term collaboration with the firm to assist them in reaching their goals, therefore establishing trust.

But what are the most effective methods for adding value in that first meeting?

Sixty-nine percent of buyers say the greatest way for salespeople to offer value is to provide primary research data relevant to their business.

According to a Demand Gen report, 95% of buyers chose vendors that provided content that helped guide them through every stage of their buying process.

The amount of research or content generated that is client-specific will depend on the potential value of the sale. However, there is always some research that salespeople can undertake before a meeting with a future client.

For example, you can:

• Obtain data about the company and its rivals that the organization hasn’t gathered on its own via technology within your business.
• Analyze the top-level findings in your presentation, then explain how your offerings may help with the difficulties you’ve discovered, and then submit the data and your analysis to your prospects.
• Adapt the message you share based on the customer or if the discussion shifts. For example, if a client wants to know more about the efficiency of a product but keeps referring to the product quality, you may modify your response to emphasize the product’s construction and expected lifetime.
• Also request that your content team construct a bank of assets centered on common FAQs and industry pain issues — whether blogs, infographics, videos, or ebooks – so that you may distribute links to more helpful material during or after meetings.

Demonstrate the product

Demonstrating the product and how it can be used by a client may be a convincing method in various instances. This usually works best with extremely sophisticated or complex technical products.

You may discuss how the product solves an issue while you explain how it works. For example – Demonstrating how a CRM eliminates the issue of data entry to a sales manager.

Make it clear you’re in this together.

The most effective sales representatives utilize collaborative language like “we” or “us” instead of “I” or “me.” This is a straightforward way for convincing prospective customers that you are on their side and want nothing more than to see their company succeed.

Asking intelligent, in-depth questions about their business difficulties and returning with prospective solutions connected to your products and services takes this a step further, as does showing up to the meeting with the above-mentioned research and data.

Whatever you do, make sure your customer sees your connection as a collaboration at the end of the meeting.

Tell a story

According to a study by Stanford professor Chip Heath, 63 percent of prospects recall tales after a presentation, but only 5 percent remember data. Storytelling has a far greater impact on prospects than a slew of dry data.

Make a story out of how you can offer value to your customer, with a clear beginning (now), middle (how you’ll work with them), and finish (the results they can expect).

Ensure that case studies are also conveyed as stories. Where appropriate, you may also explain your company’s narrative to garner buy-in: you’ll be perceived as a friendly brand rather than a faceless organization.

Every salesperson should be prepared to deliver five sorts of stories in a pitch or presentation to be successful in a dynamic marketplace.

• Your organization’s story
• Customer story
• Business story (unrelated to your prospect or customer but facing a similar challenge)
• Analogy or metaphor
• Personal story

Types of personal selling

In both public and commercial organizations, sales roles or their counterparts range from sales clerks with limited selling abilities to chief executive officers. The major talent at the bottom of the sales pyramid is accepting orders and directing clients to the product; at the top, a strong ability to explain complicated, frequently disputed, and abstract situations convincingly are necessary, generally as part of other duties. The majority of personal selling occurs in the middle.

There are two types of sales positions: “inside” and “outside.”

Telephone sales, mainstream retail sales in stores where product knowledge and presentation skills are necessary, and vehicle sales and comparable equipment sales where clients visit the dealership are examples of inside sales above the clerk level. Inside sales may be coupled with additional tasks for an outside agent, such as scheduling and early information collection.

Outside sales occur at the potential client’s home or place of business or a third-party location: real estate sales are one example of this. Outside sales can be coupled with estimating duties, such as bidding on building projects or integrated with product delivery. The driver-salesperson performs a stocking duty that is occasionally paired with sales responsibilities. A sales engineer who is highly experienced in some parts of industrial operations and capable of understanding needs and providing technical support is a rare case.

Personal selling may occur inside and outside of numerous financial, consulting, market research, engineering, construction, and equipment sales areas. For example, in the consulting profession, the manager who will supervise a contract is likely to be the job’s top seller. Depending on the circumstances, buyers may contact the seller in such cases and vice versa.

The representatives

Sales representatives or selling agents play a key role in personal selling. These individuals, who may operate in groups, are independent sellers representing a manufacturer in exclusive regions and are rewarded solely through commissions.

Hiring a sales representative agency helps a small business avoid the expense of an in-house sales team. Furthermore, an existing rep may offer the company immediate access to an established sales region. Agents are beneficial for seasonal sales firms since the rep is only paid when sales are made. The main drawback of selling agents is that they frequently work for many businesses and do not commit all of their time to a single customer.

Trends to note

Personal selling is expensive; hence there is a broad push in modern business to replace it in all sectors except those where the service is vital, or pricing allows it to continue. Even in technical sectors, packaging, advertising, and lower-cost and lower-skilled workers replace salespeople.

The distribution of computers and software is one example of this. More and more of these things are being offered in standard packaged forms, even in retail shops; the sales role has been reduced to clerking geared at assisting consumers in finding—rather than understanding—products. In addition, product servicing (including installation) is being outsourced to lower-labor-cost regions; the service is delivered over the phone.

Private selling continues to be essential in the sale of financial goods, real estate, and large consumer durables (autos, appliances, boats, furniture, carpeting, etc.). It is also employed in service industries such as building and maintenance. Personal selling is still prevalent in high-end retail, where high costs not only justify but necessitate attention to consumer demands. Incomparable distribution networks also seek to reach lower-income levels with high margins but difficult-to-sell (due to high price) items. Personal selling remains the primary way of selling capital items, raw materials, parts, and services in business-to-business or business-to-institution sales.

Thus, personal selling is utilized where it cannot be avoided or paid for as a service but is included in the product. The lack of attentive sales help is a type of hidden demand that some small enterprises have learned to exploit effectively. However, doing so necessitates items that can bear the associated expenditures.

Selling itself, paradoxically, must be offered as part of an ambiance or shopping experience. However, it might be difficult to sell. Personal selling is being eroded due to the consumer’s cooperation (who is prepared to put up with impersonal sales settings to save a little money) as well as the cost-avoidance reflex of those looking to maximize profits.

Why are personal selling strategies important?

The key advantages of personal selling tactics are as follows:

Ability to address buyer needs

Rather than describing all of a product’s merits, personal selling might concentrate on why the buyer would buy the product. This might imply addressing certain features and time- or cost-saving benefits. A salesperson assisting a customer in selecting a new refrigerator, for example, might utilize personal selling strategies to ask questions about what the consumer wants, then show them a refrigerator model that meets their particular demands.

Opportunity to improve customer relationships

Personal selling tactics seek to develop connections with clients via open communication and assistance. Customers who trust a business or person are more likely to return for help or counsel. For example, a client who sells their house may utilize the same real estate agent who sold them the home if that agent created a lasting connection with them via personal selling approaches.

Source of customer feedback

Personal selling tactics provide insight into client likes and dislikes, which may provide vital information to the corporation about how to advertise the product effectively. In addition, by soliciting consumer feedback, you may enhance your sales methods while learning about customer preferences. This allows you to tailor your approach to each consumer while cultivating a collaborative connection.

Seven personal selling strategies

Personal selling methods might differ based on the product you offer and the sort of consumer you contact with. Consider combining tactics for a complete approach rather than depending on a single method. Here are seven personal selling strategies:

1. Present the product’s benefits

The benefits of a product are sometimes its most powerful selling pitch. This strategy teaches about the customer’s purchase motivations and explains how the product meets their demands. You may adapt the message based on the consumer or if the discussion shifts. For example, if a client wants to know more about the efficiency of a product but keeps referring to the product’s substance, you may modify your response to emphasize the product’s quality and longevity.

2. Demonstrate the product

Demonstrating the goods may be a convincing method in various instances. However, this may work best with extremely sophisticated or complex items. For example, you may discuss how the product solves an issue while explaining how it works. Demonstrating to a homeowner how the elements of a home alarm system function to keep them safe is one example.

3. Encourage a conversation

Personal selling tactics entail working directly with the consumer to identify and answer their issues. You may learn about the customer’s personality and purchasing habits by conversing with them. This assists you in guiding the consumer to a conclusion. A conversational tactic could involve making product comparisons or explaining why the greater price signals quality or quality, depending on the customer’s interests or hesitations.

4. Act as a consultant

When you share your knowledge with consumers, you win their trust by demonstrating your product or service knowledge. Learning about the customer’s challenges and suggesting solutions can help you develop deeper relationships. This may inspire the consumer to seek your advice in the future while making purchasing selections. A first-time buyer, for example, may become a repeat client since your previous advice was helpful, and they may prefer to speak with you again before making another purchase.

5. Emphasize customer satisfaction

Share your successes to gain consumer trust and loyalty. This is especially useful for salespeople who assist consumers in making large purchases such as homes or automobiles. Consider generating a collection of evaluations or testimonials from delighted customers to reassure potential buyers of your commitment and expertise. Additionally, make sure to get input from new clients to enhance your services or add to your list of recommendations.

6. Tell a story

Share a personal experience to encourage the buyer to purchase with this method. Your narrative might be about how the product affected your life or about another customer’s success. This allows you to connect with your consumer and create a situation where they may see themselves utilizing the goods. Because storytelling is frequently an emotional appeal, this method may be beneficial for items that address a pressing issue or have sentimental significance.

7. Respond to consumer behavior

Because of their intimate connection to consumers, personal selling tactics can allow salespeople to react as competition arises or market trends alter swiftly. It is beneficial to keep an eye on market circumstances for developing competitors. This enables you to create your own unique selling plan to reach new clients and keep existing ones.

Develop a personal selling process

Here are a few steps to take into consideration as you develop a personal selling strategy:

Find qualified leads

Seeking out prospective clients (also known as prospects or leads) is the first stage in the process. Online research, cold calling, or inbound marketing can all be used to prospect.

You might assist with this by creating a persona that identifies and describes your ideal consumer. Be careful to add details such as:

• Location
• Their age or age range
• The challenges they encounter in their roles
• Their buying process and habits
• Your offers and solutions

Lead qualifying is a vital element of prospecting. Remember that engaging your future customers in a personalized sales process is about finding answers for your clients, but not everyone is suited to be a client or use your product or service.

The goal is to prevent wasting time and money on prospects who are unlikely to become customers – and reduce attrition.

Perform research for the pre-approach

It is vital to have an up-to-date grasp of your sector to succeed in personal sales. Therefore conduct frequent research or read industry magazines to stay ahead of competition or purchasing habits changes.

Online research on the prospect, the market, and business are all important parts of the pre-approach. This step also involves creating and practicing a sales presentation for a prospect.

Thorough research allows you to remain adaptive when market changes occur, and it may provide you with expertise to answer consumer queries.

Ask questions

In the next stage, your sales staff will contact a prospect to identify themselves and begin a dialogue. This might be accomplished by a phone conversation, video call, email, or in-person meeting.

The ultimate purpose of the approach stage is to understand the prospect better and learn about their wants, requirements, and problems and their motivation for engaging in the process– anything that your product or service can help satisfy or address.

As a result, your sales staff should concentrate on asking questions at this stage to determine whether and how your product or service may address their issues and pain areas.

Find out whether they are currently a competitor’s customer. If so, inquire why they are dissatisfied with its products or services. Inquire about their company’s main decision-makers and their time frame for reaching a final product selection.

This sort of information can assist you in understanding what they want from your business and how to match their needs with your sales pitch better.

Presentation

Once your team understands a prospect and their needs and challenges and given the prospect is open to a solution, your sales team will be in the sales presentation stage. This is the time when your sales staff will introduce and maybe demonstrate your product or service.

Using information obtained during the previous stages, your sales staff should focus on how your product or service benefits the prospect throughout the presentation. This ensures that the presentation is relevant to the prospect and their requirements.

Address any customer concerns

Inquire about the customer’s reservations regarding your product or service. If you can solve these concerns, you will better gain his trust and business. It’s usually preferable to be aware of a client’s possible issues so you can address them. However, sometimes a buyer simply wants more information about your product or service before purchasing.

Ask for the sale

After your sales presentation, your job is not done. Therefore, it’s vital to ask for the sale. You can inquire directly if she has chosen to buy your product or indirectly by asking when she wants to start getting services or how many of a certain product she wants to order.

This will assist you in understanding the consumer. If she dithers, ask why. You are more likely to sell if you can answer her worries.

Follow-up

There are a few aspects to a follow-up.

For example, a successful salesperson follows up with both prospects and or clients after a presentation. If a potential buyer is still unclear about your product or service, this is the time to clarify. On the other hand, if they have already bought your goods or service, make sure they’re happy with it.

Another is after a sale when your sales staff contacts the customer to confirm they’re happy and have had or are going through your effective onboarding.

This step is critical since it helps your sales staff retain client connections, hopefully resulting in a renewal or upgrade. It also gives a direct link to your customer care team if a consumer is dissatisfied — and satisfied customers become brand ambassadors.

Provide information

Personal selling tactics communicate your knowledge and explain the worth of your offering, leaving the consumer with information to ponder. In addition, customers may do their own research and discover more about your organization and product by using materials such as pamphlets, business cards, flyers, or website links. If the buyer isn’t ready to buy right now, these materials may assist them in deciding later.

Become a buying partner

Engaging future customers in a personalized sales process positions you as a partner in their purchasing process. Approaching your client connection as a partnership can assist preserve customer satisfaction since this method can help develop trust. It’s also a good idea to follow up with consumers after they’ve purchased to gauge their views and encourage repeat purchases.

Tips on handling objections during the selling process

Any sales expert can be frustrated by a sales objection. A proactive salesperson must realize that an objection does not halt the sales process. The customer’s words may be examined and turned into a sales opportunity with some effective sales objection overcoming suggestions.

Don’t take objections personally.

To overcome an obstacle, avoid taking it personally. While buyers may refuse to buy a product because they are scared or distrust the salesperson, they will find a method to negotiate the price. The rejection is the business end of a transaction. The customer wants more for their money or fears they won’t afford it. Instead, treat the sales process as a commercial transaction, respecting the customer and considering their circumstances.

Listen closely

To learn the true reason behind a customer’s rejection, sales people must listen carefully. For example, perhaps your consumer will object to your stove because it does not complement his décor. But if you pay attention, you’ll hear him say, “this pricey model won’t look good in my kitchen.” The adjective “expensive” is critical in overcoming this issue.

Ask questions to understand your future customers better.

The salesperson uses a series of “what if” questions to get information from the consumer. After hearing the customer’s objection, prepare an appropriate “what if” inquiry. For example, your initial answer to the pricey stove should be, “What if we had alternative models with various aesthetics that matched your budget?” The first step is to encourage the consumer to agree with you and say “yes” to your queries.

Know your offers well

To counter many of the arguments you will receive, you will need to know your items extremely well. You should know your goods and have documentation to back up your claims. Check if you have all the product information you need to tackle basic arguments that might turn into sales stumbling blocks.

Personal selling examples

There are many more examples of personal selling than the ones mentioned here.

We picked these examples because they depict big, often challenging purchasing choices that frequently necessitate a tight relationship between a salesperson and prospect – demonstrating the personal selling strategy in action.

Software industry

The majority of software firms use the personal selling approach. When clients purchase software, particularly for their department or organization, there is much at stake. There is frequently a comprehensive suite of tools and several solutions to evaluate, and clients will almost certainly demand buy-in throughout their organization.

As a result of these factors, personal selling in the software sector becomes important to serve consumers effectively. In addition, the software salesman may assist clients in understanding how the program or tool can be adjusted to their specific needs and communicating the features and benefits to others in their business.

HubSpot is a great example of personal selling for department-wide software. HubSpot provides a variety of marketing, sales, and customer care software solutions. This necessitates that the sales staff spend time prospecting for good-fit leads and educate prospects and clients on how these technologies may benefit their organization. Workday for human resources, Slack for business enablement, and Xero for accounting are more examples.

Office Equipment Industry

When a company moves into a new facility or simply expands, it typically necessitates acquiring office-wide equipment such as seats, computers, and desks. This approach usually necessitates a personal interaction between the office equipment seller and the company.

Not to mention that the office equipment market is quite competitive, with many respected businesses selling high-quality items. As a result, salespeople must work hard to understand the demands of their customers and explain why their product is the best choice.

Medical industry

Personal selling is prevalent among medical reps. Typically, medical corporations such as GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) use Salespersons to approach medical practitioners on their behalf and urge them to recommend their medicines to their patients.

Catering industry

Catering firms base their services on events, and because each event is unique, they must tailor their offerings to meet each customer’s demands. As a result, caterers frequently employ salespeople to make first contact with and speak with prospects to understand better how the firm can assist them.

These salespeople are also in charge of creating a personalized catering plan for clients, coordinating the execution of the service, and following up with consumers after the event(s) – all of which are critical components of personal selling.

Get your personal selling strategy underway.

The personal selling approach can be used in a variety of ways. However, what should stay consistent is how your sales force approaches, engages, and serves a potential customer.

Personal selling is based on a real desire to assist consumers in resolving difficulties with your product or service, rather than pushing or forcing a sale for quotas or the bottom line.

Encourage your sales staff to adopt these tactics to establish and maintain effective, authentic connections with your customers, which will ideally lead to your customers becoming strong brand champions.

Listen to the episode with Simone Vincenzi

In this episode, Simone Vincenzi, co-founder of GTeX, a TEDx speaker, and an author shares how to build a personal selling process that boosts sales.

Some topics we discussed include:

• What is personal selling
• What businesses often miss about converting prospects
• Where a personal selling process fits into your buyer’s journey and existing marketing
• Personal selling advantages and disadvantages
• What is personal selling in marketing
• Should sales cycles be determined by numbers or how far you can take a relationship with the end goal being a collaboration
• What a personal selling process would look like for a business
• The role of industry research and or original research in the process
• What is a personal selling strategy
• Simone’s take on personal selling with examples
• and much more

Watch the epsiode with Simone Vincenzi

Links and resources mentioned

Connect with Simone

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