Assignment 5 PS - Developing Professional Selling Knowledge on Prospecting and Preparing for the PDF

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Developing Professional Selling Knowledge on Prospecting and Preparing for the Sales Dialogue...

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Chapter 5

Developing Professional Selling Knowledge on Prospecting and Preparing for the Sales Dialogue. 1. Why is prospecting an important activity for salespeople? As what I’ve understand in the Second Edition of Professional Selling Fall Book (2020), prospecting is deemed to be an important activity for salespeople because it avoids dealing with shaky and questionable assumptions that the current business status will generate future revenue. With prospecting, a salesperson could also avoid losing customers and sales volume as he will foresee possible solutions to business’ future dilemma. Moreover, a salesperson should always be in a prospecting mindset in order to be ready to acquire the customer’s needs and how the salesperson can meet those needs (Dhawan, 2019).

2. What should be the objectives of strategic prospecting? The objectives of strategic prospecting is to use a certain criteria in order to clearly identify, qualify, and prioritize sales opportunities. Through this, salespeople can separate prospects accordingly. Moreover, strategic prospecting should be a continuous process of finding ways to improve (Ingram, T. et al., 2020).

3. Why is prospecting difficult for some salespeople? People are innate to the fear of rejection for certain reasons. It can be because of childhood trauma, low self-esteem, etc. (Wilde, A., 2020). Whatever the reason is, this fear of rejection is also the reason why salespeople find prospecting difficult as the process itself is full of possible rejections (Ingram, T. et al., 2020).

4. What are the disadvantages of cold canvassing prospecting methods?

The disadvantages of cold canvassing prospecting methods are: (1) its negative impact on the salesperson’s image as cold canvassing is the act of calling possible prospects, and even prospects who does not meet certain criteria, in an unprepared way, and (2) it being inefficient as it shows low success rate in most cases (Ingram, T. et al., 2020).

5. What are the basic criteria used to qualify leads as sales prospects? The basic criteria that is used to qualify leads as sales prospects, according to Second Edition of Professional Selling Fall Book (2020), are individuals and/or organizations that: (1) has a need for the product or service, (2) has the budget or financial resources to purchase the product or service, and (3) has the authority to make the purchase decision.

6. What approaches can be used to prioritize sales prospects? As what I’ve read in the Second Edition of Professional Selling Fall Book (2020), one certain approach that can be used to prioritize sales prospects is to make an ideal customer profile. From here, salespeople can prioritize prospects on the basis of their qualified match to the ideal. Another approach is to identify one or more criteria with which to evaluate and rank prospects either individually or in groups. Moreover, you can also focus on your existing list, existing online traffic, ask customers for referrals, and generate new traffic (Mosey, B., 2019).

7. What are the major components of a strategic prospecting plan? The major components of a strategic prospecting plan are: (1) A method for establishing and tracking goals, (2) A system for allocating an appropriate amount of time to prospecting, (3) A method of tracking leads and prospects through the sales pipeline, and the relative costs associated with acquiring the leads, (4) A method for evaluating the prospecting process, and (5) A method for keeping the salesperson’s knowledge in terms of competitor, customers, product (Ingram, T. et al., 2020).

8. What types of information should salespeople gather to prepare for sales dialogue?

In general, the types of information that salespeople should gather in order to prepare for sales dialogue are (1) the prospect itself and (2) the prospect’s organization. In specific, knowing and even pronouncing the prospect’s name and title is a good head start. Moreover, knowing the details of the prospect’s organization could give the salesperson much understanding on how to deliver the sales dialogue. These details include what type of organization they are, their competitors, the marketing channels in which it operates, their customers, and the industry they belong to (Ingram, T. et al., 2020).

9. How can salespeople use electronic networking as a prospecting method? Salespeople can use electronic networking as a prospecting method through the use of social networking sites like LinkedIn and Plaxo. These can help salespeople identify direct prospects and even prospects through referrals. Moreover, salespeople can also use social networking to acquire more information about their prospect and the prospect’s organization through the prospect’s available social networking page or from social networks of people connected to the prospect (Ingram, T. et al., 2020).

10.

What company sources can be used for prospecting?

According to the Second Edition of Professional Selling Fall Book (2020), the company sources that can be used for prospecting are:  Company records  Advertising inquiries  Inbound telemarketing  Outbound telemarketing  Trade shows  Seminars REFERENCES: Dhawan, S. (2019). Understanding Sales Prospecting—and Why It’s Important for Every Salesperson. Retrieved from https://www.copper.com/blog/importanceprospecting-sales

Ingram, T. et al. (2020). SAVT 1000: Professional Selling Fall 2020 2nd Edition. Mosey, B. (2019). 8 steps to prioritizing your marketing and sales efforts. Retrieved from https://keap.com/business-success-blog/sales/sales-process/8-steps-toprioritizing-your-sales-and-marketing-efforts Wilde, Adele. (2020). Fear of Rejection. Retrieved from https://www.mtlawleycounselling.com.au/fear-of-rejection.html...