The Seven Steps of the Personal Selling Process

Personal selling is a form of selling that many companies rely on heavily to promote and move their products. The personal selling process involves seven steps that a salesperson must go through with most sales. Understanding these seven steps can help improve your individual sales or the sales of your company.

The first step in the process involves prospecting. With this step in the process, sales representatives look for new customers that they can potentially sell their products to. This can be done by cold calling or by going out into the market and talking to people. This part of the process is a numbers game, and the sales representative has to contact many people.

The pre-approach is the second step in the personal selling process. At this time, the sales representative prepares for the first contact with the potential customer. During this stage, the sales representative looks at any information that he may have about the customer. He may practice his sales presentation and do anything necessary to prepare for it.

The approach is the next step in the process and it is also one of the most important. During this step, the sales representative takes a minute or two to try to get to know the prospect. This phase usually involves some small talk to warm up the prospect and help them open up.

During this stage of the process, the sales representative makes a presentation. This can involve demonstrating the product or service and showing the customer why they need it. The sales rep should focus on the features and benefits of the product or service during this part of the process.

In some cases, the sales representative will have to overcome objections by the customer. Many customers have questions and concerns at this point of the sales process. If the sales representative can answer the questions and overcome any objections successfully, the barriers for a successful sale will be removed.

After the objections have been removed, the only thing left to do is close the sale. This can involve writing up an invoice and providing any final information to the customer. At this stage of the process, you may need to negotiate the final sales price and any payment terms.

The follow up is the last stage in the personal sales process. After the product or service has been delivered, the sales representative follows up with the customer to find out if they are pleased. If there were any issues with the product, the sales rep can work with the customer to get them resolved. If the customer is happy, the sales rep can also try to obtain additional referrals from the customer.