Situation: Read item 3.
Characters: Yourself – salesperson for the CanDo Computer Company; the buyer-director of purchasing for MidWest Supply
Scene: Location – The office of the Director of Purchasing for MidWest Supply.
Action – As described, MidWestSupply is considering equipping their five-person salesforce with laptop computers. You are there to present your line of laptops, gain a sale, and begin a long-term relationship with MidWest Supply.
Role play the SELL Sequences you would use for four different feature-benefit combinations and demonstrate how you might use the presentation tools and sales aids you feel would be effective in adding power to your presentation.
Upon completion of the role play, address the following questions:
3a. How well would the demonstrated SELL Sequences move the sale forward?
3b. What other ways could these SELL Sequences be presented that might be more effective?
3c. How well did the presentation tools and sales aids portrayed positively impact the selling presentation? In what ways did they impact the presentation (e.g., attention, clarification, retention, proof, etc.)?
3d. What other sales aids might have been used effectively?
4. Jane Gilmore is a salesperson for Nike athletic shoes. She is meeting with Sarah Franklin, head buyer for The Athlete’s Foot – a regional chain of athletic shoe stores headquartered in St. Louis – with the objective of selling several new models to the 12-store chain. Jane has put a great deal of preparation into her sales call including a bound set of printed materials consisting of product brochures, competitive charts, and forecasts of financial performance. The sales aids must have been very effective. Jane opened the binder and placed it in front of the buyer so that Jane could point out several of the supporting materials during her presentation. However, shortly after beginning her presentation, the buyer picked the binder up and began browsing through it before Jane ever had an opportunity to use any of the material in her presentation.
a. What should Jane do now?
b. What could Jane have done differently that might have prevented this interruption from happening?