Role play the phone conversation between John and Tracy as John gathers the information
needed to screen Tracy as a qualified prospect and gain an appointment for
an initial sales call to explore Tracy’s needs for financial services and products and
begin developing the relationship as a satisfied client.
Upon completion of the role play, answer the following questions:
3a. What other ways might John introduce himself, generate Tracy’s positive
Involvement, and gain the appointment?
3b. Why is it important for John to avoid making a full-blown sales presentation to
Tracy over the phone?
4. As an account manager for Chemical Coating Corporation (CCC) you have national
Responsibility for selling Syntex, a new paint additive that significantly extends the shelf
Life and improves the application of all forms of latex-based paints. This is a break-through
Product just coming onto the market and you are in the process of identifying,
Qualifying, and prioritizing latex paint manufactureas across the United States that
Offer high potential for buying the new additive.
Prior information gathered form CCC’s customer account records indicates that
The best prospects would be iarger manufacturers of latex paint. The larger manufacturers
Tend to be characterized by having an asset base of $10 million or higher and
25 or more employees.
Having become a regular user of the Internet and World Wide Wed in digging
Out business-related information on prospects and accounts, you are aware that the
Thomas Register site has the capability to search specific product product categories by
Name, identify manufacturers, and provide a summary profile of each company
Identified
Access the Thomas Register site at the URL http://thomasregister.com and generate
a listing of firms manufacturing the product described as latex paint. Paint the listing
in a format suitable to hand in to your instructor. You may have to complete a free
registration process to use the site.
- On the thomasregister home page, select “search for product or service, “enter the product name “latex paint” into the “Containing The Words” text box, and select “Find It.”
- The results page entitled “Product Headings Found” will indicate the number of latex paint manufacturers listed in the Thomas Register Data base.
- Click on the hotlink heading “paints: latex” to pull up a more detailed page list-ing the companies by name and location.
- Click on each company’s hot linked company name to obtain the summary description page for the individual company.
- Click on the “Company Profile” hotlink to access a more detailed profile of the company including asset size, number of employees, and full description of what the organization does.
Discussion Questions
4a. How many total leads did you find?
4b. Use CCC’s description of the characteristics that denote major manufacturers to provide an initial qualification screen. How many of the leads pass this initial screening test?
4c. Prioritize the remaining accounts according to CCC’s screening criteria and list the companies in the order of priority for contact.
4d. What problems do you see with using a commercial database such as the thomas Register as a lead generating tool? Explain.
5.A large number of computer-based and online tools are available to facilitate track-ing prospects and customers. Some of these tools are known simply as contact management applications while while others have evolved into full customer relationship
Management tools. ACT! Is one of the consistent leaders in this category of prod-ucts and is used by a large number of companies of all sizes.
Access the ACT! Web site at the URL http://act.com Click on the link to see the ACT! Demo. This tour will walk you through the features of the newest release and allow you to experience firsthand how versataile these contact management tools have become.
Discussion Questions
5a.As a salesperson, how might you use ACT! To increase your selling effectiveness?
5b.What five features of ACT! Would be beneficial to you? Why?