Contextual Selling - A New Sales Paradigm for the 21st Century

CONTENTS

 

Introduction 1
 
SECTION I –
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
15
 
1. Need for a New Sales Paradigm
The changing business environment – 17, Why do salesmen resort to canned presentations? – 20, Why do canned speeches fail? – 21, The old paradigm of selling – 22, How to achieve the paradigm shift? – 24, Difference between sales and marketing – 26, From 4Ps to 4 Cs of marketing – 27, The evolution of sales and marketing – 32, A new approach to marketing – 33
16
 
2. Trust - The Difference that makes the Difference
Importance of a trusting relationship – 37, Three types of trust – 38, Factors those build trust – 40, What contributes towards trust? – 44
36
 
3. Motivation - The Fire Within
What do sales executives not like about their managers? – 49, What do companies expect from you? – 52, Challenges in a salesman’s job – 53, Intrinsic & extrinsic motivation – 54, David McClelland on achievement motivation – 56, Empathy and ego balance - 59
49
 
4. Why do Salesmen Love to Talk?
Reasons for talking more – 65, Three traps salesmen get into: tell, accept, & guess – 66, How self-concept influences the behaviour – 68, How to improve your self-concept – 70, Inspirations from great leaders – 71, Typical responses of salesmen and management – 73
63
 
5. Authentic Communication
The verbal & non-verbal messages you convey – 76, Voice: the medium of your message – 77, Bodylanguage: the silent message - 80, Importance of listening - 82, Five levels of listening – 83, Active listening – 85, Barriers to listening - 89
76
 
SECTION II  
 
INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT 97
 
6. How Customers Perceive Value?
Product knowledge and problem solving – 98, How much knowledge should you be having?- 100, Why customers say, ‘price is high’ – 101, Price Vs. Cost – 104, Moving up the value chain – 110, Features, advantages and benefits – 114, How benefits create a value proposition? - 119
98
 
7. From Objection Handling to Objection Prevention
Why sellers do not prefer asking questions – 124, Types and benefits of a questions – 126, Precautions while asking questions – 129, Objection handling through hierarchy of needs – 131, Identify & develop needs to reduce objections – 136, Continuation and progress: Distinction that improves the quality of a sales call – 142
123
 
8. MS Excel as a Planning Tool
Key Result Areas & Key Performance Indicators (KRA/KPI) - 145, Pending quotation statement – 152, Scenario planning (What-If Analysis) - 154, Goal seek (Reverse scenario) – 157, Effect of discount on profitability – 160
145
 
9. Order Closing - Myths Vs Reality
Why salesmen feel shy asking for orders? – 165, Roadblocks in order closing - 167, Popular order closing techniques – 168, Does more closing statements improve conversion? – 169, Need for order closing – 170, How to reduce the cognitive dissonance? – 171
163
 
SECTION III  
 
CONCEPTUAL SKILLS 173
 
10. Financial Basics every Salesman Should Know
Market potential, sales potential & sales forecast: the critical difference – 174, Key profitability indicators – 177, Importance of payment collections – 182, Why outstanding collections becomes a major issue – 183, Repercussions of late payments – 184, Typical excuses made by customers for payment delay - 188, Checklist to keep outstanding under control – 188
174
 
11. The Art of Negotiation
Three phases of negotiation: preparation, middle & close – 193, Factors affecting negotiating leverage: information, time and power - 199, Priority identification of the customer vis-à-vis the vendor - 212, Qualities of an effective negotiator – 215
191
 
12. Key Account Management
Why has the process of buying become complex? – 217, The four critical roles - 218, Pitfalls in mapping the decision makers - 222, Selling at the CEO level – 223, Strategies to meet CEOs – 224, Does the decider remain constant all the time? – 225, A strategic approach – 226
217
 
13. The Big Picture
Formula to achieve results – 231, Four types of salesmen – 239, All business is not good business – 241, Funnel as a metaphor – 244, Four stages of a sales funnel - 245, Advantages of a sales funnel – 248, How a funnel should be used - 249, Desired competencies in each stage – 253, Time relevance in each stage – 254, How often should it be made? - 256
231
 
SECTION IV  
 
A TOOL KIT FOR IMPLEMENTATION 259
 
14. Games Customers Play
Types of games – 261, How to deal with games – 269, Success stories – 270, Who is your competitor? – 272
260
 
15. Frequently Asked Questions 276
 
16. Importance of Continuous Learning
Changing scenario of training – 288, Is success self - destructive? – 292, Guy in the glass – 298
288
 
Appendix I - Commercial Terms 299
 
Appendix II - Laundry List 304
 
Appendix III - Contextual Selling Plan 306
 
Appendix IV - Sales Funnel & the Big Picture 307
 
Notes 308
 
Tables and Illustrations 312