Marketing Essentials

Chapter 12: Preparing for the Sale

Chapter Summaries

Section 12.1

• Personal selling is any form of direct contact between a salesperson and a customer. The three types of selling situations are retail, business-to-business (B2B), and telemarketing.
• The purpose and goal of selling are to help customers make satisfying buying decisions in order to create ongoing, profitable relationships between buyer and seller.
• Consultative selling is providing solutions to customers’ problems by finding products that meet their needs.
• Customers may have both rational and emotional motives for making a purchase. A rational motive is a conscious, logical reason for a purchase. An emotional motive is a feeling experienced by a customer through association with a product.
• Three types of customer decision making are extensive, limited, and routine.

Section 12.2

• Sources of product information include direct experience, written publications, other people, and formal training.
• A prospect or lead is a potential customer.
• The focus of preparation for business-to-business selling is learning about the potential customer, including finding out if the prospect needs the product or service, if the prospect has the financial resources to pay, and if the prospect has the authority to buy. Preparation for retail selling focuses on the merchandise and the work area, including learning about products, stockkeeping, adjusting price tickets, and housekeeping.