History of Selling

Selling- is the process of persuading potential consumers to purchase goods, services, or ideas in
order to satisfy the buyers' needs while also allowing the seller to earn money.
-"Selling in its broad sense" is "not only making sales, that is, effecting ownership transfers; but
also finding prospective consumers, driving demand, and offering information and service to
buyers," according to Still, Cundiff, and Govoni.

Objectives of Selling:
a) To sell goods to consumers.

(b) To “service” existing accounts, that is maintain contracts with the existing consumer. (c)
To search for new customers,

(d) To secure consumers’ cooperation in stocking and promoting the product line.
(e) To keep customers informed about the changes in the existing product line and firm’s
marketing strategy.
(f) To provide technical advice and assistance to customers regarding use of complicated and
technical product.

Introduction:
•The earliest documented mention of Selling can be found in the name "SNAKE OIL SELLING"
around the year 1780. Snake oil selling refers to fraudulent selling practices and the term
originated from Chinese laborers involved in the building of the First Continental Railroad.

The evolution of selling had several distinct phases of development during the course of late 19th
and 20th centuries. Industrial revolution of late 19th century caused a tremendous amount of
exchange of goods between people and nations all over the world. Strategic resources at this time
were capital and resources companies controlled. Therefore sales success was defined by
meeting sales quotas. This period can be roughly defined from 1860s – 1960s.

However from 1960s a new age in the area of selling has started. It was an Information Age.
From 1960s till now information has radically changed how selling is being conducted, methods
and attitudes towards selling. In this age, strategic resource of the business is information and it
is defined by customer relationships. Adding value is the primary success criteria of the selling
process. Of course these are generalised notions of the evolution in selling.

Features:
1860 – Insurance Begins Role Specialization with Hunters & Farmers
Obviously sales has been around since we were bartering as cavemen. Let’s pick up the story of
professional selling in 1752: the year “Benjamin Franklin founded America’s oldest,
continuously active insurance company.” At this time insurance and many household goods were
subscription products. A sales rep would close the opportunity and then make regular in-person
visits to collect monthly payment.

1924 – IBM & Professional Selling

Chinese immigrants arrived in America to help build the intercontinental railroad. And with
these Chinese workers came a game changing product called snake oil! Clark Stanley (the
original snake oil salesman), doctors and traveling salesmen began to aggressively and
deceptively sell “magic remedies” across America. This stigma is still something we deal with
today when discussing the public’s perception of the sales profession.

1925 – 1936: The Psychology of Selling & Dale Carnegie (Tactical Selling)
In July 1925, E.K. Strong published The Psychology of Selling. Strong developed a myriad of
lasting sales principles such as features and benefits, objection handling, and question type. He
showed that sales was a hard skill that could be taught, learned, and studied.

1988: SPIN Selling & Solution Selling

SPIN Selling took tactical concepts, like open-ended questions, to the next level: Solution
Selling or Consultative Selling. The key premise of SPIN Selling is “customers will only be
motivated to buy something if they identify there’s a need. And because there are times when
prospects are not even aware there’s a problem, the questions you ask are key. This book
describes a powerful sales process that reveals four types of questions that when asked in
sequence, will significantly increase the likelihood of a lead translating into a sale.”

2011: Predictable Revenue

While at Salesforce.com, Aaron Ross saw that further role specialization was needed in the sales
profession. 141 years earlier, insurance companies specialized sales roles because of process
inefficiencies. Aaron saw similar inefficiencies: Account Executives/Closers spending
disproportionate amounts of time prospecting for leads instead of closing new business. This
insight was followed by the creation of the additional specialized sales role, the Sales
Development Rep (SDR).
2015: The SaaS Sales Stack & Sales Hackers
It is a very exciting time in the sales profession with SaaS prospecting automation companies
raising major financing rounds and beginning to really scale their footprint. The number of tools
in the modern sales rep’s tool box has exploded in recent years. With the SaaS Sales Stack, now
reps have specialized cloud sales apps for each of their workflow processes. Apps for lead
generation, CRM, email automation, contract management etc etc. The more app’s your team has
mastered the more successful they will be. All the apps connect which means the customer data
has never been so robust. Automation of key processes like logging sales activities means reps
can spend more of their time actually selling.

Models and Frameworks:

•Industrial Selling- Under industrial selling, marketing transactions take place between at least
two companies, both of which seek to generate favours from the business. That is why industrial
selling is also termed as business-to-business selling. Industrial selling is more complex and time
consuming because a sales-person has to negotiate with a number of individuals representing the
buying organization, particularly in large firms. Needless to mention, goods that are dealt in this
selling are industrial in nature.
•Service Selling- Service selling has some distinctive properties vis-a-vis product selling. One
major characteristic feature of service selling is that of service creation, where selling takes place
simultaneously. In product selling these two are separate incidents. A doctor or a lawyer advices
and suggests remedies to their clients simultaneously. An insurance agent selling insurance
products to a customer persuades him to purchase and only then sells it. This is because service
is more of an activity or performance designed to evolve and solve specific problems of
customers.
•Retail Selling- It is popularly known as retailing, involves activities both in selling goods as
well as services. Thus, it aims to deliver the finished goods to the consumers for personal or
business use. Retailing is the last stage of distribution. It facilitates the adoption process of
products/services by consumers and aids in creating value-addition to the merchandise to make it
more attractive and acceptable to the consumers.

Function # 1. Product Planning and Development:

Karl H. Tietjen defines product planning as “The act of marketing out and supervising the search,
screening, development and commercialisation of new products; the modification of existing
lines; and the discontinuance of marginal and unprofitable items.”
No marketing effort can be successful if the product itself is unsatisfactory. Hence it would not
be wrong if we say that the success of any selling organisation depends upon the planning and
development of the right type and kind of products.
Function # 2. Creation of Demand:
Once the right product has been produced it will result in profit only if it is demanded. Thus an
important aspect of selling is the creation of demand. The seller must inform the buyer about the
availability of his products. He usually does this by resorting to activities like advertising and
sales promotion. All activities undertaken by a seller to keep his customers informed and updated
about his products through the different means available to him can be called as demand
creation.
Function # 3. Establishing Contact with the Buyers:
Buyers are many and scattered over a vast area. After creating a demand for the product it is
essential to establish contact with the buyers. The marketing personnel have to find out the
places where the buyers exist, establish contacts with them and maintain cordial relations with
them. Establishing contacts with the buyers is an ongoing process and has to be undertaken
continuously.
Function # 4. Negotiations:
Once contact with the buyer is established the seller has to enter into discussions with the
prospective buyers to finalize the terms relating to the quantity, quality, and price of the product,
the time mode of transport, risk coverage etc. At this stage, offers and counter offers are made
till a final agreement is reached. This process of reaching some point of common understanding
through offers and counter offers can be called negotiations.
Function # 5. Entering into a Contract:
When the terms and conditions of sale are finalized the buyers and sellers enter in a contract to
buy and sell so that the ownership of the goods passes legally from the seller to the buyer.

Advantages of Selling as a Career

1. Selling solves problems and fulfills needs.- What you’re selling will either relieve pain or
provide pleasure. Depending on what you sell, customers will be better able to solve
problems, make more money, serve other betters, enhance their self-esteem, improve their
knowledge, or fulfill a heart’s desire. When you do your job, you help people get what they
want out of life.
2. Only your efforts and creativity limit your potential.-Selling is the classic example of pay
for performance. This explains why so many high-energy, focused people are attracted to
sales. Their level of achievement and income has no ceiling.
3. Selling provides an opportunity to work with people.-Are people exasperating?
Absolutely. Will they give you heartaches, headaches, and stomachaches? Without question.
But they are also fun, exciting, and challenging. As a salesperson, you experience this
exhilarating challenge every time you go to work.
4. Selling may be the purest form of empowerment.-When you sell, you must solve problems
on the spot. You are accountable for solving a customer’s problem then and there. While
everyone else in your company may be debating the pros and cons of empowerment, you are
living it.
5. Selling is a psychological high.-Stand outside any factory and study the faces of the workers
leaving their shift. Are you witnessing the “joy of victory” or the “agony of defeat”? Now,
look at any salesperson who has just closed an important deal, landed a new customer, or
solved a current customer’s problem. You’re watching a winner.
6. Selling makes you test your mettle every day.-Every time athletes step onto the playing
field they have to prove themselves. They’re only as good as their next performance. Sales
provides you the same opportunity to show your stuff.
7. Selling provides immediate feedback on your performance.-It’s also unmistakable. The
reactions you get from buyers leave no doubt of how you’re doing. You can use that feedback
to improve constantly. Every time you [present yourself and your product, you have a chance
to sharpen your skills.
8. Selling is the direct communication link between the customer and the
company.Salespeople are in the best position to monitor market trends. Your customers tell
you exactly what’s right and wrong with your product what to improve, and what to leave
alone. You hear about their pains and frustrations, and you hear about their dreams and
aspirations. You are the eyes and ears of the company. When you speak, you describe the
future of the company.

Disadvantages of Selling as a career:

1.Stress.- Sales is a stressful operation if done well. A lot of effort must be exerted and required,
but the results are well worth it. You will be under constant pressure from all sides; your boss,
coworkers, and prospects, all expect something from you at all times.

2.Time and Effort- As you can see from the former statement, a salesperson’s job is never done.
As you go, the number of your duties will expand, and there will always be more to accomplish.

It’s not rare for top performers to work until late at night, then return home and work some more.
It’s a time-consuming profession since the stakes are so high and the burden is on your
shoulders.
3.Starting from the bottom- If you lack suitable sales experience or education, you will most
likely begin at the bottom of your company’s hierarchy.
As an entry-level salesperson, you may have less autonomy and be subjected to increased
micromanagement. It means you have to work double as your employer to gain that level of
respect.
4. Tough Competition- You can compete in some of the toughest sales competitions. Internal
(inside your team or company) and external competitions are both possible.
Pressure can build up, and not everyone can deal with so many obstacles.
5.Quota- A sales profession would be difficult for you if you dislike being held accountable for
meeting or failing to fulfill quotas.
One of the most stressful aspects of working in sales is being assigned a quota. Expectations and
targets from management might be so high that stress can overwhelm the joy of exceeding sales
goals.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Sales People

Strengths:

•Budget Directness- Salespeople have to discuss money with their prospects in many different
qualification scenarios: how much their product will make or save a company, how much the
prospect is currently wasting or losing out on, how much the prospect is spending on other
projects, the size of the budget for this purchase, and the prospect’s willingness to spend on the
product. There’s no avoiding money questions -- they need to be asked early and often to close
deals.
•The ability to differenciate products- To overcome this problem, I tell reps to ensure that the
prospect values their product’s differentiation over the competition’s. Make sure buyers
understand why and how your product is superior without bashing or even mentioning rival
tools.

•Confidence-Reps with this self-limiting belief need to role play what the “sh** or get off the
pot” conversation sounds like. They need to practice asking the right questions, and hearing,
thinking through, and handling the typical prospect responses.
They need to realize there’s little risk of losing a deal that’s not certain. They need to embrace
the conversation by realizing they’ll probably help prospects make better-informed decisions,
instead of pretending the deal will come in eventually
•Ability to have tough conversations-There are a few strategies I use to help reps get over their
fears of being disliked. First, I suggest a mindset shift. I see sales as a virtuous profession that
helps people solve problems, and the hard questions are a part of figuring out whether a rep can
actually help. When reps adopt this attitude, they’re more willing to sacrifice their feelings in the
short-term for their client’s greater good in the long-term.
•Curiosity-To counteract your negative emotions, ask questions -- no matter how you feel. If
you got the lead from an ebook download, ask what they were trying to learn from it. If they
claim to not have the problem your product solves, ask how they’re doing it so you can learn.
Regardless of the specific question you use, just keep asking. Be curious.
Under no circumstances should you just leave your contact information and ask them to call you
back. And you shouldn’t just start explaining things to them, because they’ll quickly tune you
out.

•Healthy Skepticism-The salesperson who accepts that prospects aren’t always totally honest
will be more likely to gently probe until they uncover the truth. Approaching conversations with
healthy skepticism and a willingness to ask incisive questions is necessary to break down
prospects’ walls, and uncover the truth.
•Persistence-Many times, of course, no means no. And if a salesperson knows their sales process
conversion ratios, they won’t sweat it at all. A “no” simply means a salesperson can redirect their
time to someone who might say “yes”. Salespeople who embrace this are in control of not just
where they spend their time, but their destiny.
•Efficiency-Managing time well increases productivity of an individual and also avoids
forgetting important things. Time management ensures the completion of tasks at a much faster
rate and more effectively.

Weaknesses:

•Money Weakness- If a rep is uncomfortable talking about money, they’re not going to make
any.

•Non supportive buy cycle-In a consultative sales process, it’s perfectly acceptable to assume
your prospects are shopping around. But it’s not okay to encourage this behavior.

•Self-Limiting Beliefs-“Selling is hard.” “Prospects always tell the truth.” “Prospects who think
it over will eventually buy from me.”
These statements are just three of the many misconceptions that salespeople hold to be truths. It’s
important for a rep to recognize these self-limiting beliefs, understand the behavior they cause,
and learn skills to avoid letting them impact their sales success.
•Need of Approval-Need for approval becomes a weakness when a salesperson cares more
about being liked than they care about closing business. Taking criticism or bad attitudes
personally is never a good thing, but it’s especially dangerous in sales, where reps regularly deal
with rejection.
•Controlling Emotions- If you let your emotions take over, you might not pick up on the
openings they set up for you. In fact, you might be so distracted by your emotions that you don’t
even listen to what they say next.
•Fear of Rejection-The only thing a salesperson truly controls is who they spend their time with.
But, if they can’t control their own fear of rejection, it will control them.

•Too Trusting-Sales reps that aren’t too trusting know how to make the sale even when a
prospect isn’t being completely forthright and honest.
•Poor Tume Management- Ineffective scheduling is the number one killer of time management
and productivity for outside sales reps.
 Key Takeaways:

•Steps Involved in the Process of Selling:

Step # 1. Prospecting
Step # 2. Pre-Approach
Step # 3. Approach
Step # 4. Presentation and Demonstration
Step # 5. Handling Objections
Step # 6. Closing the Sale
Step # 7. Follow-Up Action or Feedback

•5 Prerequisites of Effective Selling:

(1) Know your company,
(2) Know your product,
(3) Know your competitors and their products,
(4) Know your customers,
(5) Know the process of selling

10 Questions with Answers

1. is the process of persuading potential consumers to purchase goods, services, or ideas in order
to satisfy the buyers' needs while also allowing the seller to earn money?

-Selling

2. One of the objwctives of selling is to secure consumers’ cooperation in stocking and

promoting the product line. True or False?
- True

3. The earliest documented mention of Selling can be found in the name?

- SNAKE OIL SELLING
4. At this time insurance and many household goods were subscription products.
-1860 – Insurance Begins Role Specialization with Hunters & Farmers

5-7. What are the 3 types of Selling

-Industrial Selling
-Service Selling
-Retail Selling

8.It is one of the function of selling that ‘once the right product has been produced it will
result in profit only if it is demanded’.
- Creation of Demand

9.Give one disadvantage of Selling as a career

-Stress, Time and Effort, Starting from the bottom, Tough competition, Quota

10.One of the advantages of selling as a carrer is it solves problems and fulfills needs.
True or False?
-True
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