Develop a customer relationship strategy that could be used in the selling process for a product or service. You may use the same organization or product or service (or both) that you have used for previous assessments, or you may choose a different one.
A relationship strategy focuses on customers, secondary decision makers, company support staff, and management personnel. The strategy should reflect the various factors that can enhance relationships, such as self-image, success measures, and desire to achieve a win-win situation. This strategy should also mirror the sales professional’s character and professional integrity and promote high ethical standards. Ultimately, the relationship strategy must contribute to a solid, long-term connection with customers and other key individuals.
Write a customer relationship strategy that addresses the following:
Additional Requirements
Prospecting
Because time is money and every minute is precious, developing a prospecting and sales forecasting plan can help any salesperson be more efficient. This plan requires that the salesperson develop a list of prospects using a combination of resources. Following the prospecting, the salesperson forecasts the potential sales volume that might be generated by new accounts for each product. Then, the salesperson must anticipate calls with potential customers when planning a sales route or a series of meetings during a particular time period.
Prospecting techniques produce a list of names that the salesperson must evaluate and qualify. This is an ongoing process and one that is an intricate part of the salesperson’s role. The use of technology to assist in evaluating information has allowed sales professionals to become more efficient in this process.
Today’s salesperson can select from any number of methods or combinations of sources for prospects. Sources include various association directories, Web sites, referrals, networking, telemarketing, educational seminars, cold-calling, and prospecting by others not in the selling organization. As with many other components of the personal selling process, prospecting methods should be chosen according to the major factors defining a particular selling solution. There is no single way to obtain results that is always most effective.
Customer Strategy
Developing a customer strategy is an important step in the consultative selling process. In this step, the salesperson creates an appropriate customer strategy, based on knowledge of the prospect. Inherent to developing an effective customer strategy is the need for a salesperson to understand buying behaviors and the various types of conscious and subconscious motives. Each customer has different perceptions and needs, which a salesperson must thoroughly understand in order to make a successful appeal to the customer.
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