Personal Selling – Approaches and

Strategies

Sanjeewa Samarasinghe

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 Learning Objectives
• Identify multiple approaches and techniques in
personal selling
• Understand the interplay of different factors that
affect the buyer-seller relationship
• Identify the dynamics of buyer-seller dyad and
recognize the factors influencing them

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 Selling Approaches
• Selling is the most potent promotional tool to
attract the target customers to buy products
and services since past.
• With increase of competition, customer
demand the approaches have taken recourse
to customer relationship, partnership,
collaboration.

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 Selling Approaches
1. AIDAS Approach
2. Right Set of Circumstances Approach
3. Buying Formula Approach
4. Behavioral Equation Approach
5. Need Satisfaction Approach
6. Consultative Approach of Selling
7. Customer Relationship-based Approach
8. Problem-solving Approach
9. Team Selling Approach
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 AIDAS Approach of Selling
• AIDAS theory of selling suggest that a prospective
buyer passes through five mental stages of
attention, interest, desire, action and satisfaction
• These are arranged sequentially to complete the
buying process
• It directs the selling process to design as well as
implement the communication programmed that
are consistent with the needs of each mental
stage.
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Schematic Flow of AIDAS Approach

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 AIDAS Approach
• Attention – Attract the attention of the customer
• Interest – Raise interest by demonstrating
features and benefits
• Desire – Convince them that it will satisfy their
needs
• Action – Lead customers towards taking action or
purchasing
• Satisfaction – So they become a repeat customer
and referral

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 Right Set of Circumstances Approach
• This also known as the situation-response
theory
• This theory suggests that a persuasive-selling
situation should be created by salespeople to
influence the prospects in their favor.
• Salespeople should be trained to learn the
efficacies of various factors to manage the
selling situations and treat them in the selling
process accordingly

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Right Set of Circumstances Approach

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 Buying Formula Approach
• Prospective buyers take initiative to make the
buying-selling connection productive.
• The needs or problem of the buyers are the
starting points of this theory where
salespeople can assist them in finding suitable
solutions to their problems
• Buyer passes through stages that are the step-
by-step occurrences of mental events to finally
reach the buying decision.

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Buying Formula Approach

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 Implications of Buying Formula
Approach
• Buyers may not be concerned about the need or
problem
• Prospect feels or recognizes a problem but does
not have any idea about the product or service
• Prospects have needs or problems but no ides
about trade names.
• When the association between products or
services or trade names, and needs or problems
are well-established, efforts should be made to
facilitate the purchase.
• Old customers of the company should be reminded
of every element in the buying formula.
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Behavioral Equation Approach

Stimulus response model of buying behavior

where the buying decision process was based
as phases learning process.

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 Behavioral Equation Approach
B= P x D x K x V
B - response
P - Internal response tendency or force of habit
D - Present drive level or the level of motivation
K -Value of the product or its potential
satisfaction to the buyer
V – Intensity of all cues, triggering and non-
triggering
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 Need Satisfaction Approach
• Based on the notion that a buyer buys a
product or service in order to satisfy a specific
need or a set of needs.
• The approach intends to meet
a) Need identification
b) Need fulfillment
c) Need satisfaction

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 Need Satisfaction Approach
• Need identification
A sales person should actively listen to the needs of
the prospective customer
• Need fulfillment
Proper presentation of good and services and
handling objections of the prospects by the
salespeople will fulfill the need
• Need satisfaction
Getting expected benefits from the product or service

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 Consultative Approach of Selling
• Sales people act as consultants to the
prospects /customers.
• This will emphasis on helping the prospects to
identify and meet their needs, and handle
problems in post-purchase situations.
Eg: Retail salesperson in a garment store can
guide a potential customer, who is in difficulty
to select a best dress which suites her within
the budget.

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 Consultative Approach of Selling
conti,
A salesperson can solve the below problems of the
customer under Consultative Approach;
• Need problem
• Choice problem
• Deciding the choice criteria
• Product installation
• Product – use problem
• Product – maintenance problem
• Customer – feedback problem
• Problems related to product defects
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 Customer Relationship-based
Approach
• It is important to build relationship between
the salespeople and the prospects rather than
just transactions.
• Selling is not just a process of engaging in
economic relationship with the buyer but is
also means to generate social and
psychological relationships with the buyer.

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 Customer Relationship-based Approach conti,

Customer relationship helps in;

• Bring out the information and queries from both
sides
• Reduce the doubts from both sides
• Reduce the communication barrier
• Easily handle the future problems
• Reduce the post-purchase concerns of customers
• Reduce the competition
• Meet the future requirements of both sides easily

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 Problem-solving Approach
• This is the extension of need satisfaction
approach
• This starts with the identification of the root of
the problem
• Salesperson should understand the exact nature
of the problem and persuade the prospects to
buy the product
• Solving problems is a thinking process and is the
intelligent part of selling.
• Knowledge and expertise on products will
sharpen this skill.
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 Problem-solving Approach conti;
A salesperson with problem-solving skills helps a
prospect;
• To identify the root cause of a buying problem
• To define a buying problem
• To provide alternative solutions to the problem
• To help in evaluating alternative solutions to the
problem
• To help prospects in selecting a specific solution.

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 Team Selling Approach
• Team selling is a coordinated selling effort that
uses multiple personnel to solve complex buying
problems of the customers.
Eg: highly technical buying situations
• Team effort is needed to maximize the value of
the customers when dealing with complex selling
situations.
• A team may consist of, company sales people,
technical support people, research and
development personnel, product use experts,
application specialists etc..
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 Team Selling Approach conti;
Rules of effective Team Selling;
• Carefully selection of team members
• Select a team coordinator
• Conduct a pre-briefing session
• Hold a debriefing after interaction with the customers
• Be prepared with the questions
• Keep the team with minimum number of members
• Be flexible
• Have good team spirit
• Team should be committed to sell

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 Buyer-seller Dyad
• Buyer-seller interaction is the art of personal
selling that needs a medium to take place and
situation to occur.
• This is the two way communication between
the buyer and the seller.

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 Buyer-seller Dyad conti;
Factors influence the buying – selling dyad:
1. Interaction between the potential customer and the
seller
2. Should accommodate a meaningful conversation for a
win win situation for both parties.
3. Seller’s anticipation and understanding of the customer
needs and efforts and buyers patient listening to the
sales pitch.
4. Selling the product at the right price and buying the
product at a right specification, price, place.
5. Seller’s effort to prove the superiority of a product over
its competitors and potential effort of the customer to
get the best offer at right price.
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 Buyer-seller Dyad conti;
6. Seller’s ability to modify the product/service according
to the changing requirements of the customer.
7. There shouldn’t be any communication gap.
8. Effective installation, delivery and after sales services
will establish the buyer- seller relationship
9. Seller should have a customer-centric orientation
10. Buyer’s organization should always accommodate
clearly to the salespeople
11. Buyer-seller relationship should not be limited to
economic issues only

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Determination of Seller – Buyer Dyad

• In today's environment, businesses are

increasingly dependent on the relationships they
have with their suppliers and are demanding that
they stick to high standards.
• It is increasingly important that buyers have
strong relationships with their suppliers to stay
ahead of competition.
• The establishment, development, and
maintenance of relationships between exchange
partners is crucial to achieving success
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Buyer-seller Dyad

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Thank you & All the best
sanjeewa4222@gmail.com
0773 337444

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