Industrial distribution salespeople work in complex environments. The foundation for understanding the salesperson's daily challenge is found within organizational buying and buyer behavior. Successful salespeople respond by planning, executing and controlling their sales efforts. The following tasks help accomplish those functions:

1. Identify and qualify prospects

Identifying prospective customers is essential to selling. Prospecting is a future-oriented task, providing both the company and salesperson with future sources of revenue, a more productive selling environment and better use of selling time.

Many resources are used to identify prospects. Along with personal observation and referrals, they include leads from advertising, trade shows, direct mail and telemarketing.

Prospects also are identified by their need for the product or service, eligibility to purchase, and the authority to make buying decisions. Once a prospect is identified, the salesperson begins the qualification process.

One of the first steps in this process is obtaining as much information as possible about individual prospects within the target firm. A key element in making a sale is the ability to reveal and satisfy any given prospect's business needs. For example, avoidance of production downtime and simple or no required maintenance are typical requirements of industrial process facilities. Similarly, ease of product installation is a critical factor to contractors.

A commonly overlooked aspect of the qualification process is the prospect's ability to buy. All the time- and money-saving features in the world cannot unfreeze a frozen budget. By assessing budgetary constraints, salespeople can ensure they are spending time on opportunities with reasonable expectations of becoming viable business.

2. Making the sales presentation

The sales presentation gives prospects specific information, educates them on the product or service, and answers questions or solves problems. Before giving the presentation, the salesperson typically arranges an appointment to pique the potential buyer's interest.

A major part of the presentation is demonstrating the functions of the product or service. Salespeople also must show the relevant features, explain how they translate to benefits, and share the personal commitments they will make to provide the buyer with peace of mind.

Handling objections is key to closing the order. Objections arise when the salesperson hasn't provided the buyer with enough confidence to say "yes" just yet. Unresolved issues are overcome by clarifying finer points of the presentation or by effective responses to unanticipated concerns.

3. Develop and maintain customer rapport

Industrial selling is more like a marathon than a sprint, as prospects are rarely convinced to buy on a single call. Most orders result from the cumulative efforts of numerous calls to different individuals over time. The majority of industrial business is still transacted in person. It is the salesperson who "is the company"— providing the image, communicating capabilities and handling the lengthy transactions characteristic of industrial sales. Industrial selling requires ongoing cooperative efforts between buyers and salespeople. During the selling process, salespeople must be capable negotiators on post-sales service and maintenance, product specifications, delivery dates and pricing. Successful industrial sales are characterized by the evolution of the initial order into a long-term partnering relationship — between the manufacturer, the distributor and the end user — in which everyone benefits.