1. Candle-Mix, a supply house for scented and unscented tapers and other ceremonial candles to houses of worship, restaurants, and other establishments, has experienced a downturn in business in the last two years. Upon investigation, Kim, the owner of Candle-Mix, learns that the same candles that they sell are available from online retailers for at least 13% less. The firm will not be able to survive if customers continue purchasing from competing e-retailers. Candle-Mix maintains a storefront for selling candles but does not provide other services or products. Which of the following would most likely enable Candle-Mix to recapture their previous customers and gain new customers?

Candle-Mix could lower their prices on less popular candles to create "loss leaders" that would induce new customers to purchase regularly-priced candles from them.

Candle-Mix could shut down their retail location to cut overhead and move their business to the Internet, where they could charge lower prices and compete with other online candle retailers.

Candle-Mix could send out a mailing to all their customers reminding them that they carry a full line of candles.

Candle-Mix could move their store to a more visible and expensive location in the mall.

Candle-Mix could announce a "candle of the month" program to discount candles that traditionally have not sold as well as their other candles.

Question 2. 2. Mondelez Corporation is expanding into a new territory in which they are not as well-known as they are in their current territories. As part of this new push, the sales director decides to use a strategy that involves making aggressive cold-calls and hosting frequent educational seminars. How will the sales cycle in this new territory most likely compare in length to the cycle in the established territories of Mondelez Corporation?

It will be shorter, because the salespeople will be calling prospects to introduce the company.

It will be shorter, because Mondelez Corporation will not have to overcome false impressions.

It will be longer, because the salespeople will have to introduce the company in cold calls instead of getting name recognition from prospects.

It will be longer, because consumers in the new territory have not expressed a need for Mondelez Corporation's products before.

It will be the same, because sales presentations are independent of sales cycles.

Question 3. 3. Robert Caruthers has just been hired by Kipler Company to replace a sales representative who is retiring after 40 years with the company. The older representative is training Robert on procedures and customers in his territory for three weeks before he retires, and Robert knows this is a huge opportunity to learn about the prospect base. When Robert asks which CRM system the company uses, the older representative says, "Everyone else here uses some computer program called Salesforce, but I won't touch it. I know my customers like the back of my hand! I never needed to write anything down." Robert becomes concerned. He used Salesforce in college and knows how vital it is to have customer information, sales records, preferences, and conversations recorded. Which aspect of the CRM process did the sales manager miss out on most by the retiring representative's non-use of Salesforce?

Accurate reports for forecasting and projected client revenues.

Personally knowing the names of the clients.

Ensuring all sales team members worked the same way.

Keeping the organizational culture in sync.

Full disclosure reports for ethics training and corporate compliance.

Question 4. 4. George Kline is a sales representative for Southern-Swim, a swimming pool service and supply company. Southern-Swim sells the chemicals needed for pool maintenance as well as pool accessories like slides, ladders, and diving boards. Southern-Swim sells to both consumers and businesses. George has noticed that many of his customers become very frustrated with him when he attempts to use needs assessment, problem solving, or relationship building techniques. These customers typically know what product will meet their needs. How would George most likely benefit from aligning the sales process with the customer's buying process?

lower advertising and marketing costs

greater efficiency with fewer salespeople

lower travel expenses due to fewer customer visits

greater success in making sales due to understanding how buyers buy

fewer returns from customers who felt pressured into making transactional purchases

Question 5. 5. Chun Tai is a sales representative for Southern-Swim, a swimming pool service and supply company. Southern-Swim sells the chemicals needed for pool maintenance as well as pool accessories like slides, ladders, and diving boards. Southern-Swim sells to both consumers and businesses. Chun has noticed that many of his customers become very frustrated with him when he attempts to use needs assessment, problem solving, or relationship building techniques. These customers typically know what product will meet their needs. Chun has identified that a customer strongly identifies with social groups and is influenced heavily by her role, reference, social class, and culture. What would be important for Chun to do to win the sale from this customer?

Position the product as being a luxury product.

Position the product as fitting with the groups the customer identifies with.

Position the product as being the standard across all groups.

Assume the mannerisms of the culture the customer identifies with.

Mimic the customer's speech patterns to create rapport.

Question 6. 6. Women's swimwear designer Keli Muan'a designs high-end swimsuits. The suits are sassy in style, but fit a wide variety of body shapes and sizes, which is unusual in the high-end market. Sales director Debbie Clark sells the suits to boutiques at exclusive resorts and hotels. These boutiques usually carry other high-end swimsuit lines. Which of the following is a survey question Debbie could ask a boutique buyer?

Can we arrange delivery for next Wednesday?

Are the limited sizes of the other swimsuits you carry affecting sales?

What are the most common swimsuit sizes sold to guests at the resort?

Is it correct that the swimsuit lines you currently stock do not appeal to older women?

What if we could give you a line to sell that is luxurious but also looks as good on older and bigger women as it does on smaller women?

Question 7. 7. Northern Fire Big Equipment imports heavy machinery used in regions of Europe and North America where heavy snowfall is an issue. This machinery is used by cities and counties to clear roads during snowstorms. Josh Andrews is the senior regional sales manager for New England. Josh goes into a meeting with the sanitation director of a large U.S. city that got slammed by a snowstorm a month previously. During the cleanup, operators of the city's plows destroyed a significant amount of city and personal property, which triggered public inquiry into the competence of the sanitation staff and director. Which part of the need-satisfaction model is Josh performing when he explains to the sanitation director why the equipment he has selected will fulfill his needs?

Part 1: Need Discovery

Part 2: Selecting a Solution

Part 3: Need Satisfaction

Part 4: Servicing the Sale

Part 5: Leveraging Referrals

Question 8. 8. GoodYear Tires, Inc. designs and manufactures tires for the trucking industry. Their products include tires for semi-cabs as well as tractor-trailers of various sizes and weight limits. Ron, a sales representative for GoodYear, is meeting with a trucking company that delivers primarily lumber and other supplies to home improvement and construction retailers. Ron realizes that the trucking company can purchase tires from other tire companies. With this in mind, he should most likely:

promote GoodYear as the industry leader even if this is untrue

ignore the features and benefits of the lowest-priced competitor

point out quality problems with the firm's current tire provider

highlight the drop in prices of GoodYear tires in the last five years

focus on favorable differences between GoodYear tires and the next-best alternative

Question 9. 9. Jorge Ortez works at the MittleRx Cosmetic counter at a high-end department store. His job is to give prospects a facial and makeover using MittleRx products and then sell them the products he used. Jorge always says that he's "in the business of making women feel good about how they look." The proof device Jorge is most likely to use is:

FDA safety ratings for the ingredients used in the products

the makeover itself

testimonials by the other MittleRx sales representatives at the counter

survey results of satisfied MittleRx users

a tour of the manufacturing facilities

Question 10. 10. Jack Wilson is a junior sales representative for a large equipment manufacturer. Kesha Waters, a senior sales representative, has requested that Jack help her to prepare a sales presentation for a new prospect. Jack and Kesha make a second call on a client to present the proposal. After thanking the prospect for agreeing to a meeting, Kesha says, "I would like to accomplish three goals during the time you've given us today." Which approach is she most likely using?

customer benefit

referral

premium

agenda

survey

1. Eagle Enterprises is a design company that sells office equipment, layout and furnishing packages to builders and developers. Bo Hernandez is a trade sales representative with Eagle Enterprises. As a trade sales representative, he promotes the company and its products to brokers who have their sales representatives selling Eagle's designs, equipment and furnishings to clients. A large part of Bo's job involves attending industry trade shows and working at the Eagle Enterprises booth at the exhibit hall of the trade show. Since Bo covers both trade shows and resellers, it makes most sense for him to organize his territory by:

date of trade show and location of reseller

date of trade show and complexity of reseller

time zone of trade show and time zone of reseller

size of trade show and size of reseller

size of trade show and zip code of reseller

Question 2. 2. Calico Computing is a firm that sells software integration and infrastructure packages to schools and universities. Georgia Redding is an inside sales representative with Calico Computing. As an inside sales representative, her sales presentations are made via webinar. She reaches clients and prospects by phone, email, and instant messaging, all from her home office. According to Georgia, the best thing about her job is having a fulfilling professional career but never having to commute to an office. Georgia needs to organize her territory. Which categories would make the most sense for her to use to organize her territory to schedule her calls most efficiently?

zip code and type of organization

time zone and size of organization

time zone and zip code

zip code and contact's position in the organization

area code and contact's position in the organization

Question 3. 3. Tommy DesDain is the sales representative for the Holiday Zoo. He sells events, such as wedding receptions, corporate dinners, and fundraisers that are held on zoo grounds. Tommy has just finished negotiating all the details of Carole Madison's upcoming wedding reception and is preparing to close the sale. Carole is considerably interested in having her wedding at the zoo but seems to need help envisioning the process and benefits. What type of close should Tommy most likely use?

summary of benefits

trial

direct appeal

assumptive

special options

Question 4. 4. Gina Robertson is a sales representative with Coast-to-Coast Trans, a company that provides full service chartered flights-airplanes, pilots, staff, and services-to client groups. She has just closed a large sale of several flights each week for four months to a service organization of college students. The students are sent on work service projects all across the United States. The first flights will begin one week after the closing date. After the first flight, Gina would most likely build a long-term relationship with the new client by:

e-mailing a new flight schedule

sending an online customer service survey

calling the client to ensure satisfaction with the flight

requesting referrals from the client to engage in upselling

checking with the billing department to make sure the client was invoiced

Question 5. 5. Ana Lexington is the director of Membership Programs for the St. Louis Museum. She develops the programs and sells them to museum visitors. The programs are tiered and include discounts and special member-only deals. Which of the following actions by Ana would most likely provide a moment of magic for new members of the museum?

sending an electronic receipt for payment

providing a plastic membership card

giving away museum t-shirts to new members

printing a schedule of museum hours and events

seeking donations for the museum's outreach program
1. Our textbook discusses three channels of distribution that employ sales professionals. Discuss the main components of the Consumers Channels. Which career opportunity within this channel do you see yourself working in? Explain why you chose this option.

Question 2. 2. List the four dimensions of opportunity management. How would you describe your stress management skills? List the four stress management strategies discussed in the text and describe how you can use each to increase reduce and control stress.

Question 3. 3. Ron Hall is a customer service representative responsible for selling time-shares to a new family resort on the Orlando Florida Universal Studios property. Assume that Ron's buyer is a married father of three young children, a partner in a Detroit law firm and has an analytical communication style. How should Ron plan to approach this buyer? What features and benefits will most likely appeal to this buyer? What type of selling tools will help make the demonstration most effective?

Question 4. 4. What are the major differences between Sales and Marketing? What can Sales and Marketing do to better coordinate their activities?

Question 5. 5. Describe the evolution of partnering selling. What is the nature of strategic account management? How do value-added selling strategies enhance personal selling?