Project

Sales Presentation Project FALL 2020

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Sales Presentation Project You will be responsible for doing a complete sales presentation on a product or service in a business-to-business situation. This project has both written and oral components. The product or service is your choice. You may not act as an advertising firm or a marketing firm. Only students in visual communication design are exempt form this. However, they must set up a formal consultation with me to understand their parameters. To get a good grade on this project, use the Consultative Selling Checklist posted in the course documents folder in Blackboard to understand your company and industry and your target company. You will turn in six written components for this project. I’ve designed these to walk you through the investigative process in the typical B2B sales situation. We will discuss these in class. I will reduce your grade on the project by 50 points (one letter grade) for each written component you fail to turn in on time. Formatting is Critical

All your materials must be typed in 11 point Arial Narrow, single-spaced with one inch margins all around. Make sure your right margin is ragged. Put your name, class and meeting time, Bronco ID number, and project part number IN THE HEADER on the right side. Put your page number in the footer on the right side. If you fail to conform to this format on each written component, I will reduce your grade by 50 points (one letter grade) for the entire project.

Advice from former students regarding the major project

 Start the major project today. The earlier you start the easier it will be.

 Look ahead, so you know what’s due. Don’t wait to the last minute. Use the calendar.

 Get your formatting straight from the beginning.

 Once you have your client, confirm every meeting ahead of time. It’s your grade.

 Dig in with your questions as quickly as you can after establishing rapport with the client. Don’t dawdle.

 Know what smoke screen issues are. It will save you lots of time.

 Look for problems in production. They are the easiest ones to solve for this project.

 Know your FAB selling.

 Write out a script for your presentation. Learn it by heart. Don’t try to wing it.

 Make your presentation like a conversation with a trusted friend. It’s got to flow.

Begin with the end in mind.

Sales Presentation Project FALL 2020

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Part 1—Explore businesses to find someone to work with You will explore at least two (2) small businesses and talk with the owners or decision makers to see if they will agree to allow you to interview them over a period of time about their business. Be specific about how much time you’re asking for. These must be brick and mortar operations that are already in business. You may not work with franchises, start-ups or e-businesses. You must meet with the decision maker in the business who has the authority to buy. The manager or other person in charge of operations may not work. This person must have the authority to buy. (This might be the owner, and it might not.) The easiest businesses to work with produce a product or service. Consider food service. They produce food. Retail businesses that sell manufactured goods are a poor choice. They will never reveal their margins. Consulting firms also do not produce anything. You will be responsible for doing a complete sales presentation on a product or service in a business-to-business situation. This project has both written and oral components. The product or service is your choice. You may not work with businesses located on or adjacent to the following areas:

W. Temple Avenue from Grand Avenue to Golden Springs Road Amar Boulevard from Meadow Pass Road to Grand Avenue Pomona Boulevard from Valley Boulevard to Voyager Street

You should look at places where you are somewhat familiar with the operation but do not have a preexisting relationship with the owner or principal. You might consider looking at a type of business that you find interesting. You might need to visit several places before you find someone to work with. Even if the first person you meet with agrees to work with you, have a backup person just in case your client bails. It’s your grade. Make sure that the client understands that you will be meeting with every week for five weeks. Let them know what they will get from you (i.e. extra knowledge) and make sure they understand what is at stake for you. If they flake out on you, it’s your grade.

You can find small businesses in different places.

 Strip shopping malls

 Small industrial parks

 Small office parks

 Ask your friends (their parents may know people who are small business owners)

 Yelp

 Ask business people for referrals

Please turn in the following written assignment for your client:

 The full name of the person you will be working with.

 The name of the business, its physical location and the phone number

 A brief explanation of what the business does

Here’s a sample write-up for one firm: 1. Michael Dane

DC Machine 2834 Arrow Highway, #3B, Pomona 909-977-1000 DC machine specializes in machining engine parts of race cars.

Sales Presentation Project FALL 2020

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Part 2—Conducting the first interview In this part, you will apply the skills you have learned in class (adaptive communication, rapport, and active listening). Your job is to befriend the person and learn as much as you can about him or her and his or her business. You will work closely with the person who has agreed to work with you. At this point, you begin by building rapport. You should being learning how the business works (how do they produce their product or service). Write out all your questions before you go on the interview. Here are some possible interview questions:

 How did you get started in this business?

 What advice could you give someone who is just starting out?

 What problems never occurred to you when you were starting out? How were you able to overcome them?

 What’s the biggest challenge today in making your business work?

 What is your favorite day-to-day activity in this business? What’s the least favorite?

 Why did you choose this spot for your business? What do you wish this spot had that it doesn’t?

Please turn in the second written component in Q&A format. Maximum length is one page.

Sales Presentation Project FALL 2020

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Part 3—Understanding operations and Identifying a problem or opportunity You will continue to apply the skills you have learned in class (adaptive communication, rapport, and active listening). You are continuing to build these relationships. You will visit all of the people you met in part one (3-5 people) who have agreed to work with you. This time, your questions will focus on the customer’s operations and his or her goals. You are looking for problems that can be solved or opportunities that can be captured. The point of part three is to find a problem in production. Production is part of the four Ps of marketing. Problems with personnel are part of management. You cannot help them with management issues. Before you begin digging for problems, first learn how the company produces or does what they do. Ask the client to show you. Once you completely understand how they make the product or perform the service, consider some of these questions:

 What part of the production process takes up the most time?

 How often do you run into errors or mistakes in production?

 If you could change one part of the process, what would that be?

 Is there any part of the process that’s associated with high costs?

 Is there any part of the process that’s associated with o the waste of time o the waste of materials o the waste of other things, etc?

 Can you tell me what you would like to improve most about your process?

Identify as many problems as you can. Please turn in the third written component in Q&A format. Maximum length is one page.

Look out for

smokescreen

issues!

Sales Presentation Project FALL 2020

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Look out for

smokescreen

issues!

Part 4—Problem exploration and verification – listing all problems that could be solved First, you will work without the help of your client. Consider all of the problems that the client has been talking about. Consider what the businesses’ real issues are. Figure out which are “smokescreen” issues. For example, one smokescreen issue that often comes up is this “We’re not making enough money.” You must discover what is behind this smokescreen. Is there a bottleneck? Is there a process issue? Is it a machinery issue? Is it a personnel issue? You will develop a list of five (5) problems. Second, you will go back to meet with the client again. This time, your questions will focus on verifying that what you have seen as a problem really is the problem (e.g., bottleneck issue, process issue, machinery issue). How does the issue impinge on the client’s operations and his or her goals? You will continue to apply the skills you have learned in class (adaptive communication, rapport, and active listening). You are continuing to build this relationship.

Please turn in the fourth written component in a Q&A format. Maximum length is one page only.

Sales Presentation Project FALL 2020

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Part 5—Thinking through your solution for the customer In this section you will learn to think through the solutions you will present to the client. Your job here is to do the research on possible products/services to solve these problems. You can do this either by visiting the businesses that sell these products or by searching the internet. In either case, you must provide prices for these solutions. You may not make up a company to represent. Once again, you may not represent a marketing firm, a consulting firm or an advertising agency. You will type up the following in outline format as below. Your maximum length is two pages.

1. My product and firm (This is the product or service you are representing.) a. Product/service Outline the information about the product/service you are selling (i.e., what it is, how

the buyer would use it.) Write this in easy-to-understand, concise language. Do not copy and paste this from a brochure or technical description.

b. My company Outline information about your company that is relevant to your customer. For example, you

might outline the size of the company, its expertise, its image, etc. You may not make up a company to represent. It has to be a real company that exists.

2. My buyer (This is the client you have been interviewing.) My client (The buying firm)

Outline information about the company you are selling to. Give enough information so that I can understand what the buying firm does and what product/service it is currently using (that you will replace with your product/service). Remember to include the title (and a brief job description) of your buyer.

a. My client’s needs Outline information about your buyer’s needs with regard to your type of product as

far as you understand them now. You must provide enough information to answer your business person’s needs and show that you generally understand his or her situation. Note: you will be better off if you only list about three basic needs.

3. My buyer’s options Provide enough information, so your buyer can easily understand his or her options.

a. Your own product/service (Put actual name here and include prices) (This is your product or service)

1. Strengths (1 & 2) 2. Weaknesses (1 & 2)

b. Direct competitor number one (Put actual name here and include prices) 1. Strengths (1 & 2) 2. Weaknesses (1 & 2)

c. Direct competitor number two (Put actual name here and include prices) 1. Strengths (1 & 2) 2. Weaknesses (1 & 2)

d. Indirect competitor (Put actual name here and include prices) 1. Strengths (1 & 2) 2. Weaknesses (1 & 2)

4. Objectives Outline your goals for this meeting (i.e., the presentation you will have in class)

a. Minimum goal— (This is your “fall short” goal. It will put a little money in your pocket.)

b. Primary goal— (This is what you are aiming for. It will make you the money that you want.)

c. Optimistic goal— (This is your “home run” goal. It exceeds your dreams.)

Sales Presentation Project FALL 2020

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Part 6—Thinking through possible customer objections to your solution This exercise will help you anticipate the objections a customer might give you about your solution. When you know what objections you might be getting, you enter the presentation with confidence. You can also avoid many of the objections by bringing up the information within your presentation. That way the customer will know that you are thinking about him or her. Great sales people practice this process. You will turn in a list of ten (10) objections that are specific to the scenario you have set up. Do not write generic objections such as “your cost is too high.” You will courteously respond to these objections in the first person. Your write up should look like the example below.

Part 7—Oral presentation Treat this presentation as a “real world” situation. I will also video record you presenting before the entire class. You will appear properly groomed and in appropriate corporate business clothing as you would for an interview after you graduate. I will act as the buyer. I may choose to object and will expect you to handle the objection professionally. If you choose to use demonstration materials, you will be totally responsible for them. Do not use a PowerPoint.

List of Objections

1. I think the stove is too big. I can understand that you believe the…

2. I think the stove will be difficult to use. I can understand that you think …