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Fundamentals of Selling Customers for Life Through Service

T W E L F T H E D I T I O N

CHARLES M. FUTRELL Texas A & M University

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FUNDAMENTALS OF SELLING: CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE THROUGH SERVICE

Published by McGraw-Hill/Irwin, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, 10020. Copyright © 2011, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 1999, 1996, 1993, 1990, 1988, 1984 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.

Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 RJE/RJE 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

ISBN 978-0-07-352999-8 MHID 0-07-352999-0

Vice president and editor-in-chief: Brent Gordon Publisher: Paul Ducham Executive director of development: Ann Torbert Managing development editor: Laura Hurst Spell Editorial coordinator: Jonathan Thornton Vice president and director of marketing: Robin J. Zwettler Marketing director: Rhonda Seelinger Associate marketing manager: Jaime Halteman Vice president of editing, design and production: Sesha Bolisetty Project manager: Dana M. Pauley Senior buyer: Michael R. McCormick Design coordinator: Joanne Mennemeier Senior photo research coordinator: Keri Johnson Photo researcher: Ira C. Roberts Media project manager: Suresh Babu, Hurix Systems Pvt. Ltd. Typeface: 10/12 Times New Roman Compositor: Laserwords Private Limited Printer: R. R. Donnelley

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Futrell, Charles. Fundamentals of selling : customers for life through service / Charles M. Futrell.—12th ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN-13: 978-0-07-352999-8 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-07-352999-0 (alk. paper) 1. Selling. I. Title. HF5438.25.F87 2011 658.85—dc22

2010038114

www.mhhe.com

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To my Father, who calls us all to a life of unselfish love for all people of our world.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marketing Honor Society, recognized Charles for exceptional scholarly contributions to the sales profession in 2000. This is only the fourth time this recognition has been bestowed since its creation in 1988. Charles was the recipient of Sales & Mar- keting Executives International’s (SMEI) Educator of the Year in 2007. Among many other things, SMEI founded Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE), the only national, co-educational, professional fraternity in marketing, sales management, and selling. PSE has more than 45,000 members at 123 campuses. From January 1997 to August 2007, he was the Federated Professor in Mar- keting Studies at Texas A&M University.

In the spring of 2001, Dr. Futrell was chosen as a Fish Camp (Texas A&M University’s Freshman Orientation Camp) Namesake. Fish Camps are named after faculty members who have made a significant impact on Texas A&M, and nomina- tions for the award are made by students, which makes it a very prestigious honor for instructors. He has been an associate fac- ulty adviser for Impact, a four-day Christian summer camp for entering freshmen involving 1,000 freshmen and 300 advis- ers. Charles was on the leadership team of TAMU’s officially recognized Christian Faculty Network of over 250 scholars. Finally, in 2010 Charles was selected by students to represent Texas A&M as Guest Coach for the baseball game against the University of Texas.

Dr. Futrell has written or co-written eight successful books for the college and professional audience. Two of the most popular books are Fundamentals of Selling: Customers for Life through Service, twelfth edition, and ABC’s of Relation- ship Selling through Service, twelfth edition, both published by McGraw-Hill/Irwin. These books are used in hundreds of American and international schools. Over 300,000 students worldwide have learned from Professor Futrell’s books.

In 1997 Dr. Futrell began using his Web site and group e-mails in his sales classes. Students sign up for both a lecture period and lab time. In each semester’s six labs, students are videotaped in activities such as making a joint sales call, panel interview, selling oneself on a job interview, product sales pre- sentations, and various experiential exercises.

Professor Futrell’s books, research, and teaching are based on his extensive work with sales organizations of all types and sizes. This broad and rich background has resulted in his being invited to be a frequent speaker, researcher, and consultant to industry.

Charles M. Futrell is a Professor of Marketing in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Texas A&M University has approximately 45,000 stu- dents with 5,000 business majors and 800 marketing majors. Dr. Futrell has a B.B.A., M.B.A., and Ph.D. in marketing. He is a former salesperson turned professor. Before beginning his academic career, Professor Futrell worked in sales and market- ing capacities for eight years with the Colgate Company, The Upjohn Company, and Ayerst Laboratories.

Dr. Futrell’s research in personal selling, sales manage- ment, research methodology, and marketing management has appeared in numerous national and international journals, such as the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Marketing Research. An article in the summer 1991 issue of the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management ranked Charles as one of the top three sales researchers in America. He was also recog- nized in Marketing Education, Summer 1997, as one of the top 100 best researchers in the marketing discipline. His work has earned him several research awards.

Presently Charles is conducting research on how faith relates to salespeople’s organizational behavior. He also is investigat- ing how students’ faith helps them cope with the tremendous stresses experienced in college life. For his work, faith relates to any and all faiths of the world. Professor Futrell, as well as others, feels there is a mental health crisis on America’s col- lege campuses as well as in America’s general population. Read the newspaper and watch television for proof of the stresses people are experiencing in their lives and the often devastat- ing impact it has on their lives and the lives of others. Please contact him if you would like to work in either of these two areas. He would love to help you investigate these two under- researched areas in your country and college, no matter what part of the world.

Professor Futrell served as the American Marketing Asso- ciation’s Chair of the Sales and Sales Management Special Interest Group (SIG) for the 1996–97 academic year. He was the first person elected to this position. Charles was elected Finance Chair for the Sales SIG’s 1998–99 term. In 2005, this AMA group presented Charles with its Lifetime Achievement Award for commitment to excellence and service in the area of sales. In 1999, the Association of Former Students awarded him the Lowry Mays College and Graduate School of Business Distinguished Teaching Award. Mu Kappa Tau, the National

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product. Arguably, no other personal selling textbook presents a sales process or system in a logical sequence: from planning and the approach, to closing and follow-up for exceptional cus- tomer service. Scores of sales personnel in the industry today comment on how this textbook reflects what they do on sales calls with prospects and customers. The goal of Fundamentals of Selling has always been to demonstrate to students the order of steps within the selling process; provide numerous examples of what should be in each step; and how the steps within the selling process interact with one another. If a student under- stands the sales system by the end of the course, the class has successfully contributed to their education.

Fundamentals of Selling is a market leader in sales classes worldwide, and its materials can be found in four international versions. Numerous sales trainers around the globe use our sell- ing process to prepare their salespeople.

The Uniqueness of Fundamentals of Selling

The appendix to Chapter 1: “The Golden Rule of Personal Sell- ing as Told by a Salesperson,” reveals this textbook’s unique central focus—serving others unselfishly. To aid in this mes- sage, the acclaimed worldwide Golden Rule was incorporated in order to stress treating others as you would like to be treated in the marketplace and workplace.

The textbook’s foundation is based upon service. Its cor- nerstone is love (caring) of others. Fundamentals of Selling ’s values are supported by the pillars of an organization’s—and individual’s—integrity, trustworthiness, and character (see Exhibit 3.13). The center of business and personal life revolves around personal interactions; as a result, a theme of this text- book is that ethical service, based upon truth between people, builds strong long-term relationships.

Fundamentals of Selling seeks to prepare people for the 21st century’s demand for moral and ethical treatment—a universal declaration for human rights. It is a calling for a higher standard than what previously exists in many organizations worldwide. The General Assembly of the United Nations has proclaimed that humans possess reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Organizations should not be engaged in war within the marketplace, but com- mitted to serving mankind.

Many people seem to separate their personal life from their business life. Some individuals, when entering the business

Welcome to the Twelfth Edition of Fundamentals of Selling

A megatrend in today’s business world involves going to extreme efforts to meet consumer needs. Organizations cannot afford to lose customers. It is always easier to sell to a satisfied customer than an unsatisfied one. The cost of acquiring a new customer is higher than keeping a present customer.

Obtaining new customers and retaining present ones are the main challenges of salespeople. Increase in sales and profits is up to the sales personnel—the people who represent their employers through interacting with present or prospective cus- tomers. Sales professionals strive to create a long-term business relationship, which implies that personal relationships with cli- ents are formed. Consumers want to buy from someone who cares about their needs. People do business with the people they trust, and they trust the people they know.

This textbook focuses on taking care of the customer through exceptional customer service. Service means making a contri- bution to the welfare of others. Salespeople exist to help others.

New Additions, Expansions, and Reexaminations to This Edition

Using this textbook each year in my sales classes has resulted in a constant study of the text by students who provide feedback on its content. Present users of the textbook have offered detailed critiques providing direction for revision of the book, as have the reviewers noted in the Acknowledgments. The relationships and interactions in the various steps of the selling process have been carefully examined to form a more seamless flow from one chapter to the next, and special emphasis is placed on the importance of ethical behavior in working with prospects and customers. Other changes include:

■ Many examples with some illustrated using new photographs.

■ New videos, including national companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Hormel.

■ Updates in the PowerPoint's, instructors manual, and test bank.

■ A careful reading.

Fundamentals of Selling trains readers on a specific, yet generic, step-by-step selling process that is universal in nature. Once learned, a student has the basic background to sell any

PREFACE

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viii Preface

Basic Organization of the Book

The publisher and I worked hard to ensure that Fundamentals of Selling would provide students with the basic foundation for understanding all major aspects of selling. The 17 chapters in the text are divided into four parts:

■ Selling as a Profession. Emphasizes the history, career, rewards, and duties of the professional salesperson and illus- trates the importance of the sales function to the organiza- tion’s success. It also examines the social, ethical, and legal issues in selling.

■ Preparation for Relationship Selling. Presents the back- ground information salespeople use to develop their sales presentations.

■ The Relationship Selling Process. At the heart of this book, this part covers the entire selling process from prospecting to follow-up. State-of-the-art selling strategies, practices, and techniques are presented in a “how-to” fashion.

■ Managing Yourself, Your Career, and Others. The impor- tance of the proper use and management of one’s time and sales territory is given thorough coverage. Two chapters cover the fundamentals of managing salespeople. For many students, this is their only exposure to what a sales manager does in this challenging job.

Special to This Edition

Expanded Emphasis. Unselfish and ethical service to the customer underscores the Golden Rule of Personal Selling—a sales philosophy of unselfishly treating others as you would like to be treated without expecting reciprocity. This is how to build long-term relationships with customers.

The Tree of Business Life Icon. Beginning with Chapter 3, The Tree of Business Life icon is used to remind the reader of one of the main themes of the book. This theme emphasizes that by providing ethical service you build true relationships. This section was developed in hopes of having the reader consider how a salesperson would incorporate ethical service into the chapter’s topic.

The Golden Rule Icon. The Golden Rule icon appears in each chapter to help reinforce the Tree of Business Life. The combination of the Golden Rule and the “Tree” guidelines for business and selling form the core theme of this textbook. Unselfishly treating prospects/customers as you would like to be treated without expecting something in return results in ethical service which builds true long-term relationships. If you think about it, this is how you build true personal friendships. Why not build your business relationships on this rock?

Comprehensive Cases. At the end of the book are compre- hensive sales cases. These cases approach sales from the broader sales management perspective.

world, tend to follow the example of others to generate sales. The use of this textbook in your classroom may provide some students with a final opportunity to discuss how to enter the rat race without becoming a rat.

Fundamentals’ Approach

Fundamentals of Selling was conceived as a method of pro- viding ample materials that allow readers to construct their own sales presentations after studying the text. This allows the instructor the flexibility of focusing on the “how-to-sell” approach within the classroom. Covering the basic founda- tions for understanding the concepts and practices of selling in a practical, straightforward, and readable manner, it provides students with a guide to use in preparing sales presentations and role-playing exercises.

The Philosophy behind This Book

The title should help you understand the philosophy of this book. A student of sales should understand the fundamentals— the basics—of personal selling. All of them. I do not advocate one way of selling as the best route to success! There are many roads to reaching one’s goals.

I do feel a salesperson should have an assortment of sell- ing skills and should be very knowledgeable, even an expert, in the field. Based on the situation, the salesperson determines the appropriate actions to take for a particular prospect or customer. No matter what the situation, however, the basic fundamentals of selling can be applied.

There is no place in our society for high-pressure, manipula- tive selling. The salesperson is a problem solver, a helper, and an adviser to the customer. If the customer has no need, the salesperson should accept that and move on to help another per- son or firm. If the customer has a need, however, the salesper- son should and must go for the sale. All successful salespeople I know feel that once they determine that the customer is going to buy someone’s product—and that their product will satisfy that customer’s needs—it is their job to muster all their energy, skill, and know-how to make that sale. That is what it’s all about!

It is my sincere hope that after the reader has studied this book, he or she will say, “There’s a lot more to selling than I ever imagined.” I hope many people will feel that this material can help them earn a living and that selling is a great occupation and career.

At the end of the course, I hope all the students will have learned how to prepare and give a sales presentation by visually, verbally, and nonverbally communicating their message. I know of no other marketing course whose class project is so challeng- ing and where so much learning takes place.

Finally, I hope each student realizes that these new commu- nication skills can be applied to all aspects of life. Once learned and internalized, selling skills will help a person be a better communicator throughout life.

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Preface ix

Photo Essays. The book features many photographs accom- panied by captions that describe sales events and how they relate to chapter materials.

Chapter Topics and Objectives. Each chapter begins with a clear statement of learning objectives and an outline of major chapter topics. These devices provide an overview of what is to come and can also be used by students to see whether they understand and have retained important points.

Sales Challenge/Solution. The text portion of each chapter begins with a real-life challenge sales professionals face. The challenge pertains to the topic of the chapter and will heighten students’ interest in chapter concepts. The challenge is resolved at the end of the chapter, where chapter concepts guiding the salespersons’ actions are highlighted.

Making the Sale. These boxed items explore how salespeople, when faced with challenges, use innovative ideas to sell.

Selling Tips. These boxes offer the reader additional selling tips for use in developing their role-plays.

Artwork. Many aspects of selling tend to be confusing at first. “What should I do?” and “How should I do it?” are two questions frequently asked by students in developing their role-plays. To enhance students’ awareness and understanding, many exhibits have been included throughout the book. These exhibits consolidate key points, indicate relationships, and visually illustrate selling techniques.

Chapter Summary and Application Questions. Each chapter closes with a summary of key points to be retained. The application questions are a complementary learning tool that enables students to check their understanding of key issues, to think beyond basic concepts, and to determine areas that require further study. The summary and application questions help students discriminate between main and supporting points and provide mechanisms for self-teaching.

Key Terms for Selling/Glossary. Learning the selling voca- bulary is essential to understanding today’s sales world. This is facilitated in three ways. First, key concepts are boldfaced and completely defined where they first appear in the text. Second, each key term, followed by the page number where it was first introduced and defined, is listed at the end of each chapter. Third, a glossary summarizing all key terms and definitions appears at the end of the book for handy reference.

Ethical Dilemma. These challenging exercises provide stu- dents an opportunity to experience ethical dilemmas faced in the selling job. Students should review the definition and explanation of ethical behavior in Chapter 3 before discussing the ethical dilemmas.

Video Cases. Cases 3.1, 3.2, 5.3, 6A.5, 8.3, 11.3, 13.4, and 14.3 can be used independently or with eight of the videos accom panying this book. Each of the eight cases highlights a tough ethical dilemma often faced by sales personnel in today’s com petitive marketplace. Use any or all of these cases to emphasize ethics in your sales class.

Sales Call Role-Plays and Videos. The first three of the four role-plays in Appendix A at the back of this book have videos created incorporating our selling process. The two people featured in the three role-plays completed my selling course. The professional selling materials in Chapters 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 do a great job in illustrating. Actually used in my classes by hundreds of students, these role-plays are created from information used by today’s top sales forces.

Sell Yourself on a Job Interview. This all-time favorite role- play is in Appendix B with other experiential exercises. For years I have used this student pleaser in both my personal selling and sales management classes. When students see themselves on video they quickly realize what needs to be done for a professional interview. You have to try this exercise one time!

Student Application Learning Exercises (SALES). Chapters directly related to creating the role-play have SALES that aid students in better understanding how to construct this popular class project. These were first used in my classes in the fall of 1997. Students unanimously felt they were great in helping them correctly construct their role-plays. SALES appear at the end of Chapters 4, 6A, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13.

Sales Careers. Career information has been expanded thr oughout so students will better understand that there are sales jobs in all organizations—business, service, and nonprofit.

Selling Experiential Exercises. These end-of-chapter exer- cises help students to better understand themselves and/or the text material. Many can be done in class or completed outside and discussed in class.

Selling Globally Appendix. Many of these situations were written by friends and colleagues from countries around the world. They are at the back of the book.

Technology in Selling. A central theme within each chapter shows the use of technology and automation in selling and servicing prospects and customers.

Text and Chapter Pedagogy

Many reality-based features are included in the twelfth edition to stimulate learning. One major goal of this book is to offer better ways of using it to convey sales knowledge to the reader. To do this, the book includes numerous special features:

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x Preface

ProSelling Videos. Several hours of student role-plays, exer- cises, examples of selling techniques, and industry sales training programs show students how to prepare their own role-plays, and how textbook content relates to the sales world. Several of the student’s video role-plays were produced especially for this book. They take people through the 10-step selling process.

Instructor’s Manual. Loaded with ideas on teaching the course, chapter outlines, commentaries on cases, answers to everything—plus much more—the Instructor’s Manual is a large, comprehensive time-saver for teachers.

Test Bank. The most important part of the teaching package is the Test Bank. We gave the Test Bank special attention during the preparation of the twelfth edition because instructors desire test questions that accurately and fairly assess student competence in subject material. The Test Bank provides hundreds of multiple-choice and true/false questions. Each question has been rated for level of difficulty and designated with page number in the text to locate the correct answer so that instructors can provide a balanced set of questions for student exams.

Course Web Site. At http://www.mhhe.com/futrell11e, you can access downloadable versions of instructor support mate- rials, as well as a student tutorial and student self-assessment quizzes.

■ A PowerPoint Presentation. A state-of-the-art program offering hundreds of lecture slides. These slides can be cus- tomized for any course. They are great!

■ Computerized Test Bank. The Computerized Test Bank allows instructors to select and edit test items from the printed Test Bank and to add their own questions. Various versions of each test can be custom printed.

■ Electronic Version of the Instructor’s Manual

Further Exploring the Sales World. These projects ask students to go beyond the textbook and classroom to explore what’s happening in the real world. Projects can be altered or adapted to the instructor’s school location and learning objectives for the class.

Cases for Analysis. Each chapter ends with brief but sub- stantive cases for student analysis and class discussion. These cases provide an opportunity for students to apply concepts to real events and to sharpen their diagnostic skills for sales problem solving. Comprehensive cases are found in the back of the book.

As you see, the publisher and I have thoroughly considered how best to present the material to readers for maximizing their interest and learning. Teacher, reviewer, and student response to this revision has been fantastic. They are pleased with the read- ability, reasonable length, depth, and breadth of the material. You will like this edition better than the previous one.

Teaching and Learning Supplements

McGraw-Hill/Irwin has spared no expense to make Funda- mentals of Selling the premier text in the market today. Many instructors face classes with limited resources, and supple- mentary materials provide a way to expand and improve the students’ learning experience. Our learning package was specif- ically designed to meet the needs of instructors facing a variety of teaching conditions and for both the first-time and veteran instructor.

Professor Futrell—Your Number One Resource. Contact me any time with questions, comments, or just to say “hello.” Numerous instructors, students, and industry sales trainers worldwide contact me each year. If you are teaching the course, especially for the first time, and want me to look over your syllabus, I am here to serve.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Working with the dedicated team of professionals at McGraw-Hill/Irwin, who were determined to produce the best personal selling book ever, was a gratifying experience.

In overseeing this revision, Publisher Paul Ducham, Sponsoring Editor Laura Spell, and Editorial Coordinator Jonathan Thornton offered ideas for improvements to the twelfth edition package. Keri Johnson oversaw the selection of new photographs for this edition. Project Manager Dana Pauley ably guided man- uscript and page proofs through the production process. Designer Matt Diamond updated the interior to make the visual elements exciting for students and instructors.

Another group of people who made a major contribution to this text were the sales experts who provided advice, reviews, answers to ques- tions, and suggestions for changes, insertions, and clarifications. I want to thank these col- leagues for their valuable feedback and sugges- tions: Dan Cassler, University of Houston; Paul W. Clark, Indiana State University; Fred H. Fusting, Loyola University Maryland; Virginia H. Johnson, University of Alabama; Les Led- ger, Central Texas College; Barbara L. Sleeper, Dallas Baptist University.

I also want to again thank those people who contributed to earlier editions, because their input is still felt in this twelfth edition. They were Katrece Albert, Southern University;

Ramon A. Avila, Ball State University; Duane Bachmann, Central Missouri State University; Ames Barber, Adirondack Community Col- lege; John R. Beem, College of DuPage; Dawn Bendall-Lyon, University of Montevallo; Mil- ton J. Bergstein, Pennsylvania State University; George Boulware, Lipscomb University; Chris Brandmeir, Highline Community College; Dan Cassler, University of Houston; Michael Cicero, Highline Community College; Norman Cohn, Milwaukee Tech; Marjorie Cooper, Baylor Uni- versity; Gerald Crawford, University of North Alabama; William H. Crookston, California State University–Northridge; Gary Donnelly, Casper College; Casey Donoho, Northern Arizona University; Sid Dudley, Eastern Illi- nois University; Dennis Elbert, University of North Dakota; Earl Emery, Baker Junior Col- lege of Business; O. C. Ferrell, Colorado State University; Fred H. Fusting, Loyola College in Maryland; Douglas E. Gatton, Dallas Baptist University; Myrna Glenny, Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising; Ric Gorno, Cypress College; David Gripp, Milwaukee Area Techni- cal College; Kevin Hammond, Community Col- lege of Allegheny County; LeaAnna Harrah, Marion Technical College; Jon Hawes, Uni- versity of Akron; Deborah Jansky, Milwaukee Area Technical College; Albert Jerus, North- western College; Donna Kantack, Elrick & Lavidge; Dennis Kovach, Community College

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of Allegheny County; Deborah Lawe, San Fran- sicsco State University; James E. Littlefield, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State Univer- sity; Lynn J. Loudenback, New Mexico State University; Michael L. Mallin, The University of Toledo; Leslie E. Martin, Jr., University of Wisconsin–Whitewater; Brian Meyer, Mankato State University; Ken Miller, Kilgore College; Harry Moak, Macomb Community College; Dick Nordstrom, California State University– Fresno; James Ogden, Kutztown University; Becky Oliphant, Stetson University; Roy Payne, Purdue University; Charles E. Peterson, Uni- versity of Connecticut; Robert Piacenza, Madi- son Area Technical College; Alan Rick, New England Institute of Technology; John Ronch- etto, University of San Diego; Jeff Sager, Uni- versity of North Texas; Donald Sandlin, East Los Angeles College; Todd Saville, Kirkwood Commu nity College; Allen Schaefer, Missouri State University; Ian J. Scharf, University of Miami-Coral Gables; Joseph Schubert, Dela- ware Technical & Community College; Camille P. Schuster, Xavier University ; Lisa Sciulli, Indiana University of Pennsylvania; Richard Shannon, Western Kentucky University; Dee Smith, Lansing Community College; Robert Smith, Illinois State University; Ed Snider, Mesa Community College ; Amita Sood, Ameri- can Inter Continental University. William A. Stull, Utah State University; Robert Tangsrud, Jr., University of North Dakota; Albert J. Taylor, Austin Peay State University; James L. Taylor, University of Alabama; Ruth Taylor, Southwest Texas State University; Robert Thompson, Indi- ana State University; Rollie Tilman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; John Todd, University of Tampa; Glenna Urbshadt, British Columbia Institute of Technology; Bruce Wars- leys, Trend Colleges; Dan Weilbaker, Northern Illinois University; Raymond Wimer, Syra- cuse University; Timothy W. Wright, Lakeland

Community College; and George Wynn, James Madison University.

I would also like to thank the many Texas A&M students who have used the book in their classes and provided feedback. Thanks also to the many instructors who call me each year to discuss the book and what they do in their classes. While we have never met face-to-face, I feel I know you. Your positive comments, encouragement, and ideas have been inspira- tional to me.

In addition, salespeople and sales managers have provided photographs, selling techniques, answers to end-of-chapter exercises and cases, and other industry materials that enrich the reader’s learning experience. They include the following:

Kim Allen, McNeil Consumer Products Company; Alan Baker, Noxell Corporation; Michael Bevan, Parbron International of Can- ada; Richard Ciotti, JCPenney Company; John Croley, The Gates Rubber Company; Terry and Paul Fingerhut, Steamboat Party Sales, Inc., Tupperware; Bill Frost, AT&T Com- munications; Steve Gibson, Smith Barney; Gary Grant, NCR; Jerry Griffin, Sewell Vil- lage Cadillac–Sterling, Dallas; Martha Hill, Hanes Corporation; Debra Hutchins, Sunwest Bank of Albuquerque; Mike Impink, Aluminum Company of America ( ALCOA ) ; Bob James, American Hospital Supply Corporation; Morgan Jennings, Richard D. Irwin, Inc. ; Patrick Kam- lowsky, Hughes Tool Company; Cindy Kerns, Xerox Corporation; Alan Killingsworth, FMC Corporation; Santo Laquatra, SmithKline Bee- cham; Stanley Marcus; Gerald Mentor, Richard D. Irwin, Inc. ; Jim Mobley, General Mills, Inc. ; George Morris, Prudential Insurance Com- pany of America; Vikki Morrison, First Team Walk-In Realty, California; Greg Munoz, Dow Chemical Company; Kathleen Paynter, Camp- bell Sales Company; Bruce Powell, Richard

xii Acknowledgments

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D. Irwin, Inc. ; Jack Pruett, Bailey Banks and Biddle; Emmett Reagan, Xerox Corporation; Bruce Scagel, Scott Paper Company; Linda Slaby-Baker, The Quaker Oats Company; San- dra Snow, The Upjohn Company; Matt Suffo- letto, International Business Machines ( IBM ) ; Ed Tucker, Cannon Financial Group, Georgia.

For the use of their selling exercises and sales management cases, I am especially grateful to these people:

■ Gerald Crawford, Keith Absher, Bill Stewart, University of North Alabama

■ Fred W. Kniffin, University of Connecticut ■ Zarrell V. Lambert, Southern Illinois Univer-

sity at Carbondale ■ Dick Nordstrom, California State University–

Fresno ■ Jeffrey K. Sager, University of North Texas

■ James L. Taylor, University of Alabama ■ George Wynn, James Madison University

I hope you learn from and enjoy the book. I enjoyed preparing it for you. Readers are urged to forward their comments on this text to me. I wish you great success in your selling efforts. Remember, it’s the salesperson who gets the cus- tomer’s orders that keeps the wheels of industry turning. America cannot do with out you.

Finally, I wish to thank the sales trainers, salespeople, and sales managers who helped teach me the art of selling when I carried the sales bag full time. I hope I have done justice to their great profession of selling.

Charles M. Futrell

c-futrell@tamu.edu

http://futrell-www.tamu.edu

Acknowledgments xiii

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Rev. Confirming Pages

xiv

GUIDED TOUR

A goal of Fundamentals of Selling is to teach students the order of steps within the selling process; pro- vide numerous examples of what should be in each step; and demonstrate how the steps within the selling process interact within one another in a logical, seamless flow. Arguably, no other per- sonal selling textbook presents a sales process in such a manner from planning the approach, to closing and follow-up for exceptional customer service. Futrell’s Selling Process trains readers in a specific, yet generic, step- by-step selling process that is universal in nature. Once learned, a student has the basic background to sell any product.

p p

As the sales manager of a printing company, you are about to invest in a car leasing program that involves 18 company cars for your sales staff. Together with your comptroller, you have examined several leasing programs. You have narrowed down your selection to two leasing companies that offer very similar terms. You are meeting with the president of Equilease, a company with which you have never done business. You know from your own prospect fi les that one of your sales representatives has tried to call on the purchasing manager of Equile- ase before to get some of their printing business; however, he could not sell the account.

As you meet with the president for lunch, you gently steer the conversation in the direc- tion of printing services. Since he is very knowledgeable about printing services and prices, you ask him about ballpark prices charged by his existing supplier. You believe you could provide his company with higher-quality service at a better price.

Since the president of Equilease is in a good mood, you think about setting up a win–win situation. You are considering making this offer: Let’s make this a double win. I’ll give you 100 percent of our leasing business if you’ll consider giving us 50 percent of your printing business. Fair enough?

Is there an ethical confl ict in this situation? Would it be ethical to propose such a deal?

Sales personnel constantly are involved with social, ethical, and legal issues. Yet if you think about it, everyone is—including you. If you found a bag full of $100 bills lying on the side of the road, would you keep it? Would you say you were sick to get extra time off work? Would you use the company car to run a personal errand? Have you ever broken the speed limit? Have you ever gone home with one of your employer’s pens in your purse or jacket pocket?

These sorts of questions may be diffi cult for the average person to answer. Some people will respond with an unequivocal yes or no. Others may mull it over a while. Still others may feel compelled to say “it depends” and qualify their response with a “yes, but . . .” or a “no, but . . .” Maybe that was what you did with the Sales Chal- lenge feature.

Newspapers, radio, and television frequently have news stories of individuals and organizations involved in both good and bad practices. This chapter addresses many of the important social, ethical, and legal (SEL) issues in selling. It begins by discussing management’s social responsibilities. Then it examines ethical behavior followed by the ethical issues involved in dealing with salespeople, employers, and consumers. The chapter ends by presenting ways an organization can help its sales personnel follow ethical selling practices.

An organization’s environment is a major infl uence on how the fi rm sells its prod- ucts. As pictured in Exhibit 3.1 , social, ethical, and legal (SEL) infl uences and con- siderations surround the fi rm’s product, price, place, and promotion.

Due to the environmental turmoil in the world of commerce, this chapter is argu- ably the most important in the entire book. Let’s begin by asking, “Does an organi- zation have any responsibilities to society?”

In one sense, the concept of corporate social responsibility is easy to understand; it means distinguishing right from wrong and doing right. It means being a good cor- porate citizen. The formal defi nition of social responsibility is management’s obli- gation to make choices and take actions that contribute to the welfare and interests of society as well as to those of the organization.

FACING A SALES CHALLENGE

FACING A SALES CHALLENGE

SOCIAL, ETHICAL, AND LEGAL

INFLUENCES

SOCIAL, ETHICAL, AND LEGAL

INFLUENCES

MANAGEMENT’S SOCIAL

RESPONSIBILITIES

MANAGEMENT’S SOCIAL

RESPONSIBILITIES

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The Facing a Sales Challenge fea- ture at the beginning of each chapter presents students with real-life chal- lenges sales professionals face. The challenge pertains to the topic of the chapter and will heighten students’ interest in chapter concepts. The chal- lenge is then resolved at the end of the chapter where chapter concepts guiding the salesperson’s actions are highlighted.