Table of Contents/ Introduction   

PART I: Introduction to Activities   

            Chapter 1: Using the Book   

            Chapter 2: Developing Successful Salespeople   

PART II: The Activities   

1. The Listening Test   

            To identify factors which help and hinder effective listening

            To practice listening skills

2. Give It To Me...I Want It!   

            This exercise is designed to help participants understand the process from both the seller's perspective and the buyer's perspective.

3. How Good An Inspector Are You?     

            To identify the factors that hinder our ability to apply established skills to a new task

            To demonstrate the limitations of observations

4. The Nickel Auction   

            Win/win negotiation are based on trust and a common goal. This exercise is specifically designed to :

            Demonstrate the cost of win/lose negotiations

            Identify strategies for initiating win/win negotiations

5. What Does It Take To Be A World-Class Salesperson?   

            To help participants develop a practical model of a world-class salesperson

            To help participants assess themselves against the model and identify their strengths and improvement opportunities

6. Spot The Misspelled Words  

            Written communication sends a specific and powerful message to clients. Letters, memos and proposals with misspelled words leave an unprofessional impression. This exercise is designed to help participants recognize commonly misspelled words.

7. Punctuation Exercise   

            To enable participants to improve their ability to use punctuation appropriately

8. The Great American Shootout   

            To help participants set challenging but realistic goals

            To help participants develop a plan for achieving their goals by utilizing each team's resources and talents

9. Territory Management Style  

            To enable participants to examine their own approach to managing their territory

            To provide feedback on the participant's territory management style

            To stimulate a general discussion about territory management style

10.  Behavioral Styles   

            To enable participants to recognize the behavioral style of others

            To provide feedback on their behavioral style

            To stimulate a general discussion about behavioral style

11.  Behavioral Styles Game   

            To help participants recognize behaviors that differentiate the behavioral styles

            To help participants become more comfortable with the behavioral styles

12. Adapting Your Behavioral Style   

            To help participants recognize when they are not effective in adapting to a customer's behavioral style

            To help participants develop sales strategies for improving their relationships with difficult customers

13. Breaking The Code   

            To demonstrate how group dynamics impact group problem solving

            To provide participants with feedback on their style of influencing others

            To demonstrate how risk, reward, and competition influence group performance.

14.  The Sales Presentation Role-Play  

            To help participants try new sales skills without risk of failure

            To give participants feedback on the effect of their behavior on others

            To improve participants' effectiveness in delivering an effective sales presentation

            To improve participant's ability to recognize effective and ineffective behaviors in themselves and in others

            To share and refine successful skills and techniques

15. Selling Skills Inventory   

            To provide a structure for assessing selling skills

            To help salespeople identify their selling skills strengths and improvement opportunities

16.  Neutralizing Objections   

            To identify the most common objections

            To develop strategies for neutralizing (or pre-answering) objections

17.  Peer Group Review   

            To help salespeople give and receive performance-based feedback

            To help participants establish realistic goals and to develop plans for achieving them

            To help salespeople identify the resources they need to achieve their goals

18. Dressing For Success   

            To help salespeople identify what tools are needed to be prepared for every sales call

            To demonstrate the difference between physical sales tools and mental sales tools

19.  The Teaching Game   

            To identify barriers in learning

            To identify factors which help learning

            To practice effective teaching skills

20. Bridge-Building Game   

            To identify the characteristics of a good team

            To recognize factors that hinder effective teamwork

            To define individual /group goals and expectations

            To clarify roles and responsibilities

21. Team Assessment Exercise   

            To assess the effectiveness of the team

            To identify steps for improving the team

22. Who Am I?  

            To demonstrate the limitation of the written word

            To identify opportunities for using visual aid in presentations

23. Developing a Company Slogan  

        This activity is designed to help salespeople to:

                Remain unflustered in the face of severe objections

                Retain control of a sales presentation

                Size up customers and interact appropriately

                persuade buyers to retract from seemingly unassailable positions

24.  Selling Against the Competition   

            To develop a practical understanding of the competition

            To identify the competition's strengths and weaknesses

            To develop effective strategies for selling against the competition

25. Key Account Profile   

            This activity will help participants to:

                Understand the power of account knowledge

                Develop a comprehensive profile of key accounts

                Identify areas where critical information is missing

                Develop a strategy for selling the account

26. Getting the Appointment Role-Play    

            This exercise is designed to help salespeople to:

                Become comfortable using the telephone

                Practice effective telephone techniques

                Identify their telephone strengths and improvement opportunities

27. Sequencing Exercise   

            To demonstrate the power and limitation of paradigms

            To identify blocks to creativity

28. Emerging Trends  

            To identify trends that potentially can affect the participant's business

            To assess the impact the trends can have on business

            To develop strategies and tactics for maximizing each trend's potential benefit

29. Time Analysis Worksheet  

            To determine how time is allocated

            To identify opportunities for managing time more effectively

30. Eliminating Time-Wasters  

            To identify activities that waste time

            To quantify the impact of time-waters

            To identify actions for eliminating time-wasters

31. Time Management Practices Effectiveness  

            To enable salespeople to conduct a self-appraisal of their time management practices effectiveness

            To help salespeople identify opportunities for improving their time management practices.

32. Active Listening  

            To develop skills in active listening

            To recognize barriers to effective listening

33. The Customer's Complaint  

            To illustrate the distortion that may occur when information from a customer is transmitted through several individuals to a final destination

34. Sales Practices Assessment   

            This activity is designed to help salespersons assess their performance of the sales practices that customers say are most important to them.

35. Can You Follow Directions?   

            To demonstrate the value of following directions

36. On-The-Job "Active Listening" Exercise  

            To identify a person's active listening strengths and improvement opportunities

            To practice applying active listening skills

37. Features, Advantages, Benefits, Proof  

            To demonstrate the relationship between features, advantages, and benefits of a product/service

            To develop better understanding of the features, advantages and benefits of a product/service

            To identify sources to prove benefit statements about a product/service

38. Telephone Effectiveness Assessment  

            To provide a structure for assessing telephone practices and techniques

            To facilitate an improvement plan for telephone skills and techniques

39. The Approach Piece   

            This activity help participants to:

                Develop an approach piece

                Receive feedback on how to improve their approach piece

                Exchange ideas about approach pieces with other participants.

40. Identifying Needs Role-Play  

            To demonstrate the value of identifying needs before making a presentation

            To use questions and active listening to identify a prospect's needs

            To recognize and respond to a prospect's verbal and nonverbal behavior

41. Product Knowledge Jeopardy   

            To increase participants' understanding of their products/services

42.  Your Retirement Party       

            To help participants visualize their career goals

            To help participants assess the extent to which they are contribution to their career goals

            To identify actions participants can take to improve their chances of achieving their career goals

43.  Call Objectives Quiz   

            To identify valid call objectives

            To practice developing valid call objectives

44. Wordiness Exercise   

            To help participants identify and eliminate wordiness, jargon, and redundant expressions.

45. Negotiation Exercise   

            To identify the factors that help and hinder successful negotiations

            To assess the impact high expectation have on negotiation outcomes

            To practice negotiating skills

            To asses one's negotiating effectiveness

46. Creative Problem Solving   

            To increase the participants' ability to view problems and situations more creatively

            To practice brainstorming skills

47. Brainstorming   

            To develop creative solutions to on-the-job problems

            To practice brainstorming skills

48. Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow   

            To identify trends in the participant's career and personal life.

            To establish personal and business goals

49. Your One-Minute Commercial   

            To help participants articulate the factors that make them unique and successful

            To understand the power of positive self-talk

50. On-The-Job Application Planning  

            To help participants apply concepts and skills to on-the-job situations

            To help participants evaluate their own effectiveness in the situation and to prepare a self-development plan for themselves