Sales Techniques and Personal Selling
What the exam tests
Role-play and case questions on the selling sequence, questioning, objection handling and closing. Assessors look for needs discovery before product presentation.
The selling sequence
Approach and greet → probe needs → present the solution → handle objections → close → cross-sell or upsell → after-sales follow-up. Skipping the probe stage is the most common failure: the salesperson presents features the customer does not care about.
Questioning and listening
Use open questions ("What will you mainly use it for?") to widen, closed questions ("Is it for home or office?") to confirm. Paraphrase what you heard before recommending, so the customer feels understood.
Objection handling
Classify the objection first: price, need, trust, timing or authority. Acknowledge it, clarify it, then answer with evidence - specification, demonstration, warranty, comparison. Never argue and never discount before understanding the reason.
Closing and add-on selling
- Trial close: "Would you like it delivered Saturday?"
- Choice close: "Shall I bill the blue or the black?"
- Upsell - a higher-value model of the same product.
- Cross-sell - a related product (shoe polish with shoes).
- Avoid fake urgency; misleading claims breach the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Worked example
Customer compares a ₹1,199 shoe with a ₹2,499 shoe and says "too expensive".
- Clarify: is it budget or value doubt? Ask, "Is it the budget today, or are you unsure it will last?"
- If durability: cost per wear - ₹2,499 over 500 days is about ₹5 a day against ₹1,199 over 150 days at about ₹8 a day.
- If budget: show a mid-option, do not attack the cheaper shoe. Reasoning: the objection word is not always the real objection.
Traps that cost marks
Feature dumping; instant discounting; criticising a competitor's product; closing before the need is established.