Feature Summary

The following features have been expanded or are new to this edition:

Sales Call Role-Plays. Actually used in my classes by hundreds of students, these role-plays are created from information used by today's top sales forces.

World Wide Web. At the end of the book, these Web exercises introduce prospective salespeople to the use of the World Wide Web.

ACT! Customer Contact. Using software for keeping in contact with customers and prospects is a necessity in the 21st century.

Student Application Learning Exercises (SALE). 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 Professor Futrell's classes in the fall of 1997. Students unanimously felt they were great in helping them correctly construct their role-plays.

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

Selling Globally. Many of these new box items were written by friends and colleagues from countries around the world.

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 seventh 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:

Photo Essays. The book features many photographs accompanied 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 faced by sales professionals. The challenge pertains to the topic of the chapter and will heighten students' interest in the chapter concepts. The challenge is resolved at the end of the chapter, where chapter concepts guiding the salesperson's 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. They also make effective use of color to enhance their imagery and appeal.

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 vocabulary 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 give students an opportunity to experience ethical dilemmas faced in the selling job. Students should review Chapter 2's definition and explanation of ethical behavior before discussing the ethical dilemmas.

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 the learning objectives for the class.

Cases for Analysis. Each chapter ends with several brief but substantive cases for student analysis and class discussion. These cases provide an opportunity to students to apply concepts to real events and to sharpen their diagnostic skills for sales problem solving.

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