1. It is important to consider competitors when preparing for a sales call. One way to help differentiate your offering from that of a competitor is to communicate the added benefits your customer would receive from the after-sales service your company offers that is unavailable anywhere else. This form of differentiation focuses on which type of benefit:

A. Salesperson benefit

B. Financial benefit

C. Product benefit

D. Company benefit

4. As the account manager for Happy Pets, a big box retail chain offering supplies for all types of pet needs, you have become very familiar with the products and markets that are important for your continued success. However, your contact with Happy Pets recently moved on and has been replaced with Barry White, a person you have not met before. In order to reestablish your relationship within this account, one step to developing better customer knowledge should be:

A. Uncover shared connections you have with Barry

B. Reassess your positioning in the market

C. Find out what Barry has purchased from competitors

D. Review your CRM information on your previous contact

5. You have just been assigned to start a relationship with ToolNow, a privately-held construction supply company. Since you do not have a lot of experience with this customer, and your company has never done business with them before, you need to spend some time learning their business. You know that any information that can help you understand their business performance or recent changes would help you begin to understand ToolNow's potential needs. Which of the following sources would be the best place to start learning about ToolNow's business?

A. Your company's customer relationship management database

B. ToolNow's financial statements

C. ToolNow's webpage (e.g., Newsroom, About us)

D. Competitor of ToolNow

8. Jennifer is a relatively new salesperson. This is her first quarter where she must meet a quota and she is starting to feel pressure to close more business to meet her sales goal before the deadline. However, she reminds herself that in order to be successful in her sales call preparation, she needs to maintain a customer orientation. Which of following actions below would help Jennifer prepare with a customer orientation in mind?

A. Researching the lowest price point that can most likely make a sale

B. Preparing specific questions to deeply understand the customer's needs

C. Reviewing the key features for all products

D. Confirming a deadline for the customer to make a decision

9. After several meetings, you have started to gain interest from one of your customer accounts, Sparkly Sinks and Faucets, to purchase a multi-year contract for sales training. Fortunately, you recognize different buying influences in the account. Tony, the Sales VP who you initially contacted, is clearly the user buyer who will benefit most from the training. On the other hand, Susan, the CEO, has ultimate purchase authority and represents the economic buyer. In preparing for your meeting with Susan today you recognize you need to communicate specific benefits that meet her needs. Which of the following best represents a potential specific benefit for Susan?

A. We find quota attainment often improves with the new skills gained from our training.

B. Our sales training will help you fend off new competitors and increase your market share.

C. Our training will help your salespeople have more confidence in their sales calls.

D. Our sales training is the best in the industry for improving customer acquisition.