The 14 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 illustrates the importance of the sales function to the organization’s success. It also examines the social, ethical, and legal issues in selling.

• Preparation for Relationship Selling. Presents the background 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.

• Time and Territory Management: Keys to Success. The importance of the proper use and management of one’s time and sales territory is given thorough coverage.

Special to This Edition

Ethics Emphasized. 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 1, 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 forms 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 that 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?