The personal selling process is an ever-evolving cycle of steps that assists today's sales professional in developing basic selling strategies and tactics that help them improve and refine their styles of personal sales. As listed in the text, “there are countless small tasks in the personal selling process that are generally organized into seven main overlapping and interacting stages which are:1. Prospecting and qualification2. Sales call planning (pre-approach)3. Getting closer to the potential customer4. Conduct presentation and sales demonstration5. Negotiate resistance and objections6. Confirm and close the sale7. Follow up and serve customers.” (Personal Selling, page 102) The first initial phase of the sales process is researching and qualifying leads and prospects who may need or be looking for your company's products and/or services. This is the initial task that will hopefully pay off the company's sales to potential customers, making it an essential step in the personal selling process. The second half of this initial phase of the sales process is the actual qualification of a possible buyer or lead. According to the text, a sales representative should always try to reduce wasted time with consumers who do not possess the potential to actually purchase the product and/or service simply by using the NAME criteria. NAME is an abbreviation of cleaver which stands for Need or desire for a product or service, Authority to purchase said product/service, Money to actually pay for the products or services rendered, and Eligibility to purchase. (Personal Selling, page 124) There are several crucial reasons for this step in which I believe I maintain and increase...... middle of paper ......the sale of such goods. (Personal Selling, page 303) Customer service is critical and should always be an important part of a sales representative's sales strategy and process. Any professional sales representative who follows these main steps of the sales process should feel confident in the knowledge and guidance this cycle has to offer and open the doors to long-lasting and loyal customer/seller relationships. Works Cited • Weingartner, S. (2011, July 2). Marketing. Doctor-FDTC. Retrieved from http://www.Dr-FDTC.com• Weingartner, S. (2011, July 2). DVD really sold. MKT120 Personal Selling Extracted from the library of Darlington Technical College, Florence.• Anderson, R.E., Dubinsky, A.J., & Mehta, R. (2007). Personal Selling: Building relationships and partnerships with customers. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.