Lesson 46 personal selling - concept and process - Document Transcript

1. Marketing Management Unit 4 Delivering Marketing Programs Chapter 14 -

Promotion-Decisions and Strategies Lesson 46 - Personal selling - concept and processing
previous chapter we have discussed about Direct marketing and its growth ,importance and
channels of direct Marketing. Let us move on to another component of promotion mix-
Personal selling. You all have probe-ably experienced personal selling efforts. Have you ever
bought something from the door salesman ? Do you find personal selling efforts worth
appreciating or have you found themiritatating? Personal selling is somewhat different from
other promotion components . Do you agree ? Lets get started and know it better………
Students you would agree that personal selling is the most adaptable of all promotion
methods because the person who is presenting the message can modify it to suit the
individual buyer. However, personal selling is also the most expensive promotion method.
Lets define personal selling now…Personal selling is paid personal communication that
attempts to inform customers and persuade them to purchase products or services.You would
agree that it is the personal selling process that allows marketers the greatest freedom toadjust
a message to satisfy customers’ information needs. Personal selling allows the marketer
orseller to communicate directly with the prospect or customer and listen to his or her
concerns, an-swer specific questions, provide additional information, inform, persuade, and
possibly even recom-mend other products or services.It would be interesting for you to know
that personal selling is one of the oldest forms of promotion.It involves the use of a sales
force to support a push strategy (encouraging intermediaries to buythe product) or a pull
strategy (where the role of the sales force may be limited to supportingretailers and providing
after-sales service).Let us look at how personal selling facilitates marketers :- The greatest
freedom to adjust a message to satisfy customers informational needs, dynamic. Most
precision, enabling marketers to focus on most promising leads. vs. advertising, publicity and
sales promotion Give more information Two way flow of information, interactivity.16.101G
© Copy Right : Rai University 463
2. Marketing Management Discover the strengths and weaknesses of new products and
pass this information on to the marketing department. Highest cost. Businesses spend more
on personal selling than on any other form of promotional mix. Goals range from finding
prospects convincing prospects to buy keeping customers satisfied—help them pass the word
along.KINDS OF SALESMENLet us know about kinds of salesmen . Can you give some
examples ? Have you met different kindof sales people ? Following are some categories of
sales personA. Salespersons may be order getters, order takers, and support personnel. A
single individual can, and often does, perform all three functions.1. Order Getters. An order
getter is responsible for what is sometimes called creative selling: selling the firm’s products
to new customers and increasing sales to present customers.a. An order getter must perceive
buyers’ needs supply customers with information about the firm’s product, and persuade
them to buy the product.b. Order-getting activities fall into two groups.1. In current-customer
sales, salespeople concentrate on obtaining additional sales.2. In new-business sales, sales
personnel seek out new prospects and convince them to make an initial purchase.2. Order
Takers. An order taker handles repeat sales in ways that maintain positive relationships with
customers.a. Inside order takers receive incoming mail and telephone orders; they also
include salespersons in retail stores.b. Outside (or field) order takers travel to customers.3.
Support Personnel. Sales support personnel aid in selling but are more involved in locating
prospects, educating customers, building goodwill for the firm, and providing follow-up
service.a. A missionary salesperson usually works for a manufacturer and visits retailers to
persuade them to buy the manufacturer’s products.b. A trade salesperson generally works for
 a food producer or processor and assists its customers in promoting products, especially in
retail stores.A technical salesperson assists the company’s current customers in technical
matters.PROS AND CONS OF PERSONAL SELLINGWhat are the advantages of using
personal selling as a means of promotion? Personal selling is a face-to-face activity;
customers therefore obtain a relatively high degree of personal attention The sales message
can be customised to meet the needs of the customer The two-way nature of the sales process
allows the sales team to respond directly and promptly to customer questions and concerns
Personal selling is a good way of getting across large amounts of technical or other complex
product information The face-to-face sales meeting gives the sales force chance to
demonstrate the product Frequent meetings between sales force and customer provide an
opportunity to build good long- term relationshipsGiven that there are many advantages to
personal selling, why do more businesses not maintain a464 © Copy Right : Rai University
16.101G
3. Marketing Managementdirect sales force?Main disadvantages of using personal
sellingThe main disadvantage of personal selling is the cost of employing a sales force. Sales
people areexpensive. In addition to the basic pay package, a business needs to provide
incentives to achievesales (typically this is based on commission and/or bonus arrangements)
and the equipment to makesales calls (car, travel and subsistence costs, mobile phone etc).In
addition, a sales person can only call on one customer at a time. This is not a cost-effective
way ofreaching a large audienceKNOWING PERSONAL SELLING PROCESS Let us know
how the salesperson proceeds with personal selling efforts .Very commonly known are the
following seven steps of personal selling process :-1. PROSPECTING2. PRE-APPROACH3.
APPROACH4. SALES PRESENTATION5. HANDLING OBJECTIONS6. CLOSING
SALE7. FOLLOW UP1. PROSPECTING - Prospecting refers to identifying and developing
a list of potential clients. Salespeople can seek the names of prospects from a variety of
sources including trade shows, commercially-available databases or mail lists, company sales
records and in-house databases, public records, referrals, directories, and a wide variety of
other sources. Prospecting activities should be clearly structured so that they identify only
potential clients who fit the profile and are able, willing, and authorized to buy the product or
service. Once prospecting is underway, it then is up to the sales professional to qualify those
prospects to further identify likely customers and screen out poor leads Let us look at the
prospecting methods in brief : Referrals from customers Trading leads with other sales
representatives (non-competitive) Internal Lists Purchased lists (some interest) Cold calling
(no prior indication of interest)2. PRE-APPROACH - Before engaging in the actual personal
selling process, sales professionals first analyze all the information they have available to
them about a prospect to understand as much about the prospect as possible. During the pre
approach phase of the personal selling process, sales professionals try to understand the
prospect’s current needs, current use of brands and feelings about all available brands, as well
as identify key decision makers, review account histories (if any), assess product needs,
plan/create a sales presentation to address the identified and likely concerns of the prospect,
and set call objectives. The sales professional also develops a preliminary overall strategy for
the sales process during this phase, keeping in mind that the strategy may have to be refined
as hoer she learns more about the prospect. In brief pre-approach would involve the following
:- Does the customer have a need that would be filled by the product/service? Is it financially
possible for the customer to buy? Can the person make or influence the decision?
4. Marketing Management3. APPROACH - The approach is the actual contact the sales
professional has with the prospect. This is the point of the selling process where the sales
professional meets and greets the prospect, provides an introduction, establishes rapport that
sets the foundation of the relationship, and asks open-ended questions to learn more about the
 prospect and his or her needs.4. SALES PRESENTATION - During the presentation portion
of the selling process, the sales professional tells that product “story” in a way that speaks
directly to the identified needs and wants of the prospect. A highly customized presentation is
the key component of this step. At this point in the process, prospects are often allowed to
hold and/or inspect the product and the sales professional may also actually demonstrate the
product. Audio visual presentations may be incorporated such as slide presentations or
product videos and this is usually when sales brochures or booklets are pre-scented to the
prospect. Sales professionals should strive to let the prospect do most of the talking during
the presentation and address the needs of the prospect as fully as possible by showing that
hero she truly understands and cares about the needs of the prospect.5. HANDLING
OBJECTIONS - Professional salespeople seek out prospect objections in order to try to
address and overcome them. When prospects offers objections, it often signals that they need
and want to hear more in order to make a fully-informed decision. If objections are not
uncovered and identified, then sales professionals cannot effectively manage them.
Uncovering objections, asking clarifying questions, and overcoming objections is a critical
part of training for professional sellers and is a skill area that must be continually developed
because there will always be objections. Trust me when I tell you that as soon as a sales
professional finds a way to successfully handle “all “his or her prospects’ objections, some
prospect will find a new, unanticipated objection— if for no other reason than to test the
mettle of the salesperson.6. CLOSING SALE - Although technically “closing” a sale happens
when products or services are delivered to the customer’s satisfaction and payment is
received, for the purposes of our discussion will define closing as “asking for the order”.
There are many closing techniques as well as many ways to ask trial closing questions. A trail
question might take the form of, “Now that I’ve addressed your concerns, what other
questions do you have that might impact your decision to purchase?”Closing does not always
mean that the sales professional literally asks for the order, it could be asking the prospect
how many they would like, what colour they would prefer, when they would like to take
delivery, etc. Too many sales professions are either weak or too aggressive when it comes to
closing. If you are closing a sale, be sure to ask for the order. If the prospect gives an answer
other than “yes”, it may be a good opportunity to identify new objections and continue
selling.7. FOLLOW UP - Follow-up is an often overlooked but important part of the selling
process. After an order is received, it is in the best interest of everyone involved for the
salesperson to follow-up with the prospect to make sure the product was received in the
proper condition, at the right time, installed properly, proper training delivered, and that the
entire process was acceptable to the customer. Thesis a critical step in creating customer
satisfaction and building long-term relationships with customers. If the customer experienced
any problems whatsoever, the sales professional can intervene and become a customer
advocate to ensure 100% satisfaction. Diligent follow-up can also lead to uncovering new
needs, additional purchases, and also referrals and testimonials which can be used as sale
stools. WHAT SHOULD A GOOD SALESPERSON DO ?What do you think ? What are the
qualities of a good salesperson? Let us discuss a few of them…..1) Be sincere with people.
Too many salespeople are fake and feign interest in their prospects. People are smart and see
right through such insincerity. If you are not sincere and honest with everyone you meet then
you should not be in sales.2) It is vitally important to constantly hone your sales and
communications skills.
5. Marketing Management and training in formal professional selling techniques is also
very important. Take training classes, listen to audio cassette professional development tapes,
read all the professional development material you can get your hands on, and start a program
of self-study and development in sales today if you haven’t already.3) First listen to your
 customer, understand his or her wants and needs, and only then try to deter- mine whether or
not you can deliver the product or services to meet those wants and needs. If you approach a
prospect with a solution before understanding the problem you are likely to be wrong about
the solution.4) The best salespeople ask a lot of questions and genuinely listen to the answers
before speaking again.5) Your prospects and customers are all different so you should treat
them differently.6) The best sales people listen much more than they talk.7) Find out what
your prospects want and then give it to them.8) If you think you cannot make sales then you
probably should not even try. Here is something interesting for you…….APPLICATION
EXERCISE :Review the following article. Share Your views. Shorn close personal -
VARSHA GUPTA & MALIKARODRIGUESTIMES NEWS
NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY,AUGUST 11, 1999 12:32:29 AM ]Marketing in the year 2005:
Virtually all products are available without going to a store. The customer can access pictures
on the Internet, shop among online vendors for the best terms, and click order and payment.
Most companies have built proprietary databases containing information on individual
customer preferences, and use them to “mass-customise” their offerings. Businesses are
doing abetter job of retaining customers by finding imaginative ways to exceed customer
expectations. Companies are focusing on building customer share rather than market share.
An increasing amount of personal selling is occurring over electronic media, mass TV
advertising has greatly diminished. Companies are unable to sustain competitive advantages,
and believe that their only sustainable advantage lies in an ability to learn faster and change
faster. * Philip Kotler, Kotler on Marketing THROW away those stilettos and clogs. Barefoot
days are here. Feel the earth, scream marketers as they wait for the new millennium to unfold.
Trying to be heard above the din of the big M, Indian marketers say, “Let’s go back to the
basics”. Making consumers want - but more essentially, buy -products is what marketing is
about. And this what it will always be about, Y2K or not. As Sergio Zyman, former head of
marketing at The Coca-Cola Company, has put it, “It’s the consumer, stupid.”That’s what
marketers will focus on in the new age. Only, the many ways of getting to the consumer are
evolving at the speed of thought. So it seems only fitting that technology will take over
marketing, and move it from being a science to sounding like science fiction. On the cutting
edge of the century, terms from the lexicons of finance, economics and technology have
found their way onto marketers ‘tongues. Here’s what they’re chanting: E-commerce. Data
mining. EVA. Customer value creation. Decommoditisation and dimensionalisation. All
these are now considered by various battle-scarred marketing warriors to be essential for
survival in the brave new world. But again, while the tools maybe getting increasingly
complicated, it’s all being put to a very simple, single-minded purpose - under-standing
consumers and selling better to them. It’s a goal that most marketers are shooting for, as the
sun sinks lower on this millennium. Ashok Jain, managing director, Cadbury Schweppes
feels that “Marketing made itself so complex that it got lost in its own maze of complexity.”
Sunil Alagh, managing director of Britannia Industries, elaborates on the need for consumer-
study: “New market-
6. Marketing Managementing research will have to focus on understanding in greater
depth the moments of consumption for their products.” More familiarity won’t breed
contempt, it will break common ground. Jain adds, “The consumer will actually become a
customer now.” Millennium marketers will be using a differ-ent box of tools to get more
people to buy more products, more often. In The End of Marketing as We Know It, Sergio
Zyman suggests what he calls ‘dimensional sing’. Simply, if more customers are to buy more
of a product, they will need more reasons to do so. One needs to add newer dimensions to the
image of the product in consumers’ minds. This means looking at consumers in new and
more creative ways, to come up with different appeals for the same old selling proposition.
This will be imperative, as in the absence of a powerful appeal to the emotions, or the
rationale, a consumer will pick on the only differentiator he truly understands: Price.
Technology will make things cheaper, and many will be able to afford the things that only a
few have so far. Says Subroto Sengupta, professor of marketing at IIM Calcutta, “Barefoot
marketing will ride again. There will be a great need for no-frills products and services.”
Walter Viera, presi-dent, Marketing Advisory Services Group, warns that it won’t be only the
mass-market players who’ll have to think value. “Top-end marketers such as Cartier will
have to address the fact that their customers want value even at that price.” It’s specially
important for marketers in this country, feels Rajeev Bakshi, managing director, Cadbury
India, as he believes “India will be a VFM (value for money) products market.” The marketer
of tomorrow will cut his teeth selling to the customer of today. A customer who is smarter,
savvier, and needs more and better reasons to buy. That’s be-cause customers are being spoilt
with increasing choice, they’re becoming more price-sensitive and quality-conscious. They’ll
be more focused on self-satisfaction. Helping them achieve the nirvana of ‘customer self-
empowerment’, will be newer and easier ways to buy - teleshopping, online malls and door-
to-door network marketers all offer a reason to choose their products. The key lies in the
capacity to excite the consumer. Says Abraham Koshy, professor of marketing, IIM-
Ahmadabad: “Newer methods and technologies to understand consumers will evolve. These
in turn automatically take into account the drive towards providing better value to customers.
The concept of relationship marketing will transcend personal relationships to encompass
brand relationships.” So, come 2000, the customer’s kingdom will finally come. And then,
one will see how successful his most faithful courtier’s efforts to keep him satisfied have
been.