CHPATER 10 PROMOTION

Prepared by: Mulugeta G/Medhin

(Strictly for limited circulation at AAUCC)
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter a student will be able to:
 Define the roles of advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, publicity, and direct
marketing.
 Outline the common communication platforms of advertising
 Describe the various types of advertising
 Identify the most important variables in setting the advertising objectives
 Outline the common communication platforms of sales promotion
 Discuss the objectives of sales promotion
 Outline the common communication platform of personal selling
 Describe the various types of personal selling
 Discuss the objectives of personal selling
 Define direct marketing and outline the common communication platforms of direct
marketing

10.1 Introduction
Modern marketing calls for more than developing a good product, pricing it attractively and
making it acceptable to target customers. Companies must also communicate with their present
and potential customers, retailers, suppliers, other stockholders, & the general public. For most
companies, the question is not whether to communicate but rather what to say, to whom and how
often.
The marketing communication mix (also called the promotion mix) consists of five major modes
of communication.
1. Advertising: Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods
or services by an identified sponsor.
2. Sales promotion: A variety of short-term incentives to encourage trial or purchase of a
product or service.
3. Public relations and publicity: A variety of programs designed to promote and/or
protect a company’s image or its individual products.
4. Personal selling: Face-to-face interaction with one or more prospective purchasers for
the purpose of making presentations answering questions, and procuring orders.
5. Direct marketing: Use of mail, telephone, fax, e-mail, and other non personal contact
tools to communicate directly with or solicit a direct response from specific customers
and prospects.

10.2 Advertising:
Because of the many forms and uses of advertising, it is difficult to make all-embracing
generalization about its distinctive qualities as a component of the promotion mix. Yet the
following qualities can be noted.
 Public presentation: Ad. is a highly public mode of communication. Its public nature
confers a kind of legitimacy on the product and also suggest a standardized offering.
Because many persons receive the same message, buyers know that their motives for
purchasing the product will be publicly understood.
 Pervasiveness: Ad. is a pervasive medium that permits the seller to repeat a message
many times. It also allows the buyer to receive and compare the messages of various
competitors. Large-scale advertising by a seller says something positive about the seller’s
size, power and success.
 Amplified expressiveness: Ad provides opportunities for dramatizing the company and
its products through the artful use of print, sound, and color. Sometimes, however the
tool’s very success at expensiveness may dilute or distract from the message.

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  Impersonality: Advertising cannot be as compelling as a company sales representative.
The audience does not feel obligated to pay attention or respond. Advertising is able to
carry on only a monologue in front of, not a dialogue with the audience.
Advertising can be defined as ‘any paid form of non-personal communication of ideas goods or
services by business firms identified in the advertising message intended to lead to a sale
immediately or eventually’. The emphasis is placed in the definition on the ‘communication’
aspect and the main objective of a ‘sale’. The word ‘communication’ originates from the Latin
word “communis” meaning common. There is communication only if there is commonness in the
words used to both the audience and the communicator, i.e., the message must mean the same
thing to both. Communication is concerned with who says what, to whom, through which channel
with what effect.

10.2.1 Common Communication Platforms of Advertising

- Print and broadcast ads

- Packaging – outer
- Packaging inserts
- Motion pictures
- Brochure and booklets
- Posters and leaflets
- Directories
- Reprints of ads
- Billboards
- Display signs
- Point of purchase display
- Audio-visual material
- Symbols and logos
- Videotapes
10.2.2 Types of Advertising
1. Primary or Selective Demand Advertising
Advertising may be aimed at merely creating a primary demand for a certain type of product such as
motorcars in general or to increase selective demand for a certain type of product of a specific
company such as ‘TOYOTA’. Sometimes pioneering advertising builds, a primary demand. Or even
for established products (with competitors) building primary demand may help to expand total market
demand, which can be one strategy, adopted by market leaders.
2. Product or Institutional Advertising
Most advertising is aimed at selling a particular product advertising. ‘Brand’ advertising attempts to
sell the company’s brand or product as being better than products of other manufacturers. As against
this large companies sometimes advertise their general activities like the public service rendered by
them without mentioning their specific product. This is described as institutional advertising and is
aimed at building a favourable image or attitude towards the company and thus ultimately its
products.
3. Cooperative Advertising
Manufacturers at times cooperate with their wholesalers and retailers by giving them an advertising
allowance for their local advertising so that the manufacturer’s own brand may get preference in such
advertising. A proportion of advertising costs are here paid by the manufacturer to the wholesaler or
retailer concerned. In addition, co-operation is sought to be obtained by the manufacturer from the
distribution channel by often mentioning in his advertisement the names and addresses of retailers
who stock his products.
4. Advertising Classified by Intended Audiences
Advertising can be classified by intended audiences i.e. by the specific types of audiences (e.g.
consumer, industrial or trade audience) towards whom the advertising is directed. Consumer
advertising is naturally directed at the ultimate household customers or actual consumers or users of
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product. Unlike consumer advertising industrial advertising aims at industrial customers whereas
trade advertising is directed at channels of distribution such as wholesalers or retailers.
5. Advertising Classified by Nature of Appeal
Sometimes Advertising is also classified by the nature or type of appeal used or motives towards
which advertising is aimed. For this purpose appeals are at times divided into rational and emotional
appeals. Where an advertisement tries to create an image that the housewife would look like a
glamorous movie and thus attempts to crate a common use of a brand of soap it is appealing to
motives that are emotional. As against this if advertisement were to explain its medical quality it is
aimed at rational motives.
6. Direct or Indirect Action Advertising
When advertising is aimed at making the consumer buy immediately the product or at least to ask for
more details about that product it is described as direct action advertising. As against this in case of a
higher priced item which is not purchased frequently the advertising is generally an indirect action
type with a view to create a favourable attitude towards the manufacturer’s product so that when the
consumer ultimately is in the market for that product he would presumably purchase the advertiser’s
product.
10.2.3 Setting the Advertising Objectives
The first step in developing an ad. Program is to set the advertising objectives. These objectives must
flow from prior decisions on the target market, market positioning and market mix. The
marketing-positioning and marketing mix strategies define the job that advertising must do in the
marketing Programme.
Advertising objectives can be classified according to whether their aim is to inform, persuade or
remind.
 Informative advertising
Figures heavily in the pioneering stage of a product category, where the objective is to build
primary demand
It includes:
 Telling the market about a new product
 Suggesting new uses for product
 Informing the market of a price change
 Explaining how the product works
 Describing available services
 Correcting false impressions
 Reducing buyers’ fears
 Building a company image
 Persuasive advertising
It becomes important in the competitive stage, where a company’s objective is to build
selective demand for a particular brand. For example, Chivas Regal attempts to persuade
consumers that it delivers more status than any other brand of Scotch whisky. Some
persuasive advertising has moved into the category of comparative advertising, which seeks
to establish the superiority of one brand through specific comparison of one or more
attributes with one or more other brands in the product class. In using comparative
advertising, a company should make sure that it can prove its claim of superiority and that it
cannot be counterattacked in an area where the other brand is stronger. Comparative ad.
works best when it elicits cognitive and effective motivations simultaneously.
It includes:
 Building brand preference
 Encouraging switching to the brand
 Changing buyers’ perception of product attributes
 Persuading buyers to purchase now
 Persuading buyers to receive a sales call

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 Reminder advertising
It is highly important with mature products. Expensive four-color Coca Cola ads in
magazines have the purpose not of informing or persuading but of reminding people to
purchase Coca Cola. A related form of advertising is reinforcement advertising, which
seeks to assure current purchasers that they have made the right choice. It helps to reduce
or avoid cognitive dissonance, a tension created after purchasing a product. Automobile
ads often depict satisfied customers enjoying special features of their new car. It includes:
 Reminding buyers that the product may be needed in the near future
 Reminding buyers where to buy it
 Keeping it in buyers’ mind during off-seasons
 Maintaining its top-of-mind awareness

The choice of the advertising objective should be based on a thorough analysis of current
marketing situation. For example, if the product is mature, the company is the market leader, and
brand usage is low the proper objective should be to stimulate more brand usage. If the product
class is new, the company is not the market leader, but the brand is superior to the leader the
proper objective is to convince the market of brand’s superiority.

Specific objectives usually vary with the company and the product involved. Whilst selling the
product is long-run function of good advertising, its immediate or short-run goals must be
narrower and more precise. The specific short-run goals, which a company selects usually, are
directed towards the accomplishment of one of the following three functions, namely:
1. To create consumer or distributor awareness
2. To create a favourable company image and
3. To encourage immediate sales

1. To Create Consumer or Distributor Awareness

A. Encourage requests for:
- More information about company products
- Samples of products on request or by redeeming coupons
- Company salesman to call
- Demonstration by dealers
B. Providing information about the type of products sold
- Individual products and their features
- Families of products
- Extent of product line

C. Providing information about the benefits to be gained from use of company products (or
services)
- Outstanding attributes or unique features of products
- Specific benefits to be obtained from use (including tangible, psychological and aesthetic)

D. Indicating how products (or services can be used)

- General and specific applications
- Use for new products
- New uses for old products

2. To Create a Favourable Company Image by:

- Depicting the company as a good employer.
- Acquainting people with public service rendered
- Portraying the company’s personnel favorably
- Relating interesting or unusual factors about the company’s business
- Portraying importance of company’s industry and of company’s role on its development
- Acquainting people with company’s leadership or unique role in its industry
- Relating company’s achievements in research and product development (its technical
superiority)

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 3. To Encourage Immediate Sales by
- Encouraging potential purchasers to visit stores or showrooms
- Obtaining mail orders
- Promoting immediate purchases through announcement of
o special sales
o contests
- Inducing professional people (doctors, architects, engineers, etc.) to recommend a
company’s products to others
- Encouraging senior management to recommend purchases to their buying units
- Publishing the names and locations of distributors and dealers
10.3 Sales Promotion

Although sales-promotion tools coupons, contests, premiums and the like are highly diverse, they
all offer three distinctive benefits:
 Communication: -They gain attention and usually provide information that may lead the
consumer to the product
 Incentive: - They incorporate some concession, inducement or contribution that
gives value to the consumer
 Invitation: - They include a distinctive invitation to engage in the transaction now
Companies use sales-promotion tools to create stronger and quicker responses.
Sales-promotion can be used to dramatize product offers and to boost sagging sales.
Sales-promotion effects are usually short-run. However, are not effective in building long run
brand preference. Sales-promotion is defined by the American Marketing Association in a
specific sense to mean:
“Those marketing activities, other than personal selling, advertising and publicity, that
stimulate consumer purchasing, and dealer effectiveness such as display, shows and
exhibitions, demonstration and various non-recurrent selling efforts not in the ordinary
routine.”
10.3.1 Common Communication Platforms of Sales Promotion
- Contests, games, sweep-stakes, lotteries
- Premiums and gifts
- Sampling
- Fairs and trade shows
- Exhibits
- Demonstrations
- Coupons
- Rebates
- Low interest financing
- Entertainment
- Trade-in allowances
- Continuity programs
- Tie-ins
10.3.2 Objectives of Sales Promotion
The technique of sales promotion and its many tactics should be implemented only after
specifying the objectives for its use.
It may include:
1. Attract new users to the brand
2. Stimulate repeat purchase
3. Stimulate larger purchases
4. Attract attention to the brand
5. Build store traffic
6. Introduce a new product

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Sales promotion supports and adds another dimension to advertising and personal selling efforts.
Objectives for sales promotion should be identified with in the context of aiding these major
promotional mix variables. These objectives are set towards middlemen and final consumers.
Some sales promotion activities try to motivate final consumers to buy the firm’s product or
services – called customer sales promotion. Other sales promotion efforts try to induce
intermediates, wholesalers and retailers, to give priority to the firm’s product – called trade sales
promotion.
10.3.3 Types of Sales Promotion
These are various types of sales promotion – all designed to stimulate demand. The basic types
include: -
1. Coupons
The use of coupons is well advised when elasticity of demand is verified for the product category,
or consumer behaviours in the product category is typified by brand switching. Cents-off coupons
either placed in the media or in the package provide the category for brand choice among
products that are viewed as essentially the same. Evidence suggests that coupons in package
stimulate greater brand loyalty than media-distributed coupons. Further it appears that particular
consumer groups are more prone to be affected by such product deals. The use of coupons is an
effective way to gain new users for brand and to stimulate repeat purchases with purchase
coupons.
2. Premiums
Premiums are items offered free with the purchase of another item or offered at a greatly reduced
price. Banks sometimes use premiums to attract new customers and increase saving deposits.
Many firms offer a related product free to stimulate demand,, but the use of this tactic must be
carefully considered. First, the cost of offering premiums must be weighed against potential
benefits. Second, the appropriate premium must be chosen so that it is a legitimate inducement
for consumer.
Premiums are used as a bonus.
3. Contests
Games and contests of all types can draw attention to a product. Many times this tactic is
implemented on a cooperative basis between a manufacturer and retailers. Contests can have a
great effect on generating traffic in the retail outlet. Participation in games and contests usually
cannot require the purchase of product. In light of this fact, gaining attention for the brand or
building store traffic is more appropriate objective than demand stimulation.
4. Trial Offers and Sampling
Getting consumers to actually try the product has a powerful effect. Free samples of detergents,
shampoos, mouthwashes, and the like are distributed to expose customers to a brand. Many times
this tactic is used for new products, but it can also be used in weak market areas or segments to
increase brand performance. Trail offers have essentially the same intent but are used for
expensive items. Appliances, watches, hand tools and related products are often offered on
ten-day free trail to overcome consumers’ inertia to trying the product. Trail offers and free
samples have the advantage of getting the product into consumer’s hands without expense on the
consumer’s part. The expense to the firm, however, can be formidable and the segments chosen
for this promotional device must have high potential.
5. Point of Purchase Materials
Product displays and information sheets are useful sales promotion items to reach consumers at
the point of purchase. Many times the product display is designed to draw attention to the
product. Equally as often it is a technique for gaining additional shelf space and exposure in the
retail setting. Handout materials at the point of purchase can be an important complement to the
personal selling process for shopping goods. In situations where consumers are comparing brands
on features and judging the product at the point of purchase, additional information at this stage
in the decision process can be very effective.

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 6. Trade Oriented Sales Promotion
Sales promotion directed to members of trade (retailers and wholesalers) is also designed to
stimulate demand. Within this market group effective sales promotion efforts can generate
enthusiasm for a product and create loyalty to a manufacturer. The basic types include: -
7. Trade Shows
Tradeshows are events where several related products are displayed and perhaps demonstrated to
members of an industry that constitutes the potential market.
In conjunction with displays, company representatives are on hand to explain the product and
perhaps make an important contact for the personal selling effort.
8. Incentives
Incentives to members of trade include a variety of tactics. Awards in the form of travel, gifts or
cash bonuses can induce retailers and wholesalers to give a firm’s product added attention.
9. Allowances
Allowances to retailers and wholesalers for cooperative advertising (featuring the firm’s products
in local promotions) or payment for setting and maintaining displays is a common practice.
10.4 Personal Selling
Personal selling is the most cost-effective tool at later stages of the buying process, particularly in
building up buyers’ preference, conviction and action. The reason is that personal selling, when
compared with advertising, has some distinctive benefits.
 Personal Confrontation: personal selling involves an alive immediate and
interactive relationship between two or more persons Each party is able to
observe the other’s needs and characteristics at close hand and make immediate
adjustment
 Cultivation: Personal selling permits all kinds of relationships to spring up,
ranging from a matter-of-fact selling relationship to a deep personal friendship.
Effective sales representative, will normally keep their customers’ best interest at
heart if they want to maintain long-run relationships.
 Response: Personal selling makes the buyers feel under some obligation for
listening the sales talk. The buyer has a greater need to attend and respond even if
the response is a polite ‘tank you’
10.4.1 Common communication platform of Personal Selling
- Sales presentation
- Sales meeting
- Incentive programs
- Samples
- Fairs and trade shows
Once it has been determined that personal selling is a necessary component of a firm’s
promotional mix, several basic elements of personal selling need to be recognized and
appreciated. These are:
1. Types of personal selling
2. Objectives of personal selling and
3. The personal selling procedure
10.4.2 Types of personal selling

At the outset, it is worthwhile to appreciate the scope and nature of personal selling process.
Every salesperson will ultimately be engaged in personal communication. However, there are a
variety of types of personal selling, each quite different from the other. A sales person can be
engaged in order taking, creative selling or supportive communication or others.

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 1. Order Taking
The least complex of the selling task is order taking. The retail clerk who takes payment for
products is considered as inside order taker. In this case, the buyer has already chosen the
product and merely uses the sales person to make payment. The other type of order-taking sales
talk involves the outside order taker who typically calls on industrial buyers or the trade
(wholesalers and retailers). This type of sales person and the task he performs is very routine. The
accounts have been established, and the order taker merely services them on a reorder basis

2. Creative Selling
The creative selling task requires much more effort and expertise in its execution. Situations
where creative selling is implemented range from retail stores, through the selling of services, to
individual selling. In creative selling the potential buyers relies heavily on the sales representative
for information, advice and service. At the retail level, those outlets that have a fully trained and
experienced sales staff and emphasize the in-store selling effort are using creative selling.
Products such as clothing or major appliances typify the use of creative selling. The services of an
insurance salesperson or a stockbroker represent another type of creative selling. With products or
services of this sort the salesperson aids the buyer in determining how his or her unique needs can
best be served.
Perhaps the most complex of all selling tasks is creative selling at the industrial level. Those
salespeople who deal with high cost and complex corporate decision for purchases of capital
equipment or raw materials have tremendous demands placed on them. Many times the
salesperson has specific training in a related area (engineering or computer science for instance)
in order to handle this type of selling effort. The salesperson may be required to identify the
product that best serves the buyer’s needs or carefully calculate the number and type of products
necessary for the organisation (such as in hospital supply sales). This creative selling task calls
for high level of preparation, expertise and close contact with the buyer.
3. Supportive Communication
Some personal selling tasks are very indirectly related to selling per se. Rather, it is the objective
of the effort to generate goodwill and insure that the buyer is satisfied with the firm’s product and
service.
The missionary salesperson is typically employed in this capacity. He will call on accounts with
the express purpose of monitoring the satisfaction of the buyer. There may be some provision of
product information in the process, but only as a service to the customer.
10.4.3 Objectives of Personal Selling
The appropriate overall objective for any element of the promotional mix, including personal
selling, is to communicate. Because salespeople are many times involved with the buyer at the
point when a purchase decision is made, then sales as an objective takes on more credibility.
Since a salesperson is actually present when a contract is signed or an order placed, the direct
effect of personal selling on sales is more identifiable than the effect of other elements of the
promotional mix.
However, it is possible to identify a set of objectives for personal selling in much more specific
terms that relate to the process it self. Every encounter with a potential buyer must be approached
with a clear set of objectives in mind that are far more operational than the general objective of
making a sale.
The following are objective a salesperson can pursue during a sales call.
1. Create Differential Competitive Advantage
Buyers will ultimately choose the product they perceive to be best suited to their needs. It is up to
the salesperson to quickly understand the components of what is ‘best’ in the buyers mind.
Different buyers will value different attributes of products (functional, emotional, or benefits of
use) and the organization that provides related services (such as repair, credit, and delivery).

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 The salesman person must identify what a buyer values and then accomplish the objective of
demonstrating how the firm’s products and services meet the buyer’s needs more closely than
competitors’ market offerings. In this way, differential competitive advantage has been created.

2. Accord Uniqueness
A second objective is to grant the potential buyer unique status, to manage the communication
process in such away that the buyer does not fell he or she is “being sold” on the product. Rather,
the buyer must come away from the situation feeling that a decision to buy has been made. The
salesperson who treats each buyer as a unique individual exerts a powerful influence during the
communication process. An important part of accomplishing this objective is for the salesperson
to listen attentively to the buyer. Good listening skills allow the salesperson to truly grant the
buyer unique status by actually understanding the buyer’s individual needs and desires.
3. Manage a Set of Selling-Buying Relationships for Mutual Profit
A salesperson must be able to recognize those potential buyers who legitimately can benefit from
the firm’s products & services. In trying to manage a set of selling-buying relationships for
mutual benefit/profit, the salesperson must consider which of the following form the basis for
competitive advantage for each buyer:
1. Product superiority
2. Service superiority
3. Price superiority
4. Source (company) Superiority
5. People Superiority
Depending upon the buyer’s situation & needs, the salesperson must determine what is most
highly valued in the purchase decision from the list above. Thus, a sale can be negotiated
emphasizing the firm’s ability to provide factors.
4. Control the Interview
A final objective for selling is to control the interview without seeming to. It is to the mutual
benefit of the buyer and seller if the communication process is managed efficiently. If the
salesperson can control the content and direction of an encounter, the potential buyer will be able
to learn quickly and accurately what the firm has to offer.
10.4.4 Personal Selling Process
The personal selling process is considered superior to other forms of promotion in achieving
effective communication because the salesperson can tailor a unique message for each receiver
and respond immediately to feedback. In order to take advantage of this superior capability and to
enhance the efficiency of the personal selling process, a series of procedures is essential.
The following represent the accepted components of a personal selling effort.
1. Preparation
The preparation for creative selling is the most demanding but the order taking and supportive
communication types of selling attractive should also have detailed preparation. Preparation
involves gathering relevant information about current customers, potential customers, product
characteristics and applications, corporate support activities (such as advertising, and
competitors) products and activities. The firm that has an effective marketing information system
greatly aids its salespeople in preparing for sales calls. The unprepared salesperson cannot hope
to accomplish sales objectives without being well versed in this sort of information.

2. Prospecting
Aside from servicing existing customers the salesperson must identify prospective buyers. There
are a variety of traditional methods for carrying out this procedure. A sales person may rely on
current customers to provide leads-that is, names of other potential buyers. Another common
technique is mail-in coupons in magazines; a potential customer expresses an interest in the
firm’s products by mailing the coupon back to the firm.
The cold call is another approach. Here, the salesperson will either telephone or actually visit a
potential customer with whom there has been no previous contact.

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A newer version of prospecting is through a telemarketing system. The procedure uses a toll -free
number to quality sales leads (that is, determine how serious the prospect is). It enables the
marketer to target “live” leads – those that seem to hold good potential. In this way, non-
productive, expensive in-person sales calls can be avoided.

3. Initial Contact
The initial contact with a new customer is a critical step in the sales procedure. It is at this point
that the salesperson must begin to address the objectives of creating differential advantage, accord
uniqueness, and controlling the encounter.
Merely handing a secretary a business card or stopping in to see a potential buyer with only vague
notions of what the call might accomplish will likely be viewed by the potential buyer as a waste
of time and an intrusion. A professional, well-planned, purposeful, and brief initial contact can
establish the salesperson as a new, unusual, and important source in the mind of the buyer.

4. The presentation
Clearly, the presentation is the focal point of the personal selling procedure.
There are several philosophies regarding the way a presentation should be carried out. Some
firms will require a canned presentation in which the salesperson recites (nearly verbatim) a
prepared sales pitch. The advantages of the canned presentation are that it controls the encounter,
ensures that important selling points are covered, and can enhance the performance of marginally
skilled salespeople. The drawback of the canned pitch is severe in that it undermines the
fundamental advantages of personal communication: tailoring the message for each unique
receiver and responding to buyer feedback. An often cited yet conceptually worn out approach is
AIDA: Attention-Interest-Desire-Action.

In this presentation, the salesperson carefully structures the selling contact so that the first part
gains the buyer’s attention, then interest in the firm’s offering is stimulated, followed by a desire
for the product, and finally action (buying) results. The reason this approach can be considered
out of date is that it grants the buyer very little participation in the process. The salesperson
dominated the communication, leading the buyer through the various stages. The experienced
buyer, after years of being subjected to this technique, will find it tiresome, obvious, and
insulting. A far more sophisticated and intelligent approach to the presentation is the need-
satisfaction approach. This is a customer-oriented approach that relies strictly on the marketing
concept.

The salesperson initially emphasizes need development in the buyer. In this phase of the
approach, the buyer is doing most of the talking and the salesperson is monitoring feedback
almost exclusively. It is at this stage that the buyer is beginning to accord uniqueness. The next
stage is need awareness where the seller & the buyer mutually identify precisely what the buyer’s
needs are relative to the products & services being discussed. Here, the salesperson can address
differential competitive advantage. In the final stage, need fulfillment, the salesperson assumes a
dominant communication role and demonstrates how the firm and its products can fulfill the
needs agreed upon. The need-satisfaction approach is superior to the others in several ways.
First, it emphasizes the buyer & the buyer’s needs. Second, it takes full advantage of direct
feedback. Finally, the need-satisfaction presentation promotes cooperation and agreement
between buyer and seller.

5. Handling Objections
Usually during the presentation stage, objections on the part of the buyer will surface.
Salespersons should anticipate objections. An ideal approach to handling objections is probing
the buyer for the exact nature of the obstacle and allowing the buyer to propose a solution.

6. Closing the Sale

After the presentation, the time arrives when the buyer must decide whether or not to take action.
This phase typically requires a specification of financing, delivery, installation, and a variety of
other particulars. The salesperson should be prepared to discuss these details as part of finalizing
an order.
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 7. Follow Up
A seller can enhance the satisfaction derived from a purchase through post-purchase activities.
Relieving cognitive dissonance will make the purchase event more rewarding to the buyer.
Salespeople can fulfil this need through direct communication, either written or oral. Successful
follow-up can greatly increase the probability of additional orders (for the same or related items)
and help establish a long-term relationship between buyer and seller. Further, the salesperson
should ensure that shipping dates are met, agreed financing arrangements are upheld, and
generally that all the considerations surrounding the sale are to the buyer’s satisfaction.

10.5 Direct marketing

The different forms of direct marketing share four distinctive characteristics.

 Non-public: The message is normally addressed to a specific person.
 Customized: the message can be customized to appeal to the addressed individual.
 Up-to-date: A message can be prepared very quickly for delivery to an individual.
 Interactive: The message can be altered depending on the person’s response.

10.5.1 Common Communication Platforms of Direct marketing

- Catalogues
- Mailings
- Telemarketing
- Electronic Shopping
- TV shopping
- Fax mail
- E-mail
- Voice mail
10.6 Factors in Setting the Promotion Mix
Companies must consider several factors in developing their promotion mix:

(a) Type of Product Market

Promotional tool utilization varies between consumer and business market.
Consumer-goods companies spend on sales promotion, advertising, personal selling, and public
relations in that order.
Business – goods companies spend on personal selling, sales promotion, advertising & public
relations in that order.
In general, personal selling is more heavily used with complex, expensive, and risky goods and in
markets with fewer and larger sellers (hence, business markets).

(b) Push Versus Pull Strategy

A push strategy involves manufacturers marketing activities (primarily sales force and trade
promotion) directed at channel intermediaries. The goal is to induce the intermediaries to order
and carry the product and promote it to end-users.
 Push strategy is especially appropriate where there is low brand loyalty in a category,
brand choice is made in the store, the product is an impulse item, and product benefits are
well understood.

 A pull strategy involves marketing activities (primarily advertising and consumer

promotion) directed at end users. The purpose is to induce them to ask intermediaries for
the product and thus induce the intermediaries to order the product from the
manufacturer. Pull strategy is especially appropriate when there is high brand loyalty and
high involvement in the category, people perceive differences between brands, and
people choose the brand before they go to the store.

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(c) Buyer-Readiness Stage
Advertising and publicity play the most important roles in the awareness stage, much more
important the roles played by “cold calls” from sales representatives or by sales promotion.
Customer comprehension is primarily affected by advertising and personal selling. Customer
conviction is influenced mostly by personal selling and less by advertising sales promotion.
Closing the sale (ordering) is influenced mostly by personal selling and sales promotion.
Reordering is also affected mostly by personal selling and sales promotion, and somewhat
by reminder advertising. Advertising and publicity are most cost effective at the early stages
of the buyer decision process, and personal selling and sales promotion are most effective at
the later stage.

(d) Product-Life-Cycle Stage

Promotional tools also vary in their cost effectiveness at different stages of the product life
cycle.
- In the introduction stage, advertising and publicity have the highest cost
effectiveness, followed by personal selling to gain distribution coverage and sales
promotion to induce trial.
- In the growth stage, all the tools can be toned down because demand has its own
momentum through word-of mouth.
- In the maturity stage, sales promotion, advertising, and personal selling all grow
more important, in that order.
- In the decline stage sales promotion continues strong, advertising and publicity are
reduced, and salespeople give the product only minimum attention.

(e) Company Market Rank

Top-ranking brands derive more benefit from advertising than sales promotion. For the top
three brands, return on investment (ROI) rises with a rising ratio of advertising spending to
sales promotion.
For brands ranked fourth or worse, profitability decreases in moving from low to high
advertising.

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