MKGT 2080 Chapter 19 McGraw Hill Connect

personal selling

two-way flow of communication between a buyer and a seller that is designed to influence the buyer's purchase decision

examples of ways that personal selling can take place

- face-to-face

- via videoconferencing

- telephone

- Internet

personal selling is an attractive career because...

- people love the lifestyle

- flexibility

- little day-to-day supervision

- workday variety

- high paying

personal selling adds value by...

- educating customers and providing advice

- saving the customer time, making things easier for customers

- building long-term strategic relationships with customers

vendor increases ________ for both its immediate customer (retailer) and the end customer

convenience

the most successful salespeople are those who build _____ _________ with their customers

strong relationships

good salespeople of all stripes consistently take a __________ perspective

long-term

relationship selling

refers to a sales philosophy and process that emphasizes a commitment to maintaining the relationship over the long term and investing in opportunities that are mutually beneficial to all parties

STEP 1 of the personal selling process

generate and qualify leads

leads

a list of potential customers

qualify

the process of assessing the potential of sales leads

salespeople who already have an established relationship with a customer will often skip this step in the personal selling process

step 1 (generating and qualifying leads)

inbound marketing

curating blogs to draw in customers and generate leads

trade shows

- major events attended by buyers who choose to be exposed to products and services offered by potential suppliers in an industry

- an excellent forum for finding leads

cold calls

- a method of prospecting in which salespeople telephone or go to see potential customers without appointments

- less popular now

- low success rate

telemarketing

- using the telephone to sell directly to customers

- similar to cold calls

- low success rate

STEP 2 of the personal selling process

preapproach and the use of CRM systems

preapproach

occurs prior to meeting the customer for the first time and extends the qualification of leads procedure described in Step 1

in step 2, the salesperson must conduct additional research and _______ ________ for meeting with the customer

develop plans

what information can a salesperson gain from a customer database?

- transaction history

- customer contact info

- customer preferences

- market segment info

role playing

salesperson acts out a simulated buying situation while a colleague or manager acts as the buyer

STEP 3 of the personal selling process

sales presentation and overcoming reservations

why is the beginning of the presentation important?

- get to know the customer

- get their attention

- create interest

- NEED RECOGNITION

what is just as important as asking questions during the presentation?

carefully listening

salespeople must communicate their messages and sales pitches in ways that _______ with their audience of potential customers

resonate

good salespeople know the types of __________ buyers are likely to raise

reservations

STEP 4 of the personal selling process

closing the sale

closing the sale

obtaining a commitment from the customer to make a purchase

what role does the CRM play in step 4?

it helps facilitate the selling process and is very important for closing deals

STEP 5 of the personal selling process

follow up

why is the follow up important?

offers a prime opportunity for a salesperson to solidify the customer relationship through great service quality

what are the 5 service quality dimensions?

- reliability

- responsiveness

- assurance

- empathy

- tangibles

sales management

involves the planning, direction, and control of personal selling activities, including recruiting, selecting, training, motivating, compensating, and evaluating, as they apply to the sales force

company sales force

comprises people who are employees of the selling company

manufacturer's representatives

- aka reps

- aka independent agents

- salespeople who sell a manufacturer's products on an extended contract basis but are not employees of the manufacturer

manufacturers are...

- compensated by commissions

- do not take ownership or physical possession of the merch

- facilitate flexibility

- useful for smaller firms or firms expanding into new markets

company sales forces are more typically used for _________ product lines because they have more _______

established; control

what are the three important roles of a salesperson?

- order getting

- order taking

- sales support

oder getter

- a salesperson whose primary responsibilities are identifying potential customers and engaging those customers in discussions to attempt to make a sale

- responsible for following up

- require extensive sales and product knowledge training

order taker

a salesperson whose primary responsibility is to process routine orders or reorders or rebuys for products

sales support personnel

employees who enhance and help with a firm's overall selling effort, such as by responding to the customer's technical questions or facilitating repairs

selling teams

combination of sales specialists whose primary duties are order getting, order taking, or sales support but who work together to service important accounts

it's important to find the right salesperson because...

salespeople are very expensive to train

companies must take care to avoid biased practices such as hiring on the basis of __________ instead of ____________

stereotypes; qualifications

when recruiting salespeople, it helps to possess what personal traits?

- personality

- optimism

- resilience

- self-motivation

- empathy

what has revolutionized the sales training process in recent years?

online training

each salesperson should be treated....

fairly and equally

salary

a fixed sum of money paid at regular intervals

commission

money paid as a percentage of the sales volume or profitibility

bonus

- payment made at management's discretion when the salesperson attains certain goals

- given only periodically, such as at the end of the year

sales contest

- a short-term incentive designed to elicit a specific response from the sales force

- prizes might be cash or other types of financial incentives such as a free foreign trip

what is the advantage of a salary plan?

salespeople know exactly what they will be paid and sales managers have more control

nonfinancial rewards should have...

- high symbolic value

- such as free trips or days off

onjective measures are....

quantitative

subjective measures...

- reflect one person's opinion about another's performance

- can be biased

what are the three main areas that ethical and legal issues arise in?

1. relationship between the sales manager and the sales force

2. an inconsistency might exist between corporate policy and the salesperson's ethical comfort zone

3. ethical as well as legal issues can arise when the salesperson interacts with the customer

treating people fairly and equally must apply to....

- hiring

- promotion

- supervision

- training

- assignment of duties and quotas

- compensation and incentives

- firing

salespeople must live in their own ethical...

comfort zone