Personal Selling and Sales Promotion Vocabulary

Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

Objective 13.1: Role of Salespeople

• Personal Selling: Involves personal presentations by a sales force to engage customers, make sales, and build customer relationships.
• Salesperson Roles:
  • Prospecting and communicating.
  • Selling and servicing.
  • Gathering information and building relationships.
• Sales Force Importance: Acts as a critical link between the company and its customers, coordinating marketing and sales efforts.

Microsoft and Best Buy Partnership

• Strategic alliance creating Windows Stores within Best Buy locations.
• Impacted sales, customer loyalty (Net Promoter Score), and customer satisfaction.

Objective 13.2: Sales Force Management

• Sales Force Management: Analyzing, planning, implementing, and controlling sales force activities.
• Major Steps: Designing strategy and structure, recruiting, selecting, training, compensating, supervising, and evaluating.

Designing the Sales Force Strategy and Structure

• Types of Sales Force Structures:
  • Territorial: Organizes sales force by geographic area.
  • Product: Specializes the sales force along product lines.
  • Customer (or Market): Organizes the sales force by customer segments.
• Specialization: Salespeople can specialize by customer and territory, product and territory, product and customer, or a combination.

Sales Force Size

• Determined by workload approach.
• Accounts are grouped by size, status, and required effort.
• The number of salespeople is determined based on the needs of each account class.

Other Sales Force Strategy and Structure Issues

• Outside Sales Force (Field Sales Force): Travels to call on customers.
• Inside Sales Force: Conducts business from the office via phone, internet, or visits from prospective buyers.
  • Includes technical sales support, sales assistants, telemarketers, and online sellers.
• Team Selling: Using teams from different departments to service large, complex accounts.

Recruiting and Selecting Salespeople

• Analyze the sales job and characteristics of successful salespeople.
• Recruitment Sources:
  • Referrals from current salespeople.
  • Employment agencies.
  • Internet and online social media.
  • Ads and notices.
  • College placement services.
  • Salespeople at other companies.

Training Salespeople

• Training Goals:
  • Teach about different customers.
  • Effective selling techniques.
  • Company objectives, organization, products, and competitor strategies.
• Online Training: Uses videos, internet-based exercises, and simulations; includes virtual instructor-led training (VILT).

Compensating Salespeople

• Elements of Compensation:
  • Fixed Amount: Salary
  • Variable Amount: Commissions or Bonuses
• A good plan motivates salespeople and directs their activities.

Supervising Salespeople

• Help salespeople work smart.
• Tools of Supervision:
  • Call Plan: Weekly, monthly, or annual.
  • Time-and-Duty Analysis: Tracks time spent selling versus traveling, waiting, administrative tasks, etc.
  • Sales Force Automation System.

Motivating Salespeople

• Encourage hard work and energetic pursuit of sales goals.
• Management boosts morale and performance with:
  • Organizational climate
  • Sales quotas
  • Positive incentives

Evaluating Salespeople and Sales Force Performance

• Information Sources:
  • Sales, call, and expense reports.
  • Sales and profit performance data.
  • Personal observation, customer surveys, and talks with other salespeople.
• Formal evaluations set standards for judging performance.

Social Selling

• Utilizes online, mobile, and social media tools.
• Benefits:
  • Identifying and learning about prospects.
  • Engaging customers.
  • Creating customer value.
  • Closing sales.
  • Nurturing customer relationships.
• Improves efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and productivity.

Objective 13.3: Personal Selling Process

• Distinguishes between transaction-oriented marketing and relationship marketing.
• Steps in the Selling Process: Prospecting and qualifying, preapproach, approach, presentation and demonstration, handling objections, closing, and follow-up.

The Personal Selling Process

• Value Selling: Demonstrating and delivering superior customer value while capturing a fair return.
• Requirements: Listening to customers, understanding their needs, and coordinating company efforts for lasting relationships.
• Transform salespeople into company advocates for value.

Summary of Personal Selling Process

• The selling process has seven steps.
• Relationship Marketing: Focuses on profitable long-term relationships based on customer value and satisfaction.

Objective 13.4: Sales Promotion Campaigns

• Explains how sales promotion campaigns are developed and implemented.
• Sales Promotion: Short-term incentives to encourage purchase or sale.
• Targets:
  • Final buyers (consumer promotions).
  • Retailers and wholesalers (trade promotions).
  • Business customers (business promotions).
  • Sales force members (sales force promotions).

Factors Contributing to Sales Promotion Growth

• Product managers see promotion as a short-run sales tool.
• Competitors use promotions to differentiate.
• Advertising efficiency declined.
• Promotions attract thrift-oriented consumers.

Sales Promotion Objectives

• Consumer Promotions: Urge short-term buying or boost engagement.
• Trade Promotions: Get retailers to carry new items, increase inventory, buy ahead, promote products, and allocate shelf space.
• Business Promotions: Generate leads, stimulate purchases, reward customers, and motivate salespeople.

Consumer Promotion Tools

• Samples: Trial amounts, most effective, expensive.
• Coupons: Certificates saving money on purchases.
• Rebates (Cash Refunds): Price reduction after purchase.
• Price Packs (Cents-off Deals): Savings off the regular price.
• Premiums: Goods offered free or at low cost.
• Advertising Specialties: Useful articles imprinted with advertiser's name.
• Point-of-Purchase (POP) Promotions: Displays and demonstrations at the point of sale.
• Contests, Sweepstakes, and Games: Chance to win something.
• Event Marketing (or Event Sponsorships): Creating or sponsoring events.

Trade Promotions

• Persuade resellers to carry a brand, allocate shelf space, and promote in ads.
• Tools:
  • Contests, premiums, and displays.
  • Discounts and allowances (discount off the list price).
  • Free goods (extra merchandise for buying a certain quantity).
  • Push money (extra money for featuring a product).
  • Specialty advertising items (pens, calendars, etc.).

Business Promotions

• Generate leads, stimulate purchases, reward customers, and motivate salespeople.
• Tools:
  • Conventions and trade shows (e.g., Computer Electronics Show (CES)).
  • Sales contests (motivate increased sales).

Developing the Sales Promotion Program

• Design Decisions:
  • Determine the size of the incentive.
  • Set conditions for participation.
  • Promote and distribute the program.
  • Set the promotion length.
  • Evaluate the promotion.