1. Personal Selling

2. Personal Selling
Personal communication of information to persuade consumers to buy the product or service
Personal selling is preferred when
market is concentrated
the product has high unit value; technical; not standardized
introductory stage in PLC

3. Characteristics of personal selling
Advantages of personal selling
flexible communication
focused on prospective customers
with sales goal
long-term relationship with consumers
Disadvantages of personal selling
high cost
difficulty of managing sales force

4. Scope of personal selling
Inside personal selling
customers approach sales people
e.g., retail-store selling; telephone order taking
Outside personal selling
salespeople go to customers
Type of contacts
personal contact
telephone
mail
Type of customers
business buyers
intermediaries
consumers

5. Personal selling process
Prospecting
Preapproach
Presentation
Postsale
service
Identifying
Qualifying
Information
Habit
Preference
AIDA
Attention
Interest
Desire
Action
Reduce
dissonance
Build
goodwill

6. Personal selling process: Prospecting
Identifying prospective customers
identifies specific individuals or firms that may be potential customers
Qualifying the prospects
determines whether prospect consumers have the willingness to buy, purchasing power, and authority to buy

7. Personal selling process: Preapproach to individual prospects
Finding out prospect’s buying behavior and preferences
Finding out organization buying decision process in business-to-business selling

8. Personal selling process: Presenting the sales message
AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action)
attract attention
hold the prospect’s interest
build a desire for the product
stimulate the action of closing the sale

9. Personal selling process: Postsale services
Checking delivery, financing, installation, and other areas that might be related to consumer satisfaction
Dealing with cognitive dissonance
summarizing the product’s benefits after the purchase
repeating why the product is better than alternatives not chosen
emphasizing how satisfied the will be with the product

10. Sales Force Management
Topic 23
Sales Force Management

11. What makes a good salesperson?
It is difficult to define traits that make a good sales person
Different sales job involves different selling tasks -- and require different skills and need different personality traits

12. What makes a good salesperson?
Ability
skills
knowledge
Motivation
financial
non-financial
Ability
high
low
high
Motivation
low

13. Staffing and operating sales force
Recruitment
and
Selection
Assimilation
Training
Motivation
Compensation
Supervision
Performance
Evaluation

14. Staffing and operating sales force: Recruitment and selection (cont.)
1. Determining hiring specification
defining the number and type of people wanted
job analysis and job description
2. Recruiting applicants
3. Selecting sales people
interviews, formal tests (sales attitude, analytical and organizational skills, personality traits, etc), past employment history, references

15. Staffing and operating sales force: Assimilation/ Training
the process in which new sales people are integrated into the company
Training
to learn consumers’ need, buying motives, buying habits
to learn competitor’s characteristics and strategies
to enhance and refine selling skills
to learn about products
to improve time and territory management

16. Staffing and operating sales force: Motivation
Type of motivation
Financial incentives
compensation plans
expense accounts
fringe benefits
Nonfinancial awards

17. Staffing and operating sales force: Compensation
Direct monetary payments
Strait salary
fixed payment for a period of time
provides security and stability for sales force
not enough incentive for sales increase
Strait commission
payment tied to a specific unit of accomplishment
Combination plan
Indirect monetary compensation
paid vacation, pension, insurance plans

18. Staffing and operating sales force: Supervision
Supervising sales force is difficult because:
sales people often work independently
the relationship between sales effort and sales outcome is not clear

19. Staffing and operating sales force: Performance Evaluation
It is difficult to evaluate a salesperson’s performance
Output = f (salesperson’s effort, environment)
Qualitative evaluation bases
knowledge of product, company policies, and competition
Time management and preparation for sales calls
customer relations
personality and attitude

20. Staffing and operating sales force: Performance Evaluation
Quantitative evaluation bases
Quantitative input measures
Call rate, direct selling expenses, non-selling activities
Quantitative output measure
sales volume, sales volume as a percentage of quota, gross margin, orders, closing rates, accounts

21. Staffing and operating sales force: Performance Evaluation
Sales person’s
ability
Sales person’s
motivation
Sales
environment
Sales effort
Sales Output

22. Video Case: Rollerblade
Promotional strategies in introductory stage
Promotional goals
Non-traditional promotions
Traditional promotions

23. Video Case: Rollerblade
Marketing strategies in growth/maturity stage
Targeting
Price