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Learning outcomes Understand the sales environment Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Management Learning outcomes Understand the sales environment Describe personal selling Discuss the key differences between relationship selling and traditional selling List and explain the steps in the selling process Understand the functions of sales management Describe the use of customer relationship management in the selling process

Sales people can be consumer-focused or business-focused Sales Environment Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Management LO 1 Sales people can be consumer-focused or business-focused Sales environment changes constantly as new competitors enter the market and old competitors leave Rapid increase in new sales technologies are changing the ways in which customers: Interact with salespeople Learn about products and suppliers Traditionally, salespeople engage in direct face-to-face contact with customers. Consumer-focused salespeople require customers to come directly to a retail store, but some salespeople travel to their customers’ locations. Business-focused salespeople call on other companies to sell their products.

17.1 Comparison of Personal Selling and Advertising or Sales Promotion Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Management LO 2 17.1 Comparison of Personal Selling and Advertising or Sales Promotion Personal selling becomes more important as the number of potential customers decreases, as the complexity of the product increases, and as the value of the product grows. Exhibit 17.1 compares the effectiveness of personal selling and advertising, or sales promotion, based on certain customer and product characteristics.

Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Management LO 3 17.2 Key Differences between Traditional Selling and Relationship Selling

Selling Process (Sales Cycle) Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Management LO 4 Set of steps a salesperson goes through in a particular organization to sell a particular product or service Can be unique for each product or service Depends on: Features of the product or service Characteristics of customer segments Internal processes in place within the firm

Steps in Personal Selling Process LO 4 Generating leads Qualifying leads Approaching the customer and probing needs Developing and proposing solutions Handling objections Closing the sale Following up

Responsibilities of a Sales Manager Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Management LO 5 Maximizing sales and profits Defining sales goals and the sales process Determining the sales force structure Recruiting and training the sales force Compensating and motivating the sales force Evaluating the sales force Without sales, there is no need for accountants, production workers, or even a company president. Sales provide the fuel that keeps the corporate engines humming. Responsibilities of a sales manager include: Maximizing sales at a reasonable cost and maximizing profits Defining sales quotas and the sales process Organizing sales force structure by geographic regions, product lines, marketing functions performed, markets, industries, individual clients, or accounts Recruiting, training, compensating, motivating, and evaluating the sales force

Customer Relationship Management Process Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Management LO 6 Identifying customer relationships Understanding interactions of the customer base Capturing customer data Leveraging customer information Customer relationship management assumes two key points: Customers must take center stage in the organization. The business must manage the customer relationship across all points of customer contact throughout the organization.

Identifying Customer Relationships Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Management LO 6 Companies with CRM systems follow a customer-centric model Rely on knowledge management Terms of interaction are defined by the customer and not the organization A customer-centric company customizes its product and service offerings based on data generated through interactions between the customer and the company. Companies using CRM rely on knowledge management. It is the process by which customer information is centralized and shared in order to enhance the relationship between customers and the organization. Information collected includes experiential observations, comments, customer actions, and qualitative facts about the customer. With CRM, the terms of interaction are defined by the customer and not the organization. Social media has created numerous ways for companies to interact with customers.

Interactions of the Current Customer Base and Capturing Customer Data Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Management LO 6 CRM is built on the interactions between customers and organizations Any activity or touch point a customer has with an organization constitutes an interaction Touch points include web-based interactions, social CRM, and point-of-sale interactions Data gathered affects touch points inside the company In a CRM system, touch points are all areas of a business where customers have contact with the company and data might be gathered. Touch points might include a customer registering for a particular service; a customer communicating with customer service for product information; a customer completing and returning the warranty information card for a product; or a customer talking with salespeople, delivery personnel, and product installers. As social media have become more popular, many companies have begun to use these media for social CRM. Many point-of-sale software programs enable customers to easily provide information about themselves without feeling violated.

keyterms Relationship selling (consultative selling) Sales process (sales cycle) Lead generation (prospecting) Cold calling Referral Networking Lead qualification Preapproach Needs assessment Sales proposal Sales presentation Negotiation Follow-up Quota Customer-centric Knowledge management Interaction Touch points Point-of-sale interactions Campaign management

Summary Personal selling involves a personal, paid-for communication between two people in an attempt to influence each other Relationship salespeople strive to build long- term relationships with their customers Process comprises seven steps A sales manager’s main job is to maximize sales and profits Marketers are making their communications more customer-specific