Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sales Promotion and Sales Management: Biyani's Think Tank
Sales Promotion and Sales Management: Biyani's Think Tank
Nandita Sarsar
Revised by: Ms Chitrangi
Lecturer
Deptt. of Commerce (Mgmt)
Biyani Girls College, Jaipur
2
Published by :
Think Tanks
Biyani Group of Colleges
While every effort is taken to avoid errors or omissions in this Publication, any mistake or
omission that may have crept in is not intentional. It may be taken note of that neither the
publisher nor the author will be responsible for any damage or loss of any kind arising to
anyone in any manner on account of such errors and omissions.
Preface
I am glad to present this book, especially designed to serve the needs of the students.
The book has been written keeping in mind the general weakness in understanding the
fundamental concepts of the topics. The book is self-explanatory and adopts the
“Teach Yourself” style. It is based on question-answer pattern. The language of book is
quite easy and understandable based on scientific approach.
I any further improvement in the contents of the book by making corrections, omission
and inclusion in keen to be achieved based on suggestions from the readers for which the
author shall be obliged.
I acknowledge special thanks to Mr. Rajeev Biyani, Chairman & Dr. Sanjay Biyani,
Director (Acad.), Biyani‟s Group of Colleges, who are the backbones and main concept
provider and also have been constant source of motivation throughout this endeavour. I
also extend my thanks to Biyani Shikshan Samiti, Jaipur, who played an active role in
coordinating the various stages of this endeavour and spearheaded the publishing work.
I also want to thank Ms. Shivani Singh and Ms. Swati Singh for her support and guidance
during my writing work.
I look forward to receiving valuable suggestions from professors of various educational
institutions, other faculty members and students for improvement of the quality of the
book. The reader may feel free to send in their comments and suggestions to the under
mentioned address.
Author
4
Contents
S. No. Name of Topic
1. Sales Promotion
Section –A
Sales Promotion
You cannot offer your valued customers any better Thank You,
or have a better environment for sales promotion.
~ John Garwood
Q.1 Define sales promotion? What is the nature, role & importance of sales
promotion?
OR
What is sales promotion? Discuss the nature, role & importance of sales
promotion.
Ans.: Sales promotion is a key factor & strategy for marketers within the promotional
mix. Sales promotion refers to many kinds of incentives & techniques directed
towards consumers & traders with the intention to produce immediate or short
term effects. Sales promotion helps in stimulating trial or purchase by final
customers or others in the channel. A marketer can increase the value of its
product by offering an extra incentive to purchase a product or brand. A few
definitions are quoted below:-
1. Importance to consumers:-
(i) Availability of new products- It is easy to sell new products
with the help of sales promotional tools. Hence the
producers are encouraged to bring new products.
2. Coordination & liaison with other departments- The sales promotion department
regularly coordinates with other departments such as advertising, sales force
management, packaging, publicity etc. The value promotion is coordinated in view of
the travelling schedule of salesmen, sales presentation etc. Sales promotion
department is also associated with production, finance, traning departments of the
organization & established coordination with these departments from time to time.
3. Sales promotion research- In order to make sales promotion program more effective
, the S.P. department undertakes surveys & evaluates the information gathered to
know about the changing values, traditions, culture , consumers behavior & public
opinions.
5. Provides training to the sales lesson -The sales promotion department trains the
salesmen about the company , its products , promotional incentives being gives to
buyers. The department also gives introduction about company‟s policies & plans.
Customers-salesmen relationship.
promotion department also decides on with best advertising messages, copies &
media for their products.
2. Limited time period:-Advertising is for long term effect & is for longer
periods, whereas sales promotion is for a limited time period only.
Q.5 What are the commonly used tools & techniques of dealer
Promotions?
OR
What are the different sales promotional tools useful for traders?
Ans. These promotional tools are targeted to marketing intermediaries such as
wholesalers, retailers, distributers or agents who stock the manufactures products
for sale sales promotion directed at the trade helps push a product into the
distribution channel until it reaches customers.
Sales Promotion and Sales Management 13
8) Sales contests:- Sales contests are organized for dealers also on the basis
of highest sales achieved by dealers during a specific time period. Prizes,
certificates are issued to such dealers and such contest hence motivates the
dealer for longer purchases.
9) Retailer kits:- Materials that support retailers selling efforts are retailer
kits. The kits contain supporting information such as detailed product
specification, ad slicks- print ads that are ready to be sent to the local print
media.
Q.6 What are the different tools of sales promotion for consumer promotion?
Ans. This sales promotion is aimed at final consumer or users. Consumer sales
promotion used by retailers are aimed at attracting customers to specific
locations. The consumer promotion tools are-
1) Sample-Samples are offer of a trial amount of a product generally 84%
consumer package goods marketers use sampling as part of their promotion
strategy. by offering free samples , a company gains entry into that market ,
soaps , detergents , toothpastes, shampoos, conditioners are examples of few
products that are normally popularized through free samples. Free samples are
distributed for several reasons: To stimulate tral of a product to increase sales
volume in the early stages of PLC, to obtain desirable distribution. The
samples can be distributed through in store sampling (food products and
cosmetics), door to door sampling, mail sampling, (through postal service),
news paper sampling, mobile sampling, on package sampling, professional
sampling(drugs).
Types of coupons-
(i) Instant redemption coupon- Consumers can immediately redeem the
coupon.
(ii) Bonus back coupon- Coupons can be placed inside packages so that
customer can‟t redeem them quickly.
Sales Promotion and Sales Management 17
(iii)Scanner delivered coupon- Firm can issue coupons at the cash register.
These are triggered by an item being scanned.
(iv) Cross ruffling- It is the placement of a coupon for one product on another
product. E.g. a coupon for an onion sauce placed on a package of potato
chips is a cross scuffling coupon.
(v) Free standing inserts coupons can be delivered to consumers through news
paper.
(vi) In store couponing- Coupons are distributed in a retail environment.
6) Trade fairs and exhibitions They form one of the oldest practices of sales
promotion. Trade fair & exhibition provide companies with the opportunity
for introducing and displaying their products. This brings the company‟s
product and the consumers direct contact with each other. Trade fairs have
become a handy and effective tool of sales promotion. Orders and enquiries
worth billions get generated at international trade fairs.
8) Free gifts/Gift cards- Companies also give gifts to consumers, dealers and key
people. These gifts include pens, diaries, table, decoration. Gifts normally
carry the company‟s name and logo. The gifts are intended to create goodwill
towards the company.
9) Exchange schemes/Money back offers- This is the latest sales promotion tool
in consumer disables market. E.g. Akai exchange scheme- Bring in your old
color TV with remote.
Videocon money back offer.
Philips- 5 in 1 offer.- Philips TV, 2 in 1, Mixer, grinder, rice cooker at an
attractive price.
Sponsoring the games and teams- Many companies like reliance, Pepsi,
Pentaloons, Maruti sponsor different games and sports in the country and
abroad.
Q.7 What are the tools of sales promotion used for business and industrial goals?
Ans. Sales promotion is targeted for business and industrial goods also Industrial
products differ with that of consumer goods. The tools which are used are-
1) Trade shows:- The industrial products are displayed and demonstrated to the
members of trade and industry. The representatives explain about the products.
The trade shows can be useful for smaller firms which can‟t much in
advertising and also salesman can make for more contacts. Trade shows are
important rules for reaching potential wholesalers & distributers for a
company‟s brand.
18
2) Business gifts:- These gifts are given as a part of building and maintaining a
close working relationship with suppliers business gifts may include small
items of jewellary, watch, electronic items, expensive trips.
3) Trial offers:- Trial offers are particularly well suited to the business and
industrial market. Trial offers provide a way for buyers to lower the risks of
making a commitment to one brand over another. Trial offer is a good way to
attract new customers who need a reason to try something new.
8) Bonus picks:- offering a prospective a bonus pack may attract new users as
price is a negotiated item in our B2B sector price of discount can be offered by
vendors seeking to obtain a new business contract.
Q.9 What are the needs for evaluation of sales promotion program? Discuss the
methods of evaluations of sales promotion program.
OR
Discuss the needs for evaluations of sales promotion program.
OR
Why the need arises for evaluations of sales promotion program? Explain.
Ans.- Though almost all companies resort to sales promotion techniques , only some of
them follow it in a planned way. The conditions for the success of sales
promotion program are as follows:-
1. Identify the requirement – The firm needs to find out. It is to bring in
substantiate extra sales immediately. It is to offered accumulated stocks ? It is to
regain loosing consumer interest in the product etc.
2. Identifying the right promotion program-The firm has to select the program
suitable for current need & situation the choice of the firm should be deducted
according to the resources available with the firm.
4. Enlisting the support of the dealers:- It is also essential to enlist then support of
the dealers in any large scale sales promotion venture. Since the major part of the
activity is around the dealer shop, the pop material and the product under
campaign will get the required prominence. Only if the leader so dealers.
6. Timing of the campaign:- The sales need of the company is the prime factor that
desides the timing. But the firm has to eansider factors like seasonality of
purchase of product.
Need for evolution:- The need for evaluating the sales promotion programs are-
Methods of evalution:-
1. Sales data method- This method is a widely a accepted practice. In this method ,
sales volume or market share prior to any sales promotion techniques are
measured . Eg. If market share of a product before the introduction of sales
promotion is 4% , during the period 10% & immediately after the program 6% ,
Thus giving an increase of 8%. Showes that new customers are created by the
sales promotion program.
2. Consumer panel data- This technique help to identify that how the customers
have been motivated by the sales promotion technique for longer purchase . How
much quality have the customers purchased & What were the charges of their
buying behavior after the sales promotion program. This technique help to
identify the various classes of customers on new or old customers / women / men
/ industrial / general customers etc.
3. Consumer surveys- This method collects various kinds of information about the
customers so as to analysis the effectiveness of sales promotion. The analysis of
suchinformation help to know following things-
1) The numbers of customers who have remembered the techniques used.
2) The views opinion about these techniques.
3) How these technique have been helpful in influencing the buyer‟s
behavior & brand chore of customer?
4) Do the customer require any innovation to be differed in the product?
5) Do these techniques improve the image of the firm?
6) Do they feel like using these techniques through the year?
1.incentive
2.communication
3.invitation
4.all of the above
1.intelligent
2.co operative
3.rational
4.none of the above
5 Trade shows,free trial offers ,free samples etc are types of:-
1.adveretising tools
2.personal selling
3.sales promotion
4.none of the above
24
“CASE STUDY”
Client: LG Electronics
Project: Product Launch
Event: LG launches its new 71" plasma TV
LG Electronics asked PGS Corporate to help turn its launch parties for a
new big screen plasma television into memorable events for customers at
two key retail locations. PGS Corporate rolled out the red carpet and
delivered amazing events.
Project Overview
To generate excitement for the launch of LG's 71-inch plasma TV, PGS Corporate
coordinated and executed two customer events at key dealerships in Paramus, NJ and
Los Angeles, CA
These events were catered to meet every need of the customers in attendance including:
* Valet parking
* Red carpet entrance with velvet ropes
* Themed decor including LG branded ice sculptures
* First-class food and beverage
* Podium, microphone and speakers to introduce the TV
* Gift-wrapped martini sets for parting gifts
“CASE STUDY”
(i) Pizza hub is a chain of family oriented restaurants with more than 320
locations in 21 states.pizza hub offers full table service and features daily
buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Sales Promotion and Sales Management 25
(ii) Challenge
Pizza hub wanted to increase traffic and sales for featured items,
such as seafood dishes and the nightly buffet at the company’s 140 wholly-
owned restaurants. Each restaurant has approximately 50 employees .waht
sales promotion tools should be used by pizza hub to increase store traffic
and increase sales:-explain in detail.
26
Section - B
Q.1.What do you mean by recruitment of sales men? What are the sources through
which salesmen are recruited : Discuss the merest & demerits of each.
In context of selection procedure
Discuss this statement –―The fortune of a consumer depends on sales which
intern depends on salesmen.‖
Ans. Recruitment is the process of identifying key people in the organization & a process
to discover the source of manpower to meet the requirements of staffing schedule
& to employ effective measure for attracting the manpower in adequate numbers to
facilitate effective selection requirement is the first part of building a top notch
sales free.
Some of the definition of requirement are-
1. Edwin & Flippo – “Recruitment is the process of searching of prospector
employees & stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization.”
2. Victor P. Bull- “Recruitment is the search for the best equitable candidate for a
sales position . ”
3. Byars & Rue- “Recruitment involves seeking & attracting a pool of people from
which qualified candidates for job vacancy can be chosen .”
4. Spiro & Stantion- “Recruitment includes identifying source of recruits that are
consistent with the type of person desired selecting the source to be used &
contacting the recruits.”
Process of Recruitment:-
The Process of Recruitment Involves:-
1) Establishing responsibility for Recruitment- The management must give
responsibility as to who will make the recruitment & the selection decision. this
Sales Promotion and Sales Management 27
responsibility might be given to the top sales manager , the HR department or the
sales manager.
2) Determining sales force needs- The no. of new sales people depends on factors
such as sales growth targets, distributions strategies, sales force turn over. The
sales force turn over can be because of poor performance, retirement, resignation
for another job etc.
3) Considering company nature- A specific definition of the organization‟s culture
is necessary for planning cycle validity. The process of aligning a company‟s
recruiting strategies to its case culture should help attract and retain higher
programming sales people as complained to those companies whose recruitment
process are reactive.
The formula used for calculating the no. of requirement of salesman is-
N= S/P (1+T)
Where
N= Number
S= Sales forecast
P= Present average sales
T= Turnover rate of sales personnel.
5) Developing a profile of the type salesman needed- The profile and nature of
salesmen is determined on the basis of the job requirements. Salesmen may be of
different nature and the nature of salesmen be determined on the basis of job
requirements. Two functions are mainly involved in determining the nature and
suitability of the salesmen-
(i) Job analysis – It refers to the process of studying the operations, duties
and organizational aspects of jobs in order to derive specification, for
analyzing the job being carried out by salesmen, following two activities
involved-
a) Job description- In this process first of all analysis of sales
activities are made and then job description is prepared. The
following points are usually covered like-
Title of job.
Organizational relationship.
Types of products & services sold.
Types of customers called on.
Duties and responsibilities related to the job.
Job demands.
28
Hiring specifications.
b) Man specifications- It gives light on the employee needs. It
contains information on physical, features, health, voice, mental
qualities like education, mental balance, etc. social & moral
qualities like obedience , encouragement , friendship , sincerity ,
capacity to bear the heights & responsibilities , work experience
etc.
(ii) Review of the present salesmen- The existing salesmen are received to
as certain how many of them have been successful in their functions. As
a result of review, some changes may be interfused for them also.
6) Evaluating introduced recruitment- The company should continuously evaluate
the effectiveness of recruitment process. It will enable the management to
determine which sources produced the best results.
2. External sources-
a) Unsolicited applications - All companies receive unsolicited walk in &
write in applications directly for sales job . The most logical policy is to
create volunteer applications the same as solicited applications.
b) Employment agencies.
c) Educational institutes.
d) Sales people making calls on the company.
e) Sales executives club.
f) Employees of customers.
g) Older persons.
h) Other industries .
i) The internet.
SELECTION PROCESS—
Selection is a process to determine whether an application meets the qualifications for the
specific job &to select the applicant who is most likely to perform well in job.
A proper selection of sales persons makes the base for success of a sales organization as
it increase per capita sales & the moral of the sales organization. A sound selection
process also increases the goodwill of the firm because the salesmen represent the
company. If he makes a poor impression , the company is likely to have a poor reputation
among its customers.
secretary. This pre interview screening is required as when there are large no. of
applications , it is desirable to rest out the prospective applications who have given
information about the nature of job , salary , responsibility etc.
3. Selection Tests-The selection tests are important part of the selection process.
Different types of selection tests are as follows-
a) Mental ability test- Mental test measure the overall intellectual
capacity of a person &enable the person to know whether he has
mental ability to deal with every new problem. The learning
capacity, Inductive reasoning, ability to take decision can be tested.
b) Aptitude tests- These tests are used to measure. The ability of an
application to learn new jobs or skills. these tests help to find out
whether a candidate will be appropriate for the job of salesmen or
not.. They focus attention on a particulars type of talent such as
learning & reasoning.
c) Achievement tests + Proficiency tests- These tests measure the
skill of knowledge which is acquired as a result of training
program & on the job experience . These lists can be helpful when
an experienced person is to be promoted to higher job or when a
person is to be transferred from one job to another.
d) Personality tests-These tests aim in measuring those
characteristics of an individual , which are non intellectual in
nature. They assess his motivation interests, his ability to adjust
himself to the stress & his capacity for inter personal relations &
self image.
e) Interest tests- These tests aim at finding out types of work in
which an applicant is interested. They are inventories of the likes
& dislikes of people in some occupation, hobbies etc.
f) Temperament tests- These tests help to evaluate the various
factors of temperament such as likes, dislikes, flexibility , habits
etc.
g) Attitude tests- These tests measure the attitude of applicants
towards business conditions, employment, salaries , promotions ,
labor , social & political charges govt. policies etc.
h) Situational tests- These tests measure the applicants capability to
work in the real situation , under this test, the capacity of the
salesmen to work in different sales areas & with different
customers is tested.
4. Interview- Interview is the most widely used selection step & helps in judging an
individual as to ability in oral communication, personal appearance, attitude toward
30
sales & company etc It is a meeting between two persons sothal they can know about
each other.
a) Patterned or structured interview- Here the interviewer uses a
prepared outline of questions designed to get specific answer from
the interviewer. The interviewer may record the answer as they are
given.
b) Non directive or free interview- It is an unstructured interview.
In this type of interview, the applicant is encourage to speak about
his experiences freely. The interviewer might ask few questions &
speaks only enough to keep the interviewer speaking. Experts feel
that this technique is best for getting into individual‟s personality
in depth.
c) Stress interview- In stress interview, the interviewer assumes an
unfriendly behavior towards the applicant . He asks such questions
which can be quiet embarrassing for him & asks questions rapidly,
criticizes the answer & interrupts him frequently.
d) Rating sales- One draw back of a personal interview is the
tendency to lack objectivity a defect that can be reduced through
rating seales. sating are channeled into a limited choice of
response . experiences indicate that these results in more
comparable ratings of the same individual by different
interviewers.
7. Determining terms of service- Terms of service are determined after the selection
process Terms of service include the matters related to salary, commission,
allowances, housing facility etc.
Q.2 Define sales training, state various methods of providing training to the
salesmen.
OR
Explain the various aspects of sales training.
OR
How will you plan and build a sales training program?
Ans. Sales training has been recognize as one of the vital factors in the success of the
sales person. The essence of training in the belief that performance of people
can be improved through the training.
Training of the sales men is a process of selling skills development so as to
increase the ability, knowledge and experience of the salesmen to perform well
on the job.
OR
“Sales training is an organized activity involving fact finding, planning,
coaching, placing and purposive attempt to develop selling skills and to add
these skills to selected nature ability, causally acquired knowledge and
experience.”
d. What should be the content of the training?- The basic topics on which
salesmen are gives training can be-
Knowledge about market.
Knowledge about customers.
Knowledge about products.
Knowledge about competitions.
Knowledge about company.
Salesmanship.
Team building skills.
Relationship building skills. \\
3) Reinforcement- Most sales people would not change their behavior as a result of
training unless there is same reinforcement. There can be many ways to reinforce
training.
Sales Promotion and Sales Management 33
4) Training evaluation- Sales manager must assess the effectiveness of the training.
This evaluation helps to determine the value of training & to improve the design
of the future programs.
Methods of sales training- The training methods can be categorized into-
1. Group training methods-
a) Lectures / class room instructions- They are regarded as one of the most
simple ways of importance knowledge to the trainees, especially when
facts, attitudes, theories & problem solving abilities are to be taught. The
lecture method may be used for a group containing good number of
trainees, audio-visual equipments; VCR‟s, projectors also increase the
effectiveness of lectures.
b) Group discussion methods-In this method, different groups are formed
by limited numbers of persons. Each group seeks guidance under the
leadership of a senior officer. The group discusses the sales problems with
the leader & efforts are to be made to find out a commonly agreed solution
to each problem.
c) Sales conference methods- It is a formal meeting conducted in
accordance with an organized training plan. It lays emphasis on small
group discussion, on specific subject matter. Three types of conference.
such as 1)Directed conference 2)Problem solving conference 3)
Leadership discussions . This method is used for training the persons
holding managerial position.
d) Case study method- The trainees are given cases to analysis. They are
asked to identify any sales problem & to recommended tentative solution
for it. This method is useful for the manager to improve their decision
making skills.
e) Role playing method- In role playing, trainees act as given role as in a
stage play. Two or more trainees are assigned parts to play before the rest
of the members. The role players are informed of a situation & of the
respective roles they have to play. The idea of role playing involves
action, doing & practice.
f) Gaming methods- Gaming method is a technique which duplicates, as
nearly as possible & this method develops the decision making capacity
of the trainees. The knowledge about various decisions methods such as
selling efforts, advertising, sales force management, size of the orders time
for getting orders are learnt through such training.
c) Personal discussions- The salesmen contact his sales managers & senior
manager from time to time & discuss with them the individual problems.
The manager gives good advice & suggestions on the basis of their
experience & their helps in improving the efficiency of salesmen.
d) Correspondence- When the sales trainee are at distant places, it becomes
difficult for them to assemble every time for training. In such cases,
training is imparted through correspondence. The training materials are
printed & circulated to the sales trainee at different places where they are
working . The trainees read the material carefully & learn to adopt or
fallow the guidance & instructions received through the study material.
Q.3 What do you understand by the term motivation? What is the need for
motivating sales personnel?
OR
Discuss steps in motivation process.
OR
Define motivation. Explain the different methods of motivating salesmen?
Ans. Motivation is a goal directed behavior and creating and maintaining a well
motivated sales force is a challenging tasks. Motivation is the amount of effort the
sales person desires to expand on each of the activities or tasks associated with the
sales job.
The desire to expand effort to fulfill a need is called motivation or motivation can
also be defined as an individuals willingness to exert to achieve the organization‟s
goals while satisfying individual needs.
OR
Motivation is an inner state that energizes, activates or moves channels behavior
towards goals.
Characteristic:-
1. Motivation is a .
2. It develops efforts and will to work.
3. It is a .
It is related with satisfaction
financial or non financial.
1. It provides rewards in line with the goal.
2. It is only one component of successful sales performance.
3. It is a psychological help given to salesmen.
Need of motivation :-
The need of motivation arises because of following reasons.
1. Nature of sales job - The nature of sales job is for different from other jobs.
Salesmen have to put hard work to obtain a sales order as every sales job involves
ups & downs and feelings of joys and depressions. Salesmen also interact with
many unpleasant and rude people the connections cause sales persons to become
discowage to achieve low performance levels, So therefore additional motivation
is required.
2. Role conflicts - The sales person must try to satisfy the expectations of people
both within the company in customer‟s organizations. There is a linkage with four
groups a) Sales management b) Company or Organizations that handles order
fulfillment c) Customer d) Company sales person. Each group imposes
behavioral expectations and in playing these roles the sales person faces role
conflicts.
3. Domestic problems - Travelling salesmen mostly remain away from their homes
and due to these extensive travels, they cannot lead a family life. This leads to
demoavatoin among the employees and all these factors may influence adversely
in their proper functioning. They are given special leaves and monitory benefits
by certain companies to motivate them in this respect.
4. Development of team spirit – Most of the salesmen serving with big sales
organization work much away from the head office. they remain busy in the fields
at distance places throughout the year, So by organizing seminars and conferences
from time to time, such salesmen are given opportunity to meet at one place to
share group feelings and also for the betterment of the relationship.
7. Proper use of human resources- motivation is also essential for the effective use
of human resources as the inborn qualities of each salesmen can be developed
through better motivation tools so as to utilize the human resources for maximum
benefits of the organization .
9. Utilization skill- Most of the salesman do not make efforts to utilize their full
work capacity. Motivational tools stimulate them to expand their full energies &
to develop latent qualities.
1. Determination of objective – A sales manager has to determine the reason & the
stage at which the salesmen has to be motivated. Objectives decide the levels
resources & tools of motivation.
2. Studying the unfulfilled needs – The motivational process starts with an assured
need. For this purpose, it is necessary to recognize the individual differences
between persons. The differences of mental conditions, expectations, positions,
aspiration, personal goals & their attitudes must be studied & hence the sales
manager should take step to study those unfulfilled needs.
4. Selecting motivation tools- The sales manager must design effective motivation
tools. Every motivational program should have some elements within it that can
be Toulouse to the individual needs.
5. communication – To make motivational plan successful it must be communicated
to salesmen and concerned person.
6. integration interests – The interest of salesmen and the firm must be integrated in
motivational program.
7. certain of auxiliary environment – physical environment and working conditions
play an important role in motivating sales personal. this environment may be
created within company by producing various ways and means for good working.
8. developing team spirit – individual efforts should be directed towards developing
team spirit among sales men.
9. feedback- the results achieved for the motivational plans should be compared with
the goals decided in the program in order to identify any deviation.
Q.4 What are the characteristics of a good sales compensation plan and discuss the
main steps involved in designing a sales plan?
Ans. To motivate the salesmen and for retaining the salesperson a good sales
compensation plan is the first requisite.
Basically a good sales compensation plan is that directs the salesmen activities
towards the objectives of the firm. It should stimulate the salesmen to put in their
best efforts both qualitatively and quantitatively towards achieving the plan sales
and other goals. It should assure a minimum income and appropriate additional
reward for above average performance. In many cases a good sales compensation
Sales Promotion and Sales Management 37
plan also helps ensure the right treatment of customers. A poor sales
compensation plan invariable Leads to poor quality of sales force.
f) similarly if the market becomes unduly depressed due to some reason, the
income of the salesmen would go down directly.
3 Motivation is a _______
1.phsycological concept
2.can be financial and non financial
3.goal oriented
“CASE STUDY” A vacancy had arisen for a Director of Sales position and a local
recruitment consultancy were given the task of finding a suitable candidate.
Following discussions with the client, it was decided that useful additional
information should be sought on candidates through the use of psychometric
assessment.
Timescales were short with the initial interviews having already taken place.
Further complications included the difficulty in the short-listed candidate being
available to complete questionnaires and undergo feedback sessions within the
time available.what steps you would take to solve the problems while
recruitment and selection process??
Sales Promotion and Sales Management 41
Section- C
Pre sale preparation:- In the pre sale preparation a salesmen prepare about certain
things like the product, knowledge about the firm, market information, knowledge
about sales techniques.
Prospecting customer:-
1. Defining the prospects- a prospective customer is in need for the product
have ability to pay and authority to buy the product & a good personality to
present the salesman for contacting him frequently.
2. Searching out potential accounts- the salesmen can use two types of sources
for selling potential customers. The secondary sources include friends and
relations of existing customers , self observation , field survey, by contrasting,
42
advertisement, govt. and nom govt. agencies, magazines, social contacts. The
primary include family friends, relatives.
3. Qualifying products and determining probable requirements- it is
necessary to determine the probable requirement of customers and this
function may be performed on the basis of following indicators of need,
indicators of ability to pay , indicators of authority to pay, indicators of
accessibility.
4. Relating companies products to each customers requirement- The
salesmen on the basis of collected information tries to satisfy the specific
requirements of prospector customers
Pre approach:- Before approaching the customers there is anteed to cullet full
details about the customer. This approach involves collecting the details about the
potential customers such as age, sex , source of income, education, friends and
relation, present buying, buying object. The personality treats of customers are
also studied to get himself prepaid to face different types of customer.
Approaching:- In this stage the salesmen comes in contact with the potential
customers vat before approach salesmen should get an appointment fixed with the
customer.
Contacts with the customers without any period appointment is called as cold
calls. In such cold calls the salesmen should try to influence the customers by his
well manners.
Presentation of sales:- Presentation is the most important step in selling as in this
stage the salesmen presents his product to the prospective customer. The
presentation may be made by Type of customers while presenting the product,
the salesmen should follow the AIDA approach.
customer clear how the product will satisfy the needs and making clear
the advantages the customers will receive using by the product.
The salesmen will be able to build coonvietion when the customer is
convinced from the talks, such a situation can be build only when the
salesmen can give the satisfactory answers, to the objections raised by
customer.
4. Handling/Meting objections- Objections are excuses for not buying
the product. objections block the sale that comes as the prospect either
does not understand the salesmen‟s propositions or does not agree with
him.
There are various causes for objection-
It is human nature to cause doubts when decision has to be
taken for buying new product
When the customer is unable to judge the advantage of the
product
When he fails to understand the personality and the language of
the salesmen
When he wants to testify the statement made by salesmen
when he disagree with the utility of the product
Sales calls and closing sales:- Whenever the customer‟s interest is created and the
customer is fully satisfied with the product then it is the time to close the sale. This is the
end point of selling process and during this time the customers is ready to place the
order.
Post sale activities and follow up:- The purpose of follow up is to evaluate the
complete selling process and to ensure everlasting relations with the customers.
The sale process does not end up immediately after orders, but has to continue even after
that.
Q. 2 Define sales forecasting? Discuss the produce & the methods of sales
forecasting.
Ans. Sales forecast is the basis of corporate planning forecasting is a systematic attempt
to product the future on the basis of known facts. It is the result of numerous
assumption made about the external and internal environment of firms.
Sales forecasting is the estimate level of the company sales based on chosen
marketing plan and assumed marketing environment.
OR
Sales forecasting is the climate of sales during some specific future period time &
under a pre determined marketing plan of the firm.
Important –
1. it is the foundation of planning.
2. Companies uses the sales forecast to allocate resource across different functional
areas.
3. It is the key factor in all operational planning throughout the company.
44
finds that sales forecasts are significantly different from actual sales in the period it
should undertake a review of the sales forecasting process.
Q.3 Define sales quotas . What are the objectives & methods of sales quotas?
Ans. A sales quota is a quantitative goal assigned to a sales unit relating to a particular
period of time. A sales unit may be a territory, branch, office, region, distributor or
a person. A sales quota is a sales set for a product line, company division or sales
representative. A sales quota is sales goal assigns to a marketing unit for use in the
management of the sales efforts. Sales quota is sales performance goal.
1. Forecasts & potentials based methods – The company makes a total volume or
unit sales forecast for the company, product lines & individual products this methods
includes a) quotas derived from territorial sales potential b) Quotas derived from
total market estimates.
2. Only forecasts based methods – This method is common for the large scale
companies, some companies determines sales potential for individual sales territories.
This is especially true for companies that sale in small geographical areas.
3. Past experience method – Some companies take the past year sales for each
geographic unit & use result as their sales volume quotas.
4. Executive judgment method – This method is useful when little information
exists. Manages sely on their judgments to make failure predictions.
5. Salesmen judgment method – It is used in companies expanding in to new
geographic areas or starting up a sales force. no past sales exists on which to base
future estimates.
Objective :-
1. Maximizes sales and profits.
2. enhances customers courage.
3. Matches selling efforts & opportunities.
4. Helps in realistic sales planning.
5. Controls sales operations.
6. Controls selling expenses.
7. Helps in evaluating sales personnel.
8. Contributes to high morale
9. Promotes productive salesmen.
10. Establishes salesmen responsibilities.
48
Q.5 Define consumer psychology. What are the reasons for studying consumer
psychology?
Ans. Consumer psychology is concerned with the study of consumer mind. It is the
study of thought process going on in the consumer mind, their reactions, desires,
values, perceptions, altitudes etc.
OR
It is the study of consumer mind and his behavior particularly his perceptions
learning experiences, personalities, attitudes and self image.
Objectives:-
Q. 7 What do you mean by sales control. Discuss its importance and process.
Ans. Sales control is to identify weaknesses in sales efforts to determine their causes &
to correct them quickly with the objectives of servicing the greatest possible
amount of profitable business.
The primary purpose of sales control is to discover weak spots in sales
performance and to maintain & improve the efficiency of sales operations.
Importance:-
50
Q.8 What are sales reports. Discuss the essentials of sales report.
Ans. Sales reports provide the sales manager with an basis for discussion with sales
personnel. They indicate the manners on which the sales people need assistance.
They also assist in determining how to secure more & larger orders. Field sales
reports provide the raw material that sales management process gain insights on
giving needed direction to field sales personnel.
Essential of a report :-
1. Should be simple.
2. irrelevant information should not be included.
3. Brief and object oriented .
4. Should be useful to make an easy assessment of performance of salesmen.
5. Should be of optimum size.
6. case should be given to make different types of reports in the format
prescribed for the purpose.
7. Salesmen suggestion should be given in the report.
8. Should be free from any person bias.
Sales Promotion and Sales Management 51
1. Presale preparation
2. Prospecting or locating customers
3. Pre- Approach before interview
4. ALL OF THE ABOVE
1.hatered
2.love
3.satisfaction
4.none of the above
1. Observation method
2.Interview method
3.Questionnaire method
4.all of the above
―CASE STUDY‖
Toothpaste industry has grown immensely in the Indian scenario. There is a lot of
competition in the industry mainly between two major players Colgate and HLL .The
companies are coming up with new schemes as well as products to lure the customers.
The usage of toothpaste has grown because of the lifestyle and the way the individuals
are living i.e. more awareness about health. Colgate is going ahead with almost 60% of
the market share in the industry.
The title of the project was “study on consumer buying behavior in the toothpaste
industry”.
The objectives of the study were to “Study the consumer buying habit” and “to study the
toothpaste brands to identify important parameters for customer”.
The questionnaire methodology was adopted and the consumers and the sales officer in
companies were contacted in order to have their view on toothpaste. The area of the study
was restricted to Gurgaon 100 respondents were contacted .The sales managers in two
companies were contacted and their views were known in terms of how they were going
in the toothpaste segment.
It was found that many firms are in the toothpaste segment. So it is a highly competitive
segment. It was found that focus as well as cost leadership was being followed by the
firms when they were going in the toothpaste segment.
The firms are more and more focusing on the promotion and they are spending a lot of
money on this front. Customers are also becoming demanding now-a-days and it is seen
that many attributes are important for the success of a particular brand. The firms are
going in for new launches.
It is found that the discounts are important factor. Another important factor is brand
image or brand name.
The project provided an opportunity to know about a competitive segment and how
consumers behave in that segment. It also provided an insight into the toothpaste industry
and the attitude and perception of the consumer in that segment.
To study the various factor and identify important parameters for customer
acceptance.
To plot popular Toothpastes Brands on the perceptual maps.
Conclusions:
The toothpaste industry is going to be more competitive in the near future. The profit
margin is going down over the year and going to be continuing for the future also. So the
main mantra for the companies to be successful is to satisfy the consumers and develop
brand image and brand loyalty amongst them.
So it has become very necessary for the consumers to understand the Indian consumers
very well. So in the future the companies who come up with new products at competitive
prices and with good quality are going to the successful one. Promotional activities are
also going to play an important role that should to be for both retailers and consumers.
So we are going to see a market which is going to heat up in the near future where mainly
two major players Colgate and HLL will fight the war.
Suggestions:
The companies should give more emphasis on advertising and sales promotion as
the competition is becoming tougher and tougher. So they need to make some
brand image amongst the consumers.
The customers are becoming king as they have a whole lot of choices. So the
companies should try to be cost effective and pass on the saved amount to the
customer.
Retailers are still the place to buy toothpaste. So the companies should focus on
retailers also who is also a customer for their products.
The companies should try to launch new products after through research of the
consumers as they are becoming more dynamic day by day.
Limitations:
The responses can be biased, as some of the respondents may not have revealed
the true pictures.
The company officials also too tend to give biased answers, as they always want
to give a rosy picture of their company.
The managers were reluctant to give information about the product.
The sample was restricted to the Gurgaon region only.
54
“ Case study”
MTV practiced a glocalized brand strategy in order to be the favorite music channel for
its target market. It went in for local recruitment, customizing its program content to suit
local needs, coming out with innovative programs, and at times following instinct rather
than research. The caselet also describes the new challenges that MTV faced while airing
programs based on psychographic segmentation.
Issues:
A number of rock bands and artists like Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, Madonna, and Michael
Jackson rose to prominence through MTV. As the brand matured through the two
decades of its existence, MTV had to straddle the two generations of X and Y.
The company still managed to be successful in maintaining the freshness in its program
offerings while catering to the needs of both the generations...
1. How was MTV successful in increasing the level of involvement with the target
market?
2. How did MTV try to maintain its relevance with the changing demographics?
Elaborate.
Sales Promotion and Sales Management 55
1. Answer following question in not more than 20 words each. Each question carries
2 marks.
2. Answer each of the following in not more than 50 words each. Each question
carries 4 marks.
Descriptive Part II
Time: Two Hour Max. Mark : 60
Attempt all the three questions, selection one question from each section. Each question
carries 20 marks. Each question has internal choice in the form of either/or.
Section-A
Explain the difference between export sales promotion and export promotion and
discuss the various methods of export sales promotion.
Section B
Section C
What do you mean by „Sales Quota‟? Critically evaluate the various methods of
setting quota.
Sales Promotion and Sales Management 57
1. Answer following question in not more than 20 words each. Each question carries
2 marks.
2. Answer each of the following in not more than 50 words each. Each question
carries 4 marks.
Descriptive Part II
Time: Two Hour Max. Mark : 60
Attempt all the three questions, selection one question from each section. Each question
carries 20 marks. Each question has internal choice in the form of either/or.
Section-A
Section B
4. “A good salesman is born and note made." Describe in brief the essential qualities
of an ideal salesman.
or
Section C
5. What do mean by objection of customers? Narrate the factors that are required to
keep in mind while handling the various of customers.
or
1. Answer following question in not more than 20 words each. Each question carries
2 marks.
2. Answer each of the following in not more than 50 words each. Each question
carries 4 marks.
Descriptive Part II
Time: Two Hour Max. Mark : 60
Attempt three questions in all, selecting at least one question from each section. Each
question carries 20 marks. Each question has internal choice in the form of either/or.
Section-A
4. What is the role of selling in a planned economy like ours? Discuss significance of
customer relations in buyer's market?
or
What are the factors affecting salesman remuneration? Discuss the merits and
demerits of “Straight commission plan”?
Section C
What do you mean by meeting selling cost? Discuss various methods of sales cost
control.
Sales Promotion and Sales Management 61
1. Answer following question in not more than 20 words each. Each question carries
2 marks.
2. Answer each of the following in not more than 50 words each. Each question
carries 4 marks.
Descriptive Part II
Time: Two Hour Max. Mark : 60
Attempt three questions in all, selecting at least one question from each section. Each
question carries 20 marks. Each question has internal choice in the form of either/or.
Section-A
Section B
5. What do you mean by "sales forecasting”? Describe the factors affecting sales
forecast.
or
1. Answer following question in not more than 20 words each. Each question carries
2 marks.
2. Answer each of the following in not more than 50 words each. Each question
carries 4 marks.
Descriptive Part II
Time: Two Hour Max. Mark : 60
Attempt three questions in all, selecting at least one question from each section. Each
question carries 20 marks. Each question has internal choice in the form of either/or.
Section-A
3. Define sales promotion and states the reasons of its ever increasing importance in
the modern age.
or
Explain the difference between export sales promotion and export promotion and
discuss the various methods of export sales promotion.
Section B
4. “A good salesman is born and not made “Explain the statement. Describe in brief
the essential qualities of an ideal salesmen.
or
Section C
Discuss the utility of salesman report. What are their types? What factors should
be considered while preparing such a report.
Sales Promotion and Sales Management 65
1. Answer following question in not more than 20 words each. Each question carries
2 marks.
2. Answer each of the following in not more than 50 words each. Each question
carries 4 marks.
Descriptive Part II
Time: Two Hour Max. Mark : 50
Attempt three questions in all, selecting at least one question from each section. Each
question carries 20 marks. Each question has internal choice in the form of either/or.
Section-A
3. What do you mean by sales promotion? How does it differ from advertising?
or
Section B
or
Section C
5. What do you mean by sales forecast ion? Describe the factor affecting sales
forecast.
or
What do you mean by buying motives? Describe the different buying motives.