Personal Selling – Defined

Personal selling refers to personal

communication with a an audience
through paid personnel of an
organization or its agents in
such a way that the audience
perceives the communicator’s
organization as being the source
of the message.
 Personal selling/sales force is a major part of IMC when:

Product or
Price Channels Advertising
Service

• Channel is
• Complex • Final price short and • Media do not
goods or negotiable direct provide an
services • Price provides effective link
• Training
• Major adequate needed by • Information
purchase margin intermediaries cannot be
decisions provided by
• Selling needed media
• Personal to push product
demonstration through • Sparse market
required reduces
• Intermediaries advertising
can provide economies
personal selling
Personal Selling Responsibilities

Locating prospective Customers

Determining customers’ needs and wants

Recommending a way to satisfy them

Demonstrating product capabilities

Closing the sale

Following up and servicing the account

 == FOCUS ==
Transaction-Focused vs. Relationship Focused

Transaction-
Focused
• Short term thinking
• Making the sale has
priority over most
other considerations
• Interaction between
buyer and seller is
competitive ( to end up
in winning the bargaining)
• Salesperson is self-
interest oriented
Relationship-
Focused
• Long term thinking
• Developing the
relationship takes
priority over getting
the sale; marketing
relationship than goods
• Interaction between
buyer and seller is
collaborative.
• Salesperson is
customer-oriented
 Classification of Personal Selling Approaches

• Stimulus Response Selling

– Customers will purchase in in response to stimuli
by the sales persons.
– E.g. Street businesses call for their product to
sell it immediately
• Mental States Selling
• Application of AIDA model

• Need Satisfaction Selling

– E.g. Street children selling 1st aid kits for drivers
• Problem Solving Selling
– E.g. Businessmen selling umbrella during
summer while raining
Stimulus Response Selling

Continue
Salesperson Buyer
Process until
Responses
Provides Sought/required Purchase
Stimuli Decision
 Mental States Selling

Attention Interest Conviction Desire Action

Need Satisfaction Selling

Present Continue
Uncover and
Offering to Selling
Confirm
Satisfy until
Buyer Needs
Buyer Purchase
Needs Decision
 Problem Solving Selling

Continue
Generate Evaluate Selling
Define Alternative Alternative until
Problem Solutions Solutions Purchase
Decision
 The Sales Process: An Overview

Selling
Foundations

Initiating Developing Enhancing

Customer Customer Customer
Relationships Relationships Relationships
Selling
Strategy
The Sales Process: Selling Foundations

In order to be successful in today’s global business

environment, salespeople must have a solid
relationship building foundation. They must:

Be Trustworthy

Behave Ethically

Understand Buyer Behavior

Possess Excellent Communication Skills

The Sales Process: Selling Strategy

In order to be successful in today’s global business

environment, salespeople must also think and act
strategically. The must develop strategies for:

Each Sales Call

Each Customer
Their Sales Territories
Each strategy is
related to the other
The sales Process
 The Sales Process

Initiating Developing Enhancing

Customer Customer Customer
Relationships Relationships Relationships

• Sales
• Prospecting
Presentation
• Preapproach
AddingDelivery
Value through
• Presentation
• Earning Self-leadership,
Follow-up, Customer
Planning
• Approaching
Commitment the
and Teamwork
Customer
Sales Persons classification

Assesses situation, determines needs

Creative Selling Presents capability of satisfying needs

Gets order

This role is much more casual

Order Taking
Often involves straight rebuying

Essentially a support role

Missionary
Sales
May not actually take the order
Traits of Effective Sales People
Traits Buyers Like and Dislike

Desirable Traits Objectionable Traits

1. Unprepared
1. Knowledgeable
2. Uninformed
2. Empathizes
3. Aggressive
3. Well organized
4. Undependable
4. Prompt
5. No follow through
5. Follows through
6. Presumptive
6. Has solutions
7. Walk-ins
7. Punctual
8. Gabbers
8. Hard working
9. Problem avoiders
9. Energetic
10. No personal respect
10. Honest
Personal Selling + Other Tools

Advertising

Public Relations

Personal
Direct Marketing
Selling

Sales Promotion

The Internet
Pros and Cons of Personal Selling

Advantages Disadvantages

Two-way interaction with Messages may be

prospect inconsistent

Message can be tailored to Possible management-

recipient sales force conflict

Prospect isn't likely to be Cost is often extremely

distracted high

Seller involved in purchase

Reach may be very limited
decision

Source of research
Potential ethical problems
information
 Direct Marketing
• Connecting directly with carefully targeted individual
consumers to both obtain an immediate response and
cultivate lasting customer relationships.
• It is called direct marketing because it generally
eliminates the middleman such as advertising media.
• It is the business of selling products or services
directly to the public, e.g. by mail order or telephone
selling, rather than through retailers.
• It relies on the individual distribution of a sales pitch
to potential customers.
• A sales pitch is a salesperson's attempt to persuade
their audience to buy or believe what they're offering
Forms of Direct Marketing

• Major forms of direct marketing:

–Direct-mail marketing.
–Catalog marketing.
–Telemarketing.
–Direct-response TV marketing.
–Kiosk marketing.
–New digital technologies.
–Online marketing.
Cont’d

• New digital direct marketing

technologies:
–Mobile phone marketing:
•Mobile ad spending is expected to
grow.
–Podcasts and vodcasts
–Interactive TV (ITV):
•Viewer engagement is much higher
than with regular TV ads.
 Online Marketing

• Online marketing:

– Company efforts to market products

and services and build customer
relationships over the Internet.

• Marketing and the Internet:

– Usage continues to grow with Internet

– Online marketing efforts are expanding.

 Cont’d

• Click-only companies:
– So-called dot-coms, which operate
only online without any brick-and-
mortar presence.
• Types of click-only firms:
– E-tailers (Amazon).
– Search engines and portals (Google).
– Transaction sites (eBay).
– Content sites (ESPN).
 Cont’d

• Click-and-mortar companies:
– Traditional brick-and-mortar companies
that have added online marketing to
their operations.
• Trends:
– Almost all traditional companies have
set up their own online sales and
communication presence.
– Many click-and-mortar firms are having
more online success than their click-
only competitors.
 Advantages of Direct Marketing

• Builds Loyalty: A well-run direct marketing

campaign can build brand loyalty by continual
brand messaging on direct marketing channels.

• Direct Engagement: This engagement directly

with the customer eliminates price hikes due to
“middlemen” and provides a direct approach.
– This has benefits as the organization is totally in
charge of the contact and can apply in-house CRM
techniques to effectively manage the relationship.
• Effectiveness: Direct marketing, when
managed well, has a long-standing reputation
for high profitability and great Return on
Investment.
• Personalized and Targeted: Direct
Marketing can be personalized based on the
actual experience of working with a customer
and/or socio-economic factors. Even for
prospects, personalization can be achieved
through techniques such as customer
segmentation and data profiling.
• Reduced Competitor Awareness:
Competitors will have a much lower level of
awareness with direct marketing as it is direct
to the customer. Other marketing techniques
such as TV, radio, internet advertising, etc.
are public and open to counter-moves by
competition.
 Disadvantages of Direct Marketing

• Environmental Impact: Some of the direct

marketing channels are associated with having
an environmental impact (most
noticeably direct mail). Direct mail is a type
of direct marketing in which businesses send
letters, postcards, or other promotional
materials to past, current or potential
customers, or clients.
 Cont’d

• Limited Reach: The limited reach is due to

the fact that mass broadcast techniques (e.g.
TV, radio, internet advertising, etc.) are not
used. Although it’s true that the reach is less,
the reach achieved is more specific and
targeted.
• Privacy Intrusion: The main drawback of
direct marketing is its links with privacy
intrusion (this is particularly related to
telemarketing and direct mail). This is because
information flow in direct marketing (from
company to customers) is not based on
consent.
 What is Sales Promotion?

• Sales promotion consists of diverse collection of

incentive tools, mostly short-term designed to
stimulate quicker and / or greater purchase of a
particular product by consumers or the trade
• Whereas advertising gives a reason to buy, SP
gives an incentive to buy
• Offers of extra value to resellers, salespeople
and consumers in a bid to increase sales.
• Used irregularly to smoothen demand
• Rewards the sale of company’s products
 Trade oriented vs. Consumer Oriented
Promotions

• Trade oriented promotions are

sales tools used to support a
company’s advertising and
personal selling efforts directed
to wholesalers, distributors, or
retailers.
• It directed at resellers.
OBJECTIVES of trade-oriented sales promotion

• Liquidating heavy inventories

• Persuade retailers to carry stock, carry more
than usual stock, promote brand franchise
• Gain/maintain distribution
• Influence resellers to promote product
• Influence resellers to offer price discount
• Increase reseller inventory
• Defend against competitors
• Avoid reduction of normal prices
Trade-oriented sales promotion TECHNIQUES

– Allowances and Discounts

• Allowances are reductions of money to let traders
promote the production; or to appreciate money
payment for goods purchased on credit.
• Allowance appreciate payment of money; discount
appreciate sales of goods

– Cooperative Advertising: Advertising programs

by which a manufacturer pays a percentage of
the retailer’s local advertising expense for
advertising the manufacturer’s products.
– Training of Distributor’s Sales forces
 Cont’d

• Consumer oriented promotions are sales tools

used to support a company’s advertising and
personal selling efforts directed to ultimate
consumers, examples include coupons,
sweepstakes (lot based prizes following
consumption), and samples.

• Unlike trade oriented sales promotion, consumer

oriented sales promotions directed at consumers.
Objectives of Consumer-oriented sales promotion

• Increase consumer inventory and consumption

• Stimulate and/or encourage repurchase
• Neutralize competitors
• Increase sales of complementary products
• Stimulate impulse/fancy purchasing
• Allow flexible pricing
• Induce or trigger trial
• Create new users
• Increase repurchase from occasional customers
• Reward loyal customers
Consumer-oriented sales promotion techniques

– Free Samples: When a new product is to be introduced

– Premium or Bonus offer:
– Exchange Scheme: It refers to offering exchange of old
product for a new product at a price less than the original
price of the product.
– Price-off offer: Under this offer, products are sold at a
price lower than the original price.
– Coupons: the holder of the coupon gets the product at a
discount. The reduced price under this scheme attracts
the attention of the prospective customers towards new
or improved products.
Cont’d

• Trading stamps: In case of some specific products

trading stamps are distributed among the customers
according to the value of their purchase.
• The customers are required to collect these stamps of
sufficient value within a particular period in order to
avail of some benefits.
• This tool induces customers to buy that product more
frequently to collect the stamps of required value.
• GAST Entertainment at CMC Michael offer such offers while
consuming services, when the required number of stamps
fulfilled, they will be given service for free.
 Cont’d

• Scratch and win offer: under this scheme a

customer scratch a specific marked area on
the package of the product and gets the
benefit according to the message written
there
• Rebates: Money Back offer; refund when
customers’ buy significant number of
products.
• Product placement: The paid inclusion of
products in movies, television shows, video
games, songs and books
 Limitations of Sales Promotions

1. Can lose effectiveness if overused, easily copied,

public becoming increasingly cynical about
whether they are being offered real value.
2. It typically cannot reverse a genuine declining
sales trend.
3. Sales promotion may even weaken the brand
image.
4. Sales promotion has also been blamed for
encouraging competitive retaliation/revenge.
5. Short-term volume gain at the sacrifice of profits.
 Public Relations Defined

A management function

which evaluates public attitudes

and identifies the policies and procedures

of an organization with the public interest

and executes a program of action (and communication)

to earn public understanding and acceptance

 Public Relations: Definitions

➢ Public relations can also be defined as the practice of

managing communication between an organization and
its publics

➢PR involves a variety of programs designed to promote

or protect a company’s image or its individual products

➢PR is usually unsponsored and unpaid; it means it

doesn’t pay directly to the people; but the company incur
cost to develop programs that let the people promote its
products with no payment.

➢It acts synergistically along with advertising

Functions of PR
 Uses of PR
Customer complaints and recovery/redressal

• It is an opportunity to cement relations with the

customer
• Very important in the service and hospitality
industry

Combating rumors / falsehoods

• Confront and disclose facts in leading media

• Give the positive side of the story
• Capitalize on rumor to your benefit
• Rumor can be dismissed as ridiculous

• E.g. Rumour on Mirinda that it is poisonous

Advertising vs. PR
Determining Public Relations AUDIENCES

Internal or Associated External or Independent

Stockholders and Educators

Investors

Customers and Governments

Clients

Employees Financial Groups

Community Civic and Business

Members Organizations
Vendors and
Suppliers The Media
Communicating With Target Audiences

External or
Internal or Associated
Independent

Newsletters Public relations ads

Press releases
Bulletin boards

Direct mail Conferences

Annual reports Research reports

Implementing the PR Program

Press Releases

Interviews Press Conferences

PR Tools

Internet Exclusives

Community
Involvement
• Press releases – A press release is a written
statement sent to news organizations.
• Press conferences – When a company calls News
reporters for the specific purpose of distributing news
to media, answering questions
• Exclusives – offer one particular medium exclusive
rights to a story
• Community involvement – memberships or
participation in local organizations
• The Internet – can be used to disseminate information
• Interview – typically done with a spokesperson for the
firm
Communicating With Target Audiences

Internal or Associated External or Independent

Newsletters Public relations ads

Press releases
Bulletin boards

Direct mail Conferences

Annual reports Research reports

Advantages of Public Relations

Credibility

Image Building Cost Savings

PR
Provides
Avoidance of
Selectivity
Clutter

Lead Generation
Potential Problems of Public Relations

Potential for incomplete

communication process

Potential Receiver not making connection to

Problems the source

Lack of coordination with marketing

dept.

Inconsistent, redundant
communications
The Process of Public Relations

Determining and Evaluating Public Attitudes

Establishing a PR Plan

Developing and Executing a PR Program

Measuring Program Effectiveness

Evaluating PR Effectiveness

Contributions made?

What was achieved?

Quantitative measures?

Quality?
Additional Measures of PR Effectiveness

Personal observation and reaction

Matching objectives and results

The team approach

Management by objectives

Public opinions and surveys

Audits
– Personal observation and reaction one’s superiors
should occur at all levels of the organization.
– Matching objectives and results. Specific objectives
designed to attain the overall communications
objectives should be related to actions, activities, or
media coverage.
– The team approach, whereby evaluators are actually
involved in the campaign.
– Management by objectives. Executives and their
managers act together to identify goals to be
attained and the responsibilities of the managers.
These goals are then used as a standard to measure
accomplishments.
– Public opinion and surveys.
– Audits. Both internal and external audits
may be used. Internal audits involve
evaluations by superiors or peers within the
firm to determine the performance of the
employee and the program. External audits
are conducted by consultants, the client, or
other parties outside the organization.
END