DASSEAUX PHARMACEUTICALS: RELATIONSHIP VERSUS

TRANSACTIONAL SELLING
Dasseaux Pharmaceuticals is a French-owned firm that entered the U.S. market about five years ago.
Using two separate sales groups, the company markets over-the-counter ophthalmic products east of the
Mississippi River. One sales group concentrates its efforts on independently owned retail drugstores; the
other, much smaller group focuses on selling to chain drugstores such as Walgreen’s, Rite Aid, CVS, and
Sav-On. The primary promotional thrust of Dasseaux Pharmaceuticals is on trade advertising to create
brand awareness with pharmacists at independent drugstores and chains, as well as with purchasing
agents for large drugstore chains. Dasseaux also provides point-of-purchase display materials and offers
coop advertising programs. The retail price of the company’s products is competitive with similar
products available in the market. But the retail margin for drugstores is a little higher than on other brands
typically sold in the stores. Package design and color are contemporary, and product quality meets or
exceeds competitive offerings.
Along with providing an extensive array of in-store promotional materials, Dasseaux Pharmaceuticals
relies on the pharmacists to recommend its products. The success of this strategy depends a lot on how
effective salespeople are in communicating to the pharmacists that margins, and therefore profits, are
higher with Dasseaux products.
Case prepared by Balaji Krishnan, University of Memphis.
Questions
1. Is a relationship selling approach or transactional selling approach best in this situation? Would
the same approach work for independent and chain drugstores, or should a different selling
approach be used? Justify your recommendation.
2. How would the method of prospecting differ between the independent drugstores and the chain
drugstores?