Marketing
Chapter 11 Sales management
11.1 Importance of personal selling
Direct marketing: approach customers in the target market in a personal way and build long-
lasting relationships.
Sales promotion: use resources in the short-term to break down barriers to making a
purchase.
Personal selling: two-way communication. To assist or persuade a potential customer, to buy
a product or service, to a mutual benefit and to maintain this relationship. Guide a
customer’s decision making and position the value of a product or service.
Types of sales jobs:
1. Order takers
2. Order getters
3. Sales support personnel
Order takers: repeat routine orders from existing customers. Doesn’t engage creative selling
or persuasion.
Two types:
1. Inside order taker, are retail salespeople or salespeople who work in an office.
2. Outside order taker, visit customers and inventory stocks, etc.
Route seller: order taker who visits customers directly to restock the inventories of retailers
and wholesalers.
Merchandiser: responsible for arranging promotional material in-store displays for retailers.
Order getter: provide relevant information to existing and potential customers, persuade
them to buy and close the sale. Creative selling
When potential customers have convert into buyers, a new-business salesperson builds and
maintains a long-term relationship, if it is an important customers, often will be an account
manager of that buyer.
Try and increase an order getters productivity by team selling, combination of functional
experts, who cooperate, to identify and satisfy the prospect’s needs.
Support sales people: facilitate (ease) the selling process, by identifying prospective
customers, creating goodwill, educating buyers and providing service after the sale.
Three types:
1. Missionary salesperson: employed by a manufacturer, to assist its customers in selling to
their own customers. Create a buying atmosphere.
2. Sales engineer: someone with technical expertise (consultant) who does not sell products
but helps to identify customer needs and solve problems.
3. Trade salespeople: help the manufacturers’ customers build up their volume by providing
promotional help, for example in setting up store displays and rearranging shelf space.
Personal selling is most effective:
1. In a small business market with large orders, or in geographically concentrated market,
which allows the sales representative to visit many customers per day.
2. For products and services requiring much attention or modification. They require client
education, so salesperson are a critical link between the company and its customers.
3. To create long-lasting relationships with customers. They value this, when committing.
, Roles of salespeople:
1. Introduce products: push strategy convince buyers of product’s benefits.
2. Find prospects: relationship selling maximize shelf space (competition) and market
share.
3. Keep customers satisfied: listen, advice, handle complaints increase customer loyalty.
4. Collect market information: monitor changing buyer needs and wants, develop,
competitive and market trends.
5. Provide excellent service: help to adapt products and train employees.
6. Seek repeat orders: assist retailers with product presentations and promotion to
capture attention of customers.
11.2 The selling process
Selling a product involves three phases:
1. Preparation
2. Persuasion
3. Transaction
Preparation: involves two steps prospecting and preapproach.
1. Prospecting: searching for potential customers and qualifying them, usually from online
data bases, company sales and responses to ads or websites. Some use referrals, preferred
by some people to avoid cold calls.
Three prospects:
Lead company/person that may be a possible buyer.
Prospect potential customer who needs/wants the product or service.
Qualified prospect someone who needs the product, has the means to purchase it and
the authority to make the purchase decision.
2. Preapproach: obtaining further background information about the most promising
prospects and planning sales interviews with potential customers. Buying behaviour.
Referrals: contact recommended by current customers, colleagues, etc. to identify
prospects.
Cold call: method of calling an unfamiliar company or potential buyer without a prior
appointment.
, Persuasion: involves two steps approach and presentation and overcoming objectives.
1. Approach and presentation: ready to contact or approach the prospective buyer. Build
relationship.
Sales presentation. Mostly used canned presentations, but you always have to listen to the
potential customer. A need-satisfaction presentation is more flexible to address the needs
and interests of the prospects. Can also use features-benefits framework, to discuss the
product in a way, meaningful to the prospect, for this you can use a sellogram.
2. Overcoming objectives: responding to questions and objectives.
Objectives: excuses for not making a buying decision or commitment. Place yourself in the
buyer’s shoes and have excellent timing.
Approach: initial (first) contact with a prospect.
Sales presentation: the salesperson creates an interest or desire for the product by
explaining its main features and strengths, by using success stories.
Canned presentation: memorized information about the product’s general benefits, to be
adjusted to the potential buyer’s information needs.
Need-satisfaction presentation: flexible and personalized presentation to address the
specific needs and interests of the prospect.
Sellogram: product features are related to customer needs, to appeal to the prospect.
Transaction: involves two steps closing the sale an following up.
1. Closing the sale: it is difficult to determine when the buyer is willing to commit himself, so
closing is the most challenging. Watch for signals from the prospect and comments. May
attempt a trial close. Summarize all benefits and ask for permission to take an order or trial
order.
2. Following up: Post-purchase communication with a customer to ensure that his
expectations have been met. Also show that you want to build a relationship.
Closing: stage in the selling process in which a sales person asks the prospects for a
commitment to buy a product or service.
Trial close: involves questions such as colour preferences.
Relationship management: management of ongoing relationships with customers in order to
meet their long-term needs.
11.3 Sales management and objectives
Sales management: the process of planning, organising, implementing and controlling the
personal selling function.
Sales strategy: approach to managing the company’s sales efforts including setting and
achieving sales objectives, organizing the sales force and executing the sales plan to meet
customer’s needs.
Components of a sales strategy:
