Marketing assignment(include calculation)

Personal Selling and Sales Management

Unrestricted

“A purchase situation involving a personal, paid-for communication between two people in an attempt to influence each

other.”

What is personal selling?

• Provides detailed explanation or demonstration of the product

• Sales message can be varied according to motivations of each prospective customer

• Directed only to qualified prospects • Costs can be controlled by adjusting the size of the

sales force in one-person increments • More effective in obtaining a sale and gaining a

satisfied customer in comparison to other forms of promotion

Advantages of personal selling

• Cost per contact is much greater than for mass forms of communication

• Message provided can be inconsistent and inaccurate if the sales force is not properly trained

• Salespeople can convince customers to make unnecessary purchases

Limitations of personal selling

When should you do it?

• Objective is to build long-term relationships with consumer or buyers; build mutual trust

• Involves building, maintaining, and enhancing interactions with customers

Relationship selling

• Can be unique for each product/service

• Depends on: • Features of the product or service • Characteristics of customer segments • Internal processes in place within the firm

Steps in the selling process

Generating leads

Qualifying leads

Approaching the customer and probing needs

Developing and proposing solutions

Handling objections

Closing the sale

Following up

Steps in the selling process

• Identification of firms and people that are most likely to buy the seller’s offerings

• Sources • Advertising • Trade shows and conventions • Social media • Webinars • Direct mail and telemarketing programs • Favorable publicity • Records of past client purchases

Lead generation (prospecting)

• Salesperson approaches potential buyers without any prior knowledge of the prospects’ needs or financial status

Cold calling

• Recommendation from a customer or business associate

Referral

• Using friends, business contacts, coworkers, acquaintances, and fellow members in professional and civic organizations to identify potential clients

Networking

Lead generation (prospecting)

• Preapproach tasks: • Learn about the customer – visit website or social media

sites • Determine best way to reach customer – personal visit, call,

or a letter

• When you meet with the customer, do a needs assessment (probing of needs)

Approaching the customer

• Create a profile of the customer • Understand their need, problem, and interest in what

you have to offer • Try to get a commitment from the customer to some

kind of action • Schedule another visit • Schedule a webinar or training to learn more • Plan a follow up

Probing customer needs

• Solutions are presented to the client in the form of a sales proposal at a sales presentation

• Sales proposal: a formal written document or presentation that outlines how the product or service will meet or exceed the prospect’s needs

• Sales presentation: a formal meeting in which the salesperson presents the sales proposal to a prospective buyer

Develop and propose solutions

• Objections are common and legitimate part of the decision-making process

• Salespeople should anticipate objections • Knowledge about a competitor’s offerings may be

relevant

Handling objections

• Customers usually exhibit signs if they are ready to purchase a product or service

• Salesperson should keep an open mind when asking for the sale

• Effective negotiators avoid: • Using price as their negotiation tool • Giving unilateral concessions

Closing the sale

• Final step of the selling process, in which the salesperson ensures:

• Delivery schedules are met • Goods or services perform as promised • Buyers’ employees are properly trained to use the

products

Following up

• Responsibilities of a sales manager • Maximizing sales and profits • Defining sales goals (quotas) 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

Sales management

Ego strength Sense of urgency

and competitiveness

Assertiveness

Sociable Risk takers Capability to understand

complex concepts

Creativity Empathy

Recruiting salespeople

• Want to have low turnover rates • Training and recruiting salesforces is expensive • Harms relationship management

• May tie compensation to profitability or satisfaction • May be related to meeting sales quotas

Compensation

• Measurement: • Sales volume • Contribution to profit • Calls per order • Sales or profits per call • Percentage of calls achieving goals

• Try to understand where a salesperson might need help or additional training

Evaluation

• Identifying customer relationships • Understanding interactions of the customer base • Capturing customer data • Leveraging customer information

Customer relationship management

• Knowledge management: a process in which the customer information is centralized and shared in order to enhance the relationship between customers and the organization

• Terms of interaction should be defined by the customer, not the organization

• Touch points: areas of a business where customers have contact with the company

• Registration • Calling customer service • Talking with salespeople, etc

Customer relationship management

Common CRM Database Applications