Chapter 16: Personal selling and sales promotion
Personal selling = personal presentations by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of engaging
customers, making sales and building customer relationships.
this is done by salespeople, sales representatives, agents, district managers, account
executives, sales consultants and sales engineers. they listen to their customers, assess
customer needs and organize the company’s efforts to solve customer problems.
Salesperson = an individual who represents a company to customers by performing one or more
of the following activities: prospecting, communicating, selling, servicing, information gathering
and relationship building.
The role of the sales force
Personal selling is the interpersonal arm of the promotion mix. It involves personal interactions
and engagement between salespeople and individual customers.
Salespeople can probe customers to learn more about their problems and then adjust the
marketing offer and presentation to fit each customer’s special needs.
- Linking the company with its customers
The sales force is a critical link between a company and its customers. They represent the
company to customers, and they represent customers to the company.
- Coordinating marketing and sales
Sales force and other marketing functions should closely work together to jointly create
value for customers. create communications, joint objectives and reward systems.
Managing the sales force
Sales force management = analyzing, planning, implementing and controlling sales force
activities.
Figure 1 Major steps in sales force management (f. 16.1)
Designing the sales force strategy and structure
How should salespeople and their tasks be structured? How big should they be?
- The sales force structure
o Territorial sales force structure
o Product sales force structure
o Customer (or market) sales force structure
- Sales force size
Sales forces may range in size from only a few salespeople to tens of thousands.
- Other sales force strategy and structure issues
Who will be involved in the selling effort and how various will sales and sales-support
people work together?
o Outside and inside sales forces
o Team selling
, Recruiting and selecting salespeople
Best salespeople possess 4 key talents:
1. Intrinsic motivation
2. A disciplined work style
3. The ability to close a sale
4. The ability to build relationships with customers
When recruiting, a company should analyze the sales job itself and the characteristics of its most
successful salespeople to identify the traits needed by a successful salesperson in its industry.
Then it must recruit the right salespeople.
Training salespeople
Training programmes have several goals:
1. Salespeople need to know about customers and how to build relationships with them.
Therefore, the training programme must teach them about different types of customers
and their needs, buying motives and buying habits. It must teach them how to sell
effectively and train them in the basics of the selling process.
2. Salespeople also need to know and identify with the company, its products and its
competitors. Therefore, an effective training programme teaches them about the
company’s objectives, organisation, products and the strategies of major competitors.
Compensating salespeople
To attract good salespeople, a company must have an appealing compensation plan.
Compensation consists of four elements.
1. A fixed amount salary
2. A variable amount commissions or bonuses based on sales performance
3. Expenses
4. Fringe benefits
Supervising and motivating salespeople
Salespeople need supervision (to help people work smart by doing the right things in the right
ways) and motivation (to encourage salespeople to work hard and energetically toward sales
force goals).
- Supervising salespeople
Figure 2 How salespeople spend their time (f. 16.2)
Personal selling = personal presentations by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of engaging
customers, making sales and building customer relationships.
this is done by salespeople, sales representatives, agents, district managers, account
executives, sales consultants and sales engineers. they listen to their customers, assess
customer needs and organize the company’s efforts to solve customer problems.
Salesperson = an individual who represents a company to customers by performing one or more
of the following activities: prospecting, communicating, selling, servicing, information gathering
and relationship building.
The role of the sales force
Personal selling is the interpersonal arm of the promotion mix. It involves personal interactions
and engagement between salespeople and individual customers.
Salespeople can probe customers to learn more about their problems and then adjust the
marketing offer and presentation to fit each customer’s special needs.
- Linking the company with its customers
The sales force is a critical link between a company and its customers. They represent the
company to customers, and they represent customers to the company.
- Coordinating marketing and sales
Sales force and other marketing functions should closely work together to jointly create
value for customers. create communications, joint objectives and reward systems.
Managing the sales force
Sales force management = analyzing, planning, implementing and controlling sales force
activities.
Figure 1 Major steps in sales force management (f. 16.1)
Designing the sales force strategy and structure
How should salespeople and their tasks be structured? How big should they be?
- The sales force structure
o Territorial sales force structure
o Product sales force structure
o Customer (or market) sales force structure
- Sales force size
Sales forces may range in size from only a few salespeople to tens of thousands.
- Other sales force strategy and structure issues
Who will be involved in the selling effort and how various will sales and sales-support
people work together?
o Outside and inside sales forces
o Team selling
, Recruiting and selecting salespeople
Best salespeople possess 4 key talents:
1. Intrinsic motivation
2. A disciplined work style
3. The ability to close a sale
4. The ability to build relationships with customers
When recruiting, a company should analyze the sales job itself and the characteristics of its most
successful salespeople to identify the traits needed by a successful salesperson in its industry.
Then it must recruit the right salespeople.
Training salespeople
Training programmes have several goals:
1. Salespeople need to know about customers and how to build relationships with them.
Therefore, the training programme must teach them about different types of customers
and their needs, buying motives and buying habits. It must teach them how to sell
effectively and train them in the basics of the selling process.
2. Salespeople also need to know and identify with the company, its products and its
competitors. Therefore, an effective training programme teaches them about the
company’s objectives, organisation, products and the strategies of major competitors.
Compensating salespeople
To attract good salespeople, a company must have an appealing compensation plan.
Compensation consists of four elements.
1. A fixed amount salary
2. A variable amount commissions or bonuses based on sales performance
3. Expenses
4. Fringe benefits
Supervising and motivating salespeople
Salespeople need supervision (to help people work smart by doing the right things in the right
ways) and motivation (to encourage salespeople to work hard and energetically toward sales
force goals).
- Supervising salespeople
Figure 2 How salespeople spend their time (f. 16.2)
