personal selling and sales promotion

Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

CHAPTER 13PERSONAL SELLING AND SALES PROMOTION

PREVIEWING THE CONCEPTS – CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

1. Discuss the role of a company’s salespeople in creating value for customers and building customer relationships.

2. Identify and explain the six major sales force management steps.

3. Discuss the personal selling process, distinguishing between transaction-oriented marketing and relationship marketing.

4. Explain how sales promotion campaigns are developed and implemented.

JUST THE BASICS

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

This chapter concentrates on two more IMC elements—personal selling and sales promotion.

Personal selling is the interpersonal arm of marketing communications, in which the sales force interacts with customers and prospects to build relationships and make sales.

Sales promotion consists of short-term incentives to encourage purchase or sale of a product or service.

Although this chapter examines personal selling and sales promotion as separate tools, they must be carefully integrated with other elements of the promotion mix.

ANNOTATED CHAPTER NOTES/OUTLINE

FIRST STOP

IBM: A Classic Model for Modern Customer-Focused Selling

Now a $105 billion company, IBM has survived and prospered for nearly 100 years.

When Vivek Gupta first joined IBM in 2003, his sales strengths and philosophies were a perfect fit for the company. IBM was a newcomer in India, struggling to gain a foothold in a market where more than 70 percent of corporations are family controlled.

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc.13-1

Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and MixWhen Gupta first approached potential customer Vodafone, the managing director told him, “I don’t do any business with IBM and I don’t intend to.”

It took Gupta nearly four years to finally sell Vodafone on a gigantic $600 million contract.

Gupta thrives on rooting out customer problems to solve.

IBM’s culture has always dictated that its salespeople be “part teacher, part psychologist, and part glad-handler.”

While many things have changed at IBM over the past 100 years, one thing has remained constant: IBM salespeople are still inspired by the founder’s basic principles of selling.

PERSONAL SELLING

Robert Louis Stevenson once noted “everyone lives by selling something.”

The Nature of Personal Selling

Personal selling is one of the oldest professions in the world.

The people who do the selling go by many names: salespeople, sales representatives, district managers, account executives, sales consultants, sales engineers, agents, and account development reps to name just a few.

Use Key Terms Personal Selling and Salesperson here.

The term salesperson covers a wide range of positions.

At one extreme, a salesperson might be an order taker, such as the department store salesperson standing behind the counter.

At the other extreme are order getters, whose positions demand creative selling and relationship building for products and services ranging from appliances to industrial equipment.

The Role of the Sales Force

Personal selling is the interpersonal arm of the promotion mix.

The role of personal selling varies from company to company.

Some firms have no salespeople at all—for example, companies that sell only online or through catalogs, or companies that sell through manufacturer’s reps, sales agents, or brokers. In most


Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales Promotionfirms, however, the sales force plays a major role.

Linking the Company with Its Customers

The sales force serves as a critical link between a company and its customers.

They represent the company to customers. They represent customers to the company.

Salesperson-owned loyalty is the concept of customers becoming loyal to salespeople as well as to the companies and products they represent.

Use Discussion Question 13-1 here.Use Critical Thinking Exercise 13-7 here.

Coordinating Marketing and Sales

A company can take several actions to help bring its marketing and sales functions closer together.

It can increase communications between the two groups by arranging joint meetings and by spelling out when and with whom each group should communicate.

The company can create joint assignments. The company can create joint objectives and reward systems for sales and marketing. They can appoint marketing-sales liaisons—people from marketing who “live with the

sales force” and help to coordinate marketing and sales force programs and efforts. The firm can appoint a chief revenue officer (or chief customer officer)—a high-level

marketing executive who oversees both marketing and sales.

Use Chapter Objective 1 here.

MANAGING THE SALES FORCE

Sales force management is defined as the analysis, planning, implementation, and control of sales force activities. (Figure 13.1)

Use Key Term Sales Force Management here.Use Chapter Objective 2 here.

Use Figure 13.1 here.

Designing Sales Force Strategy and Structure


Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and MixSales Force Structure

A company can divide sales responsibilities along any of several lines.

Territorial Sales Force Structure: Each salesperson is assigned to an exclusive geographic area and sells the company’s full line of products or services to all customers in that territory.

Characteristics:

The organization defines each salesperson’s job and fixes accountability. The organization increases the salesperson’s desire to build local customer relationships. Because each salesperson travels within a limited geographic area, travel expenses are

relatively small.

Product Sales Force Structure: The sales force sells along product lines.

This structure can lead to problems if a single large customer buys many different company products.

Customer (Market) Sales Force Structure: The sales force is organized along customer or industry lines.

Separate sales forces may be set up for different industries, for serving current customers versus finding new ones, and for major accounts versus regular accounts.

Complex Sales Force Structures: A company often combines several types of sales force structures when it sells a wide variety of products to many types of customers over a broad geographic area.

Use Key Terms Territorial Sales Force Structure, Product Sales Force Structure, and Customer Sales Force Structure here.

Use Discussion Question 13-2 here.

Sales Force Size

Sales force size may range in size from only a few salespeople to tens of thousands.

Workload approach: A company first groups accounts into different classes according to size, account status, or other factors related to the amount of effort required to maintain them. It then determines the number of salespeople needed to call on each class of accounts the desired number of times.


Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales PromotionOther Sales Force Strategy and Structure Issues

Outside (Field Sales Force) and Inside Sales Forces

Outside salespeople travel to call on customers in the field.

Inside salespeople conduct business from their offices via telephone, the Internet, or visits from buyers.

Technical sales support people provide technical information and answers to customers’ questions.

Sales assistants provide administrative backup for outside salespeople. Telemarketers and online sellers use the phone and Internet to find new leads and

qualify prospects or to sell and service accounts directly.

Use Key Terms Outside Sales Force (Field Sales Force) and Inside Sales Force here.Use Marketing by the Numbers here.

Most companies now use team selling to service large, complex accounts. Sales teams can unearth problems, solutions, and sales opportunities that no individual salesperson could.

Such teams might include experts from any area or level of the selling firm—sales, marketing, technical and support services, R&D, engineering, operations, finance, and others.

Shortcomings of team selling:

1. Salespeople who are used to having customers all to themselves may have trouble learning to work with and trust others on a team.

2. Selling teams can confuse or overwhelm customers who are used to working with only one salesperson.

3. Difficulties in evaluating individual contributions to the team selling effort can create some sticky compensation issues.

Use Key Term Team Selling here.

Recruiting and Selecting Salespeople

In a typical sales force, the top 30 percent of the salespeople might bring in 60 percent of the sales.

The best salespeople possess four key talents:

1. Intrinsic motivation


Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mix2. Disciplined work style3. The ability to close a sale4. The ability to build relationships with customers

When recruiting, companies should analyze the sales job itself and the characteristics of its most successful salespeople to identify the traits needed by a successful salesperson in their industry.

Sources of new potential hires:

The human resources department gets names from current salespeople, using employment agencies, placing classified ads, searching the Web, and working through college placement services.

Another source is to attract top salespeople from other companies.

Training Salespeople

Training programs have several goals.

1. The training program must teach them about different types of customers and their needs, buying motives, and buying habits.

2. It must teach them how to sell effectively and train them in the basics of the selling process.

3. The training program must teach them about the company’s objectives, organization, and chief products and markets, and about the strategies of major competitors.

Many companies are adding digital e-learning to their sales training programs.

Most e-learning is Web-based but many companies now offer on-demand training from anywhere via almost any digital device.

Compensating Salespeople

Management must decide what mix of compensation elements makes the most sense for each sales job.

Different combinations of fixed and variable compensation give rise to four basic types of compensation plans:

1. Straight salary2. Straight commission3. Salary plus bonus4. Salary plus commission


Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales PromotionThe average salesperson’s pay consists of about 67 percent salary and 33 percent incentive pay.

Compensation should direct salespeople toward activities that are consistent with overall sales force and marketing objectives.

Supervising and Motivating Salespeople

The goal of supervision is to help salespeople “work smart” by doing the right things in the right ways.

The goal of motivation is to encourage salespeople to “work hard” and energetically toward sales force goals.

Supervising Salespeople

Companies vary in how closely they supervise their salespeople.

The annual call plan shows which customers and prospects to call on and which activities to carry out.

The time-and-duty analysis shows the time the salesperson spends selling, traveling, waiting, taking breaks, and doing administrative chores. (Figure 13.2)


On average, active selling time accounts for only 10 percent of total working time!

Sales force automation systems: Computerized, digitized sales force operations that let salespeople work more effectively anytime, anywhere.

Selling and the Internet

Perhaps the fastest-growing technology tool is the Internet.

Internet-based technologies can produce big organizational benefits for sales forces. They help conserve salespeople’s valuable time, save travel dollars, and give salespeople a new vehicle for selling and servicing accounts.

But, technology does have its drawbacks. It is expensive. Such systems can intimidate low-tech salespeople of clients. Some things just cannot be presented or taught via the Internet.

Motivating Salespeople


Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mix

Organizational climate describes the feeling that salespeople have about their opportunities, value, and rewards for a good performance.

Use Key Term Sales Quotas here.

Sales quotas: Standards stating the amount they should sell and how sales should be divided among the company’s products.

Compensation is often related to how well salespeople meet their quotas.

Companies use various positive incentives to increase sales force effort:

Sales meetings provide social occasions, breaks from routine, chances to meet and talk with “company brass,” and opportunities to air feelings and to identify with a larger group.

Companies sponsor sales contests to spur the sales force to make a selling effort above what would normally be expected.

Other incentives include honors, merchandise and cash awards, trips, and profit-sharing plans.

Evaluating Salespeople and Sales-Force Performance

Management sources of salesperson information include:

Sales reports Call reports Expense reports

Formal evaluation forces management to develop and communicate clear standards for judging performance and provides salespeople with constructive feedback and motivates them to perform well.



SELLING DIGITALLY: ONLINE, MOBILE, AND SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS

The fastest-growing sales trend is the exploding use of online, mobile, and social media tools in selling.

Using the Internet hasn't really changed the fundamentals of selling.

Today’s customers have much more control over the sales process than they had in the past. Customers can now browse corporate Web sites, blogs, and YouTube videos to identify and qualify sellers.

As a result, if and when salespeople do enter the buying process, customers often know almost as much about a company’s products as the salespeople do.

In response to this new digital buying environment, sellers are reorienting their selling processes around the new customer buying process.

Use Marketing at Work 13.1 here.Use Linking the Concepts here.

THE PERSONAL SELLING PROCESS

Steps in the Selling Process (Figure 13.3)

Use Chapter Objective 3 here.Use Key Term Selling Process here.


The selling process consists of seven steps.

1. Prospecting and qualifying 2. Preapproach 3. Approach 4. Presentation and demonstration 5. Handling objections 6. Closing7. Follow-up

1. Prospecting and Qualifying

Prospecting involves identifying qualified potential customers.


Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and MixThe best source of prospects is referrals.

There are several sources of referrals.

Current customers Suppliers, dealers, and noncompeting salespeople The Web or other social network contacts Unannounced office visits (a practice known as “cold calling”)

Qualifying a lead requires knowing how to identify the good ones and screen out the poor ones.

Prospects can be qualified by looking at various factors.

Financial ability Volume of business Special needs Location Possibilities for growth

2. Preapproach

The preapproach is the stage in which the salesperson learns as much as possible about the organization (what it needs, who is involved in the buying) and its buyers (their characteristics and buying styles).

Call objectives are set by the salesperson and may involve qualifying the prospect, gathering information, or making an immediate sale.

Other call objectives may include deciding on the best approach and the best timing and determining the overall sales strategy for the account.

3. Approach

During the approach step, the salesperson should know how to meet and greet the buyer and get the relationship off to a good start.

4. Presentation and Demonstration

During the presentation step of the selling process, the salesperson tells the “value story” to the buyer, showing how the company’s offer solves the customer’s problems.

The customer-solution approach fits better with a relationship marketing focus.


Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales PromotionBefore salespeople can present customer solutions, they must develop solutions to present.

The following qualities are ones that buyers dislike most in salespeople:

Pushiness Being late Deceitfulness Being unprepared or disorganized

The following qualities are ones that buyers value most in salespeople:

Good listening skills Empathy Honesty Dependability Thoroughness Follow-through

5. Handling Objections

In handling objections, the salesperson should do the following:

Use a positive approach Seek out hidden objections Ask the buyer to clarify any objections Take objections as opportunities Turn the objections into reasons for buying

Every salesperson needs training in the skills of handling objections.

6. Closing

Salespeople can use one of several closing techniques:

Ask for the order Review points of agreement Offer to help write up the order Ask whether the buyer wants this model or that one Note that the buyer will lose out if the order is not placed now

7. Follow-Up

Follow-up is necessary if the salesperson wants to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat


Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mixbusiness.

Use Key Terms Prospecting, Preapproach, Approach, Presentation, Handling Objections, Closing, and Follow-Up here.

Use Critical Thinking Exercise 13-8 here.Use Discussion Question 13-4 here.

Use Marketing Ethics here.

Personal Selling and Managing Customer Relationships

A transaction orientation is intended to help salespeople close a specific sale with a customer.

A relationship orientation is intended to serve the customer over the long haul in a mutually profitable relationship.

Today’s large customers favor suppliers who can sell and deliver a coordinated set of products and services to many locations, and who can work closely with customer teams to improve products and processes.

Use Marketing at Work 13.2 here.

SALES PROMOTION

Sales promotion consists of short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service.

Use Chapter Objective 4 here.Use Key Term Sales Promotion here.

Rapid Growth of Sales Promotion

Sales promotion tools are targeted toward final buyers (consumer promotions), retailers and wholesalers (trade promotions), business customers (business promotions), and members of the sales force (sales force promotions).

Today, in the average consumer packaged-goods company, sales promotion accounts for 77 percent of all marketing expenditures.

Several factors have contributed to the rapid growth of sales promotion:

1. Product managers face greater pressures to increase their current sales. 2. The company faces more competition, and competing brands are less differentiated. 3. Advertising efficiency has declined.


Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion4. Consumers have become more deal oriented.

The growing use of sales promotion has resulted in promotion clutter. Consumers are increasingly tuning out promotions, weakening their ability to trigger immediate purchase.

Use Discussion Question 13-5 here.

Sales Promotion Objectives

Sales promotion objectives vary widely.

Consumer promotions: Urge short-term customer buying or enhance customer brand involvement.

Trade promotions: Get retailers to carry new items and more inventory, buy ahead, or promote the company’s products and give them more shelf space.

Business promotions: Generate business leads, stimulate purchases, reward customers, and motivate salespeople.

Sales promotions should help to reinforce the product’s position and build long-term customer relationships.

Frequency marketing programs and loyalty card programs have mushroomed in popularity in recent years. These are programs that give rewards to regular customers to keep them coming back.

Major Sales Promotion Tools

Many tools can be used to accomplish sales promotion objectives. Descriptions of the main consumer, trade, and business promotion tools follow.

Consumer Promotions

Use Key Term Customer Promotions here.Use Critical Thinking Exercise 13-9 here.

Consumer promotions include a wide range of tools.

Samples are offers of a trial amount of a product.

Sampling is the most effective—but most expensive—way to introduce a new product or to create new excitement for an existing one.

Coupons are certificates that save buyers money when they purchase specified products.



Most major consumer goods companies are issuing fewer coupons and targeting them more carefully.

Cash refunds (or rebates) are like coupons except that the price reduction occurs after the purchase rather than at the retail outlet.

Price packs (also called cents-off deals) offer consumers savings off the regular price of a product.

Premiums are goods offered either free or at low cost as an incentive to buy a product.

Advertising specialties, also called promotional products, are useful articles imprinted with an advertiser’s name, logo, or message that are given as gifts to consumers.

Point-of-purchase (POP) promotions include displays and demonstrations that take place at the point of sale.

Contests, sweepstakes, and games give consumers the chance to win something.

A contest calls for consumers to submit an entry to be judged.

A sweepstakes calls for consumers to submit their names for a drawing.

A game presents consumers with something every time they buy.

Event marketing (or event sponsorships) allows companies to create their own brand marketing events or serve as sole or participating sponsors of events created by others.

Use Marketing at Work 13.2 here.Use Online, Mobile, and Social Media Marketing here.

Trade Promotions

Trade promotions persuade resellers to carry a brand, give it shelf space, promote it in advertising, and push it to consumers.

Use Key Terms Event Marketing and Trade Promotions here.Use Discussion Question 13-6 here.

Manufacturers direct more sales promotion dollars toward retailers and wholesalers (79 percent) than to final consumers (21 percent).


Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales PromotionManufacturers use several trade promotion tools:

A straight discount (also called a price-off, off-invoice, or off-list) An allowance (usually so much off per case) Free goods Push money Free specialty advertising items

Business Promotions

Business promotions are used to generate business leads, stimulate purchases, reward customers, and motivate salespeople.

Use Key Term Business Promotions here.

Conventions and trade shows: Firms selling to the industry show their products at the trade show.

Vendors receive many benefits:

Opportunities to find new sales leads Contact customers Introduce new products Meet new customers Sell more to present customers Educate customers with publications and audiovisual materials Reach many prospects not reached through their sales forces

Sales contests: Contests for salespeople or dealers to motivate them to increase their sales performance over a given period.

Sales contests work best when they are tied to measurable and achievable sales objectives (such as finding new accounts, reviving old accounts, or increasing account profitability).

Developing the Sales Promotion Program

Marketers must determine the following when designing the sales promotion program:

1. Size of the incentive 2. Conditions for participation 3. Promotion and distribution 4. Length of the promotion 5. Evaluation methods



END OF CHAPTER MATERIAL

Discussion and Critical Thinking

Discussion questions

13-1. Describe the roles a salesperson and the sales force perform in marketing. (AASCB: Written and oral communication; Reflective thinking)

Answer:

The term salesperson covers a wide range of positions. At one extreme, a salesperson might be largely an order taker, such as the department store salesperson standing behind the counter. At the other extreme are order getters, whose positions demand creative selling, social selling, and relationship building for products and services ranging from appliances, industrial equipment, and airplanes to insurance and information technology services. Personal selling is the interpersonal arm of the promotion mix. Advertising consists largely of nonpersonal communication with large groups of consumers. By contrast, personal selling involves interpersonal interactions between salespeople and individual customers—whether face to face, by phone, via e-mail or Twitter, through video or online conferences, or by other means. Personal selling can be more effective than advertising in more complex selling situations. 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.

The role of personal selling varies from company to company. Some firms have no salespeople at all—for example, companies that sell only online, or companies that sell through manufacturer’s reps, sales agents, or brokers. In most firms, however, the sales force plays a major role. In companies that sell business products and services, such as IBM, DuPont, or Boeing, salespeople work directly with customers. In consumer product companies such as Nestlé or Nike, the sales force plays an important behind-the-scenes role. It works with wholesalers and retailers to gain their support and help them be more effective in selling the company’s products to final buyers.

13-2. Compare and contrast the three sales force structures outlined in the chapter. Which structure is most effective? (AACSB: Written and oral communication; Reflective thinking)

Answer:

In the territorial sales force structure, each salesperson is assigned to an exclusive geographic area and sells the company’s full line of products or services to all customers in that territory. With a product sales force structure, the sales force sells along product lines.


Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales PromotionMore and more companies are now using a customer sales force structure, in which they organize the sales force along customer or industry lines. Separate sales forces may be set up for different industries, for serving current customers versus finding new ones, and for major accounts versus regular accounts.

One structure is not necessarily better than another. A company must develop a structure that is appropriate for its needs. A good sales structure can mean the difference between success and failure. Over time, sales force structures can grow complex, inefficient, and unresponsive to customers’ needs. Companies should periodically review their sales force organizations to be certain that they serve the needs of the company and its customers.

13-3. Compare an inside sales force and an outside sales force. Why might a company have both? (AACSB: Written and oral communication; Reflective thinking)

Answer:

A company may have an outside sales force (or field sales force), an inside sales force, or both. Outside salespeople travel to call on customers in the field. In contrast, inside salespeople conduct business from their offices via telephone, online and social media interactions, or visits from buyers. The use of inside sales has grown in recent years as a result of increased outside selling costs and the surge in online, mobile, and social media technologies. Some inside salespeople provide support for the outside sales force, freeing them to spend more time selling to major accounts and finding new prospects. For example, technical sales support people provide technical information and answers to customers’ questions. Sales assistants provide research and administrative backup for outside salespeople. They track down sales leads, call ahead and confirm appointments, follow up on deliveries, and answer customers’ questions when outside salespeople cannot be reached. Using such combinations of inside and outside salespeople can help serve important customers better. The inside rep provides daily access and support, whereas the outside rep provides face-to-face collaboration and relationship building. Other inside salespeople do more than just provide support. Telemarketers and online sellers use the phone, Internet, and social media to find new leads, learn about customers and their business, or sell and service accounts directly. Telemarketing and online selling can be very effective, less costly ways to sell to smaller, harder-to-reach customers.

13-4. Discuss how online, mobile, and social media tools are changing the selling function. (AACSB: Written and oral communication; Reflective thinking)

Answer:

The fastest-growing sales trend is the exploding use of online, mobile, and social media tools in selling. New digital sales force technologies are creating exciting new avenues for connecting with and engaging customers in the digital and social-media age. Some analysts


Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mixeven predict that the Internet will mean the death of person-to-person selling, as salespeople are ultimately replaced by Web sites, online social media, mobile apps, video and conferencing technologies, and other tools that allow direct customer contact. Used properly, online and social media technologies won’t make salespeople obsolete but will make salespeople more productive and effective.

The new digital technologies are providing salespeople with powerful tools for identifying and learning about prospects, engaging customers, creating customer value, closing sales, and nurturing customer relationships. Internet-based technologies can produce big organizational benefits for sales forces. They help conserve salespeople’s valuable time, save travel dollars, and give salespeople new vehicles for selling and servicing accounts. Using the Internet hasn’t really changed the fundamentals of selling. However, the Internet and social media are dramatically changing the customer buying process. As a result, they are also changing the selling process. In today’s digital world, many customers no longer rely as much as they once did on information and assistance provided by salespeople. Instead, they carry out more of the buying process on their own—especially the early stages. Increasingly, they use online and social media resources to analyze their own problems, research solutions, get advice from colleagues, and rank buying options before ever speaking to a salesperson.

In response to this new digital buying environment, sellers are reorienting their selling processes around the new customer buying process. They are “going where customers are”— social media, Web forums, online communities, blogs—in order to engage customers earlier. They are engaging customers not just where and when they are buying, but also where and when they are learning about and evaluating what they will buy. Salespeople now routinely use digital tools to monitor customer social media exchanges to spot trends, identify prospects, and learn what customers would like to buy, how they feel about a vendor, and what it would take to make a sale. They generate lists of prospective customers from online databases and social networking sites, such as InsideView, Hoovers, and LinkedIn. They create dialogs when prospective customers visit their Web and social media sites through live chats with the sales team. They use Internet conferencing tools such as WebEx, GoToMeeting, or TelePresence to talk live with customers about products and services. They provide videos and other information on their YouTube channels and Facebook pages.

Ultimately, online and social media technologies are helping to make sales forces more efficient, cost-effective, and productive. The technologies help salespeople do what good salespeople have always done—build customer relationships by solving customer problems—but do it better, faster, and cheaper.

13-5. Define sales promotion and discuss its objectives. (AACSB: Written and oral communication)

Answer:


Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales PromotionSales promotion consists of short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service and includes tools such as coupons, sweepstakes, premiums, and trade allowances. Sales promotion objectives vary widely. Sellers may use consumer promotions to urge short-term customer buying or to enhance customer brand involvement. Objectives for trade promotions include getting retailers to carry new items and more inventory, buy ahead, or promote the company’s products and give them more shelf space. For the sales force, objectives include getting more sales force support for current or new products or getting salespeople to sign up new accounts.

13-6. Discuss the different types of trade sales promotions and distinguish these types of promotions from business promotions. (AACSB: Written and oral communication)

Answer:

Trade promotions can persuade resellers to carry a brand, give it shelf space, promote it in advertising, and push it to consumers. Shelf space is so scarce these days that manufacturers often have to offer price-offs, allowances, buy-back guarantees, or free goods to retailers and wholesalers to get products on the shelf and, once there, to keep them on it. Manufacturers use several trade promotion tools. Many of the tools used for consumer promotions—contests, premiums, displays—can also be used as trade promotions. Or the manufacturer may offer a straight discount off the list price on each case purchased during a stated period of time (also called a price-off, off-invoice, or off-list). Manufacturers also may offer an allowance (usually so much off per case) in return for the retailer’s agreement to feature the manufacturer’s products in some way. An advertising allowance compensates retailers for advertising the product. A display allowance compensates them for using special displays. Manufacturers may offer free goods, which are extra cases of merchandise, to resellers who buy a certain quantity or who feature a certain flavor or size. They may offer push money—cash or gifts to dealers or their sales forces to “push” the manufacturer’s goods. Manufacturers may give retailers free specialty advertising items that carry the company’s name, such as pens, pencils, calendars, paperweights, matchbooks, memo pads, and yardsticks.

Business promotions are used to generate business leads, stimulate purchases, reward customers, and motivate salespeople. Business promotions include many of the same tools used for consumer or trade promotions, but there are two additional major business promotion tools—conventions and trade shows, and sales contests.

Critical Thinking Exercises

13-7. Hiring the right people for sales jobs is an important sales management function. Aptitude tests are used often to assist in assessing a candidate’s abilities and traits. Search the Internet for information on sales assessment tests and present the characteristics and


Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mixtraits most often assessed. (AACSB: Written and oral communication; Information technology; Reflective thinking)

Answer:

Students’ responses will vary. Searching “sales aptitude tests” provides several companies that perform such tests. For example, see www.employment-testing.com/Sales_Achiever.htm for a Sales Achiever Sales Aptitude Assessment. This site lists and describes mental aptitudes and personality dimensions that the company’s test assesses and provides a sample of the Sales Achiever Report that is given to clients.

13-8. Select a product or service and role-play a sales call—from the approach to the close—with another student. Have one member of the team act as the salesperson with the other member acting as the customer, raising at least three objections. Select another product or service and perform this exercise again with your roles reversed. (AACSB: Written and oral communication; Reflective thinking)

Answer:

Students’ responses will vary, but they should demonstrate an understanding of the selling process. During prospecting, salespeople will determine who at the company to approach when selling this service. They would use secondary research to search directories of small business owners in the geographic area. In addition, they would attempt to qualify these leads so they can target the most likely candidates.

The preapproach step involves learning more about the companies. Hair salons would have different cleaning needs than dentists’ offices. Knowing how long the companies have been in business and who makes the buying decision are two important pieces of information for this approach.

The role-playing activity begins with an approach. Students should greet the customer by name, have developed some opening lines, and pose some key questions. As part of the presentation step, they should have some information on the company. The salesperson should be able to handle objections using a positive approach and attempting to turn the objectives into reasons for buying. The student role-playing the salesperson should be sure to close the sale. Ask for the business, make the terms, and get the customer’s agreement.

13-9. Find an example of each type of consumer sales promotion tool. Explain how you obtained the promotion (that is, how did the marketer distribute it to consumers?) and what you think the marketer was trying to achieve with the sales promotion tool. (AACSB: Written and oral communication; Reflective thinking)

Answer:


http://www.employment-testing.com/Sales_Achiever.htm

Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales PromotionConsumer promotions include a wide range of tools—from samples, coupons, refunds, premiums, and point-of-purchase displays to contests, sweepstakes, and event sponsorships.

Minicases and Applications

Online, Mobile, and Social Media Marketing: Sales Promotions

Sales promotion has always been an effective tool for influencing behavior and providing a means for measuring effectiveness. Marketers can measure how many buyers redeem a coupon, enter a contest, receive a premium, or buy bonus packs. But now, new technologies are taking sales promotion to a new level—generating consumer engagement. When AMC Theaters wanted to encourage movie goers to watch a movie on Sunday, typically a slow day for AMC, they offered a coupon for $1.00 popcorn and fountain drinks on Facebook for the week prior to a specific Sunday and encouraged respondents to invite their friends to claim a coupon as well. The result? More than 200,000 takers in six days and almost 50,000 driving their friends to AMC’s fan page as well. Similarly, when Edible Arrangements wanted to acquire fans for its Facebook page and increase awareness for the company, it offered free boxes of chocolate covered fruit to consumers who entered and “liked” the page. When the company quickly ran out of free samples, it changed the offer to a coupon and experienced double-digit growth as tens of thousands of customers flooded the stores to redeem the coupon—all in less than a week. When Nintendo Wii wanted to raise awareness and generate excitement for its NBA Jam game, it used an essay contest of “jamisms,” with voting done in a bracket style like the NBA playoffs. In addition to the 3,000 entries, the contest generated buzz and thousands of impressions and new Facebook fans.

13-10. Design a sales promotion campaign using online, mobile, and social media marketing for a small business or organization in your community. Develop a presentation to pitch your campaign to the business or organization and incorporate what you’ve learned about the selling process. (AACSB: Written and oral communication; Reflective thinking)

Answer:

Students’ responses will vary, but they should incorporate elements of the selling process. The selling process consists of seven steps: prospecting and qualifying, preapproach, approach, presentation and demonstration, handling objections, closing, and follow-up. Instructors may want to arrange for specific businesses or organizations to be the clients and have the students present their ideas to the client. Students should be expected to apply knowledge from at least the presentation/demonstration, handling objections, and closing steps of the selling process.


Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and MixWith respect to the sales promotion campaign, consumer promotions include a wide range of tools—from samples, coupons, refunds, premiums, and point-of-purchase displays to contests, sweepstakes, and event sponsorships. Beyond selecting the types of promotions to use, marketers must make several other decisions in designing the full sales promotion program. First, they must decide on the size of the incentive. A certain minimum incentive is necessary if the promotion is to succeed; a larger incentive will produce more sales responses. The marketer also must set conditions for participation. Incentives might be offered to everyone or only to select groups. Marketers must decide how to promote and distribute the promotion program itself. The length of the promotion is also important. Evaluation is also very important. The most common evaluation method is to compare sales before, during, and after a promotion.

Marketing Ethics: Off Label Marketing

Johnson & Johnson agreed to a $2.2 billion settlement over the marketing of its antipsychotic drug, Risperdal. Pfizer agreed to a $2.3 billion settlement and Eli Lilly paid $1.4 billion to settle disputes with the U.S. government. GlaxoSmithKline agreed to a $3 million settlement—its fourth settlement with the government over the marketing of its products. By law, pharmaceutical companies are allowed to market their drugs only for uses approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but doctors may prescribe any approved drug as they see fit. Drug manufacturers have been training their sales forces to educate doctors on non-approved uses and dosages, called “off-label” marketing. Almost 75 percent of the largest pharmaceutical settlements with the government are for off-label marketing. GlaxoSmithKline even went so far as to have a questionable article ghost-written by a company and later published in a medical journal under the names of academic authors to convince doctors that Paxil was proven effective in treating depression in children, a use that the FDA has not approved. The reported clinical trial was later criticized by the medical community, but doctors probably are not aware of that because a majority of them rely on pharmaceutical companies for information on drugs. Most unlawful practices by the pharmaceutical industry come to light only because an insider—someone in management or a sales rep—blows the whistle. Fortunately, the Federal False Claim Act provides protection and even incentive for employees to come forward. Pharmaceutical companies settle these types of investigations because, even if they plead guilty to criminal charges, which J&J and GlaxoSmithKline did, they don’t lose the ability to sell drugs to the government as they would if found guilty after a trial.

13-11. What would you do if you were a pharmaceutical sales rep and were told to promote a drug for off-label use? What protections and incentives are available under the Federal False Claim Act to encourage employees to report illegal behavior? (AACSB: Written and oral communication; Ethical understanding and reasoning; Reflective thinking)

Answer:

Students’ answers will vary. Some useful sources are:



Description of off-label marketing:www.whistleblowerfirm.com/pharmaceutical-fraud/off-label-marketing/

Study finding that doctors receive most drug information from pharmaceutical companies:www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000431

List of the top 20 pharmaceutical settlements, 14 of which are the result of off-label marketing:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Largest_Pharmaceutical_Settlements

Information on the False Claims Act:www.whistleblowerlaws.com/false-claims-act/federal-false-claims-act/. This law was enacted during the Civil War and is also referred to as the “Lincoln Law.” Its intent is to reduce the amount of fraud when selling to the government. Since pharmaceutical companies sell to government programs such as Medicare, the law has been used to prosecute companies. Under this act, whistleblowers are given the incentive of earning a percentage of the government’s settlement.

Marketing by the Numbers: Sales Force Analysis

Brown, Inc. manufactures furniture sold through retail furniture outlets in the southeastern United States. The company has two salespeople that do more than just sell the products—they manage relationships with retail customers to enable them to better meet consumers’ needs. The company’s sales reps visit retail customers several times per year, often for hours at a time. Brown is considering expanding to other regions of the country and would like to have distribution through 1,000 retail customer accounts. To do so, however, the company would have to hire more salespeople. Each salesperson earns $50,000 plus 2 percent commission on all sales. Another alternative is to use the services of sales agents instead of its own salesforce. Sales agents would be paid 10 percent of sales.

13-12. Refer to Appendix 2 to answer this question. Determine the number of salespeople Brown needs if it has 1,000 retail customer accounts that need to be called on five times per year. Each sales call lasts approximately 2.5 hours, and each sales rep has approximately 1,250 hours per year to devote to customers. (AACSB: Written and oral communication; Analytical thinking)

Answer:

The workload method uses the following formula to determine the sales force size:

NC FC LC NS = ————————


http://www.whistleblowerlaws.com/false-claims-act/federal-false-claims-act/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Largest_Pharmaceutical_Settlements

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000431

http://www.whistleblowerfirm.com/pharmaceutical-fraud/off-label-marketing/

Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and MixTA

where,

NS = number of salespeopleNC = number of customersFC = average frequency of customer calls per customerLC = average length of customer callTA = time an average salesperson has available for selling per year

so,

1,000 5 2.5 NS = ——————— = 10 salespeople

1,250

13-13. At what level of sales would it be more cost efficient for Brown to use its own sales force compared to sales agents? To determine this, consider the fixed and variable costs for each alternative. What are the pros and cons of using a company’s own sales force over independent sales agents? (AACSB: Written and oral communication; Analytical thinking; Reflective thinking)

Answer:

To determine the level of sales at which one alternative would be as efficient as the other, we must set the costs equal to each other. Because variable costs are a function of sales, we can solve for the sales level at which the two would be equal:

Total Costssalesforce = Total Costssales agents

Total costs consist of fixed costs and variable costs, so for the sales force option, total costs would equal the total salaries for the 10 salespeople (fixed costs) plus the commissions on sales (variable costs). Total costs for the sales agent option are just variables costs. Therefore:

Total costssalesforce = ($50,000 x 10 salespeople) + (0.02 x sales)

Total costssales agents = (0.10 x sales)

Set the two equations equal to each other and solve for sales:

Total Costssaleforce = Total Costssales agents

($50,000 x 10) + (0.02 x sales) = (0.10 x sales)



$500,000 + (0.02 x sales) = (0.10 x sales)

$500,000 = (0.10 x sales) – (0.02 x sales)

$500,000 = (0.08 x sales)

Therefore,

$500,000 Sales = ——————— = $6,250,000

0.08

If Brown expects sales to be greater than $6,250,000, then using its own sales force will be more efficient than using sales agents. If sales are less than this level, then it would be more efficient to use sales agents because the company would not incur the fixed costs associated with maintaining a sales force.

Sales agents are independent of the manufacturer’s organization and typically are paid on commission, so a manufacturer does not have the fixed costs that are necessary to maintain a full-time sales force. A manufacturer’s selling costs are based on the amount the sales agent sells for the manufacturer. On the downside, however, sales agents typically sell multiple products from different manufacturers, although agents don’t normally sell a competitor’s product. However, they cannot devote all of their selling efforts on a given manufacturer’s products nor are they as knowledgeable about a specific product as a manufacturer’s sales representative. Sales agents might be a smart choice if the manufacturer does not have the resources to maintain its own sales force.

A manufacturer’s sales representative is an employee of the company, and the company incurs all the costs of employment. Even if a sales representative only receives compensation based on commission, there are still other employment costs involved, such as benefits. Unlike sales agents, however, a manufacturer’s sales force devotes all of its effort to selling the manufacturer’s products and is more knowledgeable about the products.

Video Case Chapter 13 – MedTronic

Running timeIntro: 1:44Problem: 1:42Solution: 3:01Total: 6:31

Video Summary


Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and MixMany companies sell products that most customers can live without. But MedTronic’s devices are literally a matter of life and death. Patient well-being depends upon the insulin delivery devices, implantable defibrillators, and cardiac pacemakers designed and manufactured by MedTronic. In some markets, seven out of eight medical devices in use are Medtronic devices.

But what happens when MedTronic has a product that it knows will help a given business or institutional customer in terms of cost, time, and end-user well-being, but it can’t get a foot in the door to communicate that information? This video demonstrates how MedTronic sales representatives maintain a customer-centered approach to the personal selling process as a means for effectively communicating their product benefits.

Questions and Answers

13-14. How is the sales force at MedTronic structured? From the information presented in this video, we do not know about MedTronic’s sales force structure. But from outside information (see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704013604576248793490210536.html), we know that MedTronic’s sales reps and teams are organized by product group – in this case, cardiac and vascular products, so there is evidence for some aspect of a product sales force structure. However, it is likely that MedTronic’s sales force structure is more complex than this.

13-15. Can you identify the selling process for MedTronic? Give an example of each step. While it is not apparent from the video how MedTronic addresses each step in the personal selling process, consider the following.Prospecting and qualifying – At the very least, we know that Dominique did research on the hospital. The contract that MedTronic’s competitor had with the hospital was up for renewal. Dominique verified that this client was worth the effort and expense. Pre-approach – Dominique clearly continued doing research on this client in order to identify all the potential barriers. Approach – Dominique established that the physicians at the hospital were open to listening to what MedTronic had to offer. Presentation and demonstration – The things that we learn from this video are that Dominique put a great deal of time and effort into this aspect of the selling process. He focused on MedTronic’s advantages – a superior product, total cost savings, and mostly, on the service provided by MedTronic. It can be said that the presentation is carried out over time. Dominique gained access to patients and was present during a procedure. Handling objections – We don’t have a lot of specifics here. But we know that Dominique exhibited patience and focused on the service aspect of the company, on his dependability, and on building the relationship. Closing – For Dominique in this case, this was the “easy” part. In fact, because of the nature of the situation, Dominique knew that all he could do was continue to pursue this client and make himself available. Rather than pressuring the client to sign a contract, he


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704013604576248793490210536.html

Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales Promotionwaited until they were ready. Once they were ready, they let him know. Follow-up – It is also very clear that MedTronic’s product is not one where the relationship with the sales rep ends after the sale. Part of the product is its service. Dominique clearly understands that. His presence and service are continually available as part of the overall marketing offering. As the video points out, Dominique doesn’t just follow-up with hospital administration and physicians. He follows up with patients.

13-16. Is MedTronic effective at building long-term customer relationships through its sales force? If so, how? If not, how could its process be improved? Without a doubt, Dominique and MedTronic get this. The fact that he spent as much time with the client as he did before the client even agreed to a sale is evidence of this. The sales effort took almost a year. But everything that Dominique did during this time was focused on long-term relationship building.

Teaching Ideas

This video begins with an introductory segment, followed by a problem segment, and ends with a solution segment. The intention here is to provide flexibility and multiple options for using the video. The following are some of the ways that instructors may utilize these three video segments.

1. Introduction only - Instructors may choose to use the introduction segment alone as a means of highlighting the company. As a stand-alone video, the introduction segment supplements material in many of the chapters of the text. This introduction segment touches on the concepts of recruitment and training of sales people as well as the nature of the product that MedTronic sells.

2. Problem challenge - The instructor may show the problem segment, either with or without the introduction segment, and with or without the solution segment. This may be done in the interest of time. It may also be done strategically. An ideal way to challenge students is to require them to develop possible solutions to the presented problem before they have seen the solution segment. The instructor then has the option of whether or not to show the solution segment. In this segment, the barriers that sales representatives face are clearly outlined and explained. These barriers especially hold true for expensive and complex business-to-business products.

3. Solution only – This may be done to illustrate a specific concept in the chapter. Rather than taking the time to perform a problem/solution exercise, the solution segment may be shown to demonstrate how a company overcame a specific problem. This is a great segment to illustrate the importance of building relationships of trust with clients and potential clients. The video demonstrates how MedTronic does this through the personal selling process.

Company Case Teaching Notes


Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and MixCases appropriate for this chapter include:

Case 13, Salesforce.com: Helping Companies Super-Charge the Selling Process (Synopsis, Discussion Questions, and Teaching Notes below)

Case 16, Warby Parker: Eyewear with a Purpose (see IM Chapter 16 for instructor material)

Salesforce.com: Helping Companies Super-Charge the Selling Process

Synopsis

When Salesforce.com launched in 1999, its model for providing CRM software to businesses was ahead of its time. In a field of providers that created customer proprietary software installed on client desktop computers and servers, Salesforce.com’s big thing was “no software”. It focused on creating standardized and semi-custom products made available to customers via the Internet. With no software to install and a simpler interface, Salesforce.com was easier to use, faster to get up and running, and less expensive. Salesforce.com has since remained ahead of the pack by focusing on innovation. It now has various CRM products that are available to clients large and small. It is a market leader that appears to have revolutionized its market and shows no signs of slowing down.

Teaching Objectives

The teaching objectives for this case are to:

1. Allow students to consider the role of a company’s salespeople in creating value for and building relationships with customers.

2. Help students understand how companies make sales force strategy decisions.3. Give students exposure to the different steps in the sales process.4. To consider the dynamics of the marketing environment and their impact on sales

organizations.

Discussion Questions

1. When Salesforce.com launched as an Internet-based service, how did that innovation help sales reps to interact better with customers? With no software to install, companies could have the salesforce.com tools up and running in very little time with less investment. SF was ahead of its time in using an online and “cloud” model for this kind of service. This method also gave sales reps easy access to the system from any location with Internet access. This was also not common at the time. With quicker, easier, and more convenient access, this gave sales reps plenty of benefits for servicing customers.


Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion2. Describe the differences that Salesforce.com has made for customers NBCU and GE

Capital. Integrating customers – Sales forces can be integrated across customers. All sales reps in every department and division can access client activity across all different touch points for the company. Collaboration – Sales forces can distribute the right social information to account execs at the right time, improving customer relationships.Cross-selling – As these companies are big and complex with many different divisions, the above-mentioned benefits have resulted in more opportunities for cross-selling. That not only improves revenues, it also makes for stronger customer relationships.

3. Consider the selling process. How might any of the Salesforce.com tools described in this case facilitate each step?

Data.com – prospecting and qualifying Database.com – prospecting and qualifying, handling objections, closing, follow-up Site.com – preapproach, approach, presentation and demonstration, handling objections, closing, follow-upDesk.com – preapproach, approach, presentation and demonstration, handling objections, closing, follow-upSales Cloud – presentation and demonstration, handling objections, closing, follow-up

4. Looking forward, what products will Salesforce.com have to develop in order to remain on the cutting edge of supporting sales staffs with information and collaboration?

Push students to consider and speculate on the direction they think social media and mobile devices are headed. That should provide direction on what they think Salesforce.com will need to develop in order to remain ahead of the market. Answers will vary.

Teaching Suggestions

Have students break out into groups. Have them visit www.salesforce.com. Assign each group a Salesforce.com product. Give them 10-15 minutes and have them report on what that product is, the benefits that it provides to client users, and the stages of the selling process it facilitates.

This case can also be used with the chapter on online marketing (Chapter 14).

GREAT IDEAS

Barriers to Effective Learning


http://www.salesforce.com/

Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mix1. The issues surrounding managing the sales force can be difficult for some students.

Individually, each of the decisions a sales manager needs to make seem reasonable enough, but bringing them all together to actually plan how to develop and manage the sales force appears complicated to most undergraduates. These issues can be made simpler by going through each of the concepts carefully and thoroughly. You may also want to have students design their own sales force for a product or service idea they have. This will really drive home the concepts of how you design the sales force, as well as all the management processes.

2. Sales to most students equate to retail sales, a field that many people dislike. Therefore, many students will not be planning on going into sales as a career, and this could cause them to “tune out” during this section. You can bring them back by talking about the nature of selling in various kinds of service firms (e.g., accounting firms) that many students may be heading toward after graduation. Also, a discussion of the sophistication and professionalism of the salespeople in companies such as IBM and other business-to-business companies can generate some enthusiasm for this important field.

3. The personal selling process will be a surprise to many students, again because they typically think of retail sales, if they’ve thought about sales at all. The importance of all of these steps in the sales process can be highlighted in the discussion of business-to-business sales.

4. Direct marketing is a hot topic these days because of the national Do-Not-Call list and the recently passed federal legislation on anti-spamming. The students should be able to maintain their interest in this topic, but they may be surprised that direct marketing is not just for underfunded or shady enterprises.

Student Projects

1. Examine IBM (www.ibm.com). How is IBM’s sales force structured?2. List and describe each step of the personal selling process. Analyze your own potential as

a sales person at each step of the process. What steps of the process would be the easiest for you to handle and what steps the most difficult? Why?

3. Consider your college/university. How could they effectively use sales promotion as a recruiting tool?

4. What are the distinguishing features between transaction-oriented marketing and relationship marketing?

5. Discuss the pros and cons of the different sales force compensation methods.

Small Group Assignment

Form students into groups of three to five. Each group should read the opening vignette to the chapter on IBM. Each group should then answer the following questions:

1. What is the role of the sales force in IBM?2. What sort of people would you recruit for the IBM sales force?


http://www.ibmdell.com/

Chapter 13 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion3. How would you motivate such highly-trained salespeople? Be specific.4. In an Internet environment, how would you prospect for and qualify potential customers?

Each group should share its findings with the class.

Individual Assignment

The sales force serves as a critical link between a company and its customers. They represent the company to customers and they represent customers to the company. Explain how this would work for a company such as IBM.

Think-Pair-Share

Consider the following questions, formulate answers, pair with the student on your right, share your thoughts with one another, and respond to questions from the instructor:

1. What are the major forms of sales force compensation? Which do you believe to be superior? Why?

2. List and briefly describe the stages of the personal selling process.3. What is direct marketing? 4. What do you believe to be the major advantages and disadvantages of team selling?5. In the personal selling process, when would you consider the sale over? Why?

Classroom Exercise/Homework Assignment

Consider you are a salesperson for the local Toyota dealership. A young, newly married couple enters the lot. Walk us through the personal selling process, using this couple as your target.

Classroom Management Strategies

This chapter describes two communications methods for integrated marketing communications. Most of the chapter is spent on the sales process, and then sales promotion is discussed.

1. The introduction and Personal Selling section can be covered in 5 minutes. These sections set the stage for the next two sections, and for that reason should not be rushed through.

2. Spend 20 minutes going over the section entitled Managing the Sales Force. This is critical information that the students will need to learn. Figure 13.1 provides an introduction to the steps in sales force management. Review Table 13.1 to show the connection between marketing strategy and sales force compensation.

3. The Personal Selling Process can be covered in 15 minutes. Be sure to work with the students to ensure their understanding of each step of the process. Having them team up to “sell” something to other teams is often helpful in this section, ensuring that they


Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mix“prospect,” develop their preapproach and approach, and then present, close, and follow-up. Figure 13.3 shows the complete selling process.

4. The Sales Promotion section is a packed section. Spend 20 minutes here, paying particular attention to the subsections on the various types of sales promotion programs.



PROFESSORS ON THE GO

Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

Key ConceptsThe nature of personal selling and the role of the sales forceDesigning the sales force strategy and structureManaging the sales force

According to the chapter, salespeople serve “two masters.” What does this mean? Is it a good or bad thing?

The ability to build relationships with customers is the most important of a salesperson’s key talents. Do you agree with this statement? Explain.

What is the role of the sales force in modern business?

Key ConceptsSeven steps in the personal selling processCustomer relationship management

The text emphasizes the link between personal selling and customer relationship management. Why is this link such an important concept?

Suppose your grade in one of your classes is hovering between an A and B. How would you apply the seven steps in the personal selling process to convince your professor that you deserve an A?

Demonstrate how a salesperson could prospect for sales customers via the Internet. Which search sites seemed to be the most effective in your search effort? Try to be as specific as possible with the illustration you chose.

How should salespeople strive to build relationships? What is relationship marketing?

Key ConceptsThe different types of sales promotion objectivesCustomer promotions

Sales promotion objectives vary greatly. Suppose you are interested in spurring short-term customer buying of your product. What type of sales promotion do you believe would be the most appropriate? Why?

Go to your local department of discount store. List and describe four examples of customer promotions you see. Which do you believe to be the most effective?
