Chapter 12: Personal Selling And Sales Promotion

Question 1

What is personal selling?

Answer 1

Consists of interpersonal interactions with customer and prospects to make sales and maintain customer relationships. It is one of the oldest professions in the world.

Question 2

What is a salesperson?

Answer 2

An individual representing a company to customers by performing one or more of the following activities:
. Prospecting
. Communicating
. Selling 
. Servicing 
. Information gathering and 
. Relationship building

Question 3

The role of the salesforce.

Answer 3

Varies from company to company.

They provide a great link between the company and its customers (they represent the company, they represent customer to the company)

To many customers they are the only tangible manifestation of the company that customers see.

Question 4

What is salesforce management?

Answer 4

The analysis, planning, implementation and control of salesforce activities.

It includes:
. designing salesforce strategy and structure (size too)
. recruiting, selecting, training, compensating, supervising and evaluating the business’s salespeople.

Question 5

What are the different salesforce structure?

Answer 5

A company divide sales responsibility over several lines:
. Territorial salesforce structure (assigns each SP to an exclusive geographic area in which they sell the company’s full line)
. Product salesforce structure (SP specialise in selling only a portion of the company’s products or lines)
. Customer salesforce structure (SP specialise in selling only to certain customers or industries)
. Complex salesforce structure (combination of salesforce structrues)

SP = salesperson/salespeople

Question 6

Other salesforce strategy and structure issues.

Answer 6

Sales management must also decide who will be involved in the selling effort and how various sales and sales support people will work together.

Considerations:
. Outside salesforce (field salesforce)
. Inside salesforce
. Team selling

Question 7

What is outside salesforce (field salesforce) and inside salesforce and team selling?

Answer 7

Outside - salespeople who travel to or call on customers in the field.

Inside - salespeople who conduct business from their offices by telephone, the Internet or visits from prospective buyers.

Team - using teams of people from sales, marketing, engineering, financed technical support and even upper management to service large, complex customer accounts.

Question 8

Evaluating salespeople and salesforce performance.

Answer 8

Good feedback means getting regular information about salespeople to evaluate their performance.

Management get info about its salespeople on several ways:
. Sales reports
. Call reports
. Expense reports
. Personal observation 
. Customer surveys

Question 9

What is the personal selling process?

Answer 9

The steps that a salesperson follows when selling, which include:
. Prospecting and qualifying 
. Pre-approach 
. Approach
. Presentation and demonstration
. Handling objections 
. Closing 
. Follow up

Question 10

What is prospecting?

Answer 10

The step in the selling process in which the salesperson or company identifies qualified potential clients.

Question 11

What is pre-approach?

Answer 11

The step in the selling process in which the salesperson learns as much as possible about a prospective customers before making a sales call.

Question 12

What is approach?

Answer 12

The step in the selling process in which the salesperson meets the customer for the first time.

Question 13

What is presentation and demonstration?

Answer 13

The step in the selling process in which the salesperson tells the ‘value story’ to the customer, showing how the company’s offer solves the customer’s problems.

Question 14

What is handling objections?

Answer 14

The step in the selling process in which the salesperson seeks out, clarifies and overcomes customer objections to buying.

Question 15

What is closing?

Answer 15

The step in the selling process in which the salespersons asks the customer for an order.

Question 16

What is follow-up?

Answer 16

The last step in the selling process in which the salesperson follows up after the sale to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business.

Question 17

What is sales promotion?

Answer 17

This consists of short-term incentives to encourage the purchase of a product or service.

Question 18

Sales promotion objectives.

Answer 18

Vary widely

Sales promotions are usually used together with other strategies.

Consumer promotions must usually be advertised and can add excitement and pulling power to ads.

Sales promotion should help to reinforce the products position and build long-term customer relationships.

Question 19

Major sales promotion tools.

Answer 19

Many tolls can be used to accomplish sales promotion objectives for both consumer, trade and business promotion.

Question 20

What are consumer promotions?

Answer 20

A sales promotion tool used to boost short-term involvement or to enhance a long-term customer relationship.

The tolls used include:
. Samples
. Coupons
. Refunds
. Premiums
. Price packs 
. Advertising specialities 
. Point-of-purchase promotions 
. Contests, sweepstakes and games 
. Event marketing

Question 21

What are trade promotions?

Answer 21

A sales promotion tool used to persuade resellers to carry a brand, give it shelf space, promote it in advertising and push it to consumers.

. Contests
. Premiums
. Displays 
. Discounts 
. Allowance 
. Offer free goods

Question 22

What are business promotions?

Answer 22

A sales promotion tool used to generate business leads, stimulate purchases, reward customers and motivate salespeople.

Include many of the same tools used by consumer and trade promotion, but also includes:
. Conventions and trade shows
. Sales contests

Question 23

Behind selecting the types of promotion to use, what must marketers do?

Answer 23

Make several other decisions in designing the full sales promotion program.

First they must decide on the size of the incentive.
The length of the promotion.
Evaluation of the promotion.