Personal Selling

Personal Selling &Sales Management

What is Personal Selling?• Personal selling is a promotional method in

which one party (e.g., salesperson) uses skills and techniques for building personal relationships with another party (e.g., those involved in a purchase decision) that results in both parties obtaining value.

• In most cases the "value" for the salesperson is realized through the financial rewards of the sale while the customer’s "value" is realized from the benefits obtained by consuming the product.

Personal Selling

• However, getting a customer to purchase a product is not always the objective of personal selling. For instance, selling may be used for the purpose of simply delivering information.

• Because selling involves personal contact, this promotional method often occurs through face-to-face meetings or via a telephone conversation, though newer technologies allow contact to take place over the Internet including using video conferencing or text messaging (e.g., online chat).

Among marketing jobs, more are employed in sales positions than any other marketing-related occupation. In the U.S. alone, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that over 14 million or about 11% of the overall labor force are directly involved in selling and sales-related positions. Worldwide this figure may be closer to 100 million. Yet these figures vastly under-estimate the number of people who are actively engaged in some aspect of selling as part of their normal job responsibilities

Evolution of Personal Selling

IndustrialRevolution

Post-IndustrialRevolution

War andDepression

ModernEra

1800s 1900s 2000s

Selling function became more

structured

Selling function became more

structured

Peddlers selling door to door . . . served as intermediaries

Peddlers selling door to door . . . served as intermediaries

Business organizations employed salespeople

Business organizations employed salespeople

Selling function became more professional

Selling function became more professional

As we begin the 21st century, selling continues to develop,becoming more professional and more relational

As we begin the 21st century, selling continues to develop,becoming more professional and more relational

THE FORMS OF PERSONAL SELLING

• Order Taking• Order Getting

How outside order-getting salespeople spend their time each week

Stages and objectives of the personal selling process

THE PERSONAL SELLING PROCESS: BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

• Stimulus Response Selling• Mental States Selling• Need Satisfaction Selling• Problem Solving Selling

Stimulus Response Selling

Salesperson Provides

Stimuli

BuyerResponses

Sought

Continue Process until

Purchase Decision

Mental States Selling

Attention Interest Conviction Desire Action

Need Satisfaction Selling

Uncover and Confirm

Buyer Needs

Present Offering to

Satisfy Buyer Needs

Continue Selling until

Purchase Decision

Problem Solving Selling

DefineProblem

GenerateAlternativeSolutions

ContinueSelling

untilPurchaseDecision

EvaluateAlternativeSolutions

Consultative Selling

Long-term AllyLong-term Ally

The process of helping customers reach their

strategic goals by using the products, service, and expertise of the selling organization.

Business ConsultantBusiness Consultant

Strategic OrchestratorStrategic Orchestrator

The Sales Process: An OverviewDeveloping Customer

Relationships

Initiating Customer

Relationships

Selling Foundations

Selling Strategy

Enhancing Customer

Relationships

The Sales Process: Selling Foundations

In order to be successful in today’s global business environment, salespeople must have a solid relationship building foundation. They must:

Possess Excellent Communication SkillsPossess Excellent Communication Skills

Understand Buyer BehaviorUnderstand Buyer Behavior

Behave EthicallyBehave Ethically

Be TrustworthyBe Trustworthy

The Sales Process: Selling StrategyIn order to be successful in today’s global business environment, salespeople must also think and act strategically. The must develop strategies for:

Each Sales Call

Each Customer

Each strategy is related to the other

Their Sales Territories

The Sales Process

Adding Value through Follow-up, Self-leadership, and Teamwork

• Prospecting• Preapproach• Presentation Planning• Approaching the Customer

• Sales Presentation Delivery • Earning Customer

Commitment

Developing Customer

Relationships

Initiating Customer

Relationships

Enhancing Customer

Relationships

Advantages of Personal Selling

Advantage

• One key advantage personal selling has over other promotional methods is that it is a two-way form of communication. In selling situations the message sender (e.g., salesperson) can adjust the message as they gain feedback from message receivers (e.g., customer). So if a customer does not understand the initial message (e.g., doesn’t fully understand how the product works) the salesperson can make adjustments to address questions or concerns. Many non-personal forms of promotion, such as a radio advertisement, are inflexible, at least in the short-term, and cannot be easily adjusted to address audience questions.

Disadvantage……..• The main disadvantage of personal selling is

the cost of employing a sales force. Sales people are expensive. In addition to the basic pay package, a business needs to provide incentives to achieve sales (typically this is based on commission and/or bonus arrangements) and the equipment to make sales calls (car, travel and subsistence costs, mobile phone etc).

• In addition, a sales person can only call on one customer at a time. This is not a cost-effective way of reaching a large audience.

THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE.