41 Sales promotion: personal selling

Rajwant Kaur

1. Learning Outcome:

After completing this module the students will be able to:

Understand the concepts of sales promotion and personal selling
Explain sales promotion tools
Describe the personal selling process
Distinguish between sales promotion and personal selling

2 Introduction

No firm or organisation can be successful unless it is able to promote its sales through various promotional techniques. Only advertising can not work in case of technical or complex products. Moreover, face to face interaction can be more convincing in case of various products. Personal selling is important technique to increase sales of the firm. Similarly, sales promotion is also effective in increasing sales. Both the techniques can be combined to achieve good results.

3 Sales Promotion

Sales promotion refers to short term special selling efforts to accelerate sales. It is a promotional activity which provides monetary and non-monetary incentives to spark an immediate reaction from target consumers (consumer sales promotion) and dealers or firm’s salesperson (Trade promotions). Consumer Sales promotion pulls a product or service by stimulating demand and trade promotions push a product or service by arousing enthusiasm among channel members to sell more of a particular brand. Sales promotion influences purchase behaviour and provides immediate incentive to buy. Sales promotion tools provide marvellous results when supported by advertising and personal selling.

3.1 Types of Sales Promotion

Consumer Sales Promotion

It intends to inform, educate or stimulate consumer action. Different sales promotion tools are used to influence purchase behaviour of consumers. Free air trips to exotic locations, customer cards with attractive offers, gifts on special festivals are commonly used by companies to reward loyal customers and to reinforce purchase behaviour. Contests, samples, free gifts, money refund offers are used to attract customers of rival firms. Extra quantity on frequent purchase, bonus packs, discounts, attractive packaging help in retaining existing customers and reduce their tendency of brand switching. Buy one-get one offers, reusable jars or bowls with products, soap case with toilet soaps, free bucket with purchase of specific quantity of detergent increase consumption and frequency of usage.

Trade Promotion

Trade promotion activities aimed at motivating members of distribution channels to increase frequency and quantity of purchase. Trade promotion tools are directed to capture more shelf space at retail outlets, increase inventories of retailers, push slow moving items or support consumer sales promotion. Displays at point of purchase give a real pay off by enhancing sales. Shop signboards, attractive display units, free air tips to reward top performers, free gifts, huge trade allowance to increase dealer’s margin, dealer contests, monetary bonuses, free training are common tools used to stimulate dealer effectiveness.

3.2 Objectives of Sales Promotion

Informing buyers about new brand or product
Expanding market base
Enhancing usage rate of existing customers
Drawing attention to new products or services.
Supplementing advertising and personal selling efforts
Developing brand loyalty
Capturing more shelf space at retail points
Inducing dealers and retailers to sell more of particular brand
Pushing slow moving product lines

3.3 Advantages of Sales Promotion

It stimulates dealer effectiveness.
Provides direct inducement to make immediate purchases.
Helpful in introducing new product or service.
It provides quick results.
This promotional activity is flexible and can be used any time for informing, educating or stimulating buyer or trader’s response.
Use of sales promotion with advertising and personal selling provides 2+2=5 effect i.e. something extra.
Maintains customer patronage.

3.4 Limitations

It is temporary and short term approach. It cannot alone develop brand loyalty. Other promotional tools are also needed.
Sales promotion tools do not bring desired results in case of declining market for established brands, no improvements in product and intense competition in consumer sales promotion.
Run of the mill sales promotion schemes or too many sales promotions may hit the brand image or lead to brand switching. Company may face diminishing returns as it raises doubt about lack of product popularity or overstocking by company.

4 Personal Selling

Personal selling (also termed as salesmanship by some authors) refers to direct personal contact between a sales representative and one or more prospective customers to influence the customer in a purchase situation. Personal selling is a positive effort as it involves not only persuading people to do what the marketer wants them to do but rather helping them to make intelligent buying decision which will benefit both the buyer and seller. Personal selling is highly distinctive and involves two way communication. It involves securing information about buyer’s unsatisfied needs and wants by the salesman and supplying information about goods and services to the prospective buyer.

Peterson and Wright viewed salesmanship as a process of ascertaining and activating the needs or wants of the buyer by the seller and satisfying them to the mutual and continuous advantage of both the buyer and seller.

According to F. A. Russel, “Salesmanship is the art of selling and nothing more or less than making the other fellow feel as you feel about the thing you have to sell.”

In the words of Garfield Blake, “Salesmanship consists of wining the buyer’s confidence for the seller’s firm and goods thereby winning regular and permanent customers”.

Personal selling provides immediate feedback of information as it involves face to face interaction between buyer and salesman. Salesman can accordingly adjust his message and may emphasize upon those selling points in which the prospect has shown interest.

4.1 Features of Personal Selling

Personal selling aims at winning buyer’s confidence by providing best solution to his problems and educating him.
Salesman attempts to find out needs and wants of customers and provides products to satisfy these wants.
Salesmanship involves educating people about product availability, its special features and utility in satisfying specific needs of customers.
Modern salesmanship enables manufacturer to produce more and increase his sales. At the same time, it helps buyer in getting maximum return for the money spent by him.
Salesmanship is a creative process. A lot of creativity is required for convincing customer about use of product or service and creation of demand.

4.2 Sales Process

The usual steps of sales process can be enumerated as follow:

Pre-sale preparations:

A salesman must identify buyer’s problem and prescribe a solution to him. For this, he must acquaint himself with product, organization and selling techniques. He must know various buying motives of the customers and level of competition prevalent in the market environment.

Prospecting

Prospecting means locating of prospects i.e. probable buyers, who have unsatisfied needs and ability as well as willingness to buy (i.e. motivation). Prospects can be located through present buyers, phone directories, data bank or other salesmen. Located potential buyers must be qualified i.e. they should have need, buying ability, authority and inclination to buy. In addition, they should be accessible to salesmen.

Pre-approach

Salesmen should identify the needs, preferences, nature and behaviour of prospects and prepare his sales presentation accordingly. The sales presentation must correspond to the needs of individual prospect.

Approach

It is the stage where the salesman has direct interaction with the prospect. Approach consists of obtaining an interview by using various means like telephone, business card, and the first contact. The salesman should be able to attract prospect’s attention and arouse his interest in the product.

Sales Presentation and Demonstration

It is the process of formally presenting the product to the customer and explaining its characteristics and benefits. Sales presentation should be made in a language which is easily understandable by the prospect. Presentation should be complete, clear, concise and positive. Lively and interesting sales talk, demonstration of the product (if possible) and visual aids can help in arousing prospect’s interest in the product. Use of testimonials, guarantees, comparisons and tests to justify superiority of the product will win the confidence of prospect.

Overcoming Objections

Objections, arguments and reactions represent feedback to salesman’s communication. The sales cannot take place unless any objection or query raised by prospect is satisfactorily answered. Salesman should welcome objections and interpret them correctly. He should follow problem solving approach while handling these objections to offer adequate solutions to prospect’s needs, difficulties and specific problems.

Close

It is the act of getting buyer’s assent to purchase the product. Salesman should be alert and apply the close on getting any clue that prospect is willing to buy. Salesman may offer inducements to close a sale such as extra quantity, huge discount, free gifts and so on. It is important that sales must be initiated by salesman at opportune time i.e. when the salesman’s mind and prospect’s mind are in perfect agreement.

Follow up

Follow up or post sales contacts are essential to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business. After closing the sale, the salesman should extend help to arrange dispatch of goods, grant of credit and other formalities. Follow up calls at frequent intervals should be made to detect any problem, assure the buyer on the wisdom of his decision, show salesperson’s concern for him and reduce any cognitive dissonance.

It is important to note that any sales process takes customer through certain stages of mind. These stages can be summarized as AIDAS i.e. Attention, Interest, Desire, Action and Satisfaction. The salesman should secure customer’s attention, arouse his interest, ignite his desire, convert his desire into demand for product and provide after sales services.

4.3 Types of Salesman

4.3.1. Manufacturer’s Salesmen : These salesmen are employed by manufacturers to sell the product to wholesalers, retailers or customers. These salesmen can be summarised as :

(i) Missionary Salesmen : These salesmen are employed to create demands for services like insurance, banks, advertisement agency. They create, develop and maintain the goodwill of the enterprise. Manufacturers of medical supplies employ these salesmen to promote their products to distributor and retail medical stores.

(ii) Promotional Salesmen : These salesmen are employed for sales promotion. They usually do not take spot orders. Salesman of a pharmaceutical company may contact doctors to convince to recommend specific medicine to their patients.

(iii) Merchandising Salesmen : These salesmen provide advise to dealer and collect information from the market. They help dealers in increasing their sales by guiding them in selling the goods. They assist dealers by demonstrating the product or arranging publicity.

4.3.2 Speciality Salesmen : These salesmen are engaged in selling particular goods such as computers, typewriters, air conditioner etc. They meet the perspective customer and explain as well as demonstrate the functioning of their product. They create demand among the customers to buy specific product.

4.3.3 Wholesaler’s Salesmen: These salesmen are employed by wholesalers to sell their products. A wholesaler’s salesman deals with retailers and industrial customers. He informs the retailers about new products and books their orders at regular intervals.

4.3.4. Retailer’s Salesmen: Retailers appoint salesmen to sell their products to ultimate consumers. They may be travelling salesmen or indoor salesmen.

4.4 Advantages of Personal Selling

Personal selling is important ingredient in promotion mix. According to Levitt, “Personal selling is as basic to our society as metabolism is to life”. The various advantages of personal selling can be enumerated as :

Personal selling leads to minimal spill over and wastages as it is directed to qualified prospects only.
Personal selling is flexible. Salesman can adjust sales talk and presentation to meet individual needs and motives of prospect.
It is possible for salesperson to detect loss of customer interest and regenerate it by reinforcements.
The salesman acts as market researcher. He transmits valuable information which enables organization to make tactical adjustments and strategic plans.
In personal selling, long lasting relationship can be developed between salesman & customer which secures future business.
Personal selling has assumed great importance in service marketing like tourism, hotels where personalized services and relations with customers are in great demand.
Other promotional tools also arouse interest but usually it is left to the salesman to complete the sale.
Detailed explanation and demonstration of product lubricate selling process which is essential for technically complex and innovative products.

4.5 Limitations of Personal Selling

Cost per contact is high.
There is dearth of good salesmen.
Customer loyalty can be lost on retirement or exit of a good sales person if it is built up around him.

4.6 Prerequisites of Effective Selling

Information about Company: Salesman is representative of whole company. He must know company’s history, policies, service facilities, procedures, guarantees etc. Salesman will be in a better position to answer all queries of buyers about firm or company when he himself knows it well.
Product knowledge : Salesman should be familiar with product features, material, its uses, handling instructions and so on. A salesman may not finalize sale if he is lacking knowledge about product.
Knowledge of competition : Salesman can claim superiority of his product only when he knows product of rivals. He should continuously assess the market offerings of his competitors and determine their strengths and weaknesses. Comparisons of product should be made on those points in which buyer shows interest.
Information about customer: Knowledge about customer needs, desires, buying motives and habits can help in tailoring the product to specific requirements of customers. Salesman should have knowledge about socio-psychological factors which influence buyer behaviour so that sales presentation can be related to buying process of customer.
Knowledge of Selling Process : Selling process involves stages viz. prospecting, preparation, sales presentation and after-sales activities. Salesman should have knowledge of these activities and use AIDAS formula i.e. attention, interest, desire, action and satisfaction while initiating sale. His all selling efforts should culminate in actual sales.

4.7 Qualities of Good Salesman

4.7.1 Physical Qualities : First impression is the last impression. Salesman should be physically fit, mentally sound and well dressed. His cheerful face, pleasing voice and humorous nature will enable him to easily win the mind of prospect during a sales talk. His attractive personality will stimulate customer’s interest in his talk and guidance.

4.7.2 Mental Qualities : Salesman should have good memory and keen observation. He must be tactful and able to assess customer’s needs or buying motives so as to adjust his sales talk. He should have strong determination and ego drive (passion for achieving set goals). Salesman should be able to arrange things in correct manner and handle difficult situations at his own. His self confidence will also inspire confidence in his customers. He should develop empathy i.e. ability to identify customer’s feelings, emotions, thoughts and reactions.

4.7.3 Social Qualities : Good social behaviour is always expected from salesman. Salesman should be polite, respectful, co-operative and extrovert. He should be adaptive to different attitudes, behaviour and culture of buyers. Greeting customers with smiling face, using polite expressions and being humble while dealing with customers are pillars to success in salesmanship.

4.7.4 Moral Qualities : Honesty and integrity of salesman bring more business. Salesman should be loyal to his employer. Once salesman creates goodwill, customers depend on him, rely upon his statements and seek his guidance. His moral qualities will lubricate his selling efforts and reinforce customer confidence.

4.7.5 Technical Qualities : In addition to personal qualities, salesman should have technical skills. These skills are learnt with experience. Study of techniques and principles of salesmanship help in making salesmen successful in their jobs. Salesman should be aware of product, its features and uses. He must know his producer, history of the firm and nature of customers as well as their buying motives. He should not indulge in arguments with customers. Salesman must know AIDA model for finalizing sales.

5 Difference Between Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

6 Summary

Personal selling also termed as salesmanship, refers to direct personal contact between a sales representative and one or more prospective customers to influence the customer in a purchase situation. Personal selling is a positive effort as it involves not only persuading people to do what the marketer wants them to do but rather helping them to make intelligent buying decision which will benefit both the buyer and seller. Personal selling is highly distinctive and involves two way communication. It involves securing information about buyer’s unsatisfied needs and wants by the salesman and supplying information about goods and services to the prospective buyer. Personal Selling process includes pre-sale preparations, prospecting, pre-approach, approach, sales presentations, overcoming objections, closing sales and follow up. A good salesman should have moral, social, physical and technical qualities and he should know his company, product, competitor and customer. Both sales promotion and personal selling when combined bring significant results.

Learn More

Few important sources to learn more about Sales Promotion and Personal Selling:

Blois Keith (2000). The Oxford Textbook of Marketing, Oxford University Press Inc., New York.
Cannon, Tom. Basic Marketing: Principles and Practice, 3rd Edition, A.I.T.B.S. Publishers, Delhi.
Davar S. Rustom, Davar R.Sohrab, Davar R.Nusli (2000). Salesmanship and Publicity, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
Gandhi,C J (1998). Marketing- A Managerial Introduction, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi
Johnson, Kurtz and Scheuing. Sales Management: Concepts, Practices and Cases, 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill Inc.
Kotler, Philip; Keller, Kevin; Koshey, Abraham; and Jha Mithileshwar, (2009). Marketing Management: South Asian Perspective. 13th Edition. Pearson Education, New Delhi.
Mohan, Manendra (1999). Advertising Management: Concepts and Cases, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi.
Sherlekar,A.S.(1996). Marketing Management, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai.
Still, Cundiff and Govoni. Sales Management: Decisions, Strategies and Cases, 5th Edition, Prentice Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi.

Points to Ponder

Personal selling involves face to face interaction between customer and salesman.
Personal selling is based on problem solving approach. It involves providing information about product and service and answering various objections raised by customers.
Sales Promotion involves use of monetary and non- monetary incentives to buyers and members of Distribution Channel to increase sales.
Personal selling is best suited for technically complex and industrial products whereas sales promotion is useful for consumer goods.