MODULE 13

• Personal Selling - It is a one-on-one interaction between a company representative (salesperson) and the buyer (customer or prospect). This interaction, whether in person or through communication channels like phone or video, aims to persuade individuals to buy a product or service.
• 2 Types of Order Takers

  1. Inside Order Takers
  2. Outside Order Takers
• 2 Types of Support Personnel

  1. Missionary Salespeople
  2. Technical Specialists
• 7 Steps in the Personal Selling Process

  1. Prospecting and Qualifying
  2. Pre-Approach
  3. Approach
  4. Presentation
  5. Handling Objections
  6. Closing
  7. Follow-up
• Sales Force Management - Involves overseeing and coordinating a company's sales team. It includes hiring, training, setting goals, planning strategies, evaluating performance, motivating the team, and adjusting strategies to boost sales and meet business objectives.
• 3 Types of Designing the Sales Force Strategy and Structure

  1. Territorial Sales Force Structure
  2. Product Sales Force Structure
  3. Customer-Market Sales Force Structure
• 5 Types of Compensating the People

  1. Commission Only
  2. Salary Only
  3. Salary and Commission
  4. Salary and Individual Bonus
  5. Salary, Commission, and Bonus
• Sales Promotion - It is a promotional strategy focused on inducing sales in the short term. Of all the promotional activities, sales promotion is solely focused on a direct call to action to buy something. Sales promotion can be targeted to intermediaries through a push strategy or directly to consumers through a pull strategy.
• 2 Types of Sales Promotion

  1. Customer-Oriented Sales Promotion
  2. Trade-Oriented Sales Promotion
• Consumer-Oriented Sales Promotion (4)

  1. Coupons
  2. Samples
  3. Loyalty Rewards
  4. Rebates
• Trade-Oriented Sales Promotion (4)

  1. Allowances and Discounts
  2. Cooperative Advertising
  3. Credit Terms
  4. Push Incentives
• Ethical Issues in Personal Selling (2)

  1. Inflating Sales Data
  2. Accepting Kickbacks
• Ethical Issues in Sales Promotion (2)

  1. Hidden Fees
  2. Ambiguous Terms and Conditions
• Premiums are items offered free or at a minimum cost alongside the purchase of a product.
• Contests make consumers use their skills to compete for prizes.
• Rebates provide some type of reimbursement of the cost of a product when the consumer completes certain information about the time, place, and price of the product purchased.
• Cooperative advertising is a way for manufacturers to help with the cost of the advertising, in exchange for the retailer to advertise the products produced by the manufacturer.
• Missionary salespeople are often employed by manufacturing firms to represent the company and call on retailers in an effort to inform or persuade them to buy the firm’s products.
• A technical specialist serves as an assistant to a firm’s existing customers. Their role is to advise on many aspects of the product, such as technical specifications, application, design, and installation.
• The order getter is responsible for finding customers and persuading them to purchase. They might also be responsible for increasing orders from current customers.
• Outside order takers work with customers who routinely buy products, and their role is to take in and process those orders.
• An inside order taker is the person who talks with a customer when they walk into the business to place an order, or they are the one who is answering the phone, responding to an online inquiry, or responding to an email to accept customer orders as they are placed.
• Team selling involves the lead salesperson bringing in other functional

  support people from within the organization.
• The pre-approach stage can best be described as a thorough analysis or research of the potential candidate.
• During the presentation stage, the goal is to showcase the features about the product that will be of most benefit to the prospect based on the needs uncovered during the pre-approach and approach stages.
• The need/satisfaction format of selling is an approach where the sales professional opens the sales presentation by probing the potential customer with questions in an effort to uncover their needs.
• Using the adaptive selling approach requires the sales professional to adapt their selling strategy and even the product to meet the needs and solve the problems of the customer.
• Information gathered in the pre-approach helps the sales professional during the approach phase.
• Stimulus-Response Approach: When a salesperson has done the research and they understand many of the issues that might be presented by the customer, they are able to provide a stimulus, and the customer provides a response.
• Territorial Sales Force Structure: Setting up a sales force territory is typically done based on the number of prospects and customers as well as the size of the customer and the potential revenue from the typical sale.
• Product Sales Force Structure: Firms typically want the sales force to be knowledge experts on the products they represent.
• Salary, Commission, Bonus: This is the most complex of all of the compensation methods, as it combines all elements: a base salary,

  commission based on sales, and bonus based on goal targets.