Chapter 1 13 Integrated Marketing Communication: Personal Selling and Direct Marketing

ROAD MAP: Previewing the Concepts Discuss the role of a company’s salespeople in creating value for customers and building customer relationships. Identify and explain the six major sales force management steps. Discuss the personal selling process, distinguishing between transaction-oriented marketing and relationship marketing. Define direct marketing and discuss its benefits to customers and companies. Identify and discuss the major forms of direct marketing.

The Nature of Personal Selling Most salespeople are well-educated, well-trained professionals who work to build and maintain long-term customer relationships. The term salesperson covers a wide range of positions: Order taker: Department store clerk Order getter: Creative selling in different environments

The Role of the Sales Force Personal selling is a paid, personal form of promotion. Involves two-way personal communication between salespeople and individual customers. Salespeople: Probe customers to learn about problems Adjust marketing offers to fit special needs Negotiate terms of sales Build long-term personal relationships

The Role of the Sales Force Sales Force serves as critical link between company and its customers They represent the company to the customers They represent the customers to the company Goal = Customer Satisfaction and Company Profit

Major Steps in Sales Force Management

Sales Force Structure Territorial: Salesperson assigned to exclusive area and sells full line of products Product: Sales force sells only certain product lines Customer: Sales force organizes along customer or industry lines Complex: Combination of several types of structures

Inside Sales Force Conduct business from their offices via telephone or visits from perspective buyers. Includes: Technical support people Sales assistants Telemarketers

Chapter 1 Discussion Question For what types of products or product categories do you think inside selling might be more effective than outside selling?

Inside Sales Force Experienced telemarketers sell complex chemical products by telephone at DuPont’s Customer Telecontact Center.

Team Selling Used to service large, complex accounts. Can include experts from different areas of selling firm. Pitfalls: Can confuse or overwhelm customers Some people have trouble working in teams Hard to evaluate individual contributions

Recruiting and Selecting Salespeople Key talents of salespeople: Intrinsic motivation Disciplined work style Ability to close a sale Ability to build relationships with customers

Recruiting Salespeople Recommendations from current sales force Employment agencies Classified ads Web searches College students Recruit from other companies

Sales Force Training Goals Learn about and identify with the company. Learn about the company’s products. Learn customers’ and competitors’ characteristics. Learn how to make effective presentations. Learn field procedures and responsibilities.

Compensating Salespeople Fixed amount: Salary Variable amount: Commissions or bonuses Expenses: Repays for job-related expenditures Fringe benefits: Vacations, sick leave, pension, etc.

Supervising Salespeople Chapter 1 Supervising Salespeople Directing Salespeople Help them identify customers and set call norms. Specify time to be spent prospecting Annual call plan Time-and-duty analysis Sales force automation systems Annual Call Plan: shows which customers and prospects to call on in which months and which activities to carry out. Activities include taking part in trade shows, attending sales meetings, and carrying out marketing research. Time-and –Duty Analysis: Assessment of time spent selling, traveling, waiting, eating, taking breaks, and doing administrative tasks. Sales Force Automation: computerized sales force operations for more efficient order-entry transactions, improved customer service, and better salesperson decision-making support.

How Salespeople Spend Their Time

Supervising Salespeople Motivating Salespeople Organizational climate Sales quotas Positive incentives: Sales meetings Sales contests Recognition and honors Cash awards, trips, profit sharing

Sales Force Incentives Many companies offer cash, trips, or merchandise as incentives. Marriott suggests that companies reward outstanding sales performers by letting them “spread their wings and reenergize” at fabulous Marriott resorts worldwide.

Major Steps in Effective Selling

The Personal Selling Process Prospecting The salesperson identifies qualified potential customers Preapproach The salesperson learns as much as possible about a prospective customer before making a sales call Approach The salesperson meets the customer for the first time Presentation The salesperson tells the “product story” to the buyer, highlighting customer benefits

The Personal Selling Process Handling Objections The salesperson seeks out, clarifies, and overcomes customer objections to buying Closing The salesperson asks the customer for an order Follow-up The salesperson follows up after the sale to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business

Owens-Corning Field Sales Advantage system gives salespeople a constant supply of information about their company and the people with whom they are dealing.

Chapter 1 Direct Marketing Direct marketing consists of direct connections with carefully targeted individual consumers to both obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships. Click Here to Visit the Direct Marketing Association's Website

The New Direct-Marketing Model Chapter 1 The New Direct-Marketing Model Some firms use direct marketing as a supplemental medium. For many companies, direct marketing constitutes a new and complete model for doing business. Some firms employ the direct model as their only approach. Some see this as the new marketing model of the next millennium.

Benefits of Direct Marketing Chapter 1 Benefits of Direct Marketing Benefits to Buyers: Convenient Easy to use Private Ready access to products and information Immediate and interactive

Benefits of Direct Marketing Chapter 1 Benefits of Direct Marketing Benefits to Sellers: Powerful tool for building customer relationships Can target small groups or individuals Can tailor offers to individual needs Can be timed to reach prospects at just the right moment Gives access to buyers they could not reach through other channels Offers a low-cost, efficient way to reach markets

Chapter 1 Customer Databases An organized collection of comprehensive data about individual customers or prospects, including geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral data.

Forms of Direct Marketing Chapter 1 Forms of Direct Marketing

Chapter 1 Telephone Marketing Accounts for more than 36% of all direct-marketing sales. Used in both consumer and B2B markets. Can be outbound or inbound calls.

Inbound Telephone Marketing The Carolina Cookie Company urges, “Don’t wait another day! Call now to place an order or request a catalog.”

Direct-Mail Marketing Chapter 1 Direct-Mail Marketing Involves sending an offer, announcement, reminder, or other item to a person at a particular address. Accounts for more than 31% of direct-marketing sales. Permits high target-market selectivity. Personal and flexible. Easy to measure results.

Chapter 1 Catalog Marketing With the Internet, more and more catalogs going electronic. Print catalogs still the primary medium. Expected sales in 2008 = $176 billion. Harder to attract new customers with Internet catalogs.

Direct-Response TV Marketing Chapter 1 Direct-Response TV Marketing Direct-Response Advertising Infomercials Home Shopping Channels

Infomercial Ronco and Ron Popeil, with his Veg-o-Matics, food dehydrators, and electric egg scramblers, paved the way for a host of mainstream marketers who now use direct-response ads.

Chapter 1 Kiosk Marketing Information and ordering machines generally found in stores, airports, and other locations.

Interactive Student Assignment Chapter 1 Choose a partner and discuss some of the products each of you has purchased as a result of direct marketing. What were the advantages for you when making your purchases in this manner?

Integrated Direct-Marketing Chapter 1 Integrated Direct-Marketing The use of carefully coordinated multiple-media, multiple-stage campaigns.

Public Policy and Ethical Issues in Direct Marketing Chapter 1 Public Policy and Ethical Issues in Direct Marketing Irritation to Consumers Taking unfair advantage of impulsive or less sophisticated buyers Targeting TV-addicted shoppers Deception, Fraud Invasion of Privacy

Rest Stop: Reviewing the Concepts Chapter 1 Rest Stop: Reviewing the Concepts Discuss the role of a company’s salespeople in creating value for customers and building customer relationships. Identify and explain the six major sales force management steps. Discuss the personal selling process, distinguishing between transaction-oriented marketing and relationship marketing. Define direct marketing and discuss its benefits to customers and companies. Identify and discuss the major forms of direct marketing.