Chapter 12: Selling, Sales Promotion, and Public Relations

The Sales Function the sales function is responsible for selling products and services to customers, through the communication of information during customer interaction it is a relatively high-cost form of promotion, often a firm’s largest single operating expense there is more to a personal selling job than selling; often the job is to build a relationship; many sales people are now referred to as customer-services reps personal selling is the most flexible promotional tool; can be tailored to the specific customer

Sales is Most Effective When… the sales function is more likely to be dominant when: the market is concentrated geographically product value is not readily apparent the product has high unit value. is technically, or requires much explanation the product must be tailored to a customer the sale involves a trade-in the product is at the introductory stage of its life cycle the firm has a small budget for advertising

Scope of the Sales Function there are many types of sales jobs retailing involves inside selling; these jobs may involve proactive selling or reactive selling outside sales persons go to the customer; there is usually some opportunity for creative selling and addressing customer needs electronic selling through telemarketing is a relatively new development which combines with databases to better target customers

Figure 12-1 Scope of the Sales Function

The New Focus of Selling “selling” may be a misleading term; often there is no selling involved – sales personnel are providing service and building relationships because of their interpersonal contact with the customer, sales people influence the image of the firm they provide a valuable service role , and ideally become the customer’s trusted partner

The Nature of Sales Jobs many sales reps are now professional sales persons with complete responsibility for relations with their customers there is often considerable opportunity for role conflict and role ambiguity there is a wide variety of sales jobs from delivery drivers to creative sales engineers the sales staff is the front line and represents the firm to its customers

Changing Patterns in Sales the nature of the selling job is changing, reflecting changing market situations many firms have organized sales teams others now offer their customers a coordinated systems and solutions for their problems there is considerable emphasis today on the development of relationships with customers technology has changed the way many firms sell, relying on telemarketing and the Internet

Relationship Selling high levels of trust are important buyer must demonstrate trust in the salesperson as well as the selling organization trusted salespeople can retain the buyer’s commitment even in the face of policies that may not be considered satisfactory sales people have a major role in the management of customer relationships

The Sales Process many firms follow a predictable sales pattern prospecting involves the identification of prospects from various sources qualifying the prospect determines the willingness and capability to buy presenting the sales message (attract attention, hold interest, stimulate desire, close the sale) there is often a need to serve customers after the sale to ensure their satisfaction

Figure 12-2 The Personal Selling Process

Staffing/Operating a Sales Force staffing is a critical sales-force decision: must ensure that staff have necessary qualifications the firm needs a system to generate applicants recruitment often involves extensive screening extensive sales force training is often needed the sales force must be supervised and managed their performance has to be evaluated; compensation systems must be put in place

Figure 12-3 Staffing and Operating a Sales Force

Evaluating Sales Performance a system must exist to evaluate performance serves as the basis for training programs and for determining appropriate rewards quantitative bases for performance review include sales generated, number of orders, closing rate, number of calls made qualitative bases include product knowledge, preparedness for calls, success in establishing relationships, appearance, and attitude

Sales Promotion sales promotions stimulate short-term sales through non-advertising means; coupons, contests, samples, displays, premiums, trade shows may be directed at end consumers (consumer promotions) or at intermediaries (trade promotions) or a firm’s sales force sales promotions are short-term in orientation and tactical in achieving certain objectives it may be easier to evaluate the effectiveness of sales promotions than it is for advertising

Public Relations public relations is intended to develop and maintain a positive public image for a firm objective is to maintain good relations with a number of “publics”; this may be achieved by generating positive publicity publicity is usually considered to be a “news item” that appears about a specific company positive publicity is achieved through press releases, press conferences, and events