Chapter 16

Personal Selling and Sales Management

Nature of Personal Selling

• Most salespeople are well-educated, well-trained professionals who work to build and maintain long-term relationships with customers.

• The term salesperson covers a wide spectrum of positions from:– Order taker (department store salesperson)– Order getter (someone engaged in creative selling)– Missionary salesperson (building goodwill or educating

buyers)

What is Personal Selling?

Involves Two-Way, Personal Communication Between

Salespeople and Individual Customers Whether:

face to face,by telephone,through video conferencing,or by other means.

13.213.2 1998 by Prentice Hall1998 by Prentice Hall

Personal Selling

STRENGTHS

• Flexibility

• Minimizes wasted effort

• Facilitates buyer action

• Multiple capabilities

WEAKNESSES

• High cost

• Finding and retaining

salespeople

• Message

inconsistency

• Motivation

The Role of the Sales Force

• Personal selling is effective because salespeople can:– probe customers to learn more about their

problems,– adjust the marketing offer to fit the special needs of

each customer,– negotiate terms of sale, and– build long-term personal relationships with key

decision makers.

Designing Salesforce Strategy and Structure

Recruiting and Selecting Salespeople

Training Salespeople

Compensating Salespeople

Supervising Salespeople

Evaluating Salespeople

Major Steps in Sales Force Management (Fig. 16.1)

Sales Force Structure

Complexity

Territorial Product

Market

Territorial Exclusive Territory to Sell the Company’s Full Product Line

ProductSales Force Sells Only a Portion of The Company’s Products or Lines

CustomerSales Force Sells Only to Certain

Customers or Industries

Designing Sales Force Strategy and Structure

Complex Forms Are a Combination of

Any Types of Sales Force Structures

Some Traits of Good Salespeople

Motivating Sales Representatives

Value Level

Promotion

Personal growth

Accomplishment

Pay

SecurityRecognition

Respect(+)

(-)

Administrative Tasks16%

TelephoneSelling

25.1%

Waiting/ Traveling

17.4%

Service Calls12.7%

Face-to-Face Selling

28.8%

Companies Look For Ways to Increase the Amount of Time Salespeople Spend Selling.

How Salespeople Spend Their Time (Fig. 16.2)

Prospecting Salesperson Identifies Qualified Potential Customers.

PreapproachSalesperson Learns as Much as Possible About a Prospective

Customer Before Making a Sales Call.

QualifyingProcess of Identifying Good

Prospects and Screening Out Poor Ones.

Steps in the Selling Process

ApproachSalesperson Meets the Buyer and

Gets the Relationship Off to a Good Start.

PresentationSalesperson Tells the Product “Story” to the Buyer Using the Need-Satisfaction Approach.

Closing Salesperson Asks the Customer for an Order.

Handling Objections

Salesperson Seeks Out, Clarifies, and Overcomes Customer

Objections to Buying.

Steps in the Selling Process

Follow-UpOccurs After the Sale and Ensures Customer Satisfaction and Repeat

Business.