Chapter 16

Personal Selling and Sales Management

Nature of Personal Selling

Most salespeople are well-educated, welltrained 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)
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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.

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.
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The Role of the Sales Force

Represent the Company to Customers to Produce

Company Profit

Sales Force Serves as a Critical Link Between a Company and its Customers Since They:

Represent Customers to the Company to Produce

Customer Satisfaction

Major Steps in Sales Force Management (Fig. 16.1)

Designing Salesforce Strategy and Structure
Recruiting and Selecting Salespeople Training Salespeople

Compensating Salespeople
Supervising Salespeople Evaluating Salespeople
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Designing Sales Force Strategy and Structure

Territorial Exclusive Territory to Sell the Companys Full Product Line

Complex Forms Are a Combination of Any Types of Sales Force Structures

Product Sales Force Sells Only a Portion of The Companys Products or Lines
Customer Sales Force Sells Only to Certain Customers or Industries
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Sales Force Size

Salespeople are one of a companys most productive and expensive assets. Sales forces have been shrinking in size because of:

Advances in selling technology, Recent merger mania.

Many companies use some form of workload approach to set sales force size:

Group accounts into different size classes, How many people are needed to call on them.
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Other Sales Force Strategy and Structure Issues

Outside Sales Force
Travel to Call on Customers

Inside Sales Force

Conduct Business From Their Offices Via Phone or Buyer Visits
TeleMarketing Sales Or Assistants Internet
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Sells to Major Accounts

Finds Major New Prospects

Technical Support People

Team Selling
Most companies are now using team selling to service large, complex accounts. Finds problems, solutions, and sales opportunities. Problems: can overwhelm customers, difficulties working with teams, evaluation of sales performance.
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Some Traits of Good Salespeople

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Recommendations for Recruiting Salespeople

Current Salespeople

Employment Agencies

Classified Ads

College Students
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Selecting Salespeople
Sales Aptitude

Other Characteristics

Selection Process Usually Evaluates a Persons

Personality Traits

Analytical and Organizational Skills

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Training Salespeople
The Average Sales Training Program lasts for Four Months and Has the Following Goals: Help Salespeople Know & Identify With the Company Learn About the Products Learn About Competitors and Customers Characteristics Learn How to Make Effective Presentations Understand Field Procedures and Responsibilities
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Compensating Salespeople
To Attract Salespeople, a Company Must Have an Attractive Plan Made Up of Several Elements

Fixed Amount
Usually a Salary

Variable Amount
Usually Commissions Or Bonuses

Expense Allowance
For Job Related Expenses
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Supervising Salespeople
Directing Salespeople
Identify Customer Targets & Call Norms Develop Prospect Target Use Sales Time Efficiently Annual Call Plan Time-and-Duty Analysis Sales Force Automation

Motivating Salespeople
Organizational Climate Sales Quotas

Positive Incentives
Sales Meetings Sales Contests

Honors and Trips

Merchandise/ Cash

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How Salespeople Spend Their Time (Fig. 16.2)

Service Calls 12.7% Administrative Tasks 16% Telephone Selling 25.1%

Face-to-Face Selling 28.8% Waiting/ Traveling 17.4%

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

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Evaluating Salespeople
Management gets information about its salespeople in several ways:

Sales reports, call reports, expense reports, and Personal observations, customer surveys, etc.

Formal evaluation of performance can be done qualitatively or quantitatively. Evaluation methods of performance include:

Comparing salespeoples performance to others, Comparing current sales with past sales.
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Discussion Connections
As you did at the start of the chapter, envision a typical salesperson.

Have your perceptions of salespeople changed after what youve just read and discussed? How? Be specific.

Many people feel they do not have the attributes and abilities required for successful selling. What role does training play in helping a person develop selling skills and abilities? State what your career ambition is and briefly state how you might be involved in selling.
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Major Steps in Effective Selling (Fig. 16.3)

Prospecting and Qualifying
Preapproach

Approach
Presentation and Demonstration Handling objections Closing Follow-up
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Steps in the Selling Process

Prospecting Qualifying Preapproach Approach
Salesperson Identifies Qualified Potential Customers.

Process of Identifying Good Prospects and Screening Out Poor Ones.

Salesperson Learns as Much as Possible About a Prospective Customer Before Making a Sales Call. Salesperson Meets the Buyer and Gets the Relationship Off to a Good Start.
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Steps in the Selling Process

Presentation
Salesperson Tells the Product Story to the Buyer Using the Need-Satisfaction Approach.

Handling Objections
Closing Follow-Up

Salesperson Seeks Out, Clarifies, and Overcomes Customer Objections to Buying.

Salesperson Asks the Customer for an Order. Occurs After the Sale and Ensures Customer Satisfaction and Repeat Business.
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What is Relationship Marketing?

Relationship Marketing is the Process of Creating, Maintaining, and Enhancing Strong, ValueLaden Relationships With Customers and Other Stakeholders.
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Review of Concept Connections

Discuss the role of a companys salespeople in creating value for customers and building customer relationships. Explain how companies design sales force strategy and structure. Explain how companies recruit, select, and train salespeople. Describe how companies compensate and supervise salespeople, and how they evaluate sales force effectiveness. Discuss the personal selling process, distinguishing between transaction-oriented marketing and relationship marketing. 24