UNIT 17 PERSONAL SELLING AND SALES

PROMOTION
Structure
17.0 Objectives
17.1 Introduction
17.2 Importance of Personal Selling
17.3 Situations Conducive for Personal Selling
17.4 Types of Selling Jobs
17.5 The Sell~ngProcess
17 6 Qualities of a Good Salesperson
17.7 Sales Promotion
17.8 Sales Promotion Objectives
17.9 Sales Promotion Methods
17.10 Let Us Sum Up
1 7.1 1 Key Words
17.12 Answers to Check Your Progress
17.13 Terminal Questions

17.0 OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
explain the nature and role of personal selling and sales promotion;
list different types of selling jobs and qualities of a good salesperson;
describe the steps involved in the selling process;
discuss the process involved in planning sales promotions; and
explain the methods of sales promotion.

17.1 INTRODUCTION
In contrast to advertising and publicity, which use impersonal methods of
communication, personal selling makes use of direct personal communications to
~nfluencethe target customers. Personal selling is a highly distinctive method of

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promotion, and makes use of ofal presentation in conversation with existing and
potential customers, for the purpose of making a sale.
It is one of the oldest methods of business promotion. The contributions made by
I personal selling in making the promotion function more effective have earned the

use of it, and a good number of them realise that they cannot, perhaps, live without it. I
Promotion Decisions and You have already studied that promotion mix consists of four components, viz.,
Emerging Issues personal selling, advertising, publicity and sales promotion. This unit discusses in detail
two components i.e., Personal Selling and Sales Promotion.

17.2 IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL SELLING

The increase in complexity of products has increased the importance of personal
selling. Manufacturers of highly technical products such as computers, electronic
typewriters, digital phones, microwave, kitchen appliances, remote control
equlpments, etc. depend more heavily on personal selling t h ~ do
n grocery or toiletry
products manufacturers.
Ever growing competition from domestic and foreign sources have also increased the
importance of sales persons in the marketing effort of a firm. In personal selling
company's sales persons are often referred to as sales representative, salesman or
sales girl. They remain on the company's payroll or work on commission basis or
both, to push the product in the market by positively motivating the prospective
customer through oral presentation or demoilstrating the product.
Customers want all sorts of goods and services but inertia may keep them from
buying. Sales efforts stimulate the consumption process by reducing people's inherent
reluctance to make purchase decision. In fact sales persons act as catalyst in the
market place. When the nature of the product is such that the buyer needs special
information in order to use it properly, sales representative acts as a consultant to
consumer, to apprise him of products technicalities and usage.
In case of industrial products, the promotion mix mostly consists of person selling
rather than advertising. Being high value and complex product, personal contact with
the customer is essential to convince him of the product's quality and utility. On the
other hand, consumer product companies use personal selling together with
advertising, to influence prospects to try their brand. But personal selling in this case
cannot substitute for advertising, it can only be used tactically to intensify marketing
effort, mainly because it is expensive.
Personal selling is more effective during product launching stage. For example
McDowell, used personal selling tactics during launching of soft drink "SPRINT in
Delhi. Similarly Eureka Forbes, a manufacturer of appliances which includes vacuum
cleaner and a number of home care appliances, adopted personal selling for its
premium product vacuum cleaners. Since the vacuum cleaner is a high value product
and the concept was fairly new to the Indian market at the time of its launch,
demonstration was necessary to convince buyers, and personal selling successfully
achieved this. Other Companies e.g. Johnson and Johnson for its product in the so
called 'embarrassment' category, like sanitary napkins or contraceptive used personal
selling successfully.
During the product launching stage companies selling products like Richbru Coffee,
Signal Toothpaste, Surf, Dalda etc. utilised personal selling efforts.
4

The importance of Personal Selling in the Indian context stands out due to the !
following factors: I

1) In the absence of the availability of all India media many companies find it expedient
to extensively use personal selling to achieve their promotional objectives.
2) Companies which cannot afford a large outlay for advertising on a regular basis
also find personal selling a more reliable method.
3) The vast network of our distribution system needs the support of the
manufacturer sales force for market combing as well as development.
4) Low levels of literacy and lack of adequate customer education regarding
Promotion Decisions and .............................................................................................................................
Emerging Issues
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17.4 TYPES OF SELLING JOBS

From the foregoing discussion you have learnt that while sales as a function has a
common purpose, that is, to effect sales, the selling situations differ due to interplay of
various factors. These factors are nature of goods sold, type of distribution system
used, nature of demand and the type of sales strategy followed by the firm. These
factors require the salesforce to possess different traits and abilities suitable to the
selling situation with which they are associated. To underscore the difference, Robert
N. McCurry in "The Mystique of Super-salesmanship" classifies individual sales
position based on the degree of creativity required into seven categories. These seven
categories are described below:
1) Merchandise Deliveries: The sales person, whose primary job is to deliver the
product usually against routine orders-popularly called sales and delivery boys.
2) Inside Order-taker: Working inside a store, the primary job of such a sales
person is to service the customer's request or suggest appropriate product to
meet customer wants. Such type of salespersons are popularly called retail
salesmen.
3) Outside Order-taker: The salespersons engaged in the task of taking orders
from the resellers. They normally do not use hard selling approach for taking
orders.
4) Missionary Salesperson: The salesperson whose primary job is to educate,
give product detailing, build goodwill or create primary demand for the product.
Strictly speaking, missionary salespersons are not permitted to take orders.
5) Sales Engineer: The salesperson who acts as a technical consultant to the
client and as per the need helps him to design products or production. This type
. of salesperson is popularly called Technical Salesperson.
6) Tangible Product Seller: The salesperson whose job is to sell tangible
products such as furniture, appliances, automobiles, etc. The job involves abilities
to persuade and convince the customer.
7) Intangible Product Seller: Here the salesperson is associated with selling
intangible products or services such as advertising services, insurance,
education, etc., the common factor being difficulty in immediate demonstration
of the perceived benefits of the product. This selling job requires perhaps the
greatest degree of a creativity in the salesperson.
Defining the Salesprson's Job: The foregoing classification of the sales position
into seven categories, on the basis of degree of creativity required in the performance
of each job is only general in nature. Depending upon the organisational need, each
company should clearly define what it expects from a salesperson in terms of the
tasks to be performed by him. It should broadly specify how much of salesperson's
time should be spent on developing new accounts versus servicing existing accounts,
large accounts vers'us small accounts; bulk orders versus small orders; selling
individual products versus selling the product line; selling old products versus selling
new products; etc. Lack of clear definition regarding the selling tasks to be
performed, often results in disproportionate spending of time between the tasks and
the goals. To avoid this type of loss in productivity of the salesforce, it is worth
repeating that the job of the salesperson should be defined with sufficient specificity,
so that he can use it as a guidline to keep himself in the right direction.
 Personal Selling and
17.5 THE SELLING PROCESS Sales Promotion

Up to this point we were discussing the role of personal selling and the degree of
creativity required in a salesperson to perform his task satisfactorily. Now we will
take a look at the selling process followed for completing a sale. Though the steps in
the selling process discussed below will be applicable to most of the selling situation,
what will differ will be the degree of importance given to each step of the process
under different selling situations. The basic steps in the selling process are given in
Figure 17.1. A salesperson must become accomplished at performing the selling
steps. These steps are explained below.

Reassure customers on the correctness of their decision.

Check whether the order was filled and delivered when promised. POST SALE
Make certain the product is properly installed, used and serviced. FOLLOW-UP

Make conscious effort to close. CLOSING

Don't be afraid of being rejected. THE SALE

Understand reasons for objection

Have a positive attitude HANDLING
Avoid arguments. OBJECTIONS

SALES
PRESENTATION Arouse Desire

APPROACH Make initial contact with prospect

Study the organisation

PREAPPROACH
and those involved in buying
--
PROSPECTING Develop sales leads from various sources
ANDQUALIFYING "Separate the suspects from the prospects"

Know your product. Know your customer.

PREPARATION
Know your competitor. Know your company.

Figure 17.1: Steps in the Selling Process

Source: Ralph M. Gaedeke and Dennis H., Tootelian, Marketing Principles and Applications,
1983. p. 436 (preparation step added)

Preparation: Before starting the selling job, a salesperson should make a valuable
investment of time and resources to know the products he will be selling, know the
customers (i.e. customer types, buying motives and buying proces) to whom he will
be selling, know the competitors against whom he will be selling, and finally know the
philosophy, policies and range of products of his company. In short, he should be well
equipped with the fundamentals of selling.

Prospecting: This step of the selling process deals with locating and preparing a list
of prospective customers. Prospects can be located through (1) identifying the
potential of buying more in the existing customers, (2)recommendations of existing
customers, (3) winning back lost customers, (4) attracting competitor's customers,
(5) customers' information request from advertisement, (6) newspaper
announcements, (7) public records, (8) directories like telephone,-trade association
etc., (9) other salesmen, (10) references from friends, neighbours and business
associates, and (1 1 ) cold canvasing, that is, going from door-to-door.
Promotion Decisions and The located prospects should first be qualified broadly in terms of (i) whether they
Emerging Issues want the product and how intense their want is, (ii) whether they have the adequate
purchasing power, and (iii) whether and who possesses the power or authorisation to
purchase and spend the required money. The qualifying of prospects is the process of
separating the prospects from the suspects.
It is worth mentioning here that the ability to prospect is the most essential ability of a
successful salesperson. A good salesperson keeps examining, weeding out the
already tapped prospects and updating his lists of prospects, and remains in constant
search of new prospects.

Preapproach: The qualifying process of separating prospects from suspects further

requires that the salesperson should process detailed information relating to the
prospects in terms of existing products consumed, their scale of operation, product
range, their buying size, frequency, budget and the process, etc. In short, obtain
customer orientation. The sources of information for the purpose include company
annual reports, other salespersons, other suppliers to the prospects, census of
manufacturers, professional journals, newspapers and market intelligence. The
availability of the above information in as detailed a manner as possible will help the
salesperson in ranking the prospect in terms of their priority to the company. Good
salespersons use the above information in classifying the prospects in A, B and C
categories in terms of the immediacy of the attention to be given to them.

Approach: 'First impression counts'. As such, this step needs to be carefully

planned. This step has two distinct parts. One, of meeting the customer with a
positive set of mind, and the second, making an impact on him. For the former,
referrals of reliable persons known to prospects, calling after fixing an appointment,
use of door openers, help. For the latter the salesperson should equip himself
with the key benefit to be emphasised, samples or new literature to be handed over,

Sales Presentation: Through advance information relating to the prospect, every

effort should be made to match the product offered to the needslproblems faced by
the customer. The sales presentation should generally go according to the AIDA-
attention, interest, desire, and action approach. How can this be done? Use of key
benefit or a problem solver, or a unique act of the salesperson results in gaining
attention.
The presentation should proceed in a straightforward manner to help the prospect
know that you understand his problem and that is the reason of your being there. To
convince the prospect as early as possible, the salesperson should offer evidence
through demonstration of the product, use of exhibits, models, citing examples of its
successful applicationslusage, showing testimonials, etc. The overall approach should
be to build credibility and confidence in the supplying company, its products, and also
in its competence to render specialised type of service to the complete satisfaction of
its customers.
The flexibility of the sales presentations can range from the 'Canned' or previously
prepared presentation, to those allowing the salesperson complete freedom in the
presentation. Though both the extremes, or even the hybrid of the two, have their
own situational suitability, the important point to note is that salesmanship, being a
showmanship function, must arouse active participation of the prospect in the
presentation process. This can be done by introducing some action which would keep
the prospect captivated. One possible way would be a joint review of the problem
faced by the prospect. Another is helping the prospect imagine the projected benefits
of owning the product.
Step 6
Handling Objections: It is in the last phase of the sales presentation step that the
prospects start expressing doubts, or raising objections whether relating to price, need
for more time to think, satisfaction with the existing productfsupplieror product quality

These doubts ok objections should be welcome and they should be answered with
confidence. There is certainly no doubt that the prospect has to be thoroughly
convinced that the product would satisfy his need. The ability of the salesperson of
mind reading of the prospects, enables him to anticipate the prospect's objections and

The golden rules for handling objections are: (1) welcome the objection and show
respect to the prospect, and (2) do not argue with the prospect. Even when the
objections raised are half-baked or trivial in nature, the salesperson should handle the
situation tactfully. Even under these circumstances courtesy should not be lost sight
of, and while the discussion is on, the salesperson should start recounting the benefits
of the product agreed upon, and lead the prospect to make a favourable decision. It
should be remembered that handling objections sharpens the selling skills of the

Closing the Sale: Closing is that aspect of the selling process in which the
salesperson asks the prospect to buy the product. There is a critical point during each
presentation when the salesperson should ask for the order. Pending the location of .
the critical point, as the objections are being met, the salesperson should help reduce
the choice of options, summarise the benefits of buying, and the consequences of not
buying, and if need be, make use of the big idea appeal of buying' 'now' at that

The salesperson should have the ability of catching the buying signals given by the
prospect and should act on them fast. Some such signals are changing the sitting/
standing position and moving closer to the product; reading the instructions on the
product; perusing the testimonials; showing hesitation in being able to afford; asking
for another demonstration, if applicable; checking the warranty or asking questions
relating to warranty terms. These signals, show that the time is ripe to start taking the

Post-sale Follow-up: The selling process does not come to an end by writing the
order. A few repetitions reassuring the benefits of the product keep the customer
sold. Follow-up provides an opportunity to ensure that the product is being rightly
used, and if necesary to re-explain the method of using, handling, and storing of the

a good source of feedback too.

Let us conclude this section by stating that although the eight steps of the selling
process are essential in spirit, these may not always be followed. This could be partly
because of (i) the selling situation involved, e.g. in the case of insider order-taker or
retail salesperson the first three steps of the selling process are generally not '
applicable as the customer walks into the store for buying a product, (ii) the expertise
I
Promotion Decisions and
Emerging Issues
of the salesperson (such that he can ignore or assume some information), or (iii) the
seller's market of the product where customers generally queue up for the product.
Let us also look at the findings of a study by Robertson and Chase on the subject.
They point out that:
1) The more closely matched the physical, social and personal characteristics of
the customer and salesperson, the more likely is the sale.
I
2) The more believable and trustworthy the customer perceives a salesperson to
be, the more likely is the sale.
3) The more persuadable a customer is, the more likely is a sale.
4) The more a salesperson can make prospective buyers view themselves
favourably, the more likely a sale is.
Check Your Progress B
What general procedure should be followed when qualifying prospects? How can the
key prospects for photocopying machines be identified and qualified?
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17.6 QUALITIES OF A GOOD SALESPERSON

Some people say salesmen are born salesmen, while other believe that training can
help in making good salesmen.
Irrespective of these opinions, good salesman has certain qualities and abilities as a
result he is able to perform better than others. In this section we would discuss
qualities of a good salesperson.
Philip Kolter has identified two basic qualities of a good salesperson namely, empathy
and persuasion. But others have listed more. Some of the qualities of a good
salesperson are as follows:
1) Ability to estimate customer's needs and desires: He is alert and quickly
determines what the customer wants and the best way to sell.
2) Ambition: He likes to do a good job and is interested in getting ahead with your
company.
3) Appearance: Appearances mean a lot today and the successful salesman is
neat and organised. He presents himself well in person. Also, he keeps his desk,
books and manuals neat and ready for use.
4) Business Sense: He understands that you are in business to make a profit and
quickly l e m s the ins-and-outs of your organisation.
5)' Courtesy: He reveals a sincere desire to help customers and treats them as
guests even when he visits their places of business.
 Creativeness: Imagination, vision and the ability to create ideas make your Personal Selling and
Sales Promotion
man dynamic.
Curiosity: He wants to learn all he can about his job, his products and his
cutomers.
Enthusiasm: There is nothing that can drain away a prospect's buying interest
more than a half-dead salesman. Dullness should be left at home. A salesman
must radiate enthusiasm during and after the sales call.
9) Figure Sense: He should have the mathematical ability to figure and fill up
order form correctly and to make the necessary reports.
10) Flexibility: A good salesman is able to adapt himself to a variety of customers.
Each contact may require adapting the sales talk, speech habits and even
appearance.
I I) Friendliness: A salesman should be able to make people like him and he must
like to meet people.
12) Handwriting: He must write legibly so that his paper work can be readily
understood by his office people and by his customers.
13) Health: Good health generates energy and energy is needed to sell. Poor health
prevents many salesmen from fulfilling their potentials.
14) Integrity: A salesman must be trusted to do his job well. He cannothelp but be
successful when his customers trust him.
15) Interest in his job: He likes selling and working for your company.
16) Knowledge: In some business, an applicant must also have a thorough
knowledge of the highly specialised products or services his employer offers. In
some cases, this knowledge can be gained only by years of experience.
17) Loyalty: He must be able to impress upon his customers the idea that his
company is the best in the business.
18) Mental abilities: He has the intelligence to understand your products and those
of your competitors. He must know how to use words, to understand and direct
people and to remember names and faces. He should also be able to understand
prospective customers and know how to act under varying conditions.
19) Motivation: He must have more than just an interest in selling. Psychologists
have found certain predominant patterns in men who have become really
si~ccessfulsalesmen. They live in the present and not in the future. They do
want power over others and prefer not to work under close supervision.
20) Originality: He is constantly searching for new ideas to be used in selling your
products and will suggest better ways of doing things.
21) Persuasiveness: Very few products of any type actually sell themselves. They
must be sold. Your man must have the ability to get people to agree. There are
situations when persuasiveness may vary keeping in view the consumer's

22) Poise: His maturity is reflected in his behaviour. He should be positive and
confident, energetic and businesslike. He should be able to demonstrate to your
customers that he knows what he is talking about.
23) Self-control: He can handle difficult people and situations calmly.
24) Self-starter: Your man works well without constant supervision and is able to
make decisions on his own.
25) Speech: He can speak clearly and maturely in a natural tone. He can
emphasize sales points with sincerity and friendliness.
Promotion Decisions and Check Your Progress C
Emerging Issues
State whether following statements are true or false.
i) Personal selling provides marketers with greatest opportunity to adjust a
message to satisfy customers' information needs.
ii) The personal selling process begins with approaching the customer.
iii) An important function of the technical salesperson 1s to provide advice on the
application of the product.
iv) Missionary salesperson is aposition where salesperson builds goodwill and
educates the consumer while talung orders and selling the firm's goods and services.
V) Getting the order is called closing the sale.

17.7 SALES PROMOTION

Of all the methods of promotion that constitute the promotion mix, sales promotion is
the only method that makes use of incentives to complete the push-pull promotional
strategy of motivating the salesforce, the dealer and consumer in transacting a sale.
There is no single universally accepted definition of sales promotion. One can,
however, gather its essence by perusing a few definitions. Let us look at some of the
popular definitions of sales promotion.
According to American Marketing Association, sales promotion refers to
those activities other than personal selling, advertising and publicity, that
stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness, such as display.
shows and exhibitions, demonstrations, and various other non-recurrent selling
efforts not in ordinary routine.
This definition suggests t@sales promotion is a catch-all for all those promotion
activities which do not fallklearly into advertising, personal selling or publicity.
Roger A. Strang offers a simpler definition: Sales promotion are short term incentives
to encourage purchase or sale of a product or service.
Yet another definition that seems fairly exhaustive, and hence, will be used in this unit
is the one given by Stanley M. Ulanoff in his Handbook of Sales Promotion. Stanley
defines sales promotion as all the marketing and promotion activities. other than
advertising, personal selling, and publicity, that motivate and encourage the consumer
to purchase by means of such inducements as premiums, advertising specialities,
samples, cents-off coupons, sweepstakes, contests, games, trading stamps, refunds,
rebates, exhibits, displays, and demonstrations. It is employed as well, to motivate
retailers, wholesaler; the manufacturer's salesforces to sell through the use of such
incentives as awards or prizes (merchanidise, cash and travel), direct payments and
allowances, cooperative advertising, and trade shows. It offers a direct inducement to
act by providing extra worth over and above what is built into the product at its
normal price. These temporary inducements are offered usually at a time and place
the buying decision is made.
Summing up, sales promotion deals with promotion of sales by the offer of incentives
which are essentially non-recurring in nature. It is also known by the names of Extra-
Purchase-Value (EPV) and Below-the-line selling.
Product group-wise, the major users of sales promotion are: tea, coffee and
beverages, soaps, toiletries, detergents and washing soaps, toothpaste, textiles, food
products and baby foods, household remedies, and consumer durables like fans,
refrigerators, music systems, televisions and household appliances.
Among the various types of sales promotion schemes used, contests at the consumer,
40 dealer and salesforce levels have made a significant headway.
 A perusal of the list of the product groups which emerged as the major uszrs of sales
promotion, and from the market feel, it seems clear that a transformation from the
seller's to the buyers' market is taking place and marketing has become more
competltlve in these product markets. In addition to increasing competition, other
reasons for rapid growth of sales promotion in India are summarized below:
sales promotion makes an immediate effect on sales.
measurement of the effectiveness of sales promotion is easier as against the
other promotional methods.
channels of distribution are emerging as powerful entities and demand greater
use of incentive5 to get desired results.
products are becoming standardised and similar, and so need increased support
of non-price factors of which sales promotion is an important one.
impulse buying is on the increase, and so is the rise in the number of marginal
customers. With virtually no brand loyalty, offer of attractive schemes help
manufacturers to Induce such customers to choose their product.

I As a powerful method of sales promotion with a capability to complement and

suvvlement the advertising function of marketing, sales uromotion helm marketers I
I salesforce. Some of the commonly attempted obiectives are to: I

make the sale of slow-moving products faster

stabilise a fluctuating sales pattern
idkntify and attract new customers
launch a new product quickly
educate customers regarding product improvements
reduce the perception of risk associated with the purchase of a product
motivate dealers to stock and sell more (including complete product line)
attract dealers to participate in manufacturer's dealer display and sales contests
obtain more and better shelf space and displays
bring more customers to dealer stores
make goods move faster through dealers
improve manufacturer-dealer relationship
motivate salesforce to take the achievement higher than targets
attract salesforce to give desired emphasis on new accounts, latent accounts,
new products, and difficult territories
reward salesforce for active market surveillance and for rendering superior
I customer service
put power into the sales-presentation
counter competitors' sales-promotion and marketing efforts
provide punch to the company's advertising efforts
build goodwill. 41
I'romation Decisions and Companies may use anyone or a combination of the above objectives in varying form
to suit the product-market needs of their product. What is of significance is that the
sales promotion objectives set to be accomplished must be integrated with the
promotion and marketing objectives pursued by the company.

17.9 SALES PROMOTION METHODS

Many methods of sales promotion are used by marketers. Depending upon the
creativity level of their sponsors, their variety seems very large. We refer here to
some of the most commonly used methods of sales promotion.
As noted above, the accomplishments of the desired promotion and marketing
objectives ultimately depend on the extent of the desired response received from
consumers, dealers and members of the salesforce. Hence various sales promotion
methods are built around these three target groups. Further, in terms of the desired
impact, the variety of sales promotion schemes offered are grouped into two
categories. One, aimed at producing immediate impact, and the other delayed impact
i.e. carrying on the impact over a periogof item. ~mmediateimpact schemes are
those schemes where the consumer, dealer or salesperson gets the incentive on first
contact, purchase or on performing a one-time act. On the other hand, under the
delayed impact schemes, the consumer, dealer or salesforce is called upon to comply
with the scheme over a period of time before receiving the full benefit of the scheme.
Price discounts, free samples or large quantity packs are the popular examples of
immediate impact schemes, whereas coupons, trade stamps, and contests are
examples of delayed impact category of sales promotion schemes. Table 17.1
represents the variety of sales promotion schemes directed at the consumer, dealer
and salesforce levels according to their grouping under immediate impact or delayed
impact categories. The meaning and objectives of these schemes are given in
Table 17.2.

Table 17.1: Sales Promotion ~ e t h d s

Dlrecred ar
Non-users TraddSuppliers Salesforce

* Price-off * Price-off * D~scounts * Perqulsrtes &

allowances
* Qty-off * Sampling * Shelf space
allowance
Immediate * Packaged Premium * OTC Premlum
* Banded Premium
* Container Premium
* OTC Premium * Post~ngof
Salesforce

* In Product * Merchandise * Sales Contests

over a period of Prem~ums Refund * Display Contests * Honours and

* Tradlng Stamps * Co-op Allowance *Customer Serv~ce
* Self-liquidators * Sales Contest Awards
* Contests/Lucky * Training Sales
Draws Force/Pnveleges
* The format of thls Table IS based on Donald W Cowell's artlcle on Sales Promot~onand the Market~ng
of Local Government Recreation and Llesure Services, European Journal of Marketing. 18.2.

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 Table 17.2: Sales Promotion Methods: Meaning and Objectives Personal Selling and

Salcs Promotions Meaning Objectives

I . Price-offoffers Offering product at lower than the To encourage immediate sales,

normal price. attract non-users, induce new
product trial, counter competition,
inventory clearance at the retail
level, inventory build-up at the trade

2. Quantity-off offers Offering more quantity of the same To encourage moreilonger duration
product at no extra cost or with a consumption, higher or excess
very nominal increase in the price quantity movement from the
of the larger quantity packs. factory, trade up consumer for
higher quantity pack size.

3. Premium Offer of an article of merchandise as To encourage purchase, stimulate

an incentive in order to sell product loyalty, off-season s e s promotion,
or service. Its forms are: induce trial of new product, ensures
reach of premium to the consumer.
When the incentive article is packed
(inserted) inside the package of the

h ) Banded Premium Where the premium article is Sampling new products, adding
banded to the package of the speed to slow moving products.
product say with cellotape etc.
. c ) Over-the-counter When the premium article is neither To counter competition, improve
(OTC) Premium inserted inside nor banded to the inventory clearance at the trade
product package but is given away level.
to the consumer over the counter
alongwith the product package.
When the product itself is placed in
an attractive and reusable container As a durable reminder at home.
which serves as a gift.
e) Self-liquidating Where the consumer usually is
asked to pay a specified amount to To induce consumer to appropriate
liquidate or offset a part or full cost premium article, reinforce brand
of the premium article or the image, encourage more consumption,
scheme administration costs. enables sponsor to offer better
quality premium.
f ) Personality Where the consumer is required to
redeem a specified proof-of- To build loyalty and reward the
purchase for the premium article. consumer for that to counter
Proof-of-purchase may be labels, competitively offers.
pack tops, bottle tops, corks, etc.
When the consumer is entitled to
redeem a specific standard To encourage product trial, build
certificate for a product/article free loyalty, trade-up regular users,
o r in part payment. Coupons are stimulate re-purchase rate, solicit
used by both the manufacturer and inquiries.
the dealers for sales promotion.
I
Coupons may be distributed by
mail, by media advertisements,
door-to-door, inside product
package or by dealers on purchase.
5. Refund offers Offer of a refund of money to To induce trial from primary users,
consumer for mailing in a motivate several product purchases,
proof-of-purchase of a obtain displays at the retailers, help
particular product(s). ' retailers tie-in with other products,
switch competing brand users to
sponsor's brand, loading dealers
with increased stock.
Table 17.2 (contd.)
 ---
Promotion Decisions and Sales Promotions Meaning Objectives
Emerging Issues
6. Trading stamps Organised by Trading Stamp To encourage consumer loyalty to
companies or large retailers. certain retail stores.
Trading stamps are a kind of
discount coupons offered to
consumers linked with the quantum
of their purchase. On enough
accumulatio~~ these are redeemable
for various kinds of merchandise.
7. Consumer contests Where individuals are invited to To create brand awareness and
and Lucky draws compete on the basis of creative stimulate interest in the brand,
skills. The latter is based on the acquaint consumers with brand
chance or luck factor. usage and benefits, build traffic at
the store precipitate brand purchase,
obtain consumer feedback, promote
advertising theme of the company.

8. Dealer stock Display It is type of point-of-purchase To provide product exposure at the

contests advertising which used the show point of purchase, generate traffic at
windows of the dealers for the store, infuse enthusiasm among
providing exposure to the dealers.
sponsor's products. Dealers
participating enthusias~i~allyand
creatively are awarded.
9. Dealer Sales contests Where participating dealers are To increase sales, buy dealers'
invited to compete in terms of the loyalty, motivate dealcrs' staff to
sales performance. sell more.
10. Discounts Other than normal trade and cash To push more sales to trade, early
discounts. cash recover.
1 1. Trade Allowances These are temporary price
reductions reimbursement of
expenses incurred by dealers-in full
or in part, its varied types are as
under:
a) Trade or Buying Offer of price reduction on To load the trade.
allowance purchase of specified quantity of a
product.
b) Buy-back A secondary incentive which offers To encourage trade co-operation and
allowance a certain sum of money to trade for stimulate repurchase.
each additional unit bought over
and above the deal.
C) Count and When a specific amount of money To move stocks faster, reward on
recount allowance is offered after ascerlaining the sale only.
number of units sold during
specified period.
d) Merchandise An allowance to trade for providing To create enthusiasm in trade,
(display) desired sales promotion and improve traffic and exposure at the
allowance product displays. point-of-purchase, gain larger space1
effort of the trade in the promotion
of sponsor's product as against the
comptt',ltors.

e) Co-operative Wherein a manufacture shares at an To gain product and retail identity

advertising & agreed rate the advertising and motivate dealers to promote
Promotion promotional cost incurred by the manufacturer's product, obtain local
allowance dealer in the promotion of advertising and promotion.
manufacturer's product.
12. Dealer gifts Offer of useful articles and To improve dealer relations, make
attractive gifts to dealers for their impact on consumer schemelcontest
personal, family or office use. offered.

Table 17.2 (corzrd.)

 Srilc~Pro171orion.v Meanitlg Objectives Personal Selling and
Sales Promotion
I33kemium or Push ' When an additional compensation To push a specific product or
Money is offered to trade or salesforce for product line.
pushing additionally a specific
product or product line.
14. Merchandise Deals Whercin additional quantity of the To load dealers with inventory,,
(13 for 12) same or the same manufacturer's expose other products of the
another product is offcred to trade. sponsor, encouraging dealers to sell
May be offered jointly by non- more and early to realise their
competing manufacturers. incentive.
15. Point-o~-Purchase Those special displays, racks, To attract traffic at retail store,
(POP) , banners, exhibits, that are placed in remind customers, encourage
the retail store to support the sale impulse buying, ensure additional
of a brand. visibility to the advertising campaign,

* The format of this Table is based on Donald W'Cowell's article on Sales Promotion and the Marketing
of Local Govelnment Recreation and Leisure Services. European Journal of Marketing, 18,2.

Though ideal for consumer goods, sales promotions are also used for promoting
industrial goods. The difference in the use lies in the types of schemes offered, and in
the frequency of their offer. Sales promotion schemes offered to industrial customers,
besides thc usual gifts, price-off coupons and contests, include product demonstration,
training to customer staff, offer of interest-free instalment payment plan, ready and
regular availability of repairs and spares, and posting of trained staff to assist/
supel-vise in the working of the equipment in the client's premises, at the
manufacturer's cost. The sales promotion schemes offered at the level of industrial
distributors include: provision of extended credit, and p;ovision of specialised sales/
technical staff at the manufacturer's cost, besides the usual cooperative advertising
and sales promotion, gifts, and organisation of distributors contests. The sales
promotion schemes pdpular~yused to motivate industrial salesforce are: prizes and
awards on special achievements, sales contests, new accounts contests and prompt
service awards.
Check Your Progress D
State whether the following statements are true or false.
i) Sales promotion tends to be used to build up brand loyalty.
ii) The short-tesm trade promotion used frequently with the introduction of a new
product is a buying allowance.
iii) Cons~unersales promotion schemes stimulate trade to carry a product and
promote it aggressively.
iv) Sales promotion activities are only appropriate when directed at the salesforce
level.

17.10 LETUSSUMUP
Personal selling is a direct person-to-person selling and promotion method. The
specific role and goals of personal selling vary from firm to firm depending upon
nature of goods marketed, distribution system used, and the sales strategy adopted by
a firm. The changing market environment calls upon the salesforce to transform itself
in order to perform a more creative role.
Based on the degree of creativity required, McCurry classifies the sales positions into
seven types-merchandise deliverer, inside order-taker, outside order-taker,
missionary salesperson, sales engineer, tangible product seller and intangible product
Promotion Decisions and seller. To accomplish the job of making a sale satisfactorily, a salesperson should
Emerging Issues follow the basic elements of the selling process. These are: preparation, prospecting,
preapproach, approach, sales presentation, handling objections, closing the sale and
post-sale follow up. An understanding of these elements helps a salesperson in
developing skills necesary for successful selling.
Sales promotion, of late, has emerged as one of the more popular methods of
promotion in the case of consumer goods. Stated simply, sales promotion deals with
offering something extra as an incentive to motivate an early purchase. Sales
promotions can be offered at the level of the consumer, trade and salesforce. Sales
promotion schemes used to attain consumer pull include free samples, price-offs,
premium give aways, coupons and contests. Schemes offered for gaining the push
cover promotional allowances, gifts, discounts, cooperative promotions, contests and
awards. To save a sales promotion programme from getting misfired, it should be /
1
planned and managed in a systematic manner. i
1
Promotion is an important marketing function of each firm. And, rare will be a firm
which makes use of only one promotional method. The commonality in the ultimate
i
goal of all the promotional methods apart, their limited suitability in influencing only a
1
i
specific part of the consumer adoption process calls for the need to use the
promotional mix in an integrative manner. Given the complexities in the management i
\
of the promotion function and its vulnerability to failure, it is desired that the function
be managed professionally.

17.11 KEY WORDS I

Bounce Back Offer: An additional offer, with an earlier self-liquidating premium

offer on a usually related product.
Canned Presentation: A structured sales presentation made of an inflexible nature.
\
Cold Canvassing: Door to door conviction and sale of products.
Contest: A competition based on skill in which prizes are offered. Sometime also
used for referring to competition based on chance.
Dealer Loader: A premium given to a dealer in return for an order of a specified
value. This could take the form of a merchandise deal, price deal, gifts to dealers, or a
combination of these.
Hostees Gift: A gift given to a housewife who provides for a product demonstration
to be conducted in her home.
Lead: Name of an individual or organisation who might be a prospect.
Point-of-Purchase Promotion (POP): A sales promotion method using window
display and other display materials aimed at attracting customers to store and also
encouraging the retailers to push displayed products.
Price Deal: Short-run price decrease.
Proof of Purchase: A bottle cork, box top, pack flap, label, coupon, cash memo of a
product which qualifies a customer to receive a premium or refund.
Prospecting: The step during which probable customers are found for the product or
service.
Referral Premium: A premium offered to a satisfied customer, who refers the seller
to another person who purchases the product or service. It is also called use-the-user
premium plan.