PERSONAL SELLING

M Bogaards, S Boshoff, N Dlodlo,

DT Noel, M Wait

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 Pearson South Africa (Pty) Ltd
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contact the publishers in order to rectify the matter.

First published in 2020

1st impression 2020

ISBN 978-1-485-71549-8 (print)

ISBN 978-1-485-71690-7 (epdf)

Publisher: Deanne Vorster

Managing editor: Ulla Schüler
Editor: Peter Lague
Book design: Pearson Media Hub
Cover design: Pearson Media Hub
Artwork: Ben Latham
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Proofreader: Magdal Palm
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In line with Pearson’s editorial policy this book has been peer reviewed.

Aknowledgements
Cover image: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock; pages 15–16: Brent Adamson , Matthew Dixon and
Nicholas Toman (2012). The end of solution sales. Harvard Business School Publishing. https://hbr.
org/2012/07/the-end-of-solution-sales; pages 53–54: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Mauritania. Retrieved
from: https://www.britannica.com/place/Mauritania; An interview was conducted with the Sales
Manager during a personal interview (H Bogaards, personal interview, 25 October 2018); pages 67–71:
Avon. (2018). Company profile Avon Products, Inc [Online]. Available from: www.marketline.com;
pages 94–95: Sipho Ngwema, Head of Communications on behalf of the Competition Commission of
South Africa; Available at: http://www.compcom.co.za; page 106: Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Saunders,
J,.& Wong, V. (1997). Principles of marketing (2nd European ed.). London: Prentice-Hall.; page 109:
Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G., 17th Ed., ©2018. Reprinted and Electronically reproduced by permission
of Pearson Education, Inc., New York, NY; page 111: Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G., 17th Ed., ©2018.
Reprinted and Electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., New York, NY;
page 134–135: Ingram, T. N., Avila, R. A., Schwepker, C. H., & Williams, M. R. (2017). Sell (5th ed.).
Boston, MA: Cengage Learning Inc. Reproduced by permission. www.cengage.com/permissions; pages
189–190: http://www.tnsglobal.com/sites/default/files/tns-the-truth-about-mobiles-and-shopping.pdf.

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 Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge Ms Dianne Vorster as well as Ms Babalwa Nchekwube for
providing excellent guidance during the inception of this book project. Gratitude is also extended
to various scholars and contributors for the referenced works and case studies cited in this book.
Finally, we would also like to thank our editorial team at Pearson Education Southern Africa for
assisting to make this new edition possible.

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 Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
About the authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
List of case studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
List of figures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
List of tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
SECTION A: THE SALESPERSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Chapter 1: Profile of a salesperson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 What is personal selling?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Attributes of salespeople. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.1 Communication skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.2 Listening skills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.3 Time-management skills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.4 Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills. . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 Types of sales careers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3.1 Key account managers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3.2 Sales manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3.3 The salesperson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Different types of sales environments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4.1 Online selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.2 Direct selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.3 Agent selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4.4 Retail selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4.5 Team selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4.6 Creative selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5 Different tasks of a sales representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.5.1 Lead generator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.5.2 Order getter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.5.3 Order taker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.5.4 Sales support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.5.5 Administrator and deliverer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.6 The important role of personal selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.6.1 Personal selling and the customer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.6.2 Personal selling and the selling organisation. . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.6.3 Personal selling and the community. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 2: Communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.1 Overview of the communication process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 Types of communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2.1 Verbal communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2.2 Non-verbal communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.2.3 Written communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.2.4 Visual communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2.5 Choosing the correct type of communication . . . . . . . . . . 31

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 2.3 Communication styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.3.1 Identifying communication styles and adapting. . . . . . . . 33
2.4 Barriers to effective communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.4.1 Barrier categories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.5 General considerations in the sales interaction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Chapter 3: Selling across cultures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.1 Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.2 Cross-cultural communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.2.1 Barriers to effective cross-cultural communication. . . . . . 44
3.3 How to sell effectively across cultures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.3.1 Be aware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.3.2 Be sensitive, act intelligently and be mindful . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.3.3 Cross-cultural sales training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Chapter 4: The selling environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.1 Applying a SWOT analysis for environmental scanning. . . . . . . . 57
4.1.1 Components of a SWOT analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.2 Internal environment (micro environment). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.2.1 Marketing environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.2.2 Business environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.3 External environment (macro environment). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.3.1 Market environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.3.2 Macro environment (PESTLE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.4 Advantages of conducting a SWOT analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.5 Disadvantages of conducting a SWOT analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.6 When to use SWOT analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4.7 Interpreting a SWOT analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Chapter 5: Ethics in selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.1 Ethics and ethical behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.2 Ethical decision action process (EDAP) framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.2.1 The moral decision structure (Part A). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.2.2 Individual characteristics (Part B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.2.3 Situational factors (Part C). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.2.4 Outcomes and evaluation (Part D). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.3 Factors that influence ethical selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.3.1 Individual factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.3.2 Organisational factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5.3.3 Environmental factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.4 Ethical dilemmas facing salespeople. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.4.1 Ethical obligation towards employers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.4.2 Ethical obligation towards peers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5.4.3 Ethical obligation towards customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5.4.4 Ethical obligation towards competitors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
5.4.5 Ethical obligation under salesforce automation. . . . . . . . . 87

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 5.5 Ethics in international selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
5.6 Ethical conflict-resolving facilities in South Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
5.6.1 National legislation and supporting institutions . . . . . . . . 89
5.6.2 Direct Selling Association’s code of conduct. . . . . . . . . . . . 93
SECTION B: THE CUSTOMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Chapter 6: Profiling the customer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.1 The salesperson-customer dyad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.1.1 Customer-orientation in the selling process . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.2 Types of customers in personal selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.2.1 Individual customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
6.2.2 Business buyers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
6.2.3 Government buyers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
6.3 Differences between B2B and B2C selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
6.4 Selling to customers across cultures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
6.4.1 Cultural expectations and social norms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
6.4.2 Internet selling technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
6.4.3 Relational selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
SECTION C: THE SELLING PROCESS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Chapter 7: The selling process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
7.1 Phase one: Pre-sale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
7.1.1 Study the product(s) or service(s). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
7.1.2 Prospecting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
7.1.3 Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
7.1.4 Preparing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
7.2 Phase two: During selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
7.2.1 Engaging and need analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
7.2.2 Questioning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
7.2.3 Approaches to use during a sales meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
7.2.4 Objections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
7.2.5 Closing the sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.3 Phase three: Post selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Chapter 8: Customer service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
8.1 Importance of customer care. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
8.1.1 Effective business operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
8.1.2 Quality service triangle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
8.2 Customer service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
8.2.1 Developing customer service relationships. . . . . . . . . . . . 152
8.3 Customer expectations of service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
8.3.1 Levels of customer service expectations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
8.3.2 Techniques for exceeding customer expectations . . . . . 154
8.3.3 Types of customer expectations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
8.3.4 Zone of tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
8.4 Meaning of service quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
8.4.1 Dimensions of service quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
8.4.2 The link between service quality and customer satisfaction. 157
8.4.3 Excellent customer service is extremely rare. . . . . . . . . . . 158

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 8.4.4 Barriers to customer service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
8.4.5 The cost of losing a customer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
8.4.6 The cost of bad customer service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
8.5 Understanding the needs and expectations of the customer. . . 160
8.5.1 Value for money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
8.5.2 How can organisations ensure excellent quality
service delivery?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162
8.5.3 The 5 Cs of effective customer care. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Chapter 9: Selling in the 4IR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
9.1 Evolution of sales and sales technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
9.2 The industrial revolutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
9.3 Digitised sales channels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
9.3.1 Online selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
9.3.2 Social selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
9.3.3 Multichannel selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
9.3.4 Omnichannel selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
9.4 Sales artefacts in the 4IR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
9.5 Digital assets that underlie the 4IR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
9.5.1 Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
9.5.2 Big Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.5.3 Drone technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.5.4 Machine learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.5.5 Artificial intelligence (AI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.6 The symbiotic relationship between human salespeople and AI. . . 179
9.6.1 The categories of sales functions in the 4IR. . . . . . . . . . . . 179
9.6.2 Types of sales data that are handled by AI . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
9.6.3 Selling trends in the 4IR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
9.6.4 The role of AI and ML in the selling process. . . . . . . . . . . . 181
9.6.5 The customer service makeover in the 4IR. . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
9.7 Benefits of sales automation in the 4IR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
9.8 Drawbacks of sales automation in the 4IR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
9.9 Myths about selling in the 4IR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
9.10 The sales profession in the 4IR and beyond. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
SECTION D: SALES MANAGEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Chapter 10: Sales management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
10.1 Basic functions of management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
10.1.1 Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
10.1.2 Organising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
10.1.3 Leading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
10.1.4 Controlling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
10.2 Sales management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
10.2.1 Tasks of sales management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
10.3 Customer Relationship Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

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 Preface
Life revolves around selling products and/or services. As a result, selling is one of the oldest
professions in the world. In the personal selling profession, the people who do the selling are
organised into formal structures by various organisations; often going by everyday names such as
salespeople, sales representatives, sales consultants and account development managers, to name
but a few. The study of personal selling is still considered as the most important elements in the
marketing function by both students and practitioners. Despite a move towards the more esoteric
areas of marketing over the years, personal selling still remains unambiguous. Undoubtedly,
personal selling is the only organisational function that still espouses contact (direct or indirect)
with customers, where concluding that sale is the desired outcome.
The goal of this Fresh Perspectives edition Personal selling is to provide students just
starting at a tertiary institution or the new businessperson with the basics and principles of
personal selling. The book will create awareness and understanding of the notion that personal
selling is more than a simple business transaction, with its emphasis on setting goals, planning
ahead and being prepared for each and every personal selling encounter. This text therefore
explains and documents the personal selling process and function. Beyond this, personal selling
is described as the interpersonal arm of marketing communications in which salespeople interact
with a myriad of customer groups and prospects to make sales and build relationships. The
golden thread is identified through connecting artificial intelligence and advanced technologies
to harvest and maintain information about customers and other stakeholders. For ease of
reference for both students and lecturers, the text delivers a high-level of practical orientation
that encapsulates contemporary examples, case studies, hyperlinks, and so on, that will enable
students to learn how concepts are used in actual practice and how they relate to one another
within the South African context.

Target market
Primarily, this Fresh Perspectives edition is invaluable to first-year students studying towards
Diplomas in Marketing and Retailing at higher educational institutions in South Africa. Personal
selling is also relevant for students studying towards other business-related qualifications such as
the Diploma in Management, the Certificate in Sales Management, the Certificate in Marketing
Communications Practice and the Diploma in Business Studies, among other undergraduate
courses. Likewise, researchers, entrepreneurs, practising salespeople and sales managers can
also benefit from reading this text for non-degree purposes, as it emphasises the practical as well
as the theoretical concepts related to the personal selling function.

How to study this text

The organisation of this text ensures that the reader is able to find the golden thread throughout
the chapters. The following study method is recommended:
• Prepare your mind for exciting revelations about the personal selling function.
• Set up a timetable to help manage your time effectively. In general, reading the text for at
least an hour every day will greatly enhance your ability to master the concepts included
in this book.
• Read and understand the learning objectives set out at the beginning of each chapter.

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 • Read the preliminary sections to each chapter in this book, namely the ‘Before you start’
and the ‘Think about it’ sections in order to provoke your thinking about the central
theme of the chapter and to familiarise yourself with the journey through the chapter that
awaits you.
• Study the sections in each chapter in conjunction with any course study materials
provided by your lecturer. Synthesise the core ideas and arguments in each section with
the information that you already know, as well as with information that you have found
from other supplementary materials. Supplementary materials include the published
works listed in the reference and additional reading section at the end of each chapter in
this book.
• Complete the various activities included in the chapter and analyse and answer the self-
test questions at the end of each chapter in order to evaluate the extent to which you have
mastered the required skills and competencies for each chapter.
• Write a reflection regarding your view about the various sections in the chapter and share
this with your friends and/or classmates in a formal or informal discussion platform.

Enjoy the book.

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 About the authors
Salomien Boshoff is a passionate marketing lecturer and currently lectures at Akademia. Her
research field is employability skills in the marketing field to ensure that universities
produce future-ready graduates for the workplace. She is currently part of the South
African Institute for Management Scientists (SAIMS) and has received several awards
for her teaching and learning practices.
Marlene Bogaards is the Head of School: Commerce and Law at IIEMSA. Her academic
career spans more than 12 years with a specific focus on lecturing in the fields of marketing
management, business management, entrepreneurship, retail business management,
innovative selling and cross-cultural management communication at both undergraduate
and postgraduate levels. Marlene holds a Master’s degree in Business Management (cum
laude) with a focus on the networking practices of Gauteng businesswomen. She has
published in numerous national and international journals as well as presented papers at
various national and international conferences within the areas of marketing management
and business management.
Nobukhosi Dlodlo is the Acting Head of the Marketing and Retail Business Management
Department at the Vaal University of Technology. Her teaching and research interests are
online consumer behaviour, fashion marketing, research methodology, sales management
and ethical selling.
Dion Noel is a lecturer in the Marketing and Retail Management Department at the Durban
University of Technology. His subject area interests include marketing, retail, economics,
management, operations & supply chain management. He is currently studying towards
his PhD in Marketing.
Marius Wait is an Associate Professor and the Head of the Marketing Department at the
University of Johannesburg (UJ). He has been an academic for the past 17 years and
earned his PhD in Marketing Management (with a specialisation in Sales Management)
from UJ. In 2019 he won the Vice Chancellors award for the most innovative project
at UJ. His innovation was about developing a mobile app to track the progress of his
personal selling and sales management students. He has published several articles on
Work Integrated Learning (WIL) with an emphasis on sales education, and is currently
the project leader for an award winning (WIL) project where students are taught the
requisite theoretical knowledge in the classroom and are then required to apply this
knowledge in the real world.

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 List of case studies
Chapter Case study Page number
1 The end of solution sales 15
2 Why is communication so important in business? 38
3 Selling to Moors: The art of selling across cultures 53
4 Avon Products, Inc. – A SWOT analysis 67
5 Competition Commission South Africa 94
6 Sterlon Electrical Supplies (Pty) (Ltd) 121
7 Prospecting customers – easy or not? 131
7 Using SPIN questions 139
9 The truth about mobile phones and shopping 189
10 Powermo Lawnmowers 205

List of figures
Figure number Figure description Page
Figure 1.1 How personal selling and marketing relate 4
Figure 1.2 The importance of personal selling 14
Figure 2.1 The communication model 19
Figure 2.2 The four types of spatial zones 27
Figure 2.3 The communication style matrix 32
Figure 4.1 The two-by-two SWOT grid 57
Figure 4.2 The internal and external environment of a SWOT analysis 63
Figure 5.1 The simplified ethical decision action process framework 74
Figure 5.2 Framework of salespeople’s personal moral philosophies 77
Figure 5.3 Ethical obligations of salespeople 81
Figure 5.4 The ethical themes arising from salesforce automation 87
Figure 6.1 The stages of the customer’s decision-making process 103
Figure 6.2 Customer evaluations at post-purchase 105
Figure 6.3 Factors influencing buying behaviour 106
Figure 6.4 Major influences on business buyer behaviour 109
Figure 6.5 Participants in the buying centre 111
Figure 6.6 A flow chart of the South African government tendering system 115
Figure 7.1 A sales representative’s sources 133
Figure 7.2 Sales dialogue template 134–135
Figure 7.3 Participation between buyers and sellers during the sales conversation 136

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 Figure number Figure description Page
Figure 8.1 Effective business operation 150
Figure 8.2 Quality service triangle 150
Figure 8.3 The linkage between service quality and satisfaction 157
Figure 9.1 The evolution of the industrial revolutions across time 169
Figure 9.2 Sales artefacts in the 4IR 176
Figure 9.3 Categories of data that are analysed by AI 180
Figure 9.4 Multiple text sources provide rich customer feedback 184
Figure 10.1 Different levels of management involved in developing organisational plans 195
Figure 10.2 Geographical organisational structure 197
Figure 10.3 The control process 200

List of tables
Figure number Figure description Page
Table 2.1 Types of questions used by salespeople 22
Table 2.2 Types of communication styles, cues indicating each communication style 34
and examples of how salespeople can adapt their communication style
Table 5.1 Selling scenarios illuminating potentially unethical behaviour 73
Table 6.1 The buying decision grid 113
Table 6.2 Differences between B2C and B2B selling interactions 117–118
Table 7.1 Actions taken during each phase 127
Table 7.2 The difference between mark-up % and margin % (gross profit %) on the 129
same cost price
Table 7.3 The difference between mark-up and margin 129
Table 7.4 Prospecting methods 133–134
Table 9.1 The SPEAR social selling process followed by a B2B salesperson 172
Table 9.2 The role of AI and ML in sales practice 181–182
Table 9.3 Benefits of the 4IR to customers, salespeople and selling organisations 185

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 SECTION A
The salesperson

Chapter 1: Profile of a salesperson

1.1 What is personal selling?
1.2 Attributes of salespeople
1.2.1 Communication skills
1.2.2 Listening skills
1.2.3 Time-management skills
1.2.4 Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills
1.3 Types of sales careers
1.3.1 Key account managers
1.3.2 Sales manager
1.3.3 The salesperson
1.4 Different types of sales environments
1.4.1 Online selling
1.4.2 Direct selling
1.4.3 Agent selling
1.4.4 Retail selling
1.4.5 Team selling
1.4.6 Creative selling
1.5 Different tasks of a sales representative
1.5.1 Lead generator
1.5.2 Order getter
1.5.3 Order taker
1.5.4 Sales support
1.5.5 Administrator and deliverer
1.6 The role of personal selling
1.6.1 Personal selling and the customer
1.6.2 Personal selling and the selling organisation
1.6.3 Personal selling and the community

Chapter 2: Communication
2.1 Overview of the communication process
2.2 Types of communication
2.2.1 Verbal communication
2.2.2 Non-verbal communication
2.2.3 Written communication
2.2.4 Visual communication
2.2.5 Choosing the correct type of communication
2.3 Communication styles
2.3.1 Identifying communication styles and adapting
2.4 Barriers to effective communication
2.4.1 Barrier categories
2.5 General considerations in the sales interaction
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 Chapter 3: Selling across cultures
3.1 Culture
3.2 Cross-cultural communication
3.2.1 Barriers to effective cross-cultural communication
3.3 How to sell effectively across cultures
3.3.1 Be aware
3.3.2 Be sensitive, act intelligently and be mindful
3.3.3 Cross-cultural sales training

Chapter 4: The selling environment

4.1 Applying a SWOT analysis for environmental scanning
4.1.1 Components of a SWOT analysis
4.2 Internal environment (micro environment)
4.2.1 Marketing environment
4.2.2 Business environment
4.3 External environment (macro environment)
4.3.1 Market environment
4.3.2 Macro environment (PESTLE)
4.4 Advantages of conducting a SWOT analysis
4.5 Disadvantages of conducting a SWOT analysis
4.6 When to use a SWOT analysis
4.7 Interpreting a SWOT analysis
Chapter 5: Ethics in selling
5.1 Ethics and ethical behaviour
5.2 Ethical decision action process (EDAP) framework
5.2.1 The moral decision structure (Part A)
5.2.2 Individual characteristics (Part B)
5.2.3 Situational factors (Part C)
5.2.4 Outcomes and evaluation (Part D)
5.3 Factors that influence ethical selling
5.3.1 Individual factors
5.3.2 Organisational factors
5.3.3 Environmental factors
5.4 Ethical dilemmas facing salespeople
5.4.1 Ethical obligation towards employers
5.4.2 Ethical obligation towards peers
5.4.3 Ethical obligation towards customers
5.4.4 Ethical obligation towards competitors
5.4.5 Ethical obligation under salesforce automation
5.5 Ethics in international selling
5.6 Ethical conflict-resolving facilities in South Africa
5.6.1 National legislation and supporting institutions
5.6.2 Direct Selling Association’s code of conduct

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 CHAPTER 1
Profile of a salesperson
Learning objectives
• Define the term personal selling.
• Differentiate between marketing and personal selling.
• Describe the attributes of a salesperson.
• Explain the different sales environments.
• Explore the different tasks of sales representatives.
• Explain the important role that personal selling play.

Before you start

The world we live in is changing so rapidly that the traditional role of the salesperson is in continuous
flux and is therefore often redefined. A good example of how quickly the world can change is the
Covid-19 pandemic that was declared by the World Health Organization in March 2020. The role
of the salesperson underwent tremendous changes as a result because of the demands of various
levels of business lockdown. For instance, at Level 5, all non-essential retail outlets were closed, and
online sales escalated, resulting in a focus of the online salesperson. However, one factor that is
constant amidst the fluidity of our world is that sales is at the core of all business and the reason for
the existence of organisations. Coca-Cola® sells soft drinks, the taxi driver sells his or her transport
services, non-profit organisations sell their ideas and community work to sponsors. Even your
lecturer and this book are selling something: knowledge. We are all selling something.

Think about it
Think for a moment about that auntie in your family who sells pot plants on Gumtree. What is
her job title? What is her job, exactly? Is she employed full-time? How is her job different from
that of the salesperson selling duvets at @Home? Are the jobs of your auntie and the @Home
salesperson in jeopardy owing to the advancement of technology and the sudden increase in
online sales where no salesperson is needed?

Introduction
This chapter introduces you to the many facets of a salesperson as well as the numerous areas
in which a salesperson can work. Depending on the particular sales job, the salesperson may
require very specific skills and knowledge. Consider the auntie who sells pot plants on Gumtree
and compare her to the salesperson who sells furnaces to Eskom. Both types of selling require
sales skill, but the kind of product knowledge to sell the items is very different. The pot plant
salesperson can learn all the necessary product knowledge at a one-day workshop, whereas the
furnace salesperson may need a university degree to understand the intricacies of a complex
system that can generate electricity.

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 1.1 What is personal selling?
Personal selling is a process. It can be defined as all the interpersonal interactions between
a salesperson and a client to initiate, develop and enhance their relationship with the goal of
satisfying the needs of the client. This goal is primarily satisfied by successfully selling the
client a product or service. The sales department in a business connects the various functions
and departments of the business. This is because the sales predictions made by the sales
manager, who is the manager of all sales personnel, are used in budgeting, marketing forecasts
and business operations. In other words, sales is central to the entire business because it impacts
planning for resources such as raw materials, machinery, equipment and even personnel.
The terms personal selling and marketing are sometimes used interchangeably, but they
The marketing
mix consists of are not the same thing. Personal selling is one of the tools marketers use in their marketing
four elements mix (see Figure 1.1) to promote the products or services the business wants to sell. It forms
(4Ps) for part of marketing which can be defined as the activity, set of institutions and processes for
manufacturing
creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings (the marketing mix) that have
businesses
(product, price, value for customers, clients, partners and society. Other tools that are part of the promotion
place and function of the marketing mix are advertising, sales promotions, public relations and publicity
promotion) and and direct marketing.
seven elements
(7Ps) for service
business (adding
Product
process, people
and physical
evidence to
the 4Ps).
Price Advertising

Promotion is
when a business
communicates
with the public Place Sales promotion
to increase their
awareness of
its products
or service. Public relations
Marketing mix Promotion
and publicity

Processes Personal selling

Physical evidence Direct marketing

People

Figure 1.1 How personal selling and marketing relate

Source: Author

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 Activity 1.1

Interview a small business owner.

1. Does the owner understand what personal selling entails?
2. What does the owner use this function for, in his or her business?

A number of factors will influence personal selling in the future. These include a sales environment
that will become increasingly complex and dynamic, increased buyer sophistication and rapid
developments in technology. The next generation of sales representatives will therefore require
new skills and attributes to ensure that the long-term needs of clients are satisfied. However,
the core of personal selling – namely the relationship between the salesperson and the client
and creating customer value – will not change. In the next section, we discuss some important
attributes that sales representatives in the sales profession will need in the next decade.

1.2 Attributes of salespeople

Salespeople should have a wide range of relevant personal and professional attributes. Relevant
Accountability
personal attributes include, for example, being an extrovert and a good communicator, while is when
accountability is an example of a relevant professional attribute. We discuss additional attributes you accept
salespeople should have below. responsibility
for your
decisions and
1.2.1 Communication skills actions and
Interpersonal communication between a seller and a buyer is the dimension that sets personal disclose them
selling apart from all other marketing communication mix tools. This is because effective openly.
communication is the key to any sale. Without communication selling cannot happen. But what
is effective communication in selling?
Communication is all verbal and non-verbal cues that act as transmitters of information from
the seller to the buyer with an opportunity for the buyer to communicate back to the seller. In
order to be a good communicator, a salesperson should have the ability to be flexible, focused,
responsive and calm. Combined, these qualities enable the salesperson to be viewed as trustworthy
and approachable. Communication is discussed in more detail in Chapter 2 of this book.

1.2.2 Listening skills

On average, people spend about half the day listening to other people, and listening is considered
important for effective communication. Salespeople have identified listening skills as a very
important attribute to have in overall sales effectiveness and professional success. The salesperson
must be able to listen to the customer in order to identify his or her needs or wants and how to
satisfy these. Therefore, many sales managers have built listening skills into the training of
new salespeople.
In the sales context, listening is referred to the cognitive process of actively
sensing, interpreting, evaluating and responding to the verbal and non-verbal messages
of customers (Pryor, Malshe, & Paradise, 2013, p. 186). Sensing is the initiation of the
listening behaviour, stimulated by verbal and non-verbal cues (Pryor et al., 2013, p. 186).

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 Evaluating is the assessment of the customer’s statement to mete out any underlying meaning
(Pryor et al., 2013, p. 186). This is done to measure or determine the underlying meaning of what
the customer is communicating and to identify whether the salesperson correctly understands what
the customer has communicated. The purpose of responding is to inform, control and understand.

1.2.3 Time-management skills

Time management is the practice of organising and planning how to divide your available
time among specific tasks. Good time management lets you work smarter – not harder – so that you
get more done in less time, even under tight deadlines and work pressure. Staying organised helps
to develop a clear picture of what needs to be done by when. Some of the attributes of good time
management include prioritisation of tasks, setting specific goals, planning what needs to be done
by when, delegating some work if you can and, most importantly, managing your stress levels.

Activity 1.2

Determine your one-year goals as well as your five-year goals on a personal and a
professional level.
1. For one week, write down what you do every hour of the day.
a. At the end of the week, reflect on how you spent your time, identify where you
wasted time and consider how you can prevent this. For example, if you see
that you spent too much time on social media, turn of the notifications.
b. Think of a number of ways to build in time savers for yourself.
2. Now look at the activities on your schedule and determine whether those that you
spend the most time on will assist you to achieve your one- and five-year goals.

1.2.4 Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills

Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills help you to solve problems quickly and
effectively. These skills assist you to employ a methodical step-by-step approach to thinking that
allows you to break down complex problems into single and manageable components. They are
therefore useful when dealing with a client’s requirements because they enable you to analyse
the client’s situation and provide viable solutions. They are also useful skills because it is the
role of the salesperson to analyse the needs of all stakeholders and create a win-win situation.

1.3 Types of sales careers

Sales careers are very varied. The sales career that individuals choose should suit their personal
and professional attributes. In the sections below we discuss different types of sales careers.

Key accounts
1.3.1 Key account managers
are strategic The creation of a sales career known as a key account manager (KAM) or a customer
long-term relationship manager is one of the most fundamental changes to the way that companies
customer organise their sales and marketing functions (Davies & Ryals, 2013, p. 919). It is a specialised
relationships.
position comprising a set of processes and practices designed to manage key accounts.

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 These comprise long-term customer relationships that are of strategic importance and focus
on adding value to the relationship between the business and the customer, thereby creating a
synergistic partnership with the customer. Although the KAM function is made up of a set of
processes and practices for managing long-term customer relationships, the ultimate success
of key account management depends on the skills, capabilities and behaviour of the KAM. The
position of KAM should therefore be filled by someone who is able to coordinate all aspects
of the buyer-seller relationship (Davies & Ryals, 2013, p. 919). This is what distinguishes the
KAM role from other types of sales careers.

Here is a list of specific competencies a KAM should have and the reasons for them:
• Goal orientation: The KAM area is concerned with long-term relational goals, whereas
normal sales are concerned with short-term goals. The KAM is concerned with the
strategic role of relationships (Davies & Ryals, 2013, p. 922).
• Customer planning: The KAM role is considerably more customer-orientated than that
of typical salespeople. The KAM has wider and deeper knowledge of the customer than
usual salespeople. This knowledge is captured through key account planning, a KAM
process through which customers are researched (Davies & Ryals, 2013, p. 922).
• Customer embeddedness: Because of this deeper knowledge of the customer, the KAM
develops customer embeddedness. This refers to closeness to the customer. KAM should
embed themselves with the customer and his or her organisation. Typically, this means
that the KAM knows more people and processes in the customer’s organisation than
normal salespeople are required to know (Davies & Ryals, 2013, p. 922).
• Strategic prioritisation: Intense planning and customer knowledge are futile if they
do not lead to better decision-making. It is imperative that the KAM utilises this deep
understanding of the customer to develop a shared vision with the customer about a long-
term, future relationship (Davies & Ryals, 2013, p. 922).
• Adaptability to customer culture: The KAM should be attuned to political and cultural
factors in the customer’s organisation and be able to adapt the key account management
strategy to provide optimum interaction with the customer and ensure delivery of value.
This involves understanding the customer’s corporate culture and way they conduct
business (Davies & Ryals, 2013, p. 923).

Even though the organisational roles between typical salespeople and the KAM differ
considerably, the most successful salespeople are typically appointed as KAMs. Although
KAMs are usually found in the business-to-business environment, they are also evident in the
business-to-consumer environment.

1.3.2 Sales manager

Sales managers are recognised as important for the overall success of their salespeople,
sales teams and the sales organisation, and are regarded as the unit of analysis to measure
sales accomplishments within the company (Plank, Reid, Koppitsch, & Meyer, 2018, p. 78).
The biggest mistake that some organisations make is that they promote their best salesperson
to the position of sales manager. In many cases, such a promotion is doomed to fail, as selling
products and managing people are two very different skills.

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 Here is a list of areas that fall within the domain of sales management and are therefore managed
by the sales manager:
• Sales organisation and structure: This deals with the organisation of salespeople and how
they are divided. Some companies divide their salespeople by product type, while others do
this by geographical area (Plank et al., 2018, p. 80). So, for instance, while a Dell Computer
sales representative only sells computers, but on a national level, a Tupperware sales
representative only sells his or her products in a certain area like Randburg, for example.
• Recruitment and selection of salespeople: In its core, this area deals with the hiring
of the right candidate and the dismissal of the non-performing salesperson (Plank et al.,
2018, p. 81).
• Sales force training: This area deals with the sales manager’s involvement in training
of new recruits as well as identifying new training topics for the existing sales force.
Training can be done in-house, that is the sales manager doing the training, or it can be
out-sourced to an independent training agency (Plank et al., 2018, p. 81).
• Sales force supervision and evaluation: Sales managers are directly responsible for the
success of the salespeople they oversee. This area deals with performance management.
Salespeople are assigned a specific output, like a sales target they have to achieve on a
monthly basis. This performance is evaluated by the sales manager, also on a monthly
basis. The ethical behaviour of salespeople also falls within this area of control (Plank et
al., 2018, p. 82).
• Sales planning and forecasting: This is a very important function within sales management.
There are various statistical ways in which sales forecasting can be done, like determining
the sales averages for the same time frame over the last few years. If this function is done
incorrectly, the sales manager may assign the wrong sales target to the salespeople which
may, in turn, lead to non-performance (Plank et al., 2018, p. 84).

1.3.3 The salesperson

Companies and textbooks use a variety of terms, such as sales representative, sales consultant,
salesperson, sales engineer and numerous others, to describe the person whose core function is to
sell a product or service. The salesperson is an ambassador of the company: he or she represents
the company outside of its borders and is the face of the company (Shi, Sridhar, Grewal, & Lilien,
2017, p. 25). The ability of the salesperson to link the needs of the customer with the offerings
or solutions provided by their company is a key determinant for the company’s financial success
(Shi et al., 2017, p. 25). Salespeople are entrusted with the company’s most important asset, its
relationship with its customers. Often salespeople have considerable control over this relationship
and to many customers, the salesperson is the company (Shi et al., 2017, p. 26). Therefore,
when a salesperson resigns from a company, the potential adverse financial consequences for
the company may be substantial. However, in spite of this problematic factor, the turnover of
salespeople in companies is quite common.

1.4 Different types of sales environments

Different sales environments require different sales jobs. These different sales jobs require
different sales skills and product knowledge.

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 1.4.1 Online selling
The rapid spread of information and communications technologies (ICT) as well as the
burgeoning use of the Internet have boosted the adoption of online sales as a distribution channel
(Duch-Brown, Grzybowski, Romahn, & Verboven, 2017, p. 30). This advance in technology
has resulted in unprecedented structural changes in many companies. These transformations
are generating a major reorganisation in the way some products are manufactured, marketed
and purchased (Duch-Brown et al., 2017, p. 31). For example, online shopping provides for
new innovative ways for companies to market their products. In addition, electronic-facilitated
transactions offer new ways to gauge customer preferences more truthfully and provide
opportunities for targeted advertising.

As far as purchasing is concerned, online selling benefits consumers in several ways (Duch-
Brown et al., 2017, p. 31):
• It provides a useful and convenient platform to buy a wider range of products or services
from more retailers at seemingly better prices.
• Consumers can use search engines and price comparison sites and Apps, which reduce
search costs, to find and compare many different offers for the same product.
• The online shopping world allows consumers to shop at anytime from anywhere, avoiding
the problems of restricted shopping hours, distance to shops or availability of products.

1.4.2 Direct selling

The labour market has long included individuals who prefer nonemployee jobs. Alternative job
arrangements, such as freelancing, and independent and short-term contracting have increased
in recent years (Peterson et al., 2019, p. 373). These arrangements are examples of substitutes for
the traditional employer-employee work relationship (Peterson et al., 2019, p. 377).
Direct selling is regarded as a form of independent contracting and contributes to the
independent workforce environment. Direct selling is defined as a channel of distribution for
selling products directly to consumers in person, away from a fixed retail location (Peterson,
Crittenden, & Albaun, 2019, p. 377). Direct selling includes sales made through one-on-one
demonstrations, party-plans and other personal contact arrangements, as well as Internet sales.
Direct selling occurs at home, at work and in other non-store locations.
This type of selling occurs when the company centralises its selling function and sells products
directly to the customer. Tupperware Brands is a good example of a direct sales company.
Globally, direct sales contributed US$190 billion worth of sales to the economy in 2017,
and the South African sales for the same period was estimated to be around R15 billion. Direct
selling provides opportunities for learning, personal growth and business skills development.
Direct selling can therefore have widespread social impact and is an attractive career option for
the following reasons:
• Income: A direct seller can make a living by earning money as a full-time direct seller.
This income is directly related to selling effort expended.
• Refining identity: A direct seller can improve his or her position in life through the
empowerment that comes from learning new and transferrable skills.
• Strengthening social connections: A direct seller – by virtue of the selling activity –
develops camaraderie in the job field. This can lead to making useful social connections.

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 1.4.3 Agent selling
This type of selling is when a company decentralises its selling function and sells its products
through an intermediary retailer like Amazon or eBay (Dong, Yang, & Zhao, 2018, p. 204).
Random House, a publishing company, is a good example, since it sells its books online through
retailers like Amazon.

Activity 1.3

Search the Amazon website and list some of the books it sells, as an agent, on behalf of
Random House.

1.4.4 Retail selling

This type of selling involves a salesperson at a fixed location. A typical example is a salesperson
at Edgars, who works in the jeans section and helps customers to find a pair of jeans that is
the correct size and perhaps persuades them to purchase a matching shirt to go with the jeans.
These salespeople receive a fixed salary and company benefits like medical aid and pension
contributions from their employer.
Retail salespeople provide the customer interface and are responsible for making available
enough information for the customer to make a satisfactory purchase decision. Retail salespeople
need to be able to ‘read’ the customer in order to understand where the customer is in the
Return policy decision-making process. A retail salesperson needs a high level of product knowledge which is
refers to the
obtained through specific training. A retail salesperson needs to be able to do these tasks:
rules retailers
have to • Talk to the customer to find out what the reason is for the purchase.
manage when • Determine which product features are important to the customer.
customers • Try to determine what price the customer is willing to pay for the product.
return or
• Find out whether the customer is brand loyal or if he or she is prepared to switch to
exchange
unwanted another brand.
or defective • Allow the customer time to think through the information.
merchandise • Empathise with any problem or objection the customer has.
they bought.
• Reassure the customer about the company’s return policy.

Cold-calling 1.4.5 Team selling

is when a The traditional role of the salesperson is changing as markets become increasingly global,
salesperson
technology advances and selling becomes a multi-functional position. In this context, sales
approaches a
person he or teams have become increasingly prominent in the business environment. A sales team is made
she does not up of individuals who view themselves as a communal unit (Hill, Bush, Vorhies, & King, 2017,
know (often p. 228). The members of the team are independent, rooted in a larger company, develop a sense
via a phone
of shared commitment, strive for synergy and perform tasks that affect customers and co-workers
call) and
who typically (Hill et al., 2017, p. 229). The sales team as a single unit will therefore also receive sales targets
does not to achieve. Sales teams can be constructed in a variety of ways. Here are two examples:
know about • ADT Inc (a company that provides residential, small and large business electronic security
the product
and fire protection). One team member does the cold-calling and sets up an appointment
or service
being sold. with a potential client. Another team member visits the client and sells the alarm system.

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 A third team member does the installation, while a fourth does the aftercare follow-up
after the sale. Collectively, they have worked together to sell an alarm unit.
• Eskom. In an organisation like Eskom, a sales team can consist of various subject
disciplines, each team member with his or her own specialty. One team member, a
metallurgist, is knowledgeable about fire resistant materials. Another team member,
a mechanical engineer, works on the design of furnaces, while a third team member,
an electrical engineer, is knowledgeable in the use of electricity to power furnaces.
Collectively they will be able to answer the customer’s queries to come up with a bespoke
design to satisfy the customer’s needs.

The biggest advantage of sales teams is the collection of different skills and a range of knowledge
within a single unit. There are, however, some drawbacks to team selling:
• Conflict may arise within the group as members may have different opinions on certain
issues.
• Sales teams may not be as adaptable as individuals can be, to a rapidly changing retail
environment.
• Sales teams may not be able to improvise under pressure like an individual can.
• As salespeople are remunerated on a commission basis, team selling may lead to pay
queries, especially if some members feel their role in a sale was more important than
those of other team members.

1.4.6 Creative selling

Creative selling has been identified as important to the existence and success of companies.
It has been positively linked to work-related outcomes such as reaching sales targets and
satisfactory job performance. It is also linked to the sales effectiveness and competitiveness of
companies in the market. Sales effectiveness is vital and is reflected in a company’s sales volume
or market share, for which – in line with set company targets – salespeople are partly responsible
(Martinaityte & Sacramento, 2012, p. 2).
Creative selling refers to the number of new ideas generated by a salesperson in performing
his or her job as well as the amount of innovative behaviour shown. There is a positive relationship
between creative selling and job effectiveness. Salespeople who are able to develop new ideas to
satisfy customer needs and who can generate as well as evaluate multiple alternatives for different
customer problems are more likely to be successful than those who approach their customers
in the traditional way (Martinaityte & Sacramento, 2012, p. 3). Creative salespeople are more
likely to think differently about their products and can therefore persuade their customers by
citing a wider and more attractive range of benefits. Creative sellers can also apply their various
thinking skills to devise novel procedures to get new customers.

Activity 1.4

Identify a product that is sold directly to a customer.

1. List creative ways how you would increase the customer base for the product.
2. List creative ways you would use to sell this product to the customers.

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 1.5 Different tasks of a sales representative
The sales function in any company involves various tasks, such as lead generation, order getting,
order taking, sales support and order delivery. In large or corporate organisations, different
individuals are responsible for each task, whereas in small or entrepreneurial businesses often
one person must complete all the tasks. Sales managers use the tasks and their nature to determine
the skills needed to complete all of them as well as the structure of their sales team.

1.5.1 Lead generator

A lead (also known as a suspect or potential buyer) is someone who may buy a particular product
Trade shows
are shows or service from a sales representative. Thus, a lead generator is a salesperson who primarily
that focus on searches for information about leads, like who the influencers and decision-makers are, their
specific trades needs and wants and their contact details. Lead generation usually happens at trade shows or
or industries.
promotional events or through cold-calling. Lead generators make the initial contact with a
potential buyer. After this they either prepare to call on the potential client by completing the
sales dialogue template (see Chapter 7) or they pass the lead on to the order getter.

Activity 1.5

Imagine you are the sales representative of a large steel producer. How would you
generate leads for your company?

1.5.2 Order getter

The next task is getting an order. Order getting is when a salesperson, the order getter, turns a
Order getters
are also lead into a client. Order getters are also called hunters because they actively search for sales. They
known as often target new clients so that they can widen their client base, but they also sell to existing clients.
missionary sales A sales tactic order getters use when selling to existing clients is they build a long-term relationship
representatives
with a client by selling him or her one product line. As soon as the relationship has been established,
as they provide
information, the sales representative follows up with additional sales calls to sell other products or services. This
and introduce type of salesperson is crucial for the success and growth of an organisation. An order getter is a
new products, salesperson who typically has an annual sales target that increases each year and physically goes
programmes
out and sells the company’s products or services. An order getter can range from an individual who
and
promotional manages his or her own business to a top sales representative in an international company.
campaigns.
1.5.3 Order taker
An order taker receives orders without having made any physical attempt to go out and sell.
Order takers are also called farmers as they maintain existing relationships with clients. Order
takers often receive either telephonic or online orders and ensure that customers’ orders are
processed. They usually work for wholesale companies and are not very involved in creative
selling. A good example is the person who takes your order over the phone after a Verimark
advertisement has been shown on television or a YouTube advertisement that enticed you to buy
a product or service. Another example is a sales representative working for a large wholesale
company who regularly (e.g. weekly) visits wholesalers or retailers for which he or she is
responsible to make sure there are no problems and that the stock is correctly displayed.

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 1.5.4 Sales support
Sale support assists existing clients or the sales representatives of important clients. The main
focus of sales support should be the client’s needs and assistance with the after-sales services.
Sales support personnel are not usually involved in lead generation or order getting, but are instead
responsible for a range of other activities, like the communication of important information
about the product or service or technical support. This is an important function that can enhance
and grow relationships with clients.

1.5.5 Administrator and deliverer

This task involves delivering the order after the deal has been closed and the order has been
processed. It is often the operational or logistics department in an organisation that is responsible
for this step. It is of the utmost importance that the order getter or taker ensures that this step is
completed. Companies like Yuppiechef have handwritten notes in their online order boxes that
are delivered by third party couriers to build the personal relationship with clients further.

1.6 The role of personal selling

As previously noted, the personal selling function is an important tool that organisations use to
persuade potential buyers to purchase their product or service. Not only does the personal selling
function play an important role in the business itself, but also for the customer as well as the
wider society (see Figure 1.2 for a summary).

1.6.1 Personal selling and the customer

Salespeople serve their customers. With a strong focus on relationship building and a mindset
of ‘working with’ clients, sales representatives are often vital within a client’s business. In fact,
the sales representative of a supplier sometimes almost becomes part of the buying organisation.
The buying organisation has an expectation that the representative of the selling company will
contribute to their company in a highly professional manner. For example, the courier company
Aramex is the supplier of courier services to almost all PostNet businesses in South Africa.
Aramex’s customer relationship procedure assists PostNet owners in the courier services they
provide their clients.

1.6.2 Personal selling and the selling organisation

Salespeople have a tremendous role to play in selling organisations as they are the direct contact
with clients. Salespeople are part of the heart of any company as they are what are called the
revenue producers. Consequently, sales personnel experience tremendous pressure to contribute
to the ‘top line’ of the profit and loss statements of their organisation.
Salespeople, although not trained in market research, are a potentially valuable source of
market research as they spend most of their time with clients. It is important for selling organisations
to ensure that they have a good communication system that assists their sales representatives to
communicate easily the needs and wants of clients. For example, communication technology
used by selling companies creates opportunities for gathering customer feedback easily and on
a continuous basis. In this way, salespeople can, through the feedback they receive from clients,
improve their organisation’s products or services.

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 Although sales jobs are usually seen as entry level jobs in an organisation, in recent years it
has become apparent that sales personnel are good candidates for managerial positions as they
understand clients’ needs best and are driven by the revenue they can earn and the financial gain
they can generate for their organisation.

1.6.3 Personal selling and the community

Sales personnel have a number of important functions at a community level. Firstly, they can
enhance sales in organisations. This can lead to an increase in profits that helps to stimulate
a country’s economy, which will benefit communities. Secondly, they can help to stabilise
communities. The business world is challenged by external factors in the macro environment
(see Chapter 4) such as globalisation, increasing pressure to satisfy clients and being able to stay
competitive in difficult economic times. Sales representatives serve as a key tool to maximise
potential opportunities and overcome any resulting threats in the business environment by
implementing well-executed strategies. Thirdly, they can function as change agents. In the fast-
paced world, innovation is happening around us daily. Unfortunately, even though an idea is
brilliant and can satisfy the needs of consumers, the end-user must first know about the innovation,
believe in it and buy into it. When a new product reaches the market, sales representatives play
an important role in the diffusion of innovation, as they present new products and services to
their community. Finally, by practising hard selling techniques, sales representative agents can
also extend the lifecycle of products and services when they enter their decline stage. This can
help the product or service to stay in the market for a longer period of time.

Importance of personal selling in…

The buying organisation The selling organisation The community

• Economic stimulus
• Revenue producers • Stabilise
• Relationship
• Market research communities
builders
assistants • Change agents
• Reaching
• Management of • Keep products in
expectations
organisation the market as long
as possible

Figure 1.2 The importance of personal selling

Source: Author

Activity 1.6

Write a popular article for a local newspaper to explain the importance of personal
selling. In your article, include the crucial role salespeople play in the following:
• buying companies
• their own companies
• the local community.

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 CASE STUDY
The end of solution sales

By Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon and Nicholas Toman

THE HARDEST THING ABOUT B2B selling today is that customers don’t need you the way they used to. In
recent decades sales reps have become adept at discovering customers’ needs and selling them ‘solutions’ –
generally, complex combinations of products and services. This worked because customers didn’t know how
to solve their own problems, even though they often had a good understanding of what their problems
were. But now, owing to increasingly sophisticated procurement teams and purchasing consultants armed
with troves of data, companies can readily define solutions for themselves. In fact, a recent Corporate
Executive Board study of more than 1 400 B2B customers found that those customers completed, on
average, nearly 60% of a typical purchasing decision – researching solutions, ranking options, setting
requirements, benchmarking pricing, and so on – before even having a conversation with a supplier. In this
world the celebrated ‘solution sales rep’ can be more of an annoyance than an asset. Customers in an array
of industries, from IT to insurance to business process outsourcing, are often way ahead of the salespeople
who are ‘helping’ them. But the news is not all bad. Although traditional reps are at a distinct disadvantage
in this environment, a select group of high performers are flourishing. These superior reps have abandoned
much of the conventional wisdom taught in sales organisations. They:
• evaluate prospects according to criteria different from those used by other reps, targeting agile
organisations in a state of flux rather than ones with a clear understanding of their needs.
• seek out a very different set of stakeholders, preferring sceptical change agents over friendly
informants.
• coach those change agents on how to buy, instead of quizzing them about their company’s
purchasing process.

These sales professionals don’t just sell more effectively – they sell differently. This means that boosting the
performance of average salespeople isn’t a matter of improving how they currently sell; it involves altogether
changing how they sell. To accomplish this, organisations need to fundamentally rethink the training and
support provided to their reps.

Coming up short
Under the conventional solution-selling method that has prevailed since the 1980s, salespeople are
trained to align a solution with an acknowledged customer need and demonstrate why it is better than
the competition. This translates into a very practical approach: A rep begins by identifying customers who
recognise a problem that the supplier can solve and gives priority to those who are ready to act. Then, by
asking questions, she surfaces a ‘hook’ that enables her to attach her company’s solution to that problem. Part
and parcel of this approach is her ability to find and nurture somebody within the customer organisation –
an advocate, or coach – who can help her navigate the company and drive the deal to completion. But
customers have radically departed from the old ways of buying, and sales leaders are increasingly finding
that their staffs are relegated to price-driven bake-offs. One sales rep from a high-tech organisation said,
‘Our customers are coming to the table armed to the teeth with a deep understanding of their problem and
a well-scoped solution. It’s turning many of our sales conversations into fulfilment conversations.’ Reps must
learn to engage customers much earlier, well before customers fully understand their own needs. In many
ways, this is a strategy as old as sales itself: To win a deal, you’ve got to get ahead of the normal routine.
continued on the following page →

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 But our research shows that although that’s more important than ever, it’s no longer sufficient. To find
out what high performing sales professionals (defined as those in the top 20% in terms of quota attainment)
do differently from other reps, Corporate Executive Board conducted extensive research world-wide.
Our key finding: The top performing reps have abandoned the traditional playbook and devised a novel,
even radical, sales approach. Our data show that star performers place little value on traditional practices.
Instead, they work with non-traditional criteria and they adapt quickly to a very informed customer.
Source: Adamson, Dixon, & Toman, 2012, https://hbr.org/2012/07/the-end-of-solution-sales

Questions
1. In a group, discuss new ways in which salespeople are performing their tasks.
2. Why do you think that this new way of working is evolving?
3. In this case study, which type of sales career would be most suited to the job described? Give reasons
for your opinion.

Book overview
Several important topics on personal selling are discussed in the rest of this book. In Chapter 2, the
most critical skill that a salesperson requires – communication – is discussed in detail. Chapter 3
focuses on the role that culture plays in selling products and services. This is particularly important
in the South African context which, with 11 official languages and an even greater number of
cultures, is characterised by diversity. The business environment and external factors influence the
choice of sales tactics a salesperson uses. It is therefore important for a salesperson to understand
the business environment in which he or she operates. We investigate this in Chapter 4.
Return sales
occur when In sales, a salesperson can face several ethical dilemmas. Chapter 5 provides guidelines on
clients or how to deal with these difficult situations. Selling is a transaction between a seller (salesperson)
customers and a buyer (client). Chapter 6 thus examines how the salesperson can profile and understand the
come back
customer, while Chapter 7 describes the start of the selling process. Customer service, the key
to the same
organisation to return sales and relationship-building, is discussed in Chapter 8. The focus of Chapter 9 is on
or business to how the salesperson can deal with and adjust to the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution.
make additional The final chapter, Chapter 10, discusses the role and functions of sales managers. Who knows,
purchases.
after being a successful salesperson, you might become the next sales manager.

Critical reflection
This chapter first provides an overview of the key attributes that an effective salesperson should
possess. Communication, listening skills, time management and analytical abilities are the most
important skills a salesperson requires. The chapter then moves into a discussion of the types
of sales careers and their environments. It identifies key account managers as having strategic
importance since their primary function is to ensure long-term relationships with customers are
maintained. It outlines how sales managers are responsible for the performance of sales teams,
while sales representatives are responsible for selling products or services. The environments in
which these sales careers occur are online sales, direct selling, retail selling and agent selling.
The tasks of salespeople are explained. The chapter then concludes by discussing the importance
that personal selling plays in buying and selling organisations as well as in the community.

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 Self-test questions
1. Describe a scenario in which a salesperson uses the key salesperson attributes during a sale.
2. Discuss the different types of sales careers by providing an example of each within a
large organisation.
3. Describe the different sales environments and provide an example of each.
4. Identify the tasks a salesperson must be able to complete.
5. Critically evaluate whether it is possible for one person to complete all five important tasks
of a salesperson.
6. Explain the importance of personal selling in both the buying and selling organisation as
well as in the local community.

References and additional reading

Adamson, B., Dixon, M., & Toman, N. (2012). The end of solution sales. Harvard Business School
Publishing. [Online]. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2012/07/the-end-of-solution-sales.
Davies, I., & Ryals, L. (2013). Attitudes and behaviors of key account managers: Are they really
any different to senior sales professionals? Industrial Marketing Management, 42, 919–931.
Dong, C., Yang, Y., & Zhao, M. (2018). Dynamic selling strategy for a firm under asymmetric
information: Direct selling vs. agent selling. International Journal of Production
Economics, 204, 204–213.
Duch-Brown, N. Grzybowski, L. Romahn, A., & Verboven, F. (2017). The impact of online
sales on consumers and firms. Evidence from consumer electronics. International Journal
of Industrial Organization, 52, 30–62.
Hill, K., Bush, V., Vorhies, D., & King, R. (2017). Performing under pressure: Winning customers
through improvisation in team selling. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 16 (4), 227–244.
Ingram, T. N., Avila, R. A., Schwepker, C. H., & Williams, M. R. (2019). Sell (5th ed.). Boston,
MA: Cengage Learning.
Lamb C., Hair, J. F., McDaniel, C., Boshoff, C., Terrblanche, N., & Elliott, R. (2015).
Marketing (5th ed.). Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
Martinaityte, I., & Sacramento, C. (2012). When creativity enhances sale effectiveness; The
moderating role of leader member exchange. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34 (7),
974–994. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1835
Peterson, R., Crittenden, V., & Albaum, G. (2019). On the economic and social benefits of direct
selling. Business Horizons, 62 (3), 373–382. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2018.12.002
Plank, R. Reid, D. Koppitsch, S., & Meyer, J. (2018). The sales manager as unit of analysis:
A review and direction for future research. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales
Management, 38 (1), 78–91.
Pryor, S., Malshe, A., & Paradise, K. (2013). Salesperson listening in the extended sales
relationship: An exploration of cognitive, affective and temporal dimensions. Journal of
Personal Selling and Sales Management, 33 (2), 185–196.
Shi, H., Sridhar, S., Grewal, R., & Lilien, G. (2017). Sales representative departures and customer
reassignment strategies in business to business markets. Journal of Marketing, 81, 25–44.
Van Heerden, C. H., & Drotsky, A. (2018). Personal selling (4th ed.). Cape Town: Juta and Company.
Visser, G. (2000). Sales management in action: A practical guide for learners and practitioners.
Pinetown: Heinemann Publishers.

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