Role of Personal Selling - Essay Example

Sales and Planning Table of Contents Role of Personal Selling 3 a. Main Types of Personal Selling 3 b. Environmental Factors Affecting the Personal Selling 4 1 c. 5 1 d. Elements of Marketing Communication Mix 7 2. Stages in the Selling Process 8 2 a. Principles of Personal Selling 8 2 b. Stages in the Personal Selling Process 9 3. Role and Objectives of Sales Management 11 3 a. Sales Strategy and Planning 11 3 b. Sales Person Recruitment & Selection 12 3 c. Role of Motivation, Remuneration and Training in Enhancing Sales Performance 14 3 d. Two Techniques Used To Co-Ordinate and Control Sales Output 14 3 e. Recommending Appropriate Organisation Structures and Procedures 15 4. Implications of Operating In Different Sales Environments and Contexts 16 4 a. 16 4 b. The Role of Sales Staff Operating In an International Environment 18 References 19 1. Role of Personal Selling Personal Selling is an old art that existed since ancient times. As time evolved personal selling produced many principles and literatures. Personal selling is in direct contact with the consumers that direct towards purchase order, post-sales service and consumer satisfaction (Kotler & Keller, 2006). In personal selling the paid representative has a direct contact with the consumer and identifies the problem and solves it through the application and purchase of the representative products (The University of Daytons, n.d.). 1 a. Main Types of Personal Selling There are three main types of personal selling like: Retail Selling: The salesperson communicates directly with the individual consumer. The level of interaction is greater and feedback is generated in a positive manner. The convening opportunity to a consumer is more (ICMR, 2010). Business-to-Business Selling: The salesperson sells the products to the industrial buyers. Generally the products are related to industrial application (ICMR, 2010). Trade Selling: The salesperson sells the products to marketing intermediaries like whole sellers and retailers. The consumers are not the direct prospects of the products. The intermediates are the actual consumers and they sell to direct clients (ICMR, 2010). 1 b. Environmental Factors Affecting the Personal Selling There are four environmental factors that effect personal selling. Customer, Competitors, Technology and Ethical & Regulatory environment Customer The customer’s expectation towards the organization is difficult to evaluate. There has been decrease in the consumer satisfaction level and even the organizations huge investment towards Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Customer expectations are increasing in relation to salesperson information, swiftness of response, extent and deepness of communication, and customization of information and product/service offerings. Failure to respond and adopt new strategies will negatively affect the sales force. Competitors The competition is intense for revenue and market share. The cost to serve consumers plays a greater pressure on the salesman to perform under such situations. During the different phases of PLC due to lack of knowledge of competitor’s products, they might have to face problems. Technology Lack of technology that helps the salespersons to supervise significant information throughout sales cycle and communicate in actual time with their companies, might affect the salesperson performance. Ethical & Regulation Environment According to Weitz “The ethical and legal environment can constrain the sales organizations ability to effectively pursue certain marketing activities” (Weitz & Et. Al., 2005). In the extremely competitive circumstances, salespersons must be significantly careful about the phrases and the arguments they use and encouragements they offer in endeavouring to succeed the sales. Otherwise, they may be sued by the clients. The managerial forces in form of huge targets have the effect upon the sales force. With increasing competition among the sales managers they tend to push the limits of sales force which ultimately affects the sales force performance. 1 c. Through the study of consumer behaviour, it is possible to identify the requirements and demands of consumers and accordingly the sales representative can present the sales through the selling process. Perception plays an important role in understanding the consumers and offering the exact merchandise that is demanded by an individual. To increase the personal selling an individual must identify the needs by applying Maslow’s need theories and find out the influencing factors that affect the buying behaviour. The groups, references along with social and cultural factors are the major influencing aspects for the consumption pattern. Through the analysis and understanding of these factors, it is possible for the sales person to increase the sales. 1 d. Elements of Marketing Communication Mix (Fontenot, n.d.). Advertisement is used as a tool for promoting ideas, goods and services through different mediums of communication. The objective of this tool is to target broadly the segmented market and to reach the dispersed markets. The audience is huge and it serves as a mass communication (Fontenot, n.d.). Personal Selling is an effective tool in marketing. The main objectives of implementing this are to close the sale, to generate immediate feedback and to personalize one-to-one communication (Fontenot, n.d.). Roles & Relationship The advertisement and personal selling help in increasing the level of sales. Both help in attracting the consumers’ attention and demonstrate the product functioning and its characteristics. 2. Stages in the Selling Process There are six stages of personal selling namely “1) Prospecting, 2) Pre-approach, 3) Approach, 4) Presentation, 5) Close and 6) Follow-Up” (College of DuPage, n.d.). 2 a. Principles of Personal Selling To improve effectiveness: Providing training in selling practice, enhancing sales professionalism, providing knowledge in techniques for negotiation skills with consumers, training for relationship building skills (Docstoc, n.d.). Selling Techniques Sales Oriented Approach: Training in communication and presentation styles that will generate positive response and help to develop a pressure situation towards purchase (Docstoc, n.d.). Customer Oriented: The skills to be able to solve consumer’s problems (Docstoc, n.d.). 2 b. Stages in the Personal Selling Process Prospecting Prospecting is finding the opportunity. Consumers start out to be as leads that are termed to be a potential buyer. Salesperson acquires the information from different sources or leads; and tries to meet the leads for the motive of sales. These leads are generated from friends, customers, newspaper articles and colleagues (The University of Daytons, n.d.). Pre-approach This phase is the planning part of meeting the prospective lead. The target is to reach the lead as soon as possible because the competition is high. The sales person tries to fix an appointment with the prospect buyer, even if they are not interested salesperson needs to listen to them (The University of Daytons, n.d.). Approach This is the first time when the sales person will meet the prospect client and the impression of the sales person should be effective. In this approach the sales persons are advised to meet the client face-to-face and delay meetings if they are not in face to face interaction (The University of Daytons, n.d.). Presentation A better approach will lead to an enhanced presentation. The sales person must find out in advance the location of sales presentation and type of presentation. There are two approaches in the presentation, canned presentation and adaptive selling. Depending upon the environment the presentation style should be implemented (The University of Daytons, n.d.). Close This is the most difficult part for many beginners. Closing the sales indicated asking the prospect client for an order. A hesitant salesperson might see the close simply in provisions of requesting for potentially huge amount that might create an unconformable situation (The University of Daytons, n.d.). A healthy implemented close means simply requesting the prospect for the order. Quickly requesting, “Okay, you ready to buy some now? How ‘bout an order?” will likely undo any confidence a good presentation instilled in the prospect” (The University of Daytons, n.d.). Follow-Up Follow up is essential for building positive relationship and increasing the sales with repetitive purchase. Once the sale has been closed and the order is placed, the salesperson needs to repeat the process of turning a single transaction into multiple long term relationship (The University of Daytons, n.d.). 3. Role and Objectives of Sales Management The basic role and objective of Sales management is oriented towards sales strategy and planning and sales motivation and performance. 3 a. Sales Strategy and Planning The sales leader’s role is to create a clear direction and vision for the objectives. It is the role of the senior sales management team to interpret the overall business plan and the marketing plan into a sales plan. The objective of doing so is to take the sales plan direction from overall marketing strategy. The sales management will develop the strategy for sales planning that will benefit the company through increased sales. The planning includes the forecasting and with the effective sales management it is possible to target the potential market and increase the sales. Sales motivation and performance The sales management will execute the sales plan through motivation and performance of the sales person. The sales management team uses the KPI’s in order to ensure that the implementation of the plan is directed in the right way. The KPI’s enables the sales management to take appropriate corrective measures whenever required and evaluates the sales managers too. 3 b. Sales Person Recruitment & Selection Effectual recruitment and selection of sales person is most critical job of sales management. There are certain characteristics of the marketing strategy that plays a crucial role focusing upon the sales force of the management. The job description for the sales person is to be designed regarding the sales strategy and ways the organization sell the products (Meghisan, n.d.). The requirements of the job need to be fulfilled by the candidate. There should be similarities between what the organization is looking for and what the candidate has for the purpose of sales. The sources of recruitment are internal and external sources. Internal sources are through promotion, transfer, references. External sources are through consultancy, advertisement, data base (Meghisan, n.d.). The candidate has to first give a preliminary interview and then pass different types of tests and get selected after the medical test is passed. After all the process the candidate is inducted to the sales force team (Meghisan, n.d.). (Sangers, 2010). (Free Books Online, 2010). When the potential candidate is recruited the training period starts and are guided towards the sales. They are motivated through compensation and performance evaluation. The sales force management or leader supervises sales persons (Meghisan, n.d.). 3 c. Role of Motivation, Remuneration and Training in Enhancing Sales Performance The sale plan cannot be successful until the salespersons are motivated. (1) A comprehensible job description (2) Valuable sales management practices (3) A sense of accomplishment and (4) Appropriate incentives or rewards will help to motivate salesperson. A remuneration plan can range from an indirect incentive (sharing of company returns) to direct incentive; salesperson’s income is firmly ‘commission on sales’ (Meghisan, n.d.). When the company desires to expand the sales quickly, they offer more remuneration to get more orders from the sales person. It also may be due to the objectives of the company with a different motive (Meghisan, n.d.). A salesperson is required to be educated about the company and its products and regarding effective sales presentations in order to achieve high sales and attract new consumers. The company’s training program consists of 1) company policies & practices 2) professional selling skills and 3) product information. The training process is an ongoing process that affects both the seasoned and new salesperson (Meghisan, n.d.). 3 d. Two Techniques Used To Co-Ordinate and Control Sales Output There need to be certain measures in order to coordinate and control the sales output. The budgetary control method is one of the techniques. It helps in coordinating all the activities of the business. The actual results are compared with the budgeted. It helps in monitoring organisational functions. The budget acts as a pressure device that has been imposed by the management. Thus, the consequences may be bad salesperson relations and imprecise record keeping. They might be departmental conflicts due to allocation of budget and they blame each other if targets are not attained (FAO, n.d.). Performance target is another technique in coordinating and controlling sales output. The standards are set and the salespersons need to achieve the target level. If they fail to achieve the target level or standard one, the performance level is neglected. Contrast of actual and standard performance might direct to three possible outcomes; actual performance may be less than or equal to or more than the standard. If the standard is less than the actual, no action or control is required. If it is found that there is any deviation then the manager needs to take corrective actions and control the sales output through proper coordination (NOS, n.d.) 3 e. Recommending Appropriate Organisation Structures and Procedures Organisation The organisation structure plays a significant role in managing and setting procedures for sales employees. The salesperson should be educated in terms of making concession on prices, resolving consumer service issues and shipping terms. Based upon the organisational structure the sales department needs to outline the objectives and goals for them. This will help the organisation maximise the profit through sales. The structure must be flexible as well so that the salesperson can begin selling new product lines quickly (NOS, n.d.) Procedures The organization needs to provide set procedures to the salesperson for any promotional offering price, discount for certain products and free goods for certain pound value purchase. The procedures should follow strict guidelines for the organization to shift the merchandizes and thus, the sales can be enhanced. During the sales procedure there are lot of paper work that should be taken care of. The salesperson must follow the procedures to maintain the paper works with appropriate department like accounting. This will make certain that the information meets the standards of the organization and should contain every relevant data (NOS, n.d.) 4. Implications of Operating In Different Sales Environments and Contexts Although effective selling and sales management have been the way for critical success of marketing there are many areas where difficulties arise due to lack of data access and different perceptions in varied environmental situations. 4 a. Missionary Selling: Sales Tasks: The salespersons are generally expected to create goodwill and educate and lastly influence the actual buyer (Durham Associates, n.d.). Sales Skills: For the purpose of the above mentioned sales task the salesperson should have effective communication skills in order to influence the potential buyers (Durham Associates, n.d.). Technical Selling: Sales Tasks: The tasks of the salesperson are to describe the purpose of a product to a prospect customer as well as become accustomed to individual customer’s needs. The salesperson is appropriate in developing more clients and territories than to possess technical knowledge (Durham Associates, n.d.). Sales Skills: The salespersons develop sophisticated expertise upon technical aspects and features of the products. They develop the knowledge skills of products. This helps them in developing confidence level (Durham Associates, n.d.). Creative Selling: Sales Tasks: Often the consumers are confused and do not understand the need for a certain product or service. The creative salesperson has to demonstrate, communicate and convince the client for such a need (Durham Associates, n.d.). Sales Skills: The ambition, acceptability and personality are the skills that the salesperson must possess, which will direct them to demonstrate, communicate and convince the clients (Durham Associates, n.d.). Both sales tasks and sales skills are required for salespersons to achieve success. 4 b. The Role of Sales Staff Operating In an International Environment As observed by Micah Strader and Allen Wysocki “Prior to the Industrial Revolution, when small-scale business dominated the economic environment, the task of selling was relatively simple” (Strader & Wysocki, n.d.). The international market is equipped with advanced technology and greater competition. The sales staff needs to compete for prospect client with service and quality product. They need to understand the international culture and consumer behavior to perceive the prospect demand and satisfy them with the representation of the products (Strader & Wysocki, n.d.). In international environment there are changes in the legal policies that are related to the consumer’s protection. The sales staff is required to be well versed with the conversation while convincing the clients. The conversation should be according to the standards; and anything annoying or incorrect according to law must be avoided. Otherwise, the client might sue against the salesperson or the organization. Apart from the legal issue the sales staff needs to understand the socio-cultural factors that have huge influencing power on the behavior of the consumer towards the products. They should update their knowledge related to different factors that affect the consumption pattern in order to increase the sales. References College of DuPage, No Date. Personal Selling & Sells Management. Personal Selling. [Online] Available at: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:1StkWKMwN2kJ:www.cod.edu/people/faculty/uccifr/Mkt%25201100%2520files/Sp07%2520ppts/CH17%2520rev.ppt+Stages+in+the+selling+process+site:edu&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESizY3Yp9-kbPhcg5YyGq4Knj04weKhkd-_srlER5Gmxos97IQRQPLu-9I4c_tiYo4j33sJtJWGiTCGO_N1BeZ-EZo0L7GaHfIf4vpISeB5KOl-qH1xxf6R6WjA0T1_eTHZF2wuN&sig=AHIEtbQ3xKUaJwkc7HafWcySpt8tedJaRg&pli=1 [Accessed December 10, 2010]. Docstoc, No Date. Personal Selling. Principles of Personal Selling. 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Personal Selling. [Online] Available at: http://campus.udayton.edu/~jrs/promo/notes/Personal%20Selling.pdf [Accessed December 10, 2010]. Weitz & Et. Al., 2005. The Changing Environment of Selling and Sales Management. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. [Online] Available at: http://www.allbusiness.com/sales/sales-management/518933-1.html [Accessed December 10, 2010]. Read More