Personal Selling and the Marketing Concept

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Personal Selling and the Marketing Concept
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Definition of Personal Selling

• Person-to-person communication with a prospect
• Personal selling is a process of
• Developing relationships
• Discovering needs
• Matching products with needs
• Communicating benefits
• Viewed as a process that adds value

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Strategic/ConsultativeSelling Model
1.1
FIGURE
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Personal Selling in the Information Age

• An evolution from the industrial economy to the
  information economy
• Began in the 1950s
• New emphasis is information exchange rather than
  producing goods
• Implications for personal selling

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A Shift in Emphasis

• Industrial economy
• Advances occur in transportation and
  manufacturing
• Strategic resources are capital and natural
  resources
• Products and factories define the business
• Sales success means meeting sales quotas

• Information economy
• Advances occur in information technology
• Strategic resource is information
• Business is defined by customer relations
• Sales success depends on adding value

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Personal Selling as an Extension of the Marketing
Concept

• Move from a product orientation (peddling)
• to a customer orientation (partnering)

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The Marketing Mix
1.3
FIGURE
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Important Role of Personal Selling

• Often the major promotional method
• Firms invest in personal selling
• Personal selling has evolved because
• Products and services are more complex
• Competition has greatly increased
• Customer demand for quality, value, and service
  has risen sharply

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Evolution of Consultative Selling

• Features of consultative selling include
• Customer is a person to be served, not a prospect
  to be sold
• Two-way communication identifies (diagnoses)
  customers needs no high-pressure sales
  presentation
• Emphasis on information giving, problem solving,
  and negotiation rather than manipulation
• Emphasis on service after the sale

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Strategy and Tactics

• Tactics
• Specific techniques,practices, and methods used
  incustomer interaction
• Strategy
• Carefully conceived plan needed to accomplish
  sales objectives
• A prerequisite to tactical success

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Strategy vs. Tactics Exercise
Identify the following
Strategy
Tactic
?

• Use a fact sheet comparing your product to the
  competition
• Analyze the features of your leading competitors
• Use specific questions to diagnose needs
• Analyze a territory to determine those with
  specific needs

?
?
?
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Selling Model
1.5
FIGURE
1-20
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Develop a Personal Selling Philosophy
1
Step

• ? Adopt the marketing concept
• ? Value personal selling
• ? Assume the role of a problem solver/partner

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Develop a Relationship Strategy
2
Step

• ? Adopt a win-win philosophy
• ? Project a professional image
• ? Maintain high ethical standards

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Develop a Product Strategy
3
Step

• ? Become a product expert
• ? Sell benefits, not features
• ? Configure value-added solutions

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Develop a Customer Strategy
4
Step

• ? Understand the buying process
• ? Understand buyer behavior
• ? Develop prospect base

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Develop a Presentation Strategy
5
Step

• ? Prepare objectives
• ? Develop a presentation plan
• ? Provide outstanding service

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E-Commerce and the Complex Sale

• Electronic business
• Complex sales involve several forms of
• information technology support, including
• Electronic product catalogs
• Contact management systems
• PowerPoint and Excel
• Internet applications
• Electronic commerce

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Evolution of Partnering

• Buzzword of 1990s, became business reality in
  2000s
• Strategically developed, long-term relationship
  that solves the customers problems
• Relationship selling relies on a customized
  approach to each client
• Enhanced with high ethical standards and CRM

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Value Creation

• Value-added selling creative improvements that
  enhance customer experience
• The information economy rewards salespeople who
  add value at each step
• When customer is not aware of value added by
  salespeople, the focus may shift to price