Marketing Exam 4 Notes Chapter 19 Personal Selling the two way flow of communication between a buyer or buyers and a seller that is designed to influence the buyer s purchase decision Over 14 million people are employed in sales positions in the U S Salespeople don t always get the best coverage in media Death of a Salesman Glengarry Glen Ross Personal selling can be a satisfying career for several reasons 1 Many people love the lifestyle flexibility and out on their own 2 The variety of the job different day different client different places creativity 3 Professional selling and sales management can be a very lucrative career compensation or the satisfaction of being involved in interesting challenging and creative work is rewarding 4 Because salespeople are the frontline emissaries for their firm they are very visible to management high performers in good position to get promoted Personal Selling adds value by educating and providing advice saving the customer time making things easier for the customer and helping to build long term strategic relationships with customers 1 Salespeople provide information and advice info about how a garment fits new fashions or operating products 2 Salespeople save time and simplify buying turning over too many tasks to suppliers salespeople can cause problems may cause disadvantage to competitors 3 Salespeople build relationships Relationship Selling a sales philosophy and process that emphasizes a commitment to maintaining the relationship over the long term and investing in opportunities that are mutually beneficial to all parties Lenovo working with university to provide computer support for the four years you go there Telepresence which includes three screens that display life size images of conference attendees plus an additional screen for shared work has saved corporations like Cisco and Accenture It has helped small businesses go global Lisa Kirschner earned her 1 8 of her annual revenue Expos2 digitizes the conference as well Closing a deal is more likely to occur in person and provides insights into communities and cultures The Personal Selling Process 1 Step 1 Generate and Qualify Leads generate a list of potential customers leads and assess their potential qualify leads Salespeople who already have an established relationship with a customer will skip this step and not used extensively in retail Internet important Trade Shows attended by buyers who choose to be exposed to products and services offered by potential suppliers in an industry vendors use the International Consumer Electronics offer an excellent forum for finding leads these major events are a method of prospecting in which salespeople telephone or go to see Show CES in Las Vegas to introduce new products first camcorder 1981 HDTV 1998 and Internet Protocol television 2005 Cold Calls potential customers without appointments Telemarketing is similar but it always occurs over the telephone both of these have become less popular because customers need has not been established ahead of time and federal and state commissions have begun to regulate this After salespeople generate leads they must qualify those leads by determining whether it is worthwhile to pursue them and attempt to turn them into customers product vs service needed financial resources to pay Retail salespeople should never judge a book by its cover stores on Madison Avenue are taking measures to improve customer service Bergdorf Goodman follows up 18 sales with a thank you letter MaxMara conducts employee seminars and Lord Taylor sales associates are counseled to comment on the attributes of a product being examined by a customer Salespeople need to 1 figure out what type of customer they are working with and 2 has to determine the customer s economic comfort level 2 Step 2 Preapproach and the Use of CRM Systems Preapproach occurs prior to meeting the customer for the first time and extends the qualification of leads procedure described in Step 1 The salesperson must conduct additional research and develop plans for meeting with the customer Role Playing manager acts as the buyer the salesperson acts out a simulated buying situation while a colleague or 3 Step 3 Sales Presentation and Overcoming Reservations The Presentation once all the background information has been obtained and the objectives for the meeting are set the salesperson is ready for a person to person meeting need to ask a series of questions but also listen and then try to satisfy the need Handling Reservations buyer reservations are very likely to occur during the sales presentation Good salespeople anticipate these reservations and relax and listen 4 Step 4 Closing the Sale means obtaining a commitment from the customer to make a purchase very stressful This step rarely follows the other steps so neatly Soft selling acting as a knowledgeable consultant to help customers solve a problem is far more likely to result in a completed sale in the present and more business in the future Ultimate goal is to keep customer for life and not just for a single transaction The soft sell consultative or customer centric sales involves creating and maintaining a pleasant environment interacting pleasantly with customers providing useful information about products helping customers reach a decision and selling a product or service the sales associate believes in Yoforia s frozen yogurt stores in Atlanta 40 increase in sales over past year Girl Scout Cookies Apple Store The Container Store 5 Step 5 Follow Up it ain t over till it s over Yogi Berra The follow up offers a prime opportunity for a salesperson to solidify the customer relationship through great service quality Applying the five service quality dimensions to the follow up Reliability the salesperson and supporting organization must deliver the right product or service on time Responsiveness must be ready to deal quickly with any issue question or problem that may arise Assurance customers must be assured through adequate guarantees that their purchase will perform as expected Empathy salesperson must have a good understanding of the problems and issues faced by their customers or they won t be able to give them what they want Tangibles more subtle than other four but not less important The tangibles offer a signal that the product is of high quality even though the packaging has nothing to do with the product s performance A postsale follow up call email or letter takes the salesperson back to