Bus 530 Marketing Management

Weekly Summary

(chapter 9 ,chapter 10)

Dishaben Patel

BUS 530-Marketing management

Prof. Keith  Reiger

                             In this chapter I learned about personal selling, Relationship building and sale management .it is showing the   importance of personal selling. Which means a two   way flow of communication   between buyer and sales person.it describe the importance of personal selling. The sale process , objective of sales process .here is briefly discussion of relationship of building process .prospecting ,planning the sales call, presenting ,responding objective ,obtaining commitment .building long term relationship ,people who support the sales force.so this chapter explained about the whole sales process and relationship between buyer and sales person.        

Personal Selling  

1. Identify the potential buyer's needs
   2. Match those needs to one or more of the firms products or services
   3. Convince the buyer to purchase the product
   face2face, written, telephone, written, computer

Importance of selling price

Products that are new, complex,

expensive = more selling effort
Salesperson provides info to reduce risks
EX: Insurance
Salesperson represents main link to the firm, to some, IS the company
Customer info serves as 90% of new prodcut and process ideas in some companies. 
Provides push needed to get middlemen to carry new products, increase amount of goods purchased, and devote more effort in merchandising a product or brand. 
Two vital duties:
1. Salesperson dispenses knowledge to buyers
2. Salespeople act as a source of marketing intelligence fro management

The sales process

The word art is used to describe that portion of the selling process that is highly creative in nature and difficult to explain - trained salesperson can outsell the untrained one

The term sales process refers to two basic factors: 
1. The objectives the salesperson is trying to achieve while engaged in selling activities
2. The sequence of stages or steps teh salesperson should follow in trying to achieve the specific objectives

Objectives of the Sales Force

Information Provision:
New products and customers, salesperson fully explains attributes
2. Persuasion:
Clearly distinguish attributes
Maximize number of sales
Convert undecided customers
Convert first-time customers
Sell additional items
Tend to the needs of the dissatisfied 
3. After-sale service:
Delivery/installation
Follow-ups
Reassurance
Build relationships

9-1 Graph

Most time spent on on-site contacts for salespeople, followed by:

Other selling contacts
Travel time
servicing the account
Administrative tasks

The sales process

• Sales process refers to two basic factors:  

• Objectives the salesperson is trying to achieve while engaged in selling activities

• Sequence of stages the salesperson should follow to achieve the objectives

OBJECTIVES OF THE SALES FORCE

 • Information provision

 • Persuasion

 • After-sale service

You can organize a sales force in a number of ways including by region, product line, market sector or customer size. The number of people on your sales team, the size and complexity of your product range, the geographical spread of your business and the type of customers you deal with influence the structure you choose.

1.Align your sales organization with your overall business strategy. Choose a regional sales force structure if you plan to grow your business in different territories. Create a structure based on different market sectors if you aim to increase market share in specific sectors such as financial services or manufacturing. Set up a structure based on customer size if you want to focus on growing business with high-potential accounts.

2.Structure your sales force to provide adequate coverage for your important sales regions. If you sell products throughout the U.S., divide the country into regions that your sales team can cover easily without excessive travel. Choose a simple structure, such as north, south, east and west, if each territory offers similar sales potential. With a larger sales force, subdivide those territories or appoint some team members to concentrate on regions with higher sales potential.

3.Grow export business by appointing one or more sales representatives to manage your business in important overseas territories. If global export sales represent a significant part of your business, set up a sales organization based on three widely used marketing territories – Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia.

4.Review your product range to determine the most appropriate sales structure. Product specialization is important if you market complex products or offer a diverse range of products. Set up a product-based sales structure by appointing or recruiting sales representatives with good product and technical knowledge. You can also organize your sales force to specialize in different market sectors. Analyze your customer base and highlight any sectors that represent a large share of your total sales. Organize your sales force to focus on the strongest growth sectors. Appoint sales representatives with a good understanding of the business issues and challenges in your target sectors.

5.Focus on important customers. If you have a small number of customers who account for the majority of your sales, include a key account manager in your sales-force structure. A key account manager takes responsibility for managing relationships with your most important customers and ensuring that they receive a high standard of service. Protecting key accounts is vital, because the loss of a large customer could damage your business. If retailers or distributors are important to your business, appoint a member of the sales force to work with them. The representative takes responsibility for placing products in your distributor network and for working with distributors to help them increase sales of your products to their own customers.

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