-Personal selling -Relationship selling versus traditional selling [SLIDE 1] Sales happens everywhere and we all are involved in selling. IT staff convincing a department it needs new computers is selling. A job interview is two-way selling. Getting a child to eat vegetables can be a sales situation. Historically, sales has been a face-to-face business. Sales is more than taking orders; it is helping a customer understand the product and feel good about the purchase decision. From the beginning of this course, an exchange has been defined as two or more parties trading in a mutually agreed upon deal. The sale is the final part of the exchange, where usually it is money being exchanged for a product (good or service). The sales environment is created to enhance the exchange. A sale occurs at a specific location, usually either the seller’s, such as a retail store, or via outreach at a buyer’s location, such as in-home sales or in business-to-business (B2B) sales. While the growth of the web has changed the selling environment, even the ecommerce sites add additional information, ways to contact sellers, and other ways to personalize a selling experience. Amazon and other sites’ “If you like X, you may be interested in Y” is an online version of personal selling, adding value past the simple sale to build a relationship with a customer. [SLIDE 2] As previously defined, personal selling is a purchase situation involving a personal, paid-for communication between two people in an attempt to influence each other. While the seller is attempting to get the prospect to purchase, the prospect is working to influence the buyer to provide information, services, and even price adjustments. Personal selling provides a number of advantages: -Detailed explanations or demonstrations can be provided. This is especially important for complex or new products. -Sales messages can be varied according to the motivations and interests of each prospective customer. -It can be directed towards qualified prospects, while other methods have unavoidable waste because some audience members are not part of the target audience. -Costs can be adjusted by varying sales force size to meet immediate demands, while advertising must often be purchased in large amounts. -It is more effective than other forms of promotion in obtaining sales and a satisfied customers. [SLIDE 3] Given the strong advantages of personal sales, why is it not the primary promotion tool used in all situations? Personal selling has some disadvantages: -Personal sales has a much higher cost per contact than other promotional methods. A cost-benefit analysis will show the less efficient methods can be more profitable for many products. -If the sales force is not properly trained and managed, the product message can be inconsistent and inaccurate, creating variable sales, causing lost sales, and creating market frustration with the brand. -Salespeople with short-term quotas can have an incentive to sell unneeded products. That can lead to customer dissatisfaction which can damage the long-term relationship. [SLIDE 4] Given the different advantages of different promotional methods, there are some high-level rules about when personal selling is the best option and when advertising and sales promotion are preferred. Personal selling is more important if: -the product has a high value -it is a custom-made product -there are few customers -the product is technically complex -customers are concentrated Examples: Insurance policies, customer windows, airplane engines. Advertising and sales promotion are more important if: -The product has a low value -It is a standardized product. -There are many customers -The product is easy to understand. -Customers are geographically dispersed. Examples: Soap, produce, cotton t-shirts. [SLIDE 5] Technology has had a major impact on personal selling, primarily in three areas. Personal sales, especially in B2B sales, involves a lot of sales collateral: brochures, case studies, data sheets, and more. Printing takes a lot of lead time, costs significant amounts, and is not environmentally sound. Addressing those concerns, companies have moved to electronic versions of collateral, making it faster to update and send information, saving money, and supporting an environmental message many prospects want to hear. Social media is increasingly used to begin personal relations with customers. B2C companies can go on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social platforms using other promotional tools and begin personal conversations with interested members of markets. In the B2B space, LinkedIn is the primary social media platform and can be used in a similar way. A less-visible advantage of technology is in the sales process itself. Salesforce, SAP, Microsoft, Oracle, and other companies provide software to companies that help attract individuals from initial contact, through the sales process, into customer service, and so help build a long-term, personal relationship with customers. [SLIDE 6] Relationship selling (Consultive selling) is the process of building, maintaining, and enhancing interactions with customers in order to develop long-term satisfaction. It differs from traditional personal selling in a few ways. Traditional personal selling: -sell products -focus on closing sales -limited sales planning -spend most contact time telling customer about product -conduct "product-specific" needs assessment -"Lone wolf" approach to each account -proposals and presentations based on pricing and product features -sales follow-up is short term, focused on product delivery Relationship or consultive selling: -sell advice, assistance, and counsel -focus on improving the customers' bottom line -consider sales planning as top priority -spend most contact time attempting to build a problem-solving environment with the customer -conduct discovery in the full scope of the customer's operations -team approach to the account -proposals and presentations based on profit impact and strategic benefits to the customer -sales follow-up is longer term, focused on long-term relationship enhancement