Personal selling can be defined as follows: Personal selling is
oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the
intention of making a sale. The personal selling may focus
initially on developing a relationship with the potential buyer,
but will always ultimately end with an attempt to "close the sale"
Personal selling is one of the oldest forms of promotion. It
involves the use of a sales force to support a push strategy
(encouraging intermediaries to buy the product) or a pull strategy
(where the role of the sales force may be limited to supporting
retailers and providing after-sales service). What are the main
roles of the sales force? Kotler describes six main activities of a
sales force: (1) Prospecting - trying to find new customers (2)
Communicating - with existing and potential customers about the
product range (3) Selling - contact with the customer, answering
questions and trying to close the sale (4) Servicing - providing
support and service to the customer in the period up to delivery
and also post-sale (5) Information gathering - obtaining
information about the market to feedback into the marketing
planning process (6) Allocating - in times of product shortage, the
sales force may have the power to decide how available stocks are
allocated What are the advantages of using personal selling as a
means of promotion? Personal selling is a face-to-face activity;
customers therefore obtain a relatively high degree of personal
attention The sales message can be customised to meet the needs of
the customer The two-way nature of the sales process allows the
sales team to respond directly and promptly to customer questions
and concerns Personal selling is a good way of getting across large
amounts of technical or other complex product information The
face-to-face sales meeting gives the sales force chance to
demonstrate the product
Frequent meetings between sales force and customer provide an
opportunity to build good long-term relationships Given that there
are many advantages to personal selling, why do more businesses not
maintain a direct sales force? Main disadvantages of using personal
selling The main disadvantage of personal selling is the cost of
employing a sales force. Sales people are expensive. In addition to
the basic pay package, a business needs to provide incentives to
achieve sales (typically this is based on commission and/or bonus
arrangements) and the equipment to make sales calls (car, travel
and subsistence costs, mobile phone etc). In addition, a sales
person can only call on one customer at a time. This is not a
cost-effective way of reaching a large audience.
A Five Stage Personal Selling Process. Stage One -
Prospecting.Prospecting is all about finding prospects, or
potential new customers. Prospects should be 'qualified,' which
means that they need to be assessed to see if there is business
potential, otherwise you could be wasting your time. In order to
qualify your prospects, one needs to:y y y
Plan a sales approach focused upon the needs of the customer.
Determine which products or services best meet their needs. In
order to save time, rank the prospects and leave out those that are
least likely to buy.
Stage Two - Making First Contact.This is the preparation that a
salesperson goes through before they meet with the client, for
example via e-mail, telephone or letter. Preparation will make a
call more focused.y y y y y y y
Make sure that you are on time. Before meeting with the client,
set some objectives for the sales call. What is the purpose of the
call? What outcome is desirable before you leave? Make sure that
you've done some homework before meeting your prospect. This will
show that you are committed in the eyes of your customer. To save
time, send some information before you visit. This will wet the
prospect's appetite. Keep a set of samples at hand, and make sure
that they are in very good condition. Within the first minute or
two, state the purpose of your call so that time with the client is
maximised, and also to demonstrate to the client that your are not
wasting his or her time. Humour is fine, but try to be sincere and
friendly.
Stage Three - The Sales Call (or Sales Presentation).It is best
to be enthusiastic about your product or service. If you are not
excited about it, don't expect your prospect to be excited. Focus
on the real benefits of the product or service to the specific
needs of your client, rather than listing endless lists of
features. Try to be relaxed during the call, and put your client at
ease. Let the client do at least 80% of the talking. This will give
you invaluable information on your client's needs. Remember to ask
plenty of questions. Use open questions, e.g. TED's, and closed
questions i.e. questions that will only give the answer 'yes' or
the answer 'no.' This way you can dictate the direction of the
conversation. Never be too afraid to ask for the business straight
off.
Stage Four - Objection Handling.Objection handling is the way in
which salespeople tackle obstacles put in their way by clients.
Some objections may prove too difficult to handle, and sometimes
the client may just take a dislike to you (aka the hidden
objection). Here are some approaches for overcoming objections:y
y
y y
y
Firstly, try to anticipate them before they arise. 'Yes but'
technique allows you to accept the objection and then to divert it.
For example, a client may say that they do not like a particular
colour, to which the salesperson counters 'Yes but X is also
available in many other colours.' Ask 'why' the client feels the
way that they do. 'Restate' the objection, and put it back into the
client's lap. For example, the client may say, 'I don't like the
taste of X,' to which the salesperson responds, 'You don't like the
taste of X,' generating the response 'since I do not like garlic'
from the client. The salesperson could suggest that X is no longer
made with garlic to meet the client's needs. The sales person could
also tactfully and respectfully contradict the client.
Stage Five - Closing the Sale.This is a very important stage.
Often salespeople will leave without ever successfully closing a
deal. Therefore it is vital to learn the skills of closing.y y
Just ask for the business! - 'Please may I take an order?' This
really works well. Look for buying signals (i.e. body language or
comments made by the client that they want to place an order). For
example, asking about availability, asking for details such as
discounts, or asking for you to go over something again to
clarify.
y y
y
Just stop talking, and let the client say 'yes.' Again, this
really works. The 'summary close' allows the salesperson to
summarise everything that the client needs, based upon the
discussions during the call. For example, 'You need product X in
blue, by Friday, packaged accordingly, and delivered to your wife's
office.' Then ask for the order. The 'alternative close' does not
give the client the opportunity to say no, but forces them towards
a yes. For example 'Do you want product X in blue or red?' Cheeky,
but effective.
So this is the Five Stage Personal Selling Process. Now have a
go at it yourself by completing the lesson.
Personal selling - Personal presentation by the firms sales
force for the purpose of making sales and building customer
relationships. Personal selling is paid personal communication that
attempts to inform customers and persuade them to purchase products
or services.
Undoubtedly by now you've figured out that marketing enables
both individuals and organizations to sell products and services to
other people to help them satisfy their needs and wants. At some
point in the selling process, personal selling usually becomes
involved. It is the personal selling process that allows marketers
the greatest freedom to adjust a message to satisfy customers'
information needs. Personal selling allows the marketer or seller
to communicate directly with the prospect or customer and listen to
his or her concerns, answer specific questions, provide additional
information, inform, persuade, and possibly even recommend other
products or services. The personal selling process consists of the
following steps: 1) Prospecting Prospecting refers to identifying
and developing a list of potential clients. Sales people can seek
the names of prospects from a variety of sources including trade
shows, commercially-available databases or mail lists, company
sales records and in-house databases, website registrations, public
records, referrals, directories and a wide variety of other
sources. Prospecting activities should be structured so that they
identify only potential clients who fit the profile and are able,
willing and authorized to buy the product or service. This activity
is greatly enhanced today using websites with specially-coded pages
optimized with key words so that prospects may easily find you when
they search the web for certain key words related to your offering.
Once prospecting is underway, it then is up to the sales
professional to qualify those prospects to further identify likely
customers and screen out poor leads. Modern websites can go along
way in not only identifying potential prospects but also starting
this qualification process. 2) Pre-approach Before engaging in the
actual personal selling process, sales professionals first analyze
all the information they have available to them about a prospect to
understand as much about the prospect as possible. During the
Pre-approach phase of the personal selling process, sales
professionals try to understand the prospect's current needs,
current use of brands and feelings about all available brands, as
well as identify key decision makers, review account histories (if
any), assess product needs, plan/create a sales presentation to
address the identified and likely concerns of the prospect, and set
call objectives. The sales professional also develops a preliminary
overall strategy for the sales process during this phase, keeping
in mind that the strategy may have to be refined as he or she
learns more about the prospect. 3) Approach The approach is the
actual contact the sales professional has with the prospect. This
is the point of the selling process where the sales professional
meets and greets the prospect,
provides an introduction, establishes rapport that sets the
foundation of the relationship, and asks open-ended questions to
learn more about the prospect and his or her needs. 4) Making the
Presentation During the presentation portion of the selling
process, the sales professional tells that product "story" in a way
that speaks directly to the identified needs and wants of the
prospect. A highly customized presentation is the key component of
this step. At this point in the process, prospects are often
allowed to hold and/or inspect the product and the sales
professional may also actually demonstrate the product. Audio
visual presentations and/or slide presentations may be incorporated
at this stage and this is usually when sales brochures or booklets
are presented to the prospect. Sales professionals should strive to
let the prospect do most of the talking during the presentation and
address the needs of the prospect as fully as possible by showing
that he or she truly understands and cares about the needs of the
prospect. 5) Overcoming Objections Professional sales people seek
out prospects' objections in order to try to address and overcome
them. When prospects offer objections, it often signals that they
need and want to hear more in order to make a fully-informed
decision. If objections are not uncovered and identified, then
sales professionals cannot effectively manage them. Uncovering
objections, asking clarifying questions, and overcoming objections
is a critical part of training for professional sellers and is a
skill area that must be continually developed because there will
always be objections. Trust me when I tell you that as soon as a
sales professional finds a way to successfully handle "all" his or
her prospects' objections, some prospect will find a new,
unanticipated objection-- if for no other reason than to test the
mettle of the sales person. 6) Closing the Sale Although
technically "closing" a sale happens when products or services are
delivered to the customer's satisfaction and payment is received,
for the purposes of our discussion I will define closing as asking
for the order and adequately addressing any final objections or
obstacles. There are many closing techniques as well as many ways
to ask trial closing questions. A trail question might take the
form of, "Now that I've addressed your concerns, what other
questions do you have that might impact your decision to purchase?"
Closing does not always mean that the sales professional literally
asks for the order, it could be asking the prospect how many they
would like, what color they would prefer, when they would like to
take delivery, etc. Too many sales professions are either weak or
too aggressive when it comes to closing. If you are closing a sale,
be sure to ask for the order. If the prospect gives an answer other
than "yes", it may be a good opportunity to identify new objections
and continue selling. 7) Follow-up
Follow-up is an often overlooked but important part of the
selling process. After an order is received, it is in the best
interest of everyone involved for the sales person to follow-up
with the prospect to make sure the product was received in the
proper condition, at the right time, installed properly, proper
training delivered, and that the entire process was acceptable to
the customer. This is a critical step in creating customer
satisfaction and building long-term relationships with customers.
If the customer experienced any problems whatsoever, the sales
professional can intervene and become a customer advocate to ensure
100% satisfaction. Diligent follow-up can also lead to uncovering
new needs, additional purchases, and also referrals and
testimonials which can be used as sales tools. Sales Management:
Managing the sales process is typically the job of the Sales
Manager. Good sales managers usually exhibit the characteristics
of: organization, a good personal sales record, enthusiasm,
ambition, product knowledge, trustworthiness, mentoring skills, and
somebody who is respected by others. While an in-depth discussion
of sales management is beyond the scope of this crash-course, I'll
mention one tool often used by sales managers to manage the sales
process. This is called the Sales Funnel or Sales Pipeline Report.
The Sales Funnel (or Sales Pipeline) A sales funnel report presents
a "snapshot" of your sales function at any given point in time. For
conceptual purposes, the sales process is often compared to a
funnel where new leads coming into the system (i.e. prospects) are
initially placed into the top of the funnel (the widest part) and
then worked through the system by informing, persuading, overcoming
objections, providing information, demonstrating, providing free
samples, etc., etc. until at the narrow part of the funnel, an
order is placed and a sales is closed when payment from the
customer is received. The funnel framework works fairly well
because for all new leads that are generated by marketing, there is
a closing rate that represents the sales that ultimately result.
The number of resulting sales is usually significantly less than
the number of total leads generated hence it is useful to think
that as leads work their way further down the funnel there will be
less and less of them until they come out the narrow end of the
funnel as sales.
One important thing to note is that organizations define each
phase in the sales process (or, part of the funnel) differently.
Each step working through the funnel should have clearly defined
criteria that go along with it so at each part of the funnel, there
is specific knowledge about all the leads at that stage. In other
words, leads become more and more qualified as they work their way
through the funnel and at each step, you will know exactly what
that specific level of qualification is. Another important thing to
keep in mind is that the funnel is a great way to track and
forecast sales, as well as, gauge marketing activities. By running
a Sales Funnel Report, the sales manager can visually see how many
leads are at each step, if there are any "bottlenecks", or if there
are an insufficient number of leads at any stage. Armed with that
knowledge, then the sales manager may instruct his or her sales
force where they should focus more attention to keep sales at the
desired level. He or she can then also work closely with the
marketing manager to ensure they are generating enough leads to hit
sales goals, whether the leads are of high enough quality, or what
further needs to be done to hit sales goals. In short, the funnel
can clearly point out what adjustments need to be made within the
sales function to hit sales goals. That might mean that marketing
activities need to be adjusted, that addition sales training is
needed, or that sales personnel need to focus their efforts and
activities on certain parts of the sales pipeline to keep the
entire process on balance and running smoothly. The sales funnel
also helps sales and marketing work closely together to meet
organizational sales objectives. It is a wonderful management tool.
Sales tips:
I think success in sales depends upon some basics. I can humbly
share a few pointers that I think have allowed me to enjoy success
in sales: 1) Be sincere with people. Too many sales people act in a
manner that seems artificial or they only feign interest in their
prospects' problems and concerns. People are smart and see right
through such insincerity. If you are not sincere and honest with
everyone you meet then you should not be in sales. 2) Sell products
or services that you believe in and that have customers you
gravitate toward naturally or that you inherently like and want to
be around and learn more about. If you do not have a passion for
the product and the customers then you will not be happy--or very
successful. 3) It is vitally important to constantly hone your
sales and communications skills. Continuous growth and training in
formal professional selling techniques is also very important. Take
training classes, listen to professional development audio podcasts
and seminars, read all the professional development material you
can get your hands on, and start a program of self-study and
development in sales today if you haven't already. 4) First listen
to your customer, understand his or her wants and needs, and only
then try to determine whether or not you can deliver the product or
services to meet those wants and needs. If you approach a prospect
with a solution before understanding the problem you are likely to
be wrong about the solution. 5) The best sales people ask a lot of
questions and genuinely listen to the answers before speaking
again. 6) Your prospects and customers are all different so you
should treat them differently. 7) The best sales people listen much
more than they talk. 8) Find out what your prospects want and then
give it to them. 9) If you cannot give your prospects what they
want tell them so and help them find what they are looking for
elsewhere...or at least point them in the right direction. You'll
help them and learn more about your own market in the process. 10)
If you think that you cannot make it in sales as a profession then
you probably should not even try
Personal Selling: How to Improve Personal Sellingy y
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Lesson 22
Personal SellingWhen you want to buy something you usually go to
a concerned shop and purchase it from there. But, sometimes you
find people bring certain goods or products and make them available
to you at your place. For example, you find persons selling
vegetables or rice by carrying the same in a cart and moving from
door to door to sell. You must have noticed persons selling sarees,
carpets, electronic items, etc. in a similar fashion. While
traveling in buses or local trains you must also have seen people
selling pens, toys, books, combs, etc. inside the bus or train. In
cities also persons move from door to door to sell different
products like water purifiers, air purifiers, detergents, mosquito
repellents, etc. Dont you think these are different methods of
selling goods unlike keeping them in a shop and sell? In this
lesson let us learn more about these types of selling.
22.1 ObjectivesAfter studying this lesson, you will be able to:
State the meaning of personal selling; explain the essential
elements of personal selling; describe the importance of personal
selling; and identify the qualities of a successful salesman.
22.2 Meaning of Personal SellingThink about the persons who come
to you to sell goods and commodities. What do they do?Business
Studies
100They show certain variety of goods to you, try to explain the
features of the products, if required demonstrate the functioning
of the items, inform you about the price concession available,
persuade you to buy the product and also in some cases promises you
to bring certain items of your choice in future. So not only do
they inform and explain to you about the product but also persuade
you to buy those items and want you to buy from them in future
also. On the other hand, you also gather more information about the
product, see and handle it personally to judge it better. The
person who sells goods to you in this way is called a salesman and
the technique of selling is known as personal selling or
salesmanship. Thus, personal selling refers to the presentation of
goods before the potential buyers and persuading them to purchase
it. It involves face-to-face interaction and physical verification
of the goods to be purchased. The objective is not only just
to sell the product to a person but also to make him/her a
permanent customer. You can also find personal selling in some
shops where salesmen are employed by the shopkeeper to use this
technique. For example, you can find such salesmen in jewellery
stores, consumer goods stores, saree houses, etc. In case of some
services, we also find personal selling used in shops. For example,
we find people going to the same barbershop to cut their hair and
get a massage from a specific barber. This shows that in case of
personal selling the seller usually come to know about the taster
and preferences of the customer and thus attracts him to buy the
goods or services. Personal selling refers to the presentation of
goods and services before the customers and convincing or
persuading them to buy the products or services. After having an
idea about personal selling, let us know about some of the
essential elements of personal selling.
22.3 Essential elements of Personal SellingPersonal selling
consists of the following elements: i. Face-to-Face interaction:
Personal selling involves a salesmen having face-to-face
interaction with the prospective buyers.Personal Selling
101ii. Persuasion: Personal selling requires persuasion on the
part of the seller to the prospective customers to buy the product.
So a salesman must have the ability to convince the customers so
that an interest may be created in the mind of the customers to use
that product. iii. Flexibility: The approach of personal selling is
always flexible. Sometimes salesman may explain the features and
benefits of the product, sometimes give demonstration of the use of
product and also faces number of queries from the customers.
Looking into the situation and interest of the customers, the
approach of the salesman is decided instantly. iv. Promotion of
sales: The ultimate objective of personal selling is to promote
sales by convincing more and more customers to use the product. v.
Supply of Information: Personal selling provides various
information to the customers regarding availability of the product,
special features, uses and utility of the products. So it is an
educative process. vi. Mutual Benefit: It is a two-way process.
Both seller and buyer derive benefit from it. While customers feel
satisfied with the goods, the seller enjoys the profits.
Intext Questions 22.1Fill in the blanks with appropriate words.
i Personal selling involves persuading _________ to buy the goods
ii. The ultimate objective of personal selling is ________. iii.
The most important element of personal selling is ________
interaction. iv. Supply of information to customers makes personal
selling an ______ process.
____________________________________________________________________________
22.4 Importance of Personal SellingPersonal Selling is extremely
important as it helps in increasing sales. But there are other
features as well which make it important. Let us discuss the
importance of personal selling from the point
of view of manufactures as well as consumers. From manufacturers
point of view i. It creates demand for products both new as well as
existing ones. ii. It creates new customers and, thus help in
expanding the market for the product. iii. It leads to product
improvement. While selling personally the seller gets acquainted
with the choice and demands of customers and makes suggestions
accordingly to the manufacturer. From customers point of view i.
Personal selling provides an opportunity to the consumers to know
about new products introduced in the market. Thus, it informs and
educates the consumers about new products. ii. It is because of
personal selling that customers come to know about the use of new
productsBusiness Studies
102in the market. The sellers demonstrate the product before the
prospective buyers and explain the use and utility of the products.
iii. Personal selling also guides customers in selecting goods best
suited to their requirements and tastes as it involves face-to-face
communication. iv. Personal selling gives an opportunity to the
customers to put forward their complaints and difficulties in using
the product and get the solution immediately.
Intext Questions 22.2Which of the following statements are true
and which are false? i. Personal selling helps manufacturers to
improve their products based on suggestions made by sellers. ii.
Customers do not have immediate solution of their problems
regarding a product from the salesman. iii. Personal selling leads
to creation of new customers only for the existing products. iv.
Better use of product is not the result of personal selling. v.
Customers can not make complaint to the salesman about a product.
_________________________________________________________________________
22.5 Qualities of salesperson engaged in Personal SellingIt is
very difficult to enlist the qualities of people engaged in
personal selling. The quality will vary from time to time and from
situation to situation. It also depends upon the customers demand
and nature of the product. Again a salesman may be effective in one
situation but may fail in another situation. So in real life
certain qualities may be suitable for a particular line of product
and may be irrelevant in any other case. However, there are certain
common qualities, which every salesman should possess in order to
become successful in their life. These qualities are listed below.
i. Physical Quality ii. Mental Quality iii. Integrity of character
iv. Knowledge of the product and the company v. Good behaviour vi.
Ability to persuade Now let us discuss the above qualities in
detail. i. Physical quality: A salesman should have a good
appearance and an impressive personality. He should also have a
sound health.
Personal Selling
103ii. Mental quality: A good salesman should posses certain
mental qualities like imagination, initiative, self-confidence,
sharp memory, alertness etc. He should be able to understand the
needs and preferences of customers. iii. Integrity of character: A
good salesman should posses the qualities of honesty and integrity.
He is to gain the confidence of the customers. He should be able to
understand their needs and guide them how to satisfy those needs.
His employer too should have faith in him. A salesman should be
loyal both to the employer and to the customers. iv. Knowledge of
the product and the company: A salesman should have full knowledge
of the product and the company he is representing. He should be
able to explain each and every aspect of the product i.e. its
qualities, how to use it, what precautions to be taken, etc. He
should be able to explain the business and service record of the
company. He should also have knowledge of products of rival
companies. So that he can put across the superiority of his own
products. v. Good behaviour : A salesman should be co-operative and
courteous. Good behaviour enables one to win the confidence of the
customers. He should not feel irritated if the buyer puts up many
questions even if the questions are irrelevant. It is also not
necessary that the person he is trying to convince buys the
product. The salesman has to remain and courteous in every case.
vi. Ability to persuade: A good salesman should be good in
conversation so that he can engage the person he is attending in
conversation. He should be able to convince him and create the
desire in his mind to posses the commodity.
Intext Questions 22.3State whether the following statement are
true and which are false: (i) Knowledge of product is not necessary
to make one a good salesman. (ii) A good salesman should have
imagination, initiative and alertness. (iii) It is not necessary
for a good salesman that he must be accepted by the society. (iv) A
good salesman should be loyal to the consumer but not to the
employer. (v) Impressive voice, good appearance and sound health
has no place in qualities of a good salesman.
_________________________________________________________________________
22.6 What You Have Learntselling refers to the presentation of
goods and services and convincing and persuading potential
customers to buy the product or service. Essential elements of
personal selling :Business StudiesPersonal
104o Face-to-face interaction; o Persuasion; o Flexibility; o
Promotion of sales; o Supply of information; and o Mutual benefits
Personal selling in important both from the customers and
manufacturers point of view. Qualities that can make a sales person
more effective are many. These include physical and
mental qualities, integrity of character, knowledge of the
product and the company, good behaviour and ability to persuade the
customers.
22.7 Terminal Exercise1. What is meant by personal selling? 2.
State the essential elements of personal selling. 3. Describe the
importance of personal selling form the point of customers. 4.
Explain the importance of personal selling from the point of view
of manufacturers. 5. State the physical and mental qualities of
sales persons engaged in personal selling. 6. State the social
qualities of sales persons engaged in personal selling. 7. What are
the occupational qualities of salespersons engaged in personal
selling? 8. Define personal selling. Explain the importance of
personal selling from the point of view of customers and
manufacturers. 9. What is meant by personal selling? Explain the
essential elements of personal selling. 10. Do you think that to be
a successful salesperson only personal and mental qualities are
sufficient? Give reasons in support of your answer. 11. Describe
the different qualities of sales persons engaged in personal
selling. 12. A salesman need not possess any quality if the product
is good. Do you agree with the statement? Give reason.
22.7 Key to Intext Questions22.1 (i) customers; (ii) to promote
sell of products, (iii) face-to-face; (iv) educative. 22.2 (i)
True; (ii) False; (iii) False; (iv) False; (v) False 22.3 (i)
False; (ii) True; (iii) False; (iv) False; (v) False
Activity For YouWhile buying any goods and services, carefully
notice the behaviour of the salespersons and note down the various
qualities he/s
he possss.
Personal selling occurs where an individual salesperson sells a
product, service or solution to a client. Salespeople match the
benefits of their offering to the specific needs of a client.
Today, personal selling involves the development of longstanding
client relationships. In comparison to other marketing
communications tools such as advertising, personal selling tends
to:
Personal selling can be defined as follows: Personal selling is
oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the
intention of making a sale. The personal selling may focus
initially on developing a relationship with the potential buyer,
but will always ultimately end with an attempt to close the sale
Personal selling is one of the oldest forms of promotion. It
involves the use of a sales force to support a push strategy
(encouraging intermediaries to buy the product) or a pull strategy
(where the role of the sales force may be limited to supporting
retailers and providing after-sales service). What are the main
roles of the sales force? Kotler describes six main activities of a
sales force: (1) Prospecting trying to find new customers with
existing and potential customers about the product
(2) Communicating range
(3) Selling contact with the customer, answering questions and
trying to close the sale (4) Servicing providing support and
service to the customer in the period up to delivery and also
post-sale (5) Information gathering obtaining information about the
market to feedback into the marketing planning process (6)
Allocating in times of product shortage, the sales force may have
the power to decide how available stocks are allocated What are the
advantages of using personal selling as a means of promotion?
Personal selling is a face-to-face activity; customers therefore
obtain a relatively high degree of personal attention The sales
message can be customised to meet the needs of the customer
The two-way nature of the sales process allows the sales team to
respond directly and promptly to customer questions and concerns
Personal selling is a good way of getting across large amounts of
technical or other complex product information The face-to-face
sales meeting gives the sales force chance to demonstrate the
product Frequent meetings between sales force and customer provide
an opportunity to build good long-term relationships Given that
there are many advantages to personal selling, why do more
businesses not maintain a direct sales force? Main disadvantages of
using personal selling The main disadvantage of personal selling is
the cost of employing a sales force. Sales people are expensive. In
addition to the basic pay package, a business needs to provide
incentives to achieve sales (typically this is based on commission
and/or bonus arrangements) and the equipment to make sales calls
(car, travel and subsistence costs, mobile phone etc). In addition,
a sales person can only call on one customer at a time. This is not
a cost-effective way of reaching a large audience
Sales tips: I think success in sales depends upon some basics. I
can humbly share a few pointers that I think have allowed me to
enjoy success in sales: 1) Be sincere with people. Too many sales
people act in a manner that seems artificial or they only feign
interest in their prospects' problems and concerns. People are
smart and see right through such insincerity. If you are not
sincere and honest with everyone you meet then you should not be in
sales. 2) Sell products or services that you believe in and that
have customers you gravitate toward naturally or that you
inherently like and want to be around and learn more about. If you
do not have a passion for the
product and the customers then you will not be happy--or very
successful. 3) It is vitally important to constantly hone your
sales and communications skills. Continuous growth and training in
formal professional selling techniques is also very important. Take
training classes, listen to professional development audio podcasts
and seminars, read all the professional development material you
can get your hands on, and start a program of self-study and
development in sales today if you haven't already. 4) First listen
to your customer, understand his or her wants and needs, and only
then try to determine whether or not you can deliver the product or
services to meet those wants and needs. If you approach a prospect
with a solution before understanding the problem you are likely to
be wrong about the solution. 5) The best sales people ask a lot of
questions and genuinely listen to the answers before speaking
again. 6) Your prospects and customers are all different so you
should treat them differently. 7) The best sales people listen much
more than they talk. 8) Find out what your prospects want and then
give it to them. 9) If you cannot give your prospects what they
want tell them so and help them find what they are looking for
elsewhere...or at least point them in the right direction. You'll
help them and learn more about your own market in the process. 10)
If you think that you cannot make it in sales as a profession then
you probably should not even try.
