BBA 3201, Principles of Marketing 1

UNIT VI STUDY GUIDE

Promotion and Customer Service

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VI Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of the promotion methods a marketing manager can use in strategy planning.

2. Define the integrated marketing communications concept and why firms use a blend of different promotion methods.

3. Recognize the importance of promotion objectives. 4. Explain how direct- response promotion is helping marketers

develop more targeted promotion blends. 5. Discuss how customer- initiated interactive communication is

different. 6. Describe promotion budget. 7. Explain the importance and nature of personal selling. 8. Describe the three basic sales tasks and what the various kinds

of salespeople can be expected to do. 9. Discuss why customer service presents different challenges

than other personal selling tasks. 10. Explain the different ways sales managers can organize

salespeople so that personal selling jobs are handled effectively. 11. Describe how sales technology affects the way sales tasks are

performed. 12. Identify what the sales manager must do, including selecting,

training, organizing, and compensating salespeople to carry out the personal selling job.

Unit Lesson

In Unit V, we introduced the product life-cycle concept and showed how life cycles affect marketing strategy planning. In this unit, we discuss the promotion methods, the importance of promotion objectives, advantages and disadvantages associated with the promotion methods, and finally the importance of customer service. Promotion is an important part of any marketing mix. Most consumers and intermediate customers can choose from among many products. To be successful, a producer must not only offer a good product at a reasonable price, but also inform potential customers about the product and where they can buy it. Further, producers must tell wholesalers and retailers in the channel about their product and marketing mix. These intermediaries, in turn, must use promotion to reach their customers. The promotion blend must fit with the rest of the marketing mix and the target market. In this unit, we introduce different promotion methods and we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method. We also discuss the integrated marketing communications concept and explain why most firms use a blend of

Reading Assignment Chapter 13: Promotion – Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communications Chapter 14: Personal Selling and Personal Service

Supplemental Reading

Exhibit 13 Exhibit 14

Learning Activities (Non-Graded) See information below.

Key Terms

1. Adoption curve 2. Advertising 3. Advertising managers 4. AIDA model 5. Basic sales tasks 6. Close 7. Consultative selling

approach 8. Customer service reps 9. Decoding

10. Early adopters 11. Encoding 12. Innovators 13. Integrated Marketing

Communications (IMC)

14. Laggards

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different promotion methods. While the overall promotion objective is to affect buying behavior, the basic promotion objectives are informing, persuading, and reminding. These objectives help guide the marketing manager’s decisions about the promotion blend. We also discuss the importance and nature of personal selling. Selling is much more than just getting rid of the product. In fact, a salesperson that is not given strategy guidelines may have to become the strategy planner for the market he or she serves. Ideally, the sales manager and marketing manager work together to set some strategy guidelines that include: the kind and number of salespeople needed, what sales technology support will be provided, the kind of sales presentation desired, and selection, training, and motivation approaches. We discuss the three basic sales tasks: (1) order-getting, (2) order- taking, and (3) supporting. Most sales jobs combine at least two of these three tasks. We also consider the role of customer service and its importance to a firm and its customers. Once a firm specifies the important tasks, it can decide on the structure of its sales organization and the number of salespeople it needs. The nature of the job and the level and method of compensation also depends on the blend of these tasks. Firms should develop a job description for each sales job. This, in turn, provides guidelines for selecting, training, and compensating salespeople. Once the marketing manager agrees to the basic plan and sets the budget, the sales manager must implement the plan, including directing and controlling the sales force. This includes assigning sales territories and controlling performance. A sales manager is deeply involved with the basic management tasks of planning and control — as well as ongoing implementation of the personal selling effort. The consultative selling approach seems best for higher-level sales jobs. In these kinds of jobs, personal selling is achieving a new, professional status because of the competence and level of personal responsibility required of the salesperson. An effective salesperson is a specialist who is creative, industrious, persuasive, knowledgeable, highly trained, and therefore able to help the buyer. This type of salesperson always has been, and probably always will be, in short supply. The demand for high-level salespeople is growing.

Learning Activities (Non-Graded) Article Review For this assignment, choose a peer-reviewed article to review. Search for an article related to one of the topics discussed in Unit VI. Use the databases within the CSU Online Library or use another source that contains peer-reviewed articles. The purpose of this assignment is for you to practice reviewing articles related to the field. The authors of these articles are researchers and professionals in the field. Use these skills to contribute to research papers and other scholarly writing. As you read the articles, consider the following questions: How could the topic of this article apply to your personal or professional life? How could it apply to an organization you have observed? The article you choose must meet the following requirements:

1. Peer reviewed

2. Related to the concepts within this course

3. At least five pages

15. Major accounts sales force

16. Mass selling 17. Missionary

salespeople 18. Order getters 19. Order takers 20. Personal selling 21. Primary demand 22. Promotion 23. Prospecting 24. Public relations 25. Publicity 26. Pulling 27. Pushing 28. Sales managers 29. Sales presentation 30. Sales promotion 31. Sales promotion

managers 32. Sales quota 33. Sales territory 34. Selective demand 35. Selling formula

approach 36. Supporting

salespeople 37. Task method 38. Team selling 39. Technical specialists 40. Telemarketing

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The writing you submit must meet the following requirements: 1. At least two pages

2. Identify the main topic/question

3. Who is the author’s intended audience?

4. Summarize the article for page one

5. Think critically about the article and how it applies to this course for

page two

Format your article review using APA Style. Use your own words and include citations for other articles as needed to avoid plagiarism. This is a non-graded activity, so you do not have to submit it.