Marketing I. Alejandra Oliver Rodriguez.

3º ADEb, 2021-22

CHAPTER 16. Personal Selling and Sales Promotion.

1. Personal Selling
Nature of Personal Selling.
Often, salespeople are not well seen by others. Nowadays, most salespeople are well – educated, well
– trained, and they have one of the best – paid and most demanded jobs. Is key for the organization’s
survival as personal selling can be more effective than advertising, especially in complex selling
situations.

The role of the sales force.

The tasks performed by salespeople are:
• Learn about customer needs.
• Answer objections.
• Close sales.
• Present solutions that add value to customers.
• Negotiate prices and terms.
• Build customer relationship.

Salespeople link the company with its customers as they represent the company to the customers, and
vice versa. The sales department should work closely with the other departments.

2. Managing the Sales Force.

Designing sales force structure.

Outside sales force, consists of traveling to meet customers outside the organization. Instead, the inside
sales force consists of staying in the office where they use the telephone and internet or receive customers.
It is much cheaper, it allows to reach more customers, and it provides higher access to more information
about the product and customer.

Apart from these two sales forces, we can also talk about the team selling, which uses a team of people
from the same or different departments, and it is useful for complex products and important customers.

Recruiting and training salespeople.

A sales force turnover is costly for the organization, is in charged of hiring and training new
salespeople. It can also disrupt customer relationships. It is very important to recruit excellent salespeople
to maximize the sales force effectiveness and efficiency. Here are some important traits of a salesperson:
Marketing I. Alejandra Oliver Rodriguez.
3º ADEb, 2021-22

• Intrinsic motivation ⇒ Selling is tough, and rejection is a constant.

• Disciplined work style ⇒ Spend most of the time alone, away from the office and with low
supervision.
• Knowing when to close a sale ⇒ Be pragmatic.
• Ability to build relationships with customers.
• Being ethical ⇒ Selling is a long – term commitment, reputation is one’s greatest asset.
• Good communication skills.
• Excellent listener ⇒ Paying attention to the customer needs is essential.
• Know your own products and company ⇒ Be sure that you know perfectly about what you are
selling.

Supervising and motivating salespeople.

Normally, sales activities are often done alone, sales peoples need to be supervised. Selling also
involves a lot of frustration and solitude, sales peoples need to be motivated with: monetary compensation
to feel that their efforts are being rewarded; organizational climate to feel that they are supported by the
management, and doing sales meetings to break the routine and identify the group.

Compensating salespeople.
Fixed amounts provide the safeness of the stable income. Whereas a variable amount motivates people
for a particular action such as selling, acquiring new customers, and training new salespersons. The sale
manager is in charged of deciding how to balance them, it uses a long – term perspective.

3. The Personal Selling Process.

It has the following characteristics:
Identifying qualified potential customers to whom our offerings are
Prospecting & qualifying
appealing.
Pre approach Prepare the approaching by learning as much as possible about the customer.
Approach Meeting the customer for the first time
Communicating the value offered
Presentation & demonstration
Adjust to the customer’s language, and listen
Clarify the customer objectives
Handling objections
A great opportunity for the seller.
Closing The salesperson asks the customer for an order.
After the sale, contact the customer to make sure everything is ok, and show
Follow – up
your care.
New sale One sale is finished only when the customer buys again
Marketing I. Alejandra Oliver Rodriguez.
3º ADEb, 2021-22

4. Sales Promotion.
We call sales promotion to the short – term incentives to encourage the purchase of a product. Whereas
advertising offers reasons to buy a product, sales promotion offers reasons to BUY IT NOW. Typically,
is used together with other tools such as advertising, personal selling, and price discounts.

As it has an immediate effect, it becomes very popular, it accounts 60% of the marketing budget in
FMCG. It has a rapid growth due to the increasing competition and brand proliferation, the declining
efficiency of advertising, and the price – sensitive and deal oriented consumers have become.

Consumer promotions.
Its principal aim is to increase short – term customer buying. In this case, these sales promotion should
be visual, easy, and appealing. The following table shows the principal methods of consumer promotions:

Offer a trail of a product.

Sampling (+) The most effective way to introduce a new product.
(−) Expensive.
Coupons Certificates that allow buyer to save money when buying a product.
Rebates The consumer has to contact the company/ store to obtain the saving after the purchase.
Cents – Off The price discount is marked directly in the price tag. Is the most effective.
Displays and demonstrations at the point of sale.
Point – of – Incentivize purchasing by calling the attention to the product.
purchase (+) Very visual.
(−) Expensive & complex logistics.
Different goods offered to incentivize buying.
Premiums (+) Visual & somehow effective.
(−) Complex logistics & frequently robbed.
Consumers have the chance to win something.
Contests
(−) Lack of trust & people want immediate rewards.

Trade promotions.
Its principal aim is to persuade resellers to carry new items, buy, push our products to cutomers, and
give additional shelf space. It accounts for the great majority of the sales promotions paid by
manufactures. Its retailers and wholesalers typically want money and get rid of excess inventory. In this
case, manufactures should focus on value creation not on discounts.
Marketing I. Alejandra Oliver Rodriguez.
3º ADEb, 2021-22

Business promotions.
It occurs in B2B, and its principal aim is to generate business leads, stimulate purchases, reward
customers, and motivate salespeople. It uses many of the same tools as in customer and trade promotions.

Conventions and trade shows are used for B2B products which are technically more complex and that
require larger investment and commitment. This conventions and trade shows allow sellers to show their
products in detail, clarify doubts, and discuss deals. It also facilitates buyers to access to many suppliers
and understand the product.

CHAPTER 17. Direct, Online, Social Media, & Mobile Marketing.

1. Direct Marketing.
Is a form of communication in which the organization contacts directly current/ potential customers to
(a) obtain an immediate response, and (b) build a lasting relationship. It can also work as a distribution
tool.

Forms of Direct Marketing

Traditional Direct Marketing Digital Direct Marketing

Catalog Direct – mail Telemarketing Website E – mail

Direct marketing success starts with a good management of the client’s data base, not a mere phone
book. It allows a stronger interaction with customers, only if it is well executed. Direct marketing has
developed a bad reputation over the years for bombing people with junk mail, spam, and annoying calls.
This marketing method is much more affordable and can be important for small companies.

Direct Marketing Benefits:

Buyers Sellers
• Convenience. • Access to more customers.
• Easy. • Cheaper.
• Private. • Flexible and tailored communication and
• Larger assortment. products offered to the specific needs of
• More information. narrow segments or even individual
• Customised communication. customers.
• Sense of brand engagement, • Learn more about the customer.
• Faster, sometimes even in real – time.
Marketing I. Alejandra Oliver Rodriguez.
3º ADEb, 2021-22

2. Traditional Direct Marketing Forms.

Direct – mail ⇒ Consists of sending a letter to a particular address to announce an offer inform about
a new product or remind. Allows for high target market selectivity, customization, and measurement of
results. Despite losing ground to digital forms, its tangibility provides a greater sense of realness,
credibility, and allows to send samples

Catalog Marketing ⇒ A print, video, or digital document with the several products offered by a
company, typically in an attractive presentation. It allows to reach a large number of consumers –
sometimes geographically dispersed – and with a low investment.

Telemarketing ⇒ Using the phone to contact current or potential customers to inform about a product
and/or make them buy it. It allows to interact with customers, and as so, understand better their needs in
order to adjust the offer in an effective way. Low cost. It can be considered annoying and provoke rejection
by the customer

3. Marketing, Internet, & the Digital Age.

Important trends.
Nowadays, most companies are on the web. Almost everyone uses smartphones and the internet in
their daily lives. ⇒ There is an exponential growth of digital direct marketing, which uses the new digital
technologies as a channel of communication and/ or distribution.

4. Digital Direct Marketing Forms.

Marketing Websites ⇒ Organization’s own website. Its aim consists in informing customers about
the company products, and to move them closer to purchasing.

Branded Community Websites ⇒ Sites that aim not to sell the organization’s products, but to present
brand content that engages customers and creates a customer community around a brand.

Online Advertising ⇒ Ads that appear while consumers are browsing online. Important as consumers
spend more and more time online. – Online Display ads: Ads shown on the screen, they are often related
to the information being viewed. – Search-related ads: Ads and links that appear in a good position when
looking for some particular product/company in a search engine.

Email Marketing ⇒ Sending personalized emails with marketing content. Can be very effective if
well done. High ROI due to its very low cost. Dark side: spam.
Marketing I. Alejandra Oliver Rodriguez.
3º ADEb, 2021-22

Online Videos ⇒ Posting digital video content on brand websites or social media platforms such as
YouTube and Facebook. The goal is to engage customers in such a high level that they start sharing the
video and it becomes viral.

Blogs and Online Forums ⇒ Companies try to influence consumers by creating and participating in
blogs and forums. Blogs and forums have the advantage that are usually of a specific topic (which allows
to reach many people with similar needs) and led by experts (whose opinions are respected).

Social Media ⇒ Using online communities (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) to reach consumers.
It allows to target narrowly consumers, with engaging content, and immediately. By checking what
consumers post, the organization can know their needs. Low-cost medium. Like in blogs and forums, it
is essentially controlled by consumers.

Mobile Marketing ⇒ Marketing messages, promotions and other content delivered through mobile
devices. Allows to access the majority of the population, and to deliver personalized communications and
offers. Because consumers carry their smartphones with them constantly, organizations can deliver the
proper information at the proper time and location.

5. Public Policy Issues in Direct Marketing.

Direct marketing can: 1) Be intrusive, respecting customer daily activities; 2) Be Annoying, accepting
when customers say no; 3) Take Advantage of Customers, by not deceiving; 4) Access Vulnerable
Groups, being ethical; 5) Invade the Customers Privacy, don’t use unauthorized information.

Governments and consumers associations try to protect customers from abuse (Opt – in, Three – day
cooling – off rule). Disrespecting the customer makes them angry and harms the entire industry in the
long – run.

CHAPTER 20. Sustainable Marketing: Social Responsibility and Ethics.

1. Social Criticism of Marketing.

Marketing receives much criticism. Some of this criticism is justified; much is not. Social critics claim
that certain marketing practices hurt individual consumers, society as a whole, and other business firms.In
most ways, we all benefit greatly from marketing activities. However, like most other human endeavors,
marketing has its flaws. Here we present both sides of some of the most common criticisms of marketing.
Marketing I. Alejandra Oliver Rodriguez.
3º ADEb, 2021-22

2. Business Actions Towards Sustainable Marketing.

Conscientious marketers face many moral dilemmas as the best thing to do is often unclear. Yet, never
forget what is the organization’s primary goal, which is creating long lasting relationships, not a one –
shot sale.

TRUST IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT ASSET OF ANY ORGANIZATION.

3. Marketing Ethics and the Sustainable Company.

Good ethics is not a cost, is the Best Investment, and the Cornerstone of Sustainable Business.
Organizations can only survive in the long – run if they create value to everyone, such as consumers,
suppliers, workers, owners, general public, and environment. Organizations need to fulfil the Triple
Bottom Line: People, Planet, and Profits.

4. Consumer Actions to Promote Sustainable Marketing.

There are two main movements, which are everyone’s tasks, including Government, managers and
consumers. Companies can also benefit. These movements are:

Consumerism ⇒ Is an organized movement of citizens and government agencies designed to improve

the rights of customers in relation to sellers.

Environmentalism ⇒ Are movements designed to protect and improve people’s current and future
natural environment.

5. Sustainable Marketing.
Is a socially and environmentally responsible marketing that meets present and future needs to both
consumers and business.