Lecture Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective (10/e): Chapter 22 - George E. Belch, Michael A. Belch

Chapter 22
Personal 
Selling

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Personal Selling
 Selling through a person­to­person communications 
process
 Affected by increased emphasis on customer 
relationship management
 Importance varies for each firm depending on:
 Nature of the product or service being marketed
 Size of the organization
 Type of industry
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Dyadic Communication
 Direct and interpersonal communication
 Allows sender to immediately receive and evaluate 
feedback from receiver
 Messages can be changed to address the receiver’s 
specific needs and wants

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Factors that Determine the Role of 
Personal Selling
Determining the information to be exchanged

Examining promotional-mix alternatives

Evaluating the relative effectiveness of alternatives

Determining cost-effectiveness
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4


Characteristics of Stages of Personal Selling 
Evolution
Stages and description Customer needs

Type of
market

Nature and intensity
of competition

Provider - Accepts
orders and delivers to
buyer

• Assumed to
exist
• Not a concern

Sellers’

• None

Persuader - Attempts
to convince anyone to
buy available offerings

• Created
• Awakened

Buyers’

• Undifferentiated
• Slight intensity

Segmented

• Differentiated
• Growing

Prospector - Seeks out • Considered but

prospects with need
inferred
for available offering
and
resources to buy

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Characteristics of Stages of Personal 
Selling Evolution
Stages and
description

Customer needs

Type of
market

Nature and intensity
of competition

Problem solver Matches
available offerings to
solve customer-stated
problems

•

Diagnosed with
attention to
customer input

Participative

•

Responsive and
counteractive with
increasing
resources

Procreator - Creates a
unique offering to
match the buyer’s
needs as mutually
specified,
involving any or all
aspects of the seller’s
total marketing mix

•
•

Mutually defined
Matched with
tailored offering

Coactive

•
•

Focused
Growing in breadth
of market and
service offerings

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6


New Role of Salespeople
Surveying

Mapmaking

Guiding

Fire starting

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Relationship Marketing
 Organization’s effort to develop a long­term, cost­
effective link with individual customers for mutual 
benefit
 Customer relationship management (CRM): 
Support targeting, acquiring, retaining, 
understanding and collaborating with customers

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Figure 22.4 ­ The Eight Step Personal­
Selling Process

Source: From Reds Communications, “The 8 Step Personal Selling Process—Let Us Help You,” www.redscommunications.co.za.

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Types of Sales Jobs
 Order taking: Accomplished by:
 Inside order takers ­ Work inside the sales office and receive 

orders by phone, mail, or the Internet
 Field order takers ­ Travel to customers to get their orders 

 Creative selling: Getting an order by:
 Assessing a situation and determining the needs
 Presenting capabilities to satisfy the needs

 Missionary sales: Introduce new products, 
promotions, and/or programs with the actual order to 
be taken
 Perform a support role

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Traits of a Salespeople
Successful

Most helpful to

Most objectionable to

salespeople

customers

customers

• Knowledgeable

• Knowledge

• Unprepared

• Professional

• Empathy

• Uninformed

• Thorough

• Well organized

• Aggressive

• Results-oriented

• Promptness

• Undependability

• Problem solving

• Follow-through

• Poor follow-through

• Relationship-oriented

• Solutions

• Presumptuousness

• Customer-focused

• Punctuality

• Calling without

• Responsive

• Hard work

appointments

• Good communicators

• Energetic

• Compulsive talkers

• Reliable

• Honesty

• Problem avoiders

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Advantages and Disadvantages of 
Personal Selling
Advantages
• Allows for two-way
interaction
• Tailors the message

Disadvantages
• Inconsistent messages
• Sales force/management
conflict

• Lack of distraction

• High cost

• Involvement in the decision

• Poor reach

process

• Potential ethical problems

• Source of research
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Ways to Use Advertising to Sell More
 Save sales force time
 Avoid lengthy explanations
 Add impact to the presentation and reinforce selling points
 Ego boosters and personal refreshers
 Clues to prospects’ interests
 Prove a point and create preference
 Help prospects to make a decision
 Provide follow­ups
 Fight lower­priced competitors
 Getting the customer into the act
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Combining Personal Selling with Other 
Promotional Tools
 Public relations
 Direct marketing
 Sales Promotion
 Internet

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Figure 22.12 ­ Factors to Be Considered 
in the Sales Review Process

Source: Steve Deist and Rich Johnson, “Developing an Effective Sales Force,” Industrial Distribution.

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Criteria Used to Evaluate Sales Forces
Measures

Sales results

Sales efforts

Quantitative measures

•
•
•
•

• Sales calls
Orders
Sales volume
• Selling expenses
Margins
• Customer service
Customer accounts

Qualitative measures

•

Selling skills

• Sales-related
activities

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Characteristics That Improve 
Performance Effectiveness
 Strength of the field manager
 Clear link between company culture and values to 
sales strategies
 Rigorous management processes that drive 
performance
 Consistent training that leads to consistent 
execution
 Courage to change
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Criteria for Evaluating Personal Selling
 Provision of marketing intelligence
 Follow­up activities
 Program implementations
 Attainment of communications objectives

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