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Sales and Distribution
At
Zuari Cements Pvt Limited
(w.r.t Zuari Cements Pvt Ltd,Banjara Hills)
Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of the Degree of
Master of Business Administration, JNTU, Hyderabad
By
K.ASHOK KUMAR
117Z1E0007
Under the guidance of
MR.P.RAJASHEKAR REDDY
School Of Management Sciences
NALLA NARASIMHA REDDY GROUP OF INISTITUTIONS
(Approved by AICTE and affiliated to JNTU) Chowdariguda (V), Korremula x road,
Ghatkesar (M), RR DIST-500088, AP.
(2011-13)
Declaration
I hereby declare that this project report titled Sales & Distribution at Zuari Cements Pvt.
Ltd. submitted by me to the Department of Master of Business Administration, as a record
work done by me under the supervision and guidance of Mr.P.Rajsekhar Reddy, Asst prof
School of Management Sciences, NNRESGI. This is a bonafide work undertaken by me and
it is not submitted to any other University or Institution for the award of any
degree/diploma/certificate or published any time before.
Date- K.ASHOK KUMAR
Place-Hyderabad 117Z1E0007
Acknowledgements
The satisfaction that accompanies the successful completion of any task would be incomplete
without the mention of the people who make it possible and whose constant guidance and
encouragement crown all the efforts with success
I would like to express my deep indebtness and whole hearted thanks to Mr. Bhasker
Reddy HRD Manager Zuari Cements Pvt, Ltd., for allowing me to undertake this project
work and for his valuable suggestions and co-operation during the development of this
project.
I express my thanks to Mr.M.Narsing Rao, Project Guide for his valuable guidance and help
throughout the project development. I wish to express my sincere thanks to Director
Dr.Krishna Reddy and Dr.M.Vijetha Dean School Of Management Sciences Nalla Narasimha
Reddy Educational Institutions for their valuable suggestions, constant help and
encouragement in every stage during the preparation of project report.
I also thank the entire staff of , for their valuable suggestions and help in completion of this
project
I would like to thanks my brother and my family members for their support and guidance
List of Tables
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List of Figures
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CONTENTS PAGE
Contents Page Number
List of Tables
List of Figures
CHAPTER 1 – Introduction
1.1 Introduction to the study
1.2 Need for the study
1.3 Scope of the study
1.4 Objectives of the study
1.5 Research Methodology
1.6 Limitations
CHAPTER 2
2.1 Industry Profile
2.2 Company Profile
CHAPTER 3 – Theoretical Review
CHAPTER 4 – Data Analysis & Interpretation
CHAPTER 5 – Findings, Suggestions & Conclusion
Bibliography
Annexure
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
1.1 Introduction to the study
Cement is a mixture of limestone, Clay, Silica and Gypsum. It is a fine powder which when
mixed with water sets to a hard mass as a result of hydration of the constituent compounds. It
is the most commonly used construction material. Cement is manufactured by burning a
mixture of limestone and Clay at high temperatures in a kiln, and then finely grinding the
resulting clinker along with Gypsum. The end product thus obtained is called Ordinary
Portland Cement (OPC).There are different varieties of cement based on different
compositions according to specific end uses, namely Ordinary Portland Cement, Portland
Puzzolana Cement, Portland Blast Furnace Slag Cement, White Cement and Specialized
Cement. The basic difference lies in the percentage of clinker used. Portland pozzolana
cement is Ordinary Portland Cement blended with pozzolanic materials (power-station fly
ash, burnt clays, ash from burnt plant material or Siliceous earths), either together or
separately. Portland clinker is ground with Gypsum and Pozzolanic materials which, though
they do not have cementing properties in themselves, combine chemically with Portland
cement in the presence of water to form extra strong cementing material which resists wet
cracking, thermal cracking and has a high degree of cohesion and workability in concrete.
PPC has80% clinker, 15% pozolona and 5% gypsum and accounts for 18% of the total
cement consumption. It is cheaply manufactured because it uses fly ash/burnt clay/coal waste
as the main ingredient. It has a lower heat of hydration, which helps in preventing cracks
where large volumes are being cast.
1.2 Need for the Study
1.3 Scope of the Study
The study is confined to study of Sales & Distribution at Zuari Cements Pvt Limited.
Data collected from past five years i.e. 2007-2012 and also the market in the Sales
&Distribution in the recent years.
1.4 Objectives of the Study
To study the distribution channel of ZUARI cement along with other brands
To find out the problems faced by the ZUARI dealers/retailers and try to minimize these
problems.
1.5 Research Methodology
Population: The total no of employees in the Zuari Cements Pvt Ltd are 70
Sampling Size: The sampling size is 100
Sampling Method: Census Survey method
Extent of Sampling Procedure: The sampling is done in Hyderabad branch
Time Period: Time period for the research is for about 5 days
1.6 Limitations
The major problem of the survey was that most of the respondents being very loyal to
their brands didn’t give exact answers
Some of the respondents may have told their average monthly sale more than the actual.
Because all of them think that the monthly sale attached with the market image of their
shop.
CHAPTER 2
INDUSTRY PROFILE
AND
COMPANY PROFILE
2.1 Industry Profile
Cement industry
Selling is thought of as a part of marketing, however, the two disciplines are completely
different. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate
specialist operatives known as salespeople (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by
many to be a sort of persuading "art". Contrary to popular belief, the methodological
approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by
which a salesperson relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the
buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.
While the sales process refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable
milestones, the definition of the selling is somewhat ambiguous due to the close nature of
advertising, promotion, public relations, and direct marketing.Sales departments often form a
separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing individuals who specialize in sale
specific roles.Selling involves sales which are the pinnacle act of completed of a purchasing
activity.Selling also involves salespeople who are the primary agents of facilitating sales.
Selling is the profession-wide term, much like marketing defines a profession. Recently,
attempts have been made to clearly understand who is in the sales profession, and who is not.
There are many articles looking at marketing, advertising, promotions, and even public
relations as ways to create a unique transaction.Many believe that the focus of selling is on
the human agents involved in the exchange between buyer and seller. Effective selling also
requires a systems approach, at minimum involving roles that sell, enable selling, and
develop sales capabilities.
Indian Scenario of Cement Industry
Indian cement industry is one of the key industries amongst various old economy industries,
which have witnessed up & down cycles along with the general economic trend in the past.
However as the Indian economy has gathered its momentum in the last couple of years the
fortunes of this industry have also swung from being unfavourable demand – supply scenario
to burgeoning demand prospects. Though the industry is not a glamorous one, it is worth
noticing that India is the world’s second largest cement producing country after China.
Selling and Sales Management
Selling is a highly misunderstood profession. Many people, when asked what they think of
salespeople, instantly use terms such as pushy, greedy, or some other unkind adjective. Yet
professional selling is not what most people think. Professionally trained salespeople are
among the most important individuals within many companies. This is especially true in
business-to-business selling situations where the amount of promotional expense allocated to
support a sales force far exceeds expenses for advertising. Also, successful selling requires
the establishment of strong relationships with customers, relationships that are intended to
last for a long time. Salespeople whose goal is to just get the sale and not worry about the
customer are doomed to failure. Professional selling requires knowledge and skills that must
to learned over time, thus on-going training is critical for most. In this section resources are
offered to help both the experienced sales professional as well as those new to the field.
Personal Selling
Personal selling is a promotional method in which one party (e.g., salesperson) uses skills and
techniques for building personal relationships with another party (e.g., those involved in a
purchase decision) that results in both parties obtaining value. In most cases the “value” for
the salesperson is realized through the financial rewards of the sale while the customer’s
“value” is realized from the benefits obtained by consuming the product. However, getting a
customer to purchase a product is not always the objective of personal selling. For instance,
selling may be used for the purpose of simply delivering information.
Because selling involves personal contact, this promotional method often occurs through
face-to-face meetings or via a telephone conversation, though newer technologies allow
contact to take place over the Internet including using video conferencing or text messaging
(e.g., online chat).
Advantages of Personal Selling
One key advantage personal selling has over other promotional methods is that it is a two-
way form of communication. In selling situations the message sender (e.g., salesperson) can
adjust the message as they gain feedback from message receivers (e.g., customer). So if a
customer does not understand the initial message (e.g., doesn’t fully understand how the
product works) the salesperson can make adjustments to address questions or concerns.
Many non-personal forms of promotion, such as a radio advertisement, are inflexible, at least
in the short-term, and cannot be easily adjusted to address audience questions.
The interactive nature of personal selling also makes it the most effective promotional
method for building relationships with customers, particularly in the business-to-business
market. This is especially important for companies that either sell expensive products or sell
lower cost but high volume products (i.e., buyer must purchase in large quantities) that rely
heavily on customers making repeat purchases. Because such purchases may take a
considerable amount of time to complete and may involve the input of many people at the
purchasing company (i.e., buying center), sales success often requires the marketer develop
and maintain strong relationships with members of the purchasing company.
Finally, personal selling is the most practical promotional option for reaching customers who
are not easily reached through other methods. The best example is in selling to the business
market where, compared to the consumer market, advertising, public relations and sales
promotions are often not well received.
Cement, like steel is one of the basic materials for the technical Development of a country.
Cement industry in India is Eight decades old, the first cement plant having been
commissioned in 1914 at Borabandhar (Gujarat). The Indian cement industry is the second
largest in the world after Chinas. In terms of quality, productivity, and efficiency it compares
with the best anywhere. It is almost entirely home growth, built indigenously and using
locally soured inputs. In other words, the hard ware and software that run the industry in all
mostly Indian barring one (or) two exceptional years, its performance in the last two decades
has been quite consistent and commendable in terms of Modernization, expansion, growth in
production, improvements in productivity and cost efficiency.
In the past, the growth was at a slump till 1977 and after that there was a reversed trend and a
climate of accelerated growth set in announcement of a formula for new investments based
on 12% post tax return . The policy of partial decontrol announced in 1982 gave further
boost to the cement Industry.
Modernization/ Expansion programmes
In the wake of the new policy, ambitious and comprehensive Modernization / expansion
programmes have been undertaken by the Industry, Which include conversion of wet
process to energy efficient dry process, comprehensive adoption of latest technology such as
the use of vertical raw mill, precalcinators and installation of pollution control devices. For
the implementation of these programmes Rs.5, 000 Crores have already been spent.
Capacity
According to the Cement Manufactures Association (CMA) the industry has an installed
capacity of over 137 Million tones from 124 plants of 56 member companies. Most of this
capacity is modern and based on the energy efficient (conservation of energy) dry process
technology. These are as many as 64 plants of a million tones or more capacity. How ever the
minimum economic size has increased to two million tones a year.
Transportation of cement
The share of roads in transport of cement is nearly 60% while 39% is moved by rail. In
recent years, seas routes are used increasingly markets on the western coast.
Production
Cement production dispatches grew almost 10% in 2001-2002 when few sectors of the
economy could avoid first time last year with production of 102.4 million tones. The outlook
for the current year is also favorable. Previously the annual growth rate of cement production
is 7 % to 8 %. 70% Of the production is OPC, 15 % of PPC, slag cement 11 %, and
production of oil well cement, special & other verities of cement together accounted For 1 %.
Demand and supply scenario
The industry can expect to see good years ahead in the long run. Demand is expected to grow
due to greater to cur on infrastructure and housing. Although the industry is capable of
meeting its own challenges, it still needs assistance from the govt., to overcome some of its
external constraints.
Demand forecasting
In particular, the housings and Roads sectors have high linkages with other sectors n terms of
economic growth and employment generation also gives a valuable boost to the fortunes of
the Indian Cement Industry
The CMA forces that 2002-2003 will also be a favorable one or the industry with a likely
growth rate of 8 to 10 %.
Export Potential
Even thought India is the second largest industry in the world, and has the natural advantages
of limestone reserves, its export performance is not line with the size. Exports account for
less than 2 % production. India is strategically placed to be a major exporter of cement to
SAARC Countries and all those around Indian Ocean such as west Asia and Africa but India
has not been able to fully tap this location advantage. There is sizable surplus capacity, and a
quality product.
Unlike in some of the neighboring countries, the Indian industry does not receive any special
support from the Government to promote
Exports the Government should lobby with some of the neighboring countries for reduction
in their import duties. The Government can help in a big way in boosting export
competitiveness through suitable financial incentives and confessional inland freights.
It is interesting to note despite the reduction of import duties year after year, there have been
no actual arrivals of cement consignment from abroad. Low cement prices prevailing in the
country, inadequate port infrastructure & high inland freight from ports to consumption
centers are provided effective barriers to imports. Despite so many constraints, the industry
exported under 3.4million tones during 2001-2002. Most of the credit goes to cement plants
in Gujarat. There the companies have opened up their initiative. Some of the states, which
have been marked for export from recent past, are A.P., Gujarat, Tamilnadu, Particularly in
relation to export which have to be moved by sea.
A Glance on the contribution of cement Industry towards Indian
Cement has been a core building material for almost a century. There is no viable
Substitute foreseeable in the near future. Since cement is a core building material, it is
directly related to “Construction” which in turn flows from economic growth. All forecasts
suggest large investments in housing & infrastructure. It is easy to visualize its multiplier
effect on the constructions sectors have high linkages with other sectors in terms of economic
growths and employment generation a part from their giving a valuable boost to the fortunes
of the Indian Cement Industry.
Cement, like steel is one of the basic material for the economic development of a country.
The economic development of a country is indexed by the consumption of cement .The
Indian cement industry plays a key role in the national economy, generating substantial
Revenue for state and central government the third highest contributor in terms of excise duty
of over Rs.3500 Crores a year. Sales taxes yield as round Rs. 1500 Crores. The industry
employs a work force of over 1.5 lakhs persons and supports a further complement of 12
lakhs people engaged indirectly.
It must be admitted that govt. policy announcements in recent years have been pro-active in
this respect & the cement industry has welcomed the government’s announcements and
initiatives in building roads etc, as there are huge advantage of cement & concrete roads over
conventional bitumen roads. They are economical, ensure durability & long life.
The housing sector by a rough estimate can consume over 50 million tones of cement to help
clear the backlog. Any impetus in housing activity will serve as a powerful driver of the
economy and consequently the cement industry. In fact, housing is likely to be the most
powerful engine for growth of the economy.
Despite lowering of import duties, no import of cement is likely. The needs renewed support
from the Govt., in providing impetus in economic growth and construction of infrastructure
projects. It also seeks Government’s assistance in easing it financial burden by way of
administered tools & duties. This kind of assistance will simultaneously increase the
consumption of cement further reduce prices of customers. For cheaper costs cement can be
made available to the public for mass housing 7 to help make the construction of
infrastructure projects more financially viable.
2.2 Company Profile
Zuari Cements Limited
The company Zuari Agro Ltd was in corporate on 12th
may 1967 Zuari cement limited has
been himself off as a separate company with 50-50 share holding by Zuari industries limited
(A.K.K.Birla group company) and Italy cement group (as Italian cement company) with
effect from 1-4-2000 with Head-quarters at Bangalore, Zuari and Italy cement group (through
cement Francis group company) have formed joint venture company Viz., Zuari cement
limited. It is projected to increase the cement capacity of 2.2MT.
TEXMACO Limited in the year 1995 was changed to Zuari cement by division of ZUARI
CHEMICAL LIMITED, jointly promoted by K.K.BIRLA & USX CORPORATION a major
steel leader in U.S.A.
Location of the Plant
Zuari cement is running under the Flagship of Zuari Agro chemicals
Limited.Zuari cement is strategies located 6 kms away from Yerraguntla town
of Kamalapuram (Taluk) in Kadapa district Andhra Pradesh. Railway line has
been laid connection the Yerraguntla station of Zuari Cements.
Location of the plant at this place is having following advantages.
Location in industrial belt of Rayalaseema with sophisticated facilities like water,
electricity, labor, transport etc.
Present of the best limestone proved scientifically for cement.
Low free lime to ensure reduced surface cracks.
Low heat of hydration for better soundness.
Low magnesia content to ensure reduced tensile cracks.
Specially designed setting time to suit Indian working conditions.
Joint Venture with Italic Cement
Zuari group has identified as one of the core business to grow. It has therefore, been decided
to constitute a separate corporate entity and hire off cement business to it. To accelerate the
growth and achieve capacity additions quickly it decided to form a joint venture with a
strategic partner after careful evaluation the multinational cement giant italic cement group
was identified to be suitable partner for pursuing growth.
Zuari and Italic cement groups have agreed to form a joint venture with 50-50 equity sharing.
The Zuari cement business will get transferred to the joint venture company Viz. Zuari
cement limited.
It is proposed to have quarters of cement business at Hyderabad. It is proposed to increase the
capacity of1.7 MTPA in span of 3 to 4 years. Italic cement group is the largest producer &
distributor of cement in European and one of the leaders in the world maker place. The group
operates in 13 countries including Belgium, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Moraco, Spain,
Turkey and U.S with recent acquisition in Bulgaria, Kazakhstan and Thaila
The group was founded in 1864 and had its head quarters in Bermago, Italy; currently the
group has 54 plans with an installed capacity of 40 MTPA spread over 13 countries. The
group also has 500 RMC plants all over the world. The consolidated group turn over in 1998
was 3.4 billion US$. The group has excellent R & D and Machine design facilities head
quartered at Bermago, Italy, which renders technical support to all over the group plants.
Mission
Italic Cementric Group- Our Mission
Our Shared Ambition: “Effective and Efficient” To become the most effective and most
efficient cement manufacturer and distributor in the world.
Our Approach: “We are local we think Global”. Cement aggregates and ready to mix
concrete manufacture and distribution are local business. Around the world we serve local
customers in local markets with local needs.
Our Way of Working: “Technological leadership is our Goal”. Our technology plays the key
role in realizing our ambition we are committed to increasing the value of our groups, our
companies, our products and services, the capabilities of our employees and the ecological
standards by which we operate.
Our spirit: “One team worldwide”. We operate worldwide in many diverse markets, cultures
and continents. We are proud of our cultural diversity and our distinctive character.
Organizaitonal Structure
The organizational structure of Zuari is simple and flat. The employees are assigned grades
based on their pay packages. These grades are not based on the job responsibilities may have
different grades for reasons like duration of association with the company.
Objectives of The Company
To Provide employment to the local employees
To supply best cement at economical prices
To get the optimum utilization of the raw materials available of their own mines.
Manufacturing quality cement and to stand as a market leader in south India.
Recent Developments
Zuari cement has signed on agreement with the cement corporation of India (CCI) to market
CCI’s cement produces from their facility at tender in Andhra Pradesh.
Zuari Cement shall market this in the state of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and pond
cherry. The incremental tonnage for zuari cement as a result of this arrangement is around 3.5
lakh tones.
Social Responsibility
As part of social responsibility the company is maintaining one dispensary where the near by
villagers are treated free of cost. It has one primary school & also it has constructed bus
shelters, traffic signals water sheds, water tanks hospitals, houses & road dividers.
Motivation
Motivation in zuari cement limited is one by encouraging the employees by
awarding them rewarding them and identifying their talents and promoting
them to higher positions. The career development is possible through proper
motivational factors.
Major Users
Zuari cement is marked through out south India by a wide network of
stockiest. The zuari sales officers and representatives are based in almost all
cities.
And towns in south India, Major users of zuari cement are as follows.
Madras refineries limited.
Airport authority of India
Tamilnadu real estate limited
East coast construction and industries limited.
Tamil Nadu port trust.
Asia pacific hotels limited
Grind well Norton limited
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam
APSEB – Srisailam power project.
Ramco industries visaka industries.
Hyderabad Everest limited
Nagarjuna Construction.
Corporate Marketing Office
Zuari cements limited corporate marketing office is at Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
and branches are at:
Hyderabad - Andhra Pradesh.
Visakhapatnam - Andhra Pradesh.
Bang lore - Karnataka.
Cochin - Kerala.
Panaji - Goa
Chennai - Tamil Nadu.
Bhubaneswar - Orissa.
Competitors
Penna - Tadipathri
ZUARI - Tadipathri
Malabar - Cochin
Product Profile
Zuari Cement manufactures and distributes its own main product lines of cement .We aim to
optimize production across all of our markets, providing a complete solution for customer's
needs at the lowest possible cost, an approach we call strategic integration of activities.
Cement is made from a mixture of 80 percent limestone and 20 percent clay. These are
crushed and ground to provide the "raw meal”, a pale, flour-like powder. Heated to around
1450° C (2642° F) in rotating kilns, the “meal” undergoes complex chemical changes and is
transformed into clinker. Fine-grinding the clinker together with a small quantity of gypsum
produces cement. Adding other constituents at this stage produces cements for specialized
uses.
Zuari Cements Range of Cement
Zuari Superfine Cement Zuari 43 Grade Cement Zuari Superfine P53 cement
Zuari Superfine Cement
Zuari 43 Grade Cement
Zuari Superfine P 53 Cement
Quality
Six strong benefits that make Zuari 43, 53 Grade, Super fine, Vishnu Premium and Vishnu
Shakti the ideal cement
Higher compressive strength.
Better soundness.
Lesser consumption of cement for M-20 Concrete Grade and above.
Faster de shuttering of formwork.
Reduced construction time with a superior and wide range of cement catering to every
conceivable building need, Zuari cement is a formidable player in the cement market.
Here just a few reasons why Zuari cement chosen by millions of India.
Ideal raw material
Low lime and magnesia content and high proportion of silicates.
Greater fineness.
Slow initial and fast final setting.
Wide range of applications.
Quality customer services.
Features That Promise Better Performance
Concrete of better strength and workability since voids of air and water are reduced.
Protection against alkali aggregate reaction due to the presence of a very glassy state of
silica.
Resistance towards chemical attacks and lowers permeability.
Long term durable concrete, because of low free lime.
Lower heat of hydration
CHAPTER 3
THEORETICAL REVIEW
3. Theoretical Review
Selling is thought of as a part of marketing, however, the two disciplines are completely
different. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate
specialist operatives known as salespeople (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by
many to be a sort of persuading "art". Contrary to popular belief, the methodological
approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by
which a salesperson relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the
buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.
While the sales process refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable
milestones, the definition of the selling is somewhat ambiguous due to the close nature of
advertising, promotion, public relations, and direct marketing.
Sales departments often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing
individuals who specialize in sale specific roles.Selling involves sales which are the pinnacle
act of completed of a purchasing activity.
Selling also involves salespeople who are the primary agents of facilitating sales.
Selling is the profession-wide term, much like marketing defines a profession. Recently,
attempts have been made to clearly understand who is in the sales profession, and who is not.
There are many articles looking at marketing, advertising, promotions, and even public
relations as ways to create a unique transaction.
Many believe that the focus of selling is on the human agents involved in the exchange
between buyer and seller. Effective selling also requires a systems approach, at minimum
involving roles that sell, enable selling, and develop sales capabilities. Selling also involves
salespeople who possess specific set of sales skills and knowledge are required to facilitate
the exchange of value between buyers and sellers that is unique from marketing, advertising,
etc.
Professional Selling is defined as:
"The holistic business system required to effectively develop, manage, enable, and execute a
mutually beneficial, interpersonal exchange of goods and/or services for equitable value.”
Selling and Sales Management
Selling is a highly misunderstood profession. Many people, when asked what they think of
salespeople, instantly use terms such as pushy, greedy, or some other unkind adjective. Yet
professional selling is not what most people think. Professionally trained salespeople are
among the most important individuals within many companies. This is especially true in
business-to-business selling situations where the amount of promotional expense allocated to
support a sales force far exceeds expenses for advertising. Also, successful selling requires
the establishment of strong relationships with customers, relationships that are intended to
last for a long time. Salespeople whose goal is to just get the sale and not worry about the
customer are doomed to failure. Professional selling requires knowledge and skills that must
to learned over time, thus on-going training is critical for most. In this section resources are
offered to help both the experienced sales professional as well as those new to the field.
Personal Selling
Personal selling is a promotional method in which one party (e.g., salesperson) uses skills and
techniques for building personal relationships with another party (e.g., those involved in a
purchase decision) that results in both parties obtaining value. In most cases the “value” for
the salesperson is realized through the financial rewards of the sale while the customer’s
“value” is realized from the benefits obtained by consuming the product. However, getting a
customer to purchase a product is not always the objective of personal selling. For instance,
selling may be used for the purpose of simply delivering information.
Because selling involves personal contact, this promotional method often occurs through
face-to-face meetings or via a telephone conversation, though newer technologies allow
contact to take place over the Internet including using video conferencing or text messaging
(e.g., online chat).
Advantages of Personal Selling
One key advantage personal selling has over other promotional methods is that it is a two-
way form of communication. In selling situations the message sender (e.g., salesperson) can
adjust the message as they gain feedback from message receivers (e.g., customer). So if a
customer does not understand the initial message (e.g., doesn’t fully understand how the
product works) the salesperson can make adjustments to address questions or concerns.
Many non-personal forms of promotion, such as a radio advertisement, are inflexible, at least
in the short-term, and cannot be easily adjusted to address audience questions.
The interactive nature of personal selling also makes it the most effective promotional
method for building relationships with customers, particularly in the business-to-business
market. This is especially important for companies that either sell expensive products or sell
lower cost but high volume products (i.e., buyer must purchase in large quantities) that rely
heavily on customers making repeat purchases. Because such purchases may take a
considerable amount of time to complete and may involve the input of many people at the
purchasing company (i.e., buying center), sales success often requires the marketer develop
and maintain strong relationships with members of the purchasing company.
Finally, personal selling is the most practical promotional option for reaching customers who
are not easily reached through other methods. The best example is in selling to the business
market where, compared to the consumer market, advertising, public relations and sales
promotions are often not well received.
Disadvantages of Personal Selling
Possibly the biggest disadvantage of selling is the degree to which this promotional method is
misunderstood. Most people have had some bad experiences with salespeople who they
perceived were overly aggressive or even downright annoying. While there are certainly
many salespeople who fall into this category, the truth is salespeople are most successful
when they focus their efforts on satisfying customers over the long term and not focusing
own their own selfish interests.
A second disadvantage of personal selling is the high cost in maintaining this type of
promotional effort. Costs incurred in personal selling include:
High cost-per-action (CPA) – CPA can be an important measure of the success of
promotion spending. Since personal selling involves person-to-person contact, the
money spent to support a sales staff (i.e., sales force) can be steep. For instance, in some
industries it costs well over (US) $300 each time a salesperson contacts a potential
customer. This cost is incurred whether a sale is made or not! These costs include
compensation (e.g., salary, commission, bonus), providing sales support materials,
allowances for entertainment spending, office supplies, telecommunication and much
more. With such high cost for maintaining a sales force, selling is often not a practical
option for selling products that do not generate a large amount of revenue.
Training Costs – Most forms of personal selling require the sales staff be extensively
trained on product knowledge, industry information and selling skills. For companies that
require their salespeople attend formal training programs, the cost of training can be quite
high and include such expenses as travel, hotel, meals, and training equipment while also
paying the trainees’ salaries while they attend.
A third disadvantage is that personal selling is not for everyone. Job turnover in sales is often
much higher than other marketing positions. For companies that assign salespeople to handle
certain customer groups (e.g., geographic territory), turnover may leave a company without
representation in a customer group for an extended period of time while the company recruits
and trains a replacement.
Objectives of Personal Selling
Personal selling is used to meet the five objectives of promotion in the following ways:
Building Product Awareness – A common task of salespeople, especially when selling in
business markets, is to educate customers on new product offerings. In fact, salespeople
serve a major role at industry trades shows where they discuss products with show
attendees. But building awareness using personal selling is also important in consumer
markets. The advent of controlled word-of-mouth marketing is leading to personal selling
becoming a useful mechanism for introducing consumers to new products.
Creating Interest – The fact that personal selling involves person-to-person
communication makes it a natural method for getting customers to experience a product
for the first time. In fact, creating interest goes hand-in-hand with building product
awareness as sales professionals can often accomplish both objectives during the first
encounter with a potential customer.
Providing Information – When salespeople engage customers a large part of the
conversation focuses on product information. Marketing organizations provide their sales
staff with large amounts of sales support including brochures, research reports, computer
programs and many other forms of informational material.
Stimulating Demand – By far, the most important objective of personal selling is to
convince customers to make a purchase.
Reinforcing the Brand – Most personal selling is intended to build long-term relationships
with customers. A strong relationship can only be built over time and requires regular
communication with a customer. Meeting with customers on a regular basis allows
salespeople to repeatedly discuss their company’s products and by doing so helps
strengthen customers’ knowledge of what the company has to offer.
Classifying Selling Roles
As noted above, worldwide millions of people have careers that fit in the personal selling
category. However, the actual functions carried out by someone in sales may be quite
different. Below we discuss the four major types of selling roles: order getters, order takers,
order influencers, and sales support. It should be noted that these roles are not mutually
exclusive and that a salesperson can perform more than one and possibly all activities.
Order Getters
The role most synonymous with selling is a position in which the salesperson is actively
engaged in using their skills to obtain orders from customers. Such roles can be further
divided into:
New Business Development– A highly challenging yet potentially lucrative sales position
is one where the main objective is to find new customers. Sales jobs in this category are
often in fields that are very competitive, but offer high rewards for those that are
successful. The key distinguishing factor of these positions is that once a sale is made
new business salespeople pass customers on to others in their organization who handle
account maintenance. These positions include:
Business Equipment Sales - These salespeople are often found in industries where a
company’s main profits come from the sale of supplies and services that come after an
initial equipment purchase. The key objective of business equipment salespeople is to get
buyers to purchase the main piece of equipment for which supplies and service are needed
in order for the equipment to function. For instance, in the photocopier industry certain
salespeople only seek out new accounts and once a photocopier sale is made they pass
along the account to other sales personnel who handle the sales of maintenance and
supply products.
Telemarketing – This category includes product sales over the phone, whether aimed at
business or consumer. While in the US laws restrict unsolicited phone selling, the
practice is still widely used in the business market.
Consumer Selling – Certain companies are very aggressive in their use of salespeople to
build new consumer business. These include: retailers selling certain high priced
consumer products including furniture, electronics and clothing; housing products
including real estate, security services, building replacement products (e.g., windows);
and in-home product sellers including those selling door-to-door and products sold at
“home party” events such as cosmetics, kitchenware and decorative products.
Account Management – Most people engaged in sales are not only involved in gaining
the initial order, but work to build and maintain relationships with clients that are
intended to last a long time. Salespeople involved in account management are found
across a broad range of industries. Their responsibilities involve all aspects of building
customer relationships from initial sale to follow-up account servicing. These include:
Business-to-Business Selling – These salespeople sell products for business use with an
emphasis on follow-up sales. In many cases, business-to-business salespeople have many
different items available for sale (i.e., broad and/or deep product line) rather than a single
product. So while the initial sale may only result in the buyer purchasing a few products,
the potential exists for the buyer to purchase many other products as the buyer-seller
relationship grows.
Trade Selling – Sales professionals working for consumer products companies normally
do not sell to the final user (i.e., consumer). Instead their role is focused on first getting
distributors, such wholesalers and retailers, to handle their products and once this is
accomplished, helping distributors sell their product by offering ideas for product
advertising, in-store display and sales promotions.
Order Takers
Selling does not always require a salesperson use methods designed to encourage customers
to make a purchase. In fact, the greatest number of people engaged in selling are not order
getters, rather they are considered order takers. In this role, salespeople primarily assist
customers with a purchase in ways that are much less assertive than order getters. As might
be expected, compensation for order takers is generally lower than that of order getters.
Among those serving an order taker role are:
Retail Clerks – While some retail salespeople are involved in new business selling, the
vast majority of retail employees handle order taking tasks, which range from directing
customers to products to handling customer checkout.
Industrial Distributor Clerks – Industrial purchase situations, such as distributors of
building products, will also have clerks to handle customer purchases.
Customer Service – Order taking is also handled in non face-to-face ways through
customer service personnel. Usually this occurs via phone conversations, though newer
technologies are allowing for these tasks to be handled through electronic means such as
online chat.
Order Influencers
Some salespeople are not engaged in direct selling activities at all. That is, they do not sell
directly to the person who is the ultimate purchaser for their product. Instead these
salespeople concentrate on selling activity that targets those who influence purchases made
by the final customer. The primary example of an order influencer is the missionary
salesperson:
Missionary - These salespeople are used in industries where customers make purchases
based on the advice or requirements of others. Two industries in which missionary
selling is commonly found are pharmaceuticals, where salespeople, known as product
detailers, discuss products with doctors (influencers) who then write prescriptions for
their patients (final customer) and higher education, where salespeople call on college
professors (influencers) who make requirements to students (final customer) for specific
textbooks.
Sales Support
A final group involved in selling mostly assist with the selling activities of other sales
professionals. These include:
Technical Specialists - When dealing with the sale of technical products, particularly
in business markets, salespeople may need to draw on the expertise of others to assist
with the process. This is particularly the case when the buying party consists of a buying
center. In business selling many people from different functional areas may be involved
in the purchase decision. If this buying center includes technical people, such as
scientists and engineers, a salesperson may seek assistance from members of their own
technical staff, who can help address specific questions.
Office Support – Salespeople also may receive assistance from their company’s office
staff in the form of creating promotional materials, setting up sales appointments, finding
sales leads, arranging meeting space or organizing trade shows exhibits.
Trends
While the basic premise of personal selling, building relationships, has not changed much in
the last 50 years, there are a number of developments that are impacting this method of
promotion including:
Controlled Word-of-Mouth Promotion
One of the most influential forms of promotion occurs when one person speaks highly of a
product to someone else, particularly if the message sender is considered an unbiased source
of information. Until recently, marketers have had little control over person-to-person
promotion that did not involve salespeople (i.e., biased source). However, marketers are
beginning to experiment with new methods of promotion that strategically takes advantage of
the benefits offered by word-of-mouth promotion. Unlike salespeople who attempt to obtain
an order from customers, controlled word-of-mouth promotion uses real people to help
spread information about a product but do not directly elicit customer orders.
With controlled word-of-mouth promotion a marketer hires individuals to spread positive
information about a product but in a way that does not make it obvious to others that they are
being paid to do so. The technique is especially useful when building awareness of new
products and this approach has been dubbed “buzz” marketing as a way to describe its
objective of building a high level of awareness for a product. For example, a brewer may
form a team of word-of-mouth marketers who visit local taverns and night spots. As part of
their job these marketers may “talk up” a new beer sold by the brewer and even purchase the
product for some customers. But in the course of doing so they do not directly disclose that
they are being compensated by the brewer for their efforts.
Controlled word-of-mouth has received a great deal of publicity though much of it has
focused on potential ethical concerns. Some have expressed concern that paying people to
“act” as if they are interested in a product without any indication of their relationship with the
product breaches ethical standards. As more companies explore controlled word-of-mouth
marketing it is expect to become an even more scrutinized form of personal selling.
Customer Information Sharing
Possibly the most dramatic change to occur in how salespeople function on a day-to-day basis
involves the integration of customer relationship management (CRM) systems into the selling
arena. CRM is the name given to both the technology and the philosophy that drives
companies to gain a better understanding of their customers with the goal of building stronger
long-term relationships. The essential requirement for an effective CRM system is the need
for all customer contact points (e.g., salespeople, customer service, websites) to gather
information so that this can be shared with others in the company.
But CRM has faced some rough times within the sales force for the exact reason it is
important: salespeople must share their information. Salespeople have historically been very
good at developing relationships and learning about customers, but often loath sharing this
since, in effect, information is what makes them important. In the minds of some
salespeople, letting go of the information reduces their importance to the company. For
example, some salespeople feel that sharing all they know about a customer will make them
expendable as a salesperson since a company can simply insert someone new into their spot
at anytime.
While the attitude toward CRM has made its implementation difficult in many companies,
salespeople should understand that it is not going away. CRM and information sharing has
proven to be critical for maintaining strong customer relations and salespeople must learn to
adapt to it.
Mobile Technology and Web-Based Computing
The move to an information sharing approach is most effective when salespeople have access
to information sharing features when they need it most. Mobile technologies, such as
wireless internet (Wi-Fi) and cellular Internet access, allow salespeople to retrieve needed
information at any time. Additionally, there is a growing trend to make key business
applications available through a browser rather than having programs loaded on a
salesperson’s computer. This allows for the application to be accessed from anywhere at
anytime. For example, many companies have moved to web-based CRM systems where
simply having Internet access allows salespeople to enter and retrieve information. Also,
many new office productivity applications, such as word processing and spreadsheets, are
now becoming web-accessible.
New generation cell phones or smart phones along with other handheld devices, such as
personal digital assistants (PDA), lighten the burden of carrying laptop computers. But
because these handheld devices are web-enabled they provide access to much of the same
information as a standard computer. While the computing power of handheld devices is still
underpowered compared to conventional computers, the move to web-based computing may
some day make the handheld the main instrument for inputting and outputting information.
Electronic Sales Presentations
Technology is also playing a major role in how sales professionals reach prospects and
existing customers. While audio/video conferencing has been available for many years using
high-end telecommunication hookups, it has only been within the last few years that
improvements in Internet access speeds, computing power and meeting software have made
this method for reaching customers a practical alternative to face-to-face sales meetings.
These options include:
Online Video Conferencing
Online conferencing essentially acts in the same way as telecommunications
videoconferencing, with one big exception; it is delivered over the Internet. Anyone who
has an Internet connection knows that trying to deliver video over the Internet can be a trying
experience as video often appears to be slow, jittery and sometimes not even recognizable.
But these problems are quickly disappearing and while real time Internet video conferencing
(i.e., television quality video and audio) is still not routinely accessible to most salespeople,
this is expected to change.
Web/Phone Conferencing
To offset the problems associated with Internet delivery of real time audio and video, many
companies deliver sales presentations using a combination of web and telecommunications.
The most widely used services use the Internet, to deliver visual material (typically a slide
presentation) and telecommunications, to allow for voice conversation. The process has a
salesperson arrange for a conferencing time with a prospect who enters the conference by: 1)
using their web browser to gain access to the visual presentation and 2) using their telephone
to call into an audio conference. Splitting the visual and audio feeds allows for smoother
presentations since the conference participants’ computers need only process the visual
material. It should be noted, that while audio access is now being carried out over telephone
connections, the emergence of telephone over the Internet (i.e., VOIP - voice over Internet
Protocol) may soon help resolve some of the problems that have been encountered when
delivering both.
Online Text Chat
Online chat allows for real time communication between multiple participants using text
messaging. While this form of buyer-seller communication may not be very effective at
getting customers to agree to make a purchase, it has proven very effective in building initial
product interest. For example, potential customers visiting a website may use the chat feature
to ask a few questions about the company’s products. Engaging a customer this way can then
lead to the customer agreeing to receive a phone call from a salesperson to further discuss the
product.
Electronic Sales Training
Developing the skills and techniques needed to be successful at selling requires an extensive
commitment by the individual seller and the seller's company to sales training. Sales training
is the hallmark of professional selling. If there is one thing that separates the truly successful
salesperson from those who are not, it is the amount of training and preparation they engage
in.
Most organizations that employ a sales force offer new salespeople an extensive formal
training program often held at dedicated training facilities. These training programs can
range from a few days to many months depending on the industry. But once a salesperson
has made the move to the field, training does not stop. Those involved in selling must
continue to stay abreast of their products, customers, markets and competitors. While many
companies may continue to employ the same methods used when they first trained their
salespeople, a large number of firms are finding that ongoing training can be just as effective
using electronic options such as delivering training over the Internet, through downloadable
computer programs or through interactive CDs or DVDs.
While feedback using electronic means is not as personal as it might be with in-person
training, sophisticated electronic training programs are effective in educating and testing
trainee’s knowledge. Also, a live trainer can be contacted very quickly via e-mail, online
chat or by a phone call if a question does arise.
Using electronic delivery, the cost to the company for adding or updating training material is
inexpensive and quick compared to the cost and time needed to produce and ship paper-based
materials. Additionally, the use of RSS feeds or email enables salespeople to be quickly
notified when new training material is available. This is useful when the sales force must be
made aware of a recent change that will impact how products are promoted such as a price
change, new information to be used as comparison to competitor’s products, a potential
problem that has arisen when installing or using a product or some other adjustment.
Use of Customer Sales Teams
As we noted in discussion of technical specialists, salespeople may require the assistance of
others in their organization to effectively deal with prospects. In fact, many companies are
moving away from the traditional sale force arrangement, where a single salesperson handles
nearly all communication with an account, in favor of a team approach where multiple people
are involved.
Teams consist of individuals from several functional areas such as marketing, manufacturing,
distribution, and customer service. In some configurations all members share bonuses if the
team meets sales goals. Clearly to be effective a team approach requires the implementation
of customer relationship management systems that we discussed earlier.
Distribution
Distribution Decision
Product decisions may be the most important of all marketing decisions since these lead
directly to the reasons (i.e., offer benefits that satisfy needs) why customers decide to make a
purchase. But having a strong product does little good if customers are not able to easily and
conveniently obtain it.
Distribution decisions focus on establishing a system that, at its basic level, allows customers
to gain access and purchase a marketer’s product. However, marketers may find that getting
to the point at which a customer can acquire a product is complicated, time consuming, and
expensive. The bottom line is a marketer’s distribution system must be both effective (i.e.,
delivers a good or service to the right place, in the right amount, in the right condition) and
efficient (i.e., delivers at the right time and for the right cost).
Distribution decisions are relevant for nearly all types of products. While it is easy to see
how distribution decisions impact physical goods, such as laundry detergent or truck parts,
distribution is equally important for digital goods (e.g., television programming,
downloadable music) and services (e.g., income tax services). In fact, while the Internet is
playing a major role in changing product distribution and is perceived to offer more
opportunities for reaching customers, online marketers still face the same distribution issues
and obstacles as those faced by offline marketers.
In order to facilitate an effective and efficient distribution system many decisions must be
made including (but certainly not limited to):
Assessing the best distribution channels for getting products to customers
Determining whether a reseller network is needed to assist in the distribution process
Arranging a reliable ordering system that allows customers to place orders
Creating a delivery system for transporting the product to the customer
For tangible and digital goods, establishing facilities for product storage
Channels of Distribution
For marketers, the distribution decision is primarily concerned with the supply chain’s front-
end or channels of distribution that are designed to move the product (goods or services) from
the hands of the company to the hands of the customer. Obviously when we talk about
intangible services the use of the word “hands” is a figurative way to describe the exchange
that takes place. But the idea is the same as with tangible goods. All activities and
organizations helping with the exchange are part of the marketer’s channels of distribution.
Activities involved in the channel are wide and varied though the basic activities revolve
around these general tasks:
Ordering
Handling and shipping
Storage
Display
Promotion
Selling
Information feedback
CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
4. Data Analysis and Interpretation
Table -1) Dealers relation with ZUARI Cements Industry
Inference
8% of the dealers have more than 6-years experience. 60% of the dealers have 3-6 years
experience. Followed by 22% of the dealers having less than 3 years and 10% of the dealers
have one year experience.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Number of
respondents
Percentage
Business experience Number of respondents Percentage
<1 year 5 10
Below 3years 11 22
3-6 years 30 60
Above 6 years 4 8
Total 50 100
2) Dealers feeling about Company Image
Inference
30% of the dealers falling highly satisfied about companied image and 60%of the dealers
were feeling moderately satisfied, 10% of the dealers were feeling satisfied about companies
image.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Number of
respondents
Percentage
Dealers Opinion Number of respondents Percentage
Highly satisfied 15 30
Satisfied 30 60
Neutral 5 10
Dissatisfied 0 0
Others 0 0
Total 50 100
3)To know on which aspects the customer gets more satisfaction
Dealers opinion Number of respondents Percentage
Brand name 6 12
Price 2 4
Quality 38 76
Usages 4 8
Others 0 0
Total 50 100
Inference
Majority of the respondents are gibing fist preference to quality, second preference to brand
name, then followed by product, usage and price.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Number of
respondents
Percentage
4)Customers come to shop
Inference
From the above table it is inferred that majority of the customers come to retail outlets by the
influence of brand name of ZUARI cement and followed by advertising, dealers influence.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Number of
respondents
Percentage
Dealers opinion Number of respondents Percentage
By your influence 8 16
By friends 8 16
By advertising 8 16
By Brand Name 26 52
Other 0 0
Total 50 100
5)Stock out problems
Inference
90% of the dealers are getting satisfied with the supply of ZUARI cement by expressing that
they do not come across stock out problem.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Number of
respondents
Percentage
Dealers opinion Number of respondents Percentage
Frequently 0 0
Rarely 5 10
No 45 90
Total 50 100
6) Dealer satisfaction on supply of product
Inference
48% of the dealers are satisfying by the supply and 24% moderately satisfying, 24% highly
satisfied and 2% dissatisfied.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Highly
satisfied
Satisfied
Highly
dissatisfied
No.Of.
respondents
Percentage
Dealers Opinion No. of. Respondents Percentage
Highly satisfied 12 24
Moderately satisfied 12 24
Satisfied 24 48
Dissatisfied 2 4
Highly dissatisfied 0 0
Total 50 100
7) Dealers’ satisfaction on in time deliveries
Inference
The majority of the dealers are satisfied with the mode of dispatch by the company
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Dealersopinion
Moderately
satisfied
Dissatisfied
Total
Series1
Series2
Series3
Dealers opinion No. Of. Respondents Percentage
Highly satisfied 2 4
Moderately satisfied 16 32
Satisfied 32 64
Dissatisfied 0 0
Highly dissatisfied 0 0
Total 50 100
8)Customers Awareness
Inference
The above table shows that 54% respondents are saying that dealers play majors in
customer’s awareness about the product. And 38% of respondents are stating that
advertisement is second highest promotional activity to create awareness in the minds of
customer.
0
50
100
150
No.Of.
Res…
Dealers opinion No. Of. Respondents Percentage
Advertisement 19 38
Campaign 4 8
Dealer 27 54
Others 0 0
Total 50 100
9) Sales satisfaction
Inference
60% of the dealers are satisfying the sale of ZUARI’s product following 22% if the dealers
moderately satisfied, 18% of the dealers were highly satisfied.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Dealers
opinion
Highly
satisfied
Moderately
satisfied
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Highly
dissatisfied
Total
Dealers opinion No. of. Respondents Percentage
Highly satisfied 9 8
Moderately satisfied 11 22
Satisfied 30 60
Dissatisfied 0 0
Highly dissatisfied 0 0
Total 50 100
10) Demand estimation on various products
Inference
The high percent of dealers are estimating the demand for the product through orders and
26%of are estimating on seasonal base.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
No.Of.
respondents
Percentage
Dealers opinion No. of. Respondents Percentage
Past sales 9 18
Seasonal 13 26
Orders 28 56
Others 0 0
Total 50 100
11) Industry to stock point fright expenses percentage
Inference
The dealers are incurs very less fright charges representing 2%, to receive goods from
company to your stock point.
0
50
100
150
2%3%4%5%total
No.Of
.…
Dealers opinion No. Of. Respondents Percentage
2% 30 60
3% 10 20
4% 8 16
5% 2 4
Total 50 100
CHAPTER 5
FINDINGS,SUGGESTIONS
AND CONCLUSION
Findings
Majority of the dealers having 3 to 6 years experience, and less number of dealers having
above 6 years experience.
Majority of dealers just satisfied about the company’s image, remaining is neutral, highly
satisfied.
Majority of the customers satisfying about the quality of the product next preference
given brand name followed by usages, price.
Most of the dealers expresses customers visit to shop by brand name only. And followed
dealers influence, by friends, by advertising.
The entire dealers were saying they do not face any difficulties to deal with the customers
to selling the product.
Majority of the dealers saying they do no come across stock out problems.
Majority of the dealers satisfying with the supply from the company and very few
members satisfied, dissatisfied.
All the dealers were saying the entire floor space were providing only for goods storing
purpose.
Majority of the dealers satisfied with the mode of dispatch by the company. And few
members were moderately satisfied, highly satisfied.
Majority of the dealers they estimate the demand for various products by the orders and
followed by seasonal base and past sales.
All the dealers were saying they do not face any difficult in dealing with the company.
Majority of the dealers were saying about the fright it incurs 2% to receive goods from
company to your stock point.
Suggestions
Provide opportunity for new entrants in the business.
To create awareness about the company, using of various ways of promotional activities
such as advertisement, to maintain the better relation with dealers.
If possible increase the quality of the product and reduce the price.
Company and dealers should try to maintain customer good relationship as much as the
possible to increase the sales.
Try to maintain better supply chain in order to improve the services. Supply the products
with in time to the dealers. Though effective channel of distribution is very important in
enhancing the sales.
Try to provide discounts to dealers and credit facilities.
Customers, who purchase the huge amount of products, provide free home delivery to
customers place. This reflects in the sales and post sales services are very key in
maintaining customer and dealer relationships
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bibliography
Text Books
Phillipkotler,2003 Marketing Mgmt, T.M.H, New Delhi (9TH EDITION)
Schiffman&Kanuk, 1997, Consumer behaviour, PHI (6TH
EDITION) Levin &
Kirpatric,
Quantitative Techniques for M.B.A, Tata McGraw Hill-1985
Websites
http://www.marketing.org/
http://www.estrategicmarketing.com/
http://www.marketingprofs.com/
http://www.btobonline.com/
http://www.marketingstudies.net/
Conclusion

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Ashok final

  • 1. Sales and Distribution At Zuari Cements Pvt Limited (w.r.t Zuari Cements Pvt Ltd,Banjara Hills) Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of the Degree of Master of Business Administration, JNTU, Hyderabad By K.ASHOK KUMAR 117Z1E0007 Under the guidance of MR.P.RAJASHEKAR REDDY School Of Management Sciences NALLA NARASIMHA REDDY GROUP OF INISTITUTIONS (Approved by AICTE and affiliated to JNTU) Chowdariguda (V), Korremula x road, Ghatkesar (M), RR DIST-500088, AP. (2011-13)
  • 2. Declaration I hereby declare that this project report titled Sales & Distribution at Zuari Cements Pvt. Ltd. submitted by me to the Department of Master of Business Administration, as a record work done by me under the supervision and guidance of Mr.P.Rajsekhar Reddy, Asst prof School of Management Sciences, NNRESGI. This is a bonafide work undertaken by me and it is not submitted to any other University or Institution for the award of any degree/diploma/certificate or published any time before. Date- K.ASHOK KUMAR Place-Hyderabad 117Z1E0007
  • 3. Acknowledgements The satisfaction that accompanies the successful completion of any task would be incomplete without the mention of the people who make it possible and whose constant guidance and encouragement crown all the efforts with success I would like to express my deep indebtness and whole hearted thanks to Mr. Bhasker Reddy HRD Manager Zuari Cements Pvt, Ltd., for allowing me to undertake this project work and for his valuable suggestions and co-operation during the development of this project. I express my thanks to Mr.M.Narsing Rao, Project Guide for his valuable guidance and help throughout the project development. I wish to express my sincere thanks to Director Dr.Krishna Reddy and Dr.M.Vijetha Dean School Of Management Sciences Nalla Narasimha Reddy Educational Institutions for their valuable suggestions, constant help and encouragement in every stage during the preparation of project report. I also thank the entire staff of , for their valuable suggestions and help in completion of this project I would like to thanks my brother and my family members for their support and guidance
  • 4. List of Tables Table No. Title of the Table Page No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
  • 5. List of Figures Figure No. Title of the Figure Page No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
  • 6. CONTENTS PAGE Contents Page Number List of Tables List of Figures CHAPTER 1 – Introduction 1.1 Introduction to the study 1.2 Need for the study 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Objectives of the study 1.5 Research Methodology 1.6 Limitations CHAPTER 2 2.1 Industry Profile 2.2 Company Profile CHAPTER 3 – Theoretical Review CHAPTER 4 – Data Analysis & Interpretation CHAPTER 5 – Findings, Suggestions & Conclusion Bibliography Annexure
  • 8. Introduction 1.1 Introduction to the study Cement is a mixture of limestone, Clay, Silica and Gypsum. It is a fine powder which when mixed with water sets to a hard mass as a result of hydration of the constituent compounds. It is the most commonly used construction material. Cement is manufactured by burning a mixture of limestone and Clay at high temperatures in a kiln, and then finely grinding the resulting clinker along with Gypsum. The end product thus obtained is called Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC).There are different varieties of cement based on different compositions according to specific end uses, namely Ordinary Portland Cement, Portland Puzzolana Cement, Portland Blast Furnace Slag Cement, White Cement and Specialized Cement. The basic difference lies in the percentage of clinker used. Portland pozzolana cement is Ordinary Portland Cement blended with pozzolanic materials (power-station fly ash, burnt clays, ash from burnt plant material or Siliceous earths), either together or separately. Portland clinker is ground with Gypsum and Pozzolanic materials which, though they do not have cementing properties in themselves, combine chemically with Portland cement in the presence of water to form extra strong cementing material which resists wet cracking, thermal cracking and has a high degree of cohesion and workability in concrete. PPC has80% clinker, 15% pozolona and 5% gypsum and accounts for 18% of the total cement consumption. It is cheaply manufactured because it uses fly ash/burnt clay/coal waste as the main ingredient. It has a lower heat of hydration, which helps in preventing cracks where large volumes are being cast.
  • 9. 1.2 Need for the Study 1.3 Scope of the Study The study is confined to study of Sales & Distribution at Zuari Cements Pvt Limited. Data collected from past five years i.e. 2007-2012 and also the market in the Sales &Distribution in the recent years. 1.4 Objectives of the Study To study the distribution channel of ZUARI cement along with other brands To find out the problems faced by the ZUARI dealers/retailers and try to minimize these problems. 1.5 Research Methodology Population: The total no of employees in the Zuari Cements Pvt Ltd are 70 Sampling Size: The sampling size is 100 Sampling Method: Census Survey method Extent of Sampling Procedure: The sampling is done in Hyderabad branch Time Period: Time period for the research is for about 5 days
  • 10. 1.6 Limitations The major problem of the survey was that most of the respondents being very loyal to their brands didn’t give exact answers Some of the respondents may have told their average monthly sale more than the actual. Because all of them think that the monthly sale attached with the market image of their shop.
  • 12. 2.1 Industry Profile Cement industry Selling is thought of as a part of marketing, however, the two disciplines are completely different. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespeople (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading "art". Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesperson relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way. While the sales process refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, the definition of the selling is somewhat ambiguous due to the close nature of advertising, promotion, public relations, and direct marketing.Sales departments often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing individuals who specialize in sale specific roles.Selling involves sales which are the pinnacle act of completed of a purchasing activity.Selling also involves salespeople who are the primary agents of facilitating sales. Selling is the profession-wide term, much like marketing defines a profession. Recently, attempts have been made to clearly understand who is in the sales profession, and who is not. There are many articles looking at marketing, advertising, promotions, and even public relations as ways to create a unique transaction.Many believe that the focus of selling is on the human agents involved in the exchange between buyer and seller. Effective selling also requires a systems approach, at minimum involving roles that sell, enable selling, and develop sales capabilities.
  • 13. Indian Scenario of Cement Industry Indian cement industry is one of the key industries amongst various old economy industries, which have witnessed up & down cycles along with the general economic trend in the past. However as the Indian economy has gathered its momentum in the last couple of years the fortunes of this industry have also swung from being unfavourable demand – supply scenario to burgeoning demand prospects. Though the industry is not a glamorous one, it is worth noticing that India is the world’s second largest cement producing country after China. Selling and Sales Management Selling is a highly misunderstood profession. Many people, when asked what they think of salespeople, instantly use terms such as pushy, greedy, or some other unkind adjective. Yet professional selling is not what most people think. Professionally trained salespeople are among the most important individuals within many companies. This is especially true in business-to-business selling situations where the amount of promotional expense allocated to support a sales force far exceeds expenses for advertising. Also, successful selling requires the establishment of strong relationships with customers, relationships that are intended to last for a long time. Salespeople whose goal is to just get the sale and not worry about the customer are doomed to failure. Professional selling requires knowledge and skills that must to learned over time, thus on-going training is critical for most. In this section resources are offered to help both the experienced sales professional as well as those new to the field.
  • 14. Personal Selling Personal selling is a promotional method in which one party (e.g., salesperson) uses skills and techniques for building personal relationships with another party (e.g., those involved in a purchase decision) that results in both parties obtaining value. In most cases the “value” for the salesperson is realized through the financial rewards of the sale while the customer’s “value” is realized from the benefits obtained by consuming the product. However, getting a customer to purchase a product is not always the objective of personal selling. For instance, selling may be used for the purpose of simply delivering information. Because selling involves personal contact, this promotional method often occurs through face-to-face meetings or via a telephone conversation, though newer technologies allow contact to take place over the Internet including using video conferencing or text messaging (e.g., online chat). Advantages of Personal Selling One key advantage personal selling has over other promotional methods is that it is a two- way form of communication. In selling situations the message sender (e.g., salesperson) can adjust the message as they gain feedback from message receivers (e.g., customer). So if a customer does not understand the initial message (e.g., doesn’t fully understand how the product works) the salesperson can make adjustments to address questions or concerns. Many non-personal forms of promotion, such as a radio advertisement, are inflexible, at least in the short-term, and cannot be easily adjusted to address audience questions. The interactive nature of personal selling also makes it the most effective promotional method for building relationships with customers, particularly in the business-to-business market. This is especially important for companies that either sell expensive products or sell
  • 15. lower cost but high volume products (i.e., buyer must purchase in large quantities) that rely heavily on customers making repeat purchases. Because such purchases may take a considerable amount of time to complete and may involve the input of many people at the purchasing company (i.e., buying center), sales success often requires the marketer develop and maintain strong relationships with members of the purchasing company. Finally, personal selling is the most practical promotional option for reaching customers who are not easily reached through other methods. The best example is in selling to the business market where, compared to the consumer market, advertising, public relations and sales promotions are often not well received. Cement, like steel is one of the basic materials for the technical Development of a country. Cement industry in India is Eight decades old, the first cement plant having been commissioned in 1914 at Borabandhar (Gujarat). The Indian cement industry is the second largest in the world after Chinas. In terms of quality, productivity, and efficiency it compares with the best anywhere. It is almost entirely home growth, built indigenously and using locally soured inputs. In other words, the hard ware and software that run the industry in all mostly Indian barring one (or) two exceptional years, its performance in the last two decades has been quite consistent and commendable in terms of Modernization, expansion, growth in production, improvements in productivity and cost efficiency. In the past, the growth was at a slump till 1977 and after that there was a reversed trend and a climate of accelerated growth set in announcement of a formula for new investments based on 12% post tax return . The policy of partial decontrol announced in 1982 gave further boost to the cement Industry.
  • 16. Modernization/ Expansion programmes In the wake of the new policy, ambitious and comprehensive Modernization / expansion programmes have been undertaken by the Industry, Which include conversion of wet process to energy efficient dry process, comprehensive adoption of latest technology such as the use of vertical raw mill, precalcinators and installation of pollution control devices. For the implementation of these programmes Rs.5, 000 Crores have already been spent. Capacity According to the Cement Manufactures Association (CMA) the industry has an installed capacity of over 137 Million tones from 124 plants of 56 member companies. Most of this capacity is modern and based on the energy efficient (conservation of energy) dry process technology. These are as many as 64 plants of a million tones or more capacity. How ever the minimum economic size has increased to two million tones a year. Transportation of cement The share of roads in transport of cement is nearly 60% while 39% is moved by rail. In recent years, seas routes are used increasingly markets on the western coast. Production Cement production dispatches grew almost 10% in 2001-2002 when few sectors of the economy could avoid first time last year with production of 102.4 million tones. The outlook for the current year is also favorable. Previously the annual growth rate of cement production is 7 % to 8 %. 70% Of the production is OPC, 15 % of PPC, slag cement 11 %, and production of oil well cement, special & other verities of cement together accounted For 1 %.
  • 17. Demand and supply scenario The industry can expect to see good years ahead in the long run. Demand is expected to grow due to greater to cur on infrastructure and housing. Although the industry is capable of meeting its own challenges, it still needs assistance from the govt., to overcome some of its external constraints. Demand forecasting In particular, the housings and Roads sectors have high linkages with other sectors n terms of economic growth and employment generation also gives a valuable boost to the fortunes of the Indian Cement Industry The CMA forces that 2002-2003 will also be a favorable one or the industry with a likely growth rate of 8 to 10 %. Export Potential Even thought India is the second largest industry in the world, and has the natural advantages of limestone reserves, its export performance is not line with the size. Exports account for less than 2 % production. India is strategically placed to be a major exporter of cement to SAARC Countries and all those around Indian Ocean such as west Asia and Africa but India has not been able to fully tap this location advantage. There is sizable surplus capacity, and a quality product. Unlike in some of the neighboring countries, the Indian industry does not receive any special support from the Government to promote
  • 18. Exports the Government should lobby with some of the neighboring countries for reduction in their import duties. The Government can help in a big way in boosting export competitiveness through suitable financial incentives and confessional inland freights. It is interesting to note despite the reduction of import duties year after year, there have been no actual arrivals of cement consignment from abroad. Low cement prices prevailing in the country, inadequate port infrastructure & high inland freight from ports to consumption centers are provided effective barriers to imports. Despite so many constraints, the industry exported under 3.4million tones during 2001-2002. Most of the credit goes to cement plants in Gujarat. There the companies have opened up their initiative. Some of the states, which have been marked for export from recent past, are A.P., Gujarat, Tamilnadu, Particularly in relation to export which have to be moved by sea. A Glance on the contribution of cement Industry towards Indian Cement has been a core building material for almost a century. There is no viable Substitute foreseeable in the near future. Since cement is a core building material, it is directly related to “Construction” which in turn flows from economic growth. All forecasts suggest large investments in housing & infrastructure. It is easy to visualize its multiplier effect on the constructions sectors have high linkages with other sectors in terms of economic growths and employment generation a part from their giving a valuable boost to the fortunes of the Indian Cement Industry. Cement, like steel is one of the basic material for the economic development of a country. The economic development of a country is indexed by the consumption of cement .The Indian cement industry plays a key role in the national economy, generating substantial Revenue for state and central government the third highest contributor in terms of excise duty of over Rs.3500 Crores a year. Sales taxes yield as round Rs. 1500 Crores. The industry
  • 19. employs a work force of over 1.5 lakhs persons and supports a further complement of 12 lakhs people engaged indirectly. It must be admitted that govt. policy announcements in recent years have been pro-active in this respect & the cement industry has welcomed the government’s announcements and initiatives in building roads etc, as there are huge advantage of cement & concrete roads over conventional bitumen roads. They are economical, ensure durability & long life. The housing sector by a rough estimate can consume over 50 million tones of cement to help clear the backlog. Any impetus in housing activity will serve as a powerful driver of the economy and consequently the cement industry. In fact, housing is likely to be the most powerful engine for growth of the economy. Despite lowering of import duties, no import of cement is likely. The needs renewed support from the Govt., in providing impetus in economic growth and construction of infrastructure projects. It also seeks Government’s assistance in easing it financial burden by way of administered tools & duties. This kind of assistance will simultaneously increase the consumption of cement further reduce prices of customers. For cheaper costs cement can be made available to the public for mass housing 7 to help make the construction of infrastructure projects more financially viable.
  • 20. 2.2 Company Profile Zuari Cements Limited The company Zuari Agro Ltd was in corporate on 12th may 1967 Zuari cement limited has been himself off as a separate company with 50-50 share holding by Zuari industries limited (A.K.K.Birla group company) and Italy cement group (as Italian cement company) with effect from 1-4-2000 with Head-quarters at Bangalore, Zuari and Italy cement group (through cement Francis group company) have formed joint venture company Viz., Zuari cement limited. It is projected to increase the cement capacity of 2.2MT. TEXMACO Limited in the year 1995 was changed to Zuari cement by division of ZUARI CHEMICAL LIMITED, jointly promoted by K.K.BIRLA & USX CORPORATION a major steel leader in U.S.A. Location of the Plant Zuari cement is running under the Flagship of Zuari Agro chemicals Limited.Zuari cement is strategies located 6 kms away from Yerraguntla town of Kamalapuram (Taluk) in Kadapa district Andhra Pradesh. Railway line has been laid connection the Yerraguntla station of Zuari Cements. Location of the plant at this place is having following advantages. Location in industrial belt of Rayalaseema with sophisticated facilities like water, electricity, labor, transport etc. Present of the best limestone proved scientifically for cement. Low free lime to ensure reduced surface cracks. Low heat of hydration for better soundness.
  • 21. Low magnesia content to ensure reduced tensile cracks. Specially designed setting time to suit Indian working conditions. Joint Venture with Italic Cement Zuari group has identified as one of the core business to grow. It has therefore, been decided to constitute a separate corporate entity and hire off cement business to it. To accelerate the growth and achieve capacity additions quickly it decided to form a joint venture with a strategic partner after careful evaluation the multinational cement giant italic cement group was identified to be suitable partner for pursuing growth. Zuari and Italic cement groups have agreed to form a joint venture with 50-50 equity sharing. The Zuari cement business will get transferred to the joint venture company Viz. Zuari cement limited. It is proposed to have quarters of cement business at Hyderabad. It is proposed to increase the capacity of1.7 MTPA in span of 3 to 4 years. Italic cement group is the largest producer & distributor of cement in European and one of the leaders in the world maker place. The group operates in 13 countries including Belgium, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Moraco, Spain, Turkey and U.S with recent acquisition in Bulgaria, Kazakhstan and Thaila The group was founded in 1864 and had its head quarters in Bermago, Italy; currently the group has 54 plans with an installed capacity of 40 MTPA spread over 13 countries. The group also has 500 RMC plants all over the world. The consolidated group turn over in 1998 was 3.4 billion US$. The group has excellent R & D and Machine design facilities head quartered at Bermago, Italy, which renders technical support to all over the group plants.
  • 22. Mission Italic Cementric Group- Our Mission Our Shared Ambition: “Effective and Efficient” To become the most effective and most efficient cement manufacturer and distributor in the world. Our Approach: “We are local we think Global”. Cement aggregates and ready to mix concrete manufacture and distribution are local business. Around the world we serve local customers in local markets with local needs. Our Way of Working: “Technological leadership is our Goal”. Our technology plays the key role in realizing our ambition we are committed to increasing the value of our groups, our companies, our products and services, the capabilities of our employees and the ecological standards by which we operate. Our spirit: “One team worldwide”. We operate worldwide in many diverse markets, cultures and continents. We are proud of our cultural diversity and our distinctive character. Organizaitonal Structure The organizational structure of Zuari is simple and flat. The employees are assigned grades based on their pay packages. These grades are not based on the job responsibilities may have different grades for reasons like duration of association with the company. Objectives of The Company To Provide employment to the local employees To supply best cement at economical prices To get the optimum utilization of the raw materials available of their own mines. Manufacturing quality cement and to stand as a market leader in south India.
  • 23. Recent Developments Zuari cement has signed on agreement with the cement corporation of India (CCI) to market CCI’s cement produces from their facility at tender in Andhra Pradesh. Zuari Cement shall market this in the state of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and pond cherry. The incremental tonnage for zuari cement as a result of this arrangement is around 3.5 lakh tones. Social Responsibility As part of social responsibility the company is maintaining one dispensary where the near by villagers are treated free of cost. It has one primary school & also it has constructed bus shelters, traffic signals water sheds, water tanks hospitals, houses & road dividers. Motivation Motivation in zuari cement limited is one by encouraging the employees by awarding them rewarding them and identifying their talents and promoting them to higher positions. The career development is possible through proper motivational factors. Major Users Zuari cement is marked through out south India by a wide network of stockiest. The zuari sales officers and representatives are based in almost all cities.
  • 24. And towns in south India, Major users of zuari cement are as follows. Madras refineries limited. Airport authority of India Tamilnadu real estate limited East coast construction and industries limited. Tamil Nadu port trust. Asia pacific hotels limited Grind well Norton limited Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam APSEB – Srisailam power project. Ramco industries visaka industries. Hyderabad Everest limited Nagarjuna Construction. Corporate Marketing Office Zuari cements limited corporate marketing office is at Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and branches are at: Hyderabad - Andhra Pradesh. Visakhapatnam - Andhra Pradesh. Bang lore - Karnataka. Cochin - Kerala. Panaji - Goa Chennai - Tamil Nadu. Bhubaneswar - Orissa.
  • 25. Competitors Penna - Tadipathri ZUARI - Tadipathri Malabar - Cochin Product Profile Zuari Cement manufactures and distributes its own main product lines of cement .We aim to optimize production across all of our markets, providing a complete solution for customer's needs at the lowest possible cost, an approach we call strategic integration of activities. Cement is made from a mixture of 80 percent limestone and 20 percent clay. These are crushed and ground to provide the "raw meal”, a pale, flour-like powder. Heated to around 1450° C (2642° F) in rotating kilns, the “meal” undergoes complex chemical changes and is transformed into clinker. Fine-grinding the clinker together with a small quantity of gypsum produces cement. Adding other constituents at this stage produces cements for specialized uses. Zuari Cements Range of Cement Zuari Superfine Cement Zuari 43 Grade Cement Zuari Superfine P53 cement
  • 26. Zuari Superfine Cement Zuari 43 Grade Cement Zuari Superfine P 53 Cement Quality Six strong benefits that make Zuari 43, 53 Grade, Super fine, Vishnu Premium and Vishnu Shakti the ideal cement Higher compressive strength. Better soundness. Lesser consumption of cement for M-20 Concrete Grade and above. Faster de shuttering of formwork. Reduced construction time with a superior and wide range of cement catering to every conceivable building need, Zuari cement is a formidable player in the cement market. Here just a few reasons why Zuari cement chosen by millions of India. Ideal raw material Low lime and magnesia content and high proportion of silicates. Greater fineness. Slow initial and fast final setting. Wide range of applications. Quality customer services.
  • 27. Features That Promise Better Performance Concrete of better strength and workability since voids of air and water are reduced. Protection against alkali aggregate reaction due to the presence of a very glassy state of silica. Resistance towards chemical attacks and lowers permeability. Long term durable concrete, because of low free lime. Lower heat of hydration
  • 29. 3. Theoretical Review Selling is thought of as a part of marketing, however, the two disciplines are completely different. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespeople (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading "art". Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesperson relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way. While the sales process refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, the definition of the selling is somewhat ambiguous due to the close nature of advertising, promotion, public relations, and direct marketing. Sales departments often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing individuals who specialize in sale specific roles.Selling involves sales which are the pinnacle act of completed of a purchasing activity. Selling also involves salespeople who are the primary agents of facilitating sales. Selling is the profession-wide term, much like marketing defines a profession. Recently, attempts have been made to clearly understand who is in the sales profession, and who is not. There are many articles looking at marketing, advertising, promotions, and even public relations as ways to create a unique transaction. Many believe that the focus of selling is on the human agents involved in the exchange between buyer and seller. Effective selling also requires a systems approach, at minimum involving roles that sell, enable selling, and develop sales capabilities. Selling also involves
  • 30. salespeople who possess specific set of sales skills and knowledge are required to facilitate the exchange of value between buyers and sellers that is unique from marketing, advertising, etc. Professional Selling is defined as: "The holistic business system required to effectively develop, manage, enable, and execute a mutually beneficial, interpersonal exchange of goods and/or services for equitable value.” Selling and Sales Management Selling is a highly misunderstood profession. Many people, when asked what they think of salespeople, instantly use terms such as pushy, greedy, or some other unkind adjective. Yet professional selling is not what most people think. Professionally trained salespeople are among the most important individuals within many companies. This is especially true in business-to-business selling situations where the amount of promotional expense allocated to support a sales force far exceeds expenses for advertising. Also, successful selling requires the establishment of strong relationships with customers, relationships that are intended to last for a long time. Salespeople whose goal is to just get the sale and not worry about the customer are doomed to failure. Professional selling requires knowledge and skills that must to learned over time, thus on-going training is critical for most. In this section resources are offered to help both the experienced sales professional as well as those new to the field.
  • 31. Personal Selling Personal selling is a promotional method in which one party (e.g., salesperson) uses skills and techniques for building personal relationships with another party (e.g., those involved in a purchase decision) that results in both parties obtaining value. In most cases the “value” for the salesperson is realized through the financial rewards of the sale while the customer’s “value” is realized from the benefits obtained by consuming the product. However, getting a customer to purchase a product is not always the objective of personal selling. For instance, selling may be used for the purpose of simply delivering information. Because selling involves personal contact, this promotional method often occurs through face-to-face meetings or via a telephone conversation, though newer technologies allow contact to take place over the Internet including using video conferencing or text messaging (e.g., online chat). Advantages of Personal Selling One key advantage personal selling has over other promotional methods is that it is a two- way form of communication. In selling situations the message sender (e.g., salesperson) can adjust the message as they gain feedback from message receivers (e.g., customer). So if a customer does not understand the initial message (e.g., doesn’t fully understand how the product works) the salesperson can make adjustments to address questions or concerns. Many non-personal forms of promotion, such as a radio advertisement, are inflexible, at least in the short-term, and cannot be easily adjusted to address audience questions. The interactive nature of personal selling also makes it the most effective promotional method for building relationships with customers, particularly in the business-to-business
  • 32. market. This is especially important for companies that either sell expensive products or sell lower cost but high volume products (i.e., buyer must purchase in large quantities) that rely heavily on customers making repeat purchases. Because such purchases may take a considerable amount of time to complete and may involve the input of many people at the purchasing company (i.e., buying center), sales success often requires the marketer develop and maintain strong relationships with members of the purchasing company. Finally, personal selling is the most practical promotional option for reaching customers who are not easily reached through other methods. The best example is in selling to the business market where, compared to the consumer market, advertising, public relations and sales promotions are often not well received. Disadvantages of Personal Selling Possibly the biggest disadvantage of selling is the degree to which this promotional method is misunderstood. Most people have had some bad experiences with salespeople who they perceived were overly aggressive or even downright annoying. While there are certainly many salespeople who fall into this category, the truth is salespeople are most successful when they focus their efforts on satisfying customers over the long term and not focusing own their own selfish interests. A second disadvantage of personal selling is the high cost in maintaining this type of promotional effort. Costs incurred in personal selling include: High cost-per-action (CPA) – CPA can be an important measure of the success of promotion spending. Since personal selling involves person-to-person contact, the money spent to support a sales staff (i.e., sales force) can be steep. For instance, in some industries it costs well over (US) $300 each time a salesperson contacts a potential
  • 33. customer. This cost is incurred whether a sale is made or not! These costs include compensation (e.g., salary, commission, bonus), providing sales support materials, allowances for entertainment spending, office supplies, telecommunication and much more. With such high cost for maintaining a sales force, selling is often not a practical option for selling products that do not generate a large amount of revenue. Training Costs – Most forms of personal selling require the sales staff be extensively trained on product knowledge, industry information and selling skills. For companies that require their salespeople attend formal training programs, the cost of training can be quite high and include such expenses as travel, hotel, meals, and training equipment while also paying the trainees’ salaries while they attend. A third disadvantage is that personal selling is not for everyone. Job turnover in sales is often much higher than other marketing positions. For companies that assign salespeople to handle certain customer groups (e.g., geographic territory), turnover may leave a company without representation in a customer group for an extended period of time while the company recruits and trains a replacement. Objectives of Personal Selling Personal selling is used to meet the five objectives of promotion in the following ways: Building Product Awareness – A common task of salespeople, especially when selling in business markets, is to educate customers on new product offerings. In fact, salespeople serve a major role at industry trades shows where they discuss products with show attendees. But building awareness using personal selling is also important in consumer markets. The advent of controlled word-of-mouth marketing is leading to personal selling becoming a useful mechanism for introducing consumers to new products.
  • 34. Creating Interest – The fact that personal selling involves person-to-person communication makes it a natural method for getting customers to experience a product for the first time. In fact, creating interest goes hand-in-hand with building product awareness as sales professionals can often accomplish both objectives during the first encounter with a potential customer. Providing Information – When salespeople engage customers a large part of the conversation focuses on product information. Marketing organizations provide their sales staff with large amounts of sales support including brochures, research reports, computer programs and many other forms of informational material. Stimulating Demand – By far, the most important objective of personal selling is to convince customers to make a purchase. Reinforcing the Brand – Most personal selling is intended to build long-term relationships with customers. A strong relationship can only be built over time and requires regular communication with a customer. Meeting with customers on a regular basis allows salespeople to repeatedly discuss their company’s products and by doing so helps strengthen customers’ knowledge of what the company has to offer. Classifying Selling Roles As noted above, worldwide millions of people have careers that fit in the personal selling category. However, the actual functions carried out by someone in sales may be quite different. Below we discuss the four major types of selling roles: order getters, order takers, order influencers, and sales support. It should be noted that these roles are not mutually exclusive and that a salesperson can perform more than one and possibly all activities.
  • 35. Order Getters The role most synonymous with selling is a position in which the salesperson is actively engaged in using their skills to obtain orders from customers. Such roles can be further divided into: New Business Development– A highly challenging yet potentially lucrative sales position is one where the main objective is to find new customers. Sales jobs in this category are often in fields that are very competitive, but offer high rewards for those that are successful. The key distinguishing factor of these positions is that once a sale is made new business salespeople pass customers on to others in their organization who handle account maintenance. These positions include: Business Equipment Sales - These salespeople are often found in industries where a company’s main profits come from the sale of supplies and services that come after an initial equipment purchase. The key objective of business equipment salespeople is to get buyers to purchase the main piece of equipment for which supplies and service are needed in order for the equipment to function. For instance, in the photocopier industry certain salespeople only seek out new accounts and once a photocopier sale is made they pass along the account to other sales personnel who handle the sales of maintenance and supply products. Telemarketing – This category includes product sales over the phone, whether aimed at business or consumer. While in the US laws restrict unsolicited phone selling, the practice is still widely used in the business market. Consumer Selling – Certain companies are very aggressive in their use of salespeople to build new consumer business. These include: retailers selling certain high priced consumer products including furniture, electronics and clothing; housing products
  • 36. including real estate, security services, building replacement products (e.g., windows); and in-home product sellers including those selling door-to-door and products sold at “home party” events such as cosmetics, kitchenware and decorative products. Account Management – Most people engaged in sales are not only involved in gaining the initial order, but work to build and maintain relationships with clients that are intended to last a long time. Salespeople involved in account management are found across a broad range of industries. Their responsibilities involve all aspects of building customer relationships from initial sale to follow-up account servicing. These include: Business-to-Business Selling – These salespeople sell products for business use with an emphasis on follow-up sales. In many cases, business-to-business salespeople have many different items available for sale (i.e., broad and/or deep product line) rather than a single product. So while the initial sale may only result in the buyer purchasing a few products, the potential exists for the buyer to purchase many other products as the buyer-seller relationship grows. Trade Selling – Sales professionals working for consumer products companies normally do not sell to the final user (i.e., consumer). Instead their role is focused on first getting distributors, such wholesalers and retailers, to handle their products and once this is accomplished, helping distributors sell their product by offering ideas for product advertising, in-store display and sales promotions. Order Takers Selling does not always require a salesperson use methods designed to encourage customers to make a purchase. In fact, the greatest number of people engaged in selling are not order getters, rather they are considered order takers. In this role, salespeople primarily assist customers with a purchase in ways that are much less assertive than order getters. As might
  • 37. be expected, compensation for order takers is generally lower than that of order getters. Among those serving an order taker role are: Retail Clerks – While some retail salespeople are involved in new business selling, the vast majority of retail employees handle order taking tasks, which range from directing customers to products to handling customer checkout. Industrial Distributor Clerks – Industrial purchase situations, such as distributors of building products, will also have clerks to handle customer purchases. Customer Service – Order taking is also handled in non face-to-face ways through customer service personnel. Usually this occurs via phone conversations, though newer technologies are allowing for these tasks to be handled through electronic means such as online chat. Order Influencers Some salespeople are not engaged in direct selling activities at all. That is, they do not sell directly to the person who is the ultimate purchaser for their product. Instead these salespeople concentrate on selling activity that targets those who influence purchases made by the final customer. The primary example of an order influencer is the missionary salesperson: Missionary - These salespeople are used in industries where customers make purchases based on the advice or requirements of others. Two industries in which missionary selling is commonly found are pharmaceuticals, where salespeople, known as product detailers, discuss products with doctors (influencers) who then write prescriptions for their patients (final customer) and higher education, where salespeople call on college
  • 38. professors (influencers) who make requirements to students (final customer) for specific textbooks. Sales Support A final group involved in selling mostly assist with the selling activities of other sales professionals. These include: Technical Specialists - When dealing with the sale of technical products, particularly in business markets, salespeople may need to draw on the expertise of others to assist with the process. This is particularly the case when the buying party consists of a buying center. In business selling many people from different functional areas may be involved in the purchase decision. If this buying center includes technical people, such as scientists and engineers, a salesperson may seek assistance from members of their own technical staff, who can help address specific questions. Office Support – Salespeople also may receive assistance from their company’s office staff in the form of creating promotional materials, setting up sales appointments, finding sales leads, arranging meeting space or organizing trade shows exhibits. Trends While the basic premise of personal selling, building relationships, has not changed much in the last 50 years, there are a number of developments that are impacting this method of promotion including: Controlled Word-of-Mouth Promotion One of the most influential forms of promotion occurs when one person speaks highly of a product to someone else, particularly if the message sender is considered an unbiased source
  • 39. of information. Until recently, marketers have had little control over person-to-person promotion that did not involve salespeople (i.e., biased source). However, marketers are beginning to experiment with new methods of promotion that strategically takes advantage of the benefits offered by word-of-mouth promotion. Unlike salespeople who attempt to obtain an order from customers, controlled word-of-mouth promotion uses real people to help spread information about a product but do not directly elicit customer orders. With controlled word-of-mouth promotion a marketer hires individuals to spread positive information about a product but in a way that does not make it obvious to others that they are being paid to do so. The technique is especially useful when building awareness of new products and this approach has been dubbed “buzz” marketing as a way to describe its objective of building a high level of awareness for a product. For example, a brewer may form a team of word-of-mouth marketers who visit local taverns and night spots. As part of their job these marketers may “talk up” a new beer sold by the brewer and even purchase the product for some customers. But in the course of doing so they do not directly disclose that they are being compensated by the brewer for their efforts. Controlled word-of-mouth has received a great deal of publicity though much of it has focused on potential ethical concerns. Some have expressed concern that paying people to “act” as if they are interested in a product without any indication of their relationship with the product breaches ethical standards. As more companies explore controlled word-of-mouth marketing it is expect to become an even more scrutinized form of personal selling. Customer Information Sharing Possibly the most dramatic change to occur in how salespeople function on a day-to-day basis involves the integration of customer relationship management (CRM) systems into the selling
  • 40. arena. CRM is the name given to both the technology and the philosophy that drives companies to gain a better understanding of their customers with the goal of building stronger long-term relationships. The essential requirement for an effective CRM system is the need for all customer contact points (e.g., salespeople, customer service, websites) to gather information so that this can be shared with others in the company. But CRM has faced some rough times within the sales force for the exact reason it is important: salespeople must share their information. Salespeople have historically been very good at developing relationships and learning about customers, but often loath sharing this since, in effect, information is what makes them important. In the minds of some salespeople, letting go of the information reduces their importance to the company. For example, some salespeople feel that sharing all they know about a customer will make them expendable as a salesperson since a company can simply insert someone new into their spot at anytime. While the attitude toward CRM has made its implementation difficult in many companies, salespeople should understand that it is not going away. CRM and information sharing has proven to be critical for maintaining strong customer relations and salespeople must learn to adapt to it. Mobile Technology and Web-Based Computing The move to an information sharing approach is most effective when salespeople have access to information sharing features when they need it most. Mobile technologies, such as wireless internet (Wi-Fi) and cellular Internet access, allow salespeople to retrieve needed information at any time. Additionally, there is a growing trend to make key business applications available through a browser rather than having programs loaded on a
  • 41. salesperson’s computer. This allows for the application to be accessed from anywhere at anytime. For example, many companies have moved to web-based CRM systems where simply having Internet access allows salespeople to enter and retrieve information. Also, many new office productivity applications, such as word processing and spreadsheets, are now becoming web-accessible. New generation cell phones or smart phones along with other handheld devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDA), lighten the burden of carrying laptop computers. But because these handheld devices are web-enabled they provide access to much of the same information as a standard computer. While the computing power of handheld devices is still underpowered compared to conventional computers, the move to web-based computing may some day make the handheld the main instrument for inputting and outputting information. Electronic Sales Presentations Technology is also playing a major role in how sales professionals reach prospects and existing customers. While audio/video conferencing has been available for many years using high-end telecommunication hookups, it has only been within the last few years that improvements in Internet access speeds, computing power and meeting software have made this method for reaching customers a practical alternative to face-to-face sales meetings. These options include: Online Video Conferencing Online conferencing essentially acts in the same way as telecommunications videoconferencing, with one big exception; it is delivered over the Internet. Anyone who has an Internet connection knows that trying to deliver video over the Internet can be a trying experience as video often appears to be slow, jittery and sometimes not even recognizable.
  • 42. But these problems are quickly disappearing and while real time Internet video conferencing (i.e., television quality video and audio) is still not routinely accessible to most salespeople, this is expected to change. Web/Phone Conferencing To offset the problems associated with Internet delivery of real time audio and video, many companies deliver sales presentations using a combination of web and telecommunications. The most widely used services use the Internet, to deliver visual material (typically a slide presentation) and telecommunications, to allow for voice conversation. The process has a salesperson arrange for a conferencing time with a prospect who enters the conference by: 1) using their web browser to gain access to the visual presentation and 2) using their telephone to call into an audio conference. Splitting the visual and audio feeds allows for smoother presentations since the conference participants’ computers need only process the visual material. It should be noted, that while audio access is now being carried out over telephone connections, the emergence of telephone over the Internet (i.e., VOIP - voice over Internet Protocol) may soon help resolve some of the problems that have been encountered when delivering both. Online Text Chat Online chat allows for real time communication between multiple participants using text messaging. While this form of buyer-seller communication may not be very effective at getting customers to agree to make a purchase, it has proven very effective in building initial product interest. For example, potential customers visiting a website may use the chat feature to ask a few questions about the company’s products. Engaging a customer this way can then lead to the customer agreeing to receive a phone call from a salesperson to further discuss the product.
  • 43. Electronic Sales Training Developing the skills and techniques needed to be successful at selling requires an extensive commitment by the individual seller and the seller's company to sales training. Sales training is the hallmark of professional selling. If there is one thing that separates the truly successful salesperson from those who are not, it is the amount of training and preparation they engage in. Most organizations that employ a sales force offer new salespeople an extensive formal training program often held at dedicated training facilities. These training programs can range from a few days to many months depending on the industry. But once a salesperson has made the move to the field, training does not stop. Those involved in selling must continue to stay abreast of their products, customers, markets and competitors. While many companies may continue to employ the same methods used when they first trained their salespeople, a large number of firms are finding that ongoing training can be just as effective using electronic options such as delivering training over the Internet, through downloadable computer programs or through interactive CDs or DVDs. While feedback using electronic means is not as personal as it might be with in-person training, sophisticated electronic training programs are effective in educating and testing trainee’s knowledge. Also, a live trainer can be contacted very quickly via e-mail, online chat or by a phone call if a question does arise. Using electronic delivery, the cost to the company for adding or updating training material is inexpensive and quick compared to the cost and time needed to produce and ship paper-based materials. Additionally, the use of RSS feeds or email enables salespeople to be quickly notified when new training material is available. This is useful when the sales force must be
  • 44. made aware of a recent change that will impact how products are promoted such as a price change, new information to be used as comparison to competitor’s products, a potential problem that has arisen when installing or using a product or some other adjustment. Use of Customer Sales Teams As we noted in discussion of technical specialists, salespeople may require the assistance of others in their organization to effectively deal with prospects. In fact, many companies are moving away from the traditional sale force arrangement, where a single salesperson handles nearly all communication with an account, in favor of a team approach where multiple people are involved. Teams consist of individuals from several functional areas such as marketing, manufacturing, distribution, and customer service. In some configurations all members share bonuses if the team meets sales goals. Clearly to be effective a team approach requires the implementation of customer relationship management systems that we discussed earlier. Distribution Distribution Decision Product decisions may be the most important of all marketing decisions since these lead directly to the reasons (i.e., offer benefits that satisfy needs) why customers decide to make a purchase. But having a strong product does little good if customers are not able to easily and conveniently obtain it. Distribution decisions focus on establishing a system that, at its basic level, allows customers to gain access and purchase a marketer’s product. However, marketers may find that getting
  • 45. to the point at which a customer can acquire a product is complicated, time consuming, and expensive. The bottom line is a marketer’s distribution system must be both effective (i.e., delivers a good or service to the right place, in the right amount, in the right condition) and efficient (i.e., delivers at the right time and for the right cost). Distribution decisions are relevant for nearly all types of products. While it is easy to see how distribution decisions impact physical goods, such as laundry detergent or truck parts, distribution is equally important for digital goods (e.g., television programming, downloadable music) and services (e.g., income tax services). In fact, while the Internet is playing a major role in changing product distribution and is perceived to offer more opportunities for reaching customers, online marketers still face the same distribution issues and obstacles as those faced by offline marketers. In order to facilitate an effective and efficient distribution system many decisions must be made including (but certainly not limited to): Assessing the best distribution channels for getting products to customers Determining whether a reseller network is needed to assist in the distribution process Arranging a reliable ordering system that allows customers to place orders
  • 46. Creating a delivery system for transporting the product to the customer For tangible and digital goods, establishing facilities for product storage Channels of Distribution For marketers, the distribution decision is primarily concerned with the supply chain’s front- end or channels of distribution that are designed to move the product (goods or services) from the hands of the company to the hands of the customer. Obviously when we talk about intangible services the use of the word “hands” is a figurative way to describe the exchange that takes place. But the idea is the same as with tangible goods. All activities and organizations helping with the exchange are part of the marketer’s channels of distribution. Activities involved in the channel are wide and varied though the basic activities revolve around these general tasks: Ordering Handling and shipping Storage Display Promotion Selling Information feedback
  • 47. CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
  • 48. 4. Data Analysis and Interpretation Table -1) Dealers relation with ZUARI Cements Industry Inference 8% of the dealers have more than 6-years experience. 60% of the dealers have 3-6 years experience. Followed by 22% of the dealers having less than 3 years and 10% of the dealers have one year experience. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Number of respondents Percentage Business experience Number of respondents Percentage <1 year 5 10 Below 3years 11 22 3-6 years 30 60 Above 6 years 4 8 Total 50 100
  • 49. 2) Dealers feeling about Company Image Inference 30% of the dealers falling highly satisfied about companied image and 60%of the dealers were feeling moderately satisfied, 10% of the dealers were feeling satisfied about companies image. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Number of respondents Percentage Dealers Opinion Number of respondents Percentage Highly satisfied 15 30 Satisfied 30 60 Neutral 5 10 Dissatisfied 0 0 Others 0 0 Total 50 100
  • 50. 3)To know on which aspects the customer gets more satisfaction Dealers opinion Number of respondents Percentage Brand name 6 12 Price 2 4 Quality 38 76 Usages 4 8 Others 0 0 Total 50 100 Inference Majority of the respondents are gibing fist preference to quality, second preference to brand name, then followed by product, usage and price. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Number of respondents Percentage
  • 51. 4)Customers come to shop Inference From the above table it is inferred that majority of the customers come to retail outlets by the influence of brand name of ZUARI cement and followed by advertising, dealers influence. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Number of respondents Percentage Dealers opinion Number of respondents Percentage By your influence 8 16 By friends 8 16 By advertising 8 16 By Brand Name 26 52 Other 0 0 Total 50 100
  • 52. 5)Stock out problems Inference 90% of the dealers are getting satisfied with the supply of ZUARI cement by expressing that they do not come across stock out problem. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Number of respondents Percentage Dealers opinion Number of respondents Percentage Frequently 0 0 Rarely 5 10 No 45 90 Total 50 100
  • 53. 6) Dealer satisfaction on supply of product Inference 48% of the dealers are satisfying by the supply and 24% moderately satisfying, 24% highly satisfied and 2% dissatisfied. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Highly satisfied Satisfied Highly dissatisfied No.Of. respondents Percentage Dealers Opinion No. of. Respondents Percentage Highly satisfied 12 24 Moderately satisfied 12 24 Satisfied 24 48 Dissatisfied 2 4 Highly dissatisfied 0 0 Total 50 100
  • 54. 7) Dealers’ satisfaction on in time deliveries Inference The majority of the dealers are satisfied with the mode of dispatch by the company 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Dealersopinion Moderately satisfied Dissatisfied Total Series1 Series2 Series3 Dealers opinion No. Of. Respondents Percentage Highly satisfied 2 4 Moderately satisfied 16 32 Satisfied 32 64 Dissatisfied 0 0 Highly dissatisfied 0 0 Total 50 100
  • 55. 8)Customers Awareness Inference The above table shows that 54% respondents are saying that dealers play majors in customer’s awareness about the product. And 38% of respondents are stating that advertisement is second highest promotional activity to create awareness in the minds of customer. 0 50 100 150 No.Of. Res… Dealers opinion No. Of. Respondents Percentage Advertisement 19 38 Campaign 4 8 Dealer 27 54 Others 0 0 Total 50 100
  • 56. 9) Sales satisfaction Inference 60% of the dealers are satisfying the sale of ZUARI’s product following 22% if the dealers moderately satisfied, 18% of the dealers were highly satisfied. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Dealers opinion Highly satisfied Moderately satisfied Satisfied Dissatisfied Highly dissatisfied Total Dealers opinion No. of. Respondents Percentage Highly satisfied 9 8 Moderately satisfied 11 22 Satisfied 30 60 Dissatisfied 0 0 Highly dissatisfied 0 0 Total 50 100
  • 57. 10) Demand estimation on various products Inference The high percent of dealers are estimating the demand for the product through orders and 26%of are estimating on seasonal base. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 No.Of. respondents Percentage Dealers opinion No. of. Respondents Percentage Past sales 9 18 Seasonal 13 26 Orders 28 56 Others 0 0 Total 50 100
  • 58. 11) Industry to stock point fright expenses percentage Inference The dealers are incurs very less fright charges representing 2%, to receive goods from company to your stock point. 0 50 100 150 2%3%4%5%total No.Of .… Dealers opinion No. Of. Respondents Percentage 2% 30 60 3% 10 20 4% 8 16 5% 2 4 Total 50 100
  • 60. Findings Majority of the dealers having 3 to 6 years experience, and less number of dealers having above 6 years experience. Majority of dealers just satisfied about the company’s image, remaining is neutral, highly satisfied. Majority of the customers satisfying about the quality of the product next preference given brand name followed by usages, price. Most of the dealers expresses customers visit to shop by brand name only. And followed dealers influence, by friends, by advertising. The entire dealers were saying they do not face any difficulties to deal with the customers to selling the product. Majority of the dealers saying they do no come across stock out problems. Majority of the dealers satisfying with the supply from the company and very few members satisfied, dissatisfied. All the dealers were saying the entire floor space were providing only for goods storing purpose. Majority of the dealers satisfied with the mode of dispatch by the company. And few members were moderately satisfied, highly satisfied. Majority of the dealers they estimate the demand for various products by the orders and followed by seasonal base and past sales. All the dealers were saying they do not face any difficult in dealing with the company. Majority of the dealers were saying about the fright it incurs 2% to receive goods from company to your stock point.
  • 61. Suggestions Provide opportunity for new entrants in the business. To create awareness about the company, using of various ways of promotional activities such as advertisement, to maintain the better relation with dealers. If possible increase the quality of the product and reduce the price. Company and dealers should try to maintain customer good relationship as much as the possible to increase the sales. Try to maintain better supply chain in order to improve the services. Supply the products with in time to the dealers. Though effective channel of distribution is very important in enhancing the sales. Try to provide discounts to dealers and credit facilities. Customers, who purchase the huge amount of products, provide free home delivery to customers place. This reflects in the sales and post sales services are very key in maintaining customer and dealer relationships
  • 63. Bibliography Text Books Phillipkotler,2003 Marketing Mgmt, T.M.H, New Delhi (9TH EDITION) Schiffman&Kanuk, 1997, Consumer behaviour, PHI (6TH EDITION) Levin & Kirpatric, Quantitative Techniques for M.B.A, Tata McGraw Hill-1985 Websites http://www.marketing.org/ http://www.estrategicmarketing.com/ http://www.marketingprofs.com/ http://www.btobonline.com/ http://www.marketingstudies.net/