When your product is high involvement, your marketing communications becomes high involvement and that is where direct marketing, relationship & personal selling comes into picture .

3. Direct Marketing
Direct marketing is a form of personal selling that creates and
establishes an intimate relationship between a seller and an
individual consumer.
Personal selling is a one-on-one or one-on-small group
personal presentation designed to gain commitment from
individuals/agencies to be consumers.
Personal selling Interpersonal influence process involving a seller’s promotional
presentation conducted on a person-to-person basis with the buyer.

4. Direct Marketing Options for Agencies
•Sales presentations, tours and meetings
•Seminars, workshops or training programs
•Door-to-door distribution
•Telemarketing
•Direct sales letters
•Network or multi-level marketing consumer support
centers
•Lead referral programs
•Sales blitzes
•Trade shows

5. Direct Sales Process
Strategic Sales Cycle
• 8 steps process
• Skills are developed not innate
• Practice
• Teach others

6. Strategic Sales Cycle – First 3 Steps
Prospecting
Planning
Preparing

7. Strategic Sales Cycle – Last 5 Steps
Rapport
Development Probe
Support
Summarize
Close

8. THE FOUR SALES CHANNELS
• Channels all include both business-to-business and
direct-to-customer selling.
• Over-the-counter selling Personal selling conducted in retail and some
wholesale locations in which customers come to the seller’s place of business.
• Field selling Sales presentations made at prospective customers’ locations on a
face-to-face basis.
• Telemarketing Promotional presentation involving the use of the telephone on
an outbound basis by salespeople or on an inbound basis by customers who
initiate calls to obtain information and place orders.
• Inside selling Selling by phone, mail, and electronic commerce.
• Firms generally blend sales channels in their sales organization.

9. TRENDS IN PERSONAL SELLING
• Companies rely on three major personal selling approaches
to meet customer needs.
• Relationship selling Regular contacts between sales representatives and
customers over an extended period to establish a sustained buyer-seller
relationship.
• Consultative selling Meeting customer needs by listening to them,
understanding their problems, paying attention to details, and following through
after the sale.
• Team selling Selling situation in which several sales associates or other
members of the organization are recruited to help the lead sales representative
reach all those who influence the purchase decision.

10. SALES TASKS
• Ensuring that buyer’s purchases are in his or her best interest aids the
development of long-term relationships.
• Selling involves three basic tasks:
• Order processing Selling, mostly at the wholesale and retail levels, that
involves identifying customer needs, pointing them out to customers, and
completing orders.
• Creative selling Personal selling that involves situations in which a
considerable degree of analytical decision making on the buyer’s part results
in the need for skillful proposals of solutions for the customer’s needs.
• Missionary selling Indirect type of selling in which specialized
salespeople promote the firm’s goodwill among indirect customers, often by
helping customers use products.

11. CREATIVE SELLING
• Creative selling Personal selling that involves situations in which a
considerable degree of analytical decision making on the buyer’s part results in
the need for skillful proposals of
solutions for the customer’s needs.
• Generally used to develop new business with either new
customers of new products for existing customers.
MISSIONARY SELLING
• Missionary selling Indirect type of selling in which
specialized salespeople promote the firm’s goodwill among
indirect customers, often by helping customers use products.
• Example: Pharmaceutical companies that use free samples,
educational seminars to court doctors.
• May involve both field selling and telemarketing.

12. THE SALES PROCESS
• Steps follow the AIDA concept.
Attention
Interest
Desire
Action

13. PROSPECTING AND QUALIFYING
• Prospecting—identifying potential customers.
• Qualifying—determining that the prospect really is a potential customer.
APPROACH
• Initial contact with prospective customer.
• Use precall planning research to identify how your products might
best meet customer’s needs.
PRESENTATION
• Conveying marketing message to the customer.
• Features-benefits framework focuses on the good or service in terms that
are meaningful to the buyer.

14. DEMONSTRATION
• Buyer has a chance to try a product or see how it works.
HANDLING OBJECTIONS
• Expressions of resistance, such as stalling or indecision, by the prospect are
an opportunity to reassure the buyer or offer suitable alternatives.
CLOSING
• Point at which salesperson asks the prospect for an order.
• Let buyer know you are ready to be of service in the future.
FOLLOW-UP
• Successful sales people turn today’s customers into tomorrow’s by
reinforcing the purchase decision.
• Ensure that customer service needs are met.

15. SUPERVISION
• Span of control—number of sales representatives who report to first-level
sales managers.
MOTIVATION
• Tools include information sharing, recognition, bonuses, and benefits.
• Expectancy theory—motivation depends on the expectations an individual
has of his or her ability to perform the job and on how performance relates
to attaining rewards that the individual values.
COMPENSATION
• Commission—compensation tied directly to the sales or profits the
salesperson achieves.
• Salary—fixed payment made periodically to an employee.
• Many firms combine the features of both commission and salary in their
compensation programs.

16. EVALUATION AND CONTROL
• Managers must set standards and choose the best methods for measuring
sales performance.
• Sales quotas—specified sales or profit targets that the firm expects
salespeople to achieve.
• Other measures include customer satisfaction, profit contribution, share of
product-category sales, and customer retention.
• Evaluations should motivate improved performance.

17. ETHICAL ISSUES IN SALES
• Long-term success requires strong code of ethics.
• Honesty and ethical behavior is encouraged when:
• Employees understand what is expected of them.
• Open communication is encouraged.
• Managers lead by example.

18. Personal Selling
Personal Selling is more
important if...
Customers are
concentrated.
Product is
technically complex.
There are few customers.
Product is custom made.
Product has a high value.
Customers are
geographically dispersed.
Product is
simple to understand.
There are many customers.
Product is standardized.
Product has a low value.
Advertising & Sales Promotion
are more important if...

19. Why Personal Selling is Effective
 Detailed explanation or demonstration
 Variable sales message
 Directed to qualified prospects
 Controllable adjustable selling costs
 More effective than other promotion in
obtaining sale and gaining customer
satisfaction
Personal
Selling
Advantages

20. Relationship Selling
A sales practice that involves
building, maintaining, and
enhancing interactions with
customers in order to develop
long-term satisfaction through
mutually beneficial partnerships.
Relationship
(Consultative)
Selling

21. Traditional Selling and
Relationship Selling
Traditional
Personal Selling
LO5
Sell advice, assistance, counselSell products
Focus on closing sales
Limited sales planning
Discuss product
Assess “product-specific” needs
“Lone wolf” approach
Pricing/product focus
Short-term sales follow-up
Focus on customer’s bottom line
Sales planning is top priority
Build problem-solving environment
Conduct discovery in scope of operations
Team approach
Profit impact and strategic benefit focus
Long-term sales follow-up
Relationship Selling

22. Relationship Selling vs. Traditional Selling
Initial
Sales
Repeat
Sales
Successive
Sales
Traditional Sales
Relationship Sales
Sales
Increases
Result
From
Creating
Value

23. Steps in the Selling Process
Generate Leads
Qualify Leads
Probe Customer Needs
Develop Solutions
Handle Objections
Close the Sale
Follow Up

24. Generating Leads
Advertising Publicity
Direct Mail/
Telemarketing
Cold Calling Internet Web Site Referrals
Trade Shows/
Conventions
Networking
Company
Records

25. Cold Calling
A form of lead generation in which
the salesperson approaches
potential buyers without any prior
knowledge of the prospects’ needs
or financial status.
Cold Calling

26. Qualifying Leads
Receptivity and
accessibility
Buying power
Recognized need

27. Needs Assessment
A determination of the
customer’s specific needs
and wants and the range of
options a customer has for
satisfying them.
Needs
Assessment

28. The Consultative Salesperson
Product or service
Customers
Competition
Industry
Salesperson
must know
everything
about...

29. Developing and Proposing Solutions
Sales Proposal
Sales Presentation

30. Powerful Presentations
Be well prepared
Use eye contact
Ask open-ended questions
Be poised
Use hand gestures and voice inflection
Focus on the customer needs
Incorporate visual elements
Know how to operate the A/V equipment
Make sure the equipment works
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

31. Handling Objections
 View objections as requests for information
 Anticipate specific objections
 Investigate the objection with the customer
 Be aware of competitors’ products
 Stay calm
 Use the objection to close the sale

32. Closing the Sale
Negotiate
Keep an open mind
Look for
customer signals
Tailor to each market

33. The Impact of Technology on Personal Selling
Cell phones
Laptops
Pagers
E-Mail
Electronic organizers
Internet

34. Steps in the Selling Process