MARKETING COMMUNICATION:

PERSONAL SELLING, SALES

MANAGEMENT AND SALES
PROMOTION
Promotion is applied marketing
communication.
In the marketing mix, promotion serves
three purposes:
1. To Inform. Promotion provides facts
about the product and places where to
avail of the product.
2. To Persuade. Promotion encourages a
buyer to buy a product or to change his
attitude about the product.
3. To Remind. Promotion reminds
consumers to regularly buy a product.
THE ELEMENTS OF PROMOTION
There are five elements of promotion: personal
selling, advertising, publicity, public relations and
sales promotion.
These promotional strategies use three general types
of communication media:
1. Direct Human Communication. This is usually on a
face- to- face basis or on the telephone.
2. Indirect Communication. This is via a medium such
as radio, television, magazines, and newspapers.
3. Interactive Communication. This is making use of
some electronic medium such as the internet.

PERSONAL SELLING
PERSONAL SELLING is the direct
presentation of a product or service to
a prospective customer by sales
representative of the company selling
it.
It is the most flexible means of
delivering a promotional message.
Scope of Personal Selling
There are two kinds of personal selling:
1. Inside's selling- involves retail-store selling.
o It also includes employees who take orders over
the telephone.
2. Outside Selling- involves sales people going to
the customers.
o They make contact with customers by mail,
telephone, e-mail, or field selling where the sales
person sells at a customer's place of business or
home.
Classification of Sales Persons
Seven types of sales persons fall under two
groups:
ORDER TAKERS
1. DELIVERY SALES PERSON
This sales person primarily delivers the
product. Few of these sales person do the actual
selling. Usually, they take and fill orders.

2. INSIDE ORDER TAKER
- This sales person takes orders at the seller's
place of business. The job of the salesperson's is
to serve them efficiently.
3. OUTSIDE ORDER TAKER
- This salesperson goes to the customer in the
field and accepts an order. Most of the sales
made but outside order takers are repeat orders
of regular customers.
MISSIONARY SALESPERSON
- This salesperson is not expected to take an order.
His job is to build goodwill, perform promotional
activities and provide information and other
services for the customers.
SALES ENGINEER
- This salesperson sells complex or technically
sophisticated products. The salesperson has the
ability to clearly explain the product to a
prospective customer and adapt the product to the
customer's needs.
ORDER GETTERS
6. CREATIVE SALERSPERSON
This salesperson is involved in the creative
selling of goods, both tangible and intangibles.
Creative selling involves designing a system to fit
the needs of a particular customer.
7. PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
The responsibility of the salesperson is to
bring in new business.

The Creative Selling Process
Is a series of steps that provide guidelines for
the salesperson.
It is an adaptive process that begins with the
identification of potential customers and
tailors the sales presentation and product
offering to each prospect's needs.
The ultimate goal is customer satisfaction.
Seven Steps in the Creative
Selling Process
Step One: LOCATING QUALIFIED PROSPECTS
Locating prospects is called PROSPECTING. It
consists of Identifying prospective customers and
qualifying necessary purchasing power, authority to
buy, and the willingness to buy.
Step Two: PRE- APPROACH PLANNING
This step involves gathering and evaluating
information about the prospect's situation. The
salesperson needs to know the prospect's
requirements and any other relevant information
that might help make the sale.

Step Three: THE APPROACH
The approach involves making an initial
contact and establishing rapport with the
prospect.
The approach is intended to make a good
impression, attract the prospect's attention, and
ensure the prospect's willingness to listen to the
sales presentation.
Step Four: THE SALES PRESENTATION
This is the salesperson's attempt to
persuasively communicate the products benefits
and explain appropriate courses of action to the
potential buyer.
An effective sales presentation tells the
product "story".
This step can be explained by the acronym
AIDA that stands for Attention, Interest, Desire,
and Action.
A- attract Attention
The first task in a sales presentation is to
attract the prospect's attention and to generate
curiosity.
I- arouse Interest
The sales representative holds the prospects
attention and stimulates an interest in the
product. The salesperson needs to show how
the product will benefit the prospect.
D- create a Desire
Interest and desire for the product are
established in a nearly simultaneous steps. There
are no definite pattern in these two steps but often,
a product demonstration helps create a desire for
the product.
A- call for Action
After creating a desire, the sales representative
now moves into action by urging the prospect to
place an order.
Step Five: HANDLING OBJECTIONS
Because objections explain reasons for
resisting or postponing the buying decision, the
salesperson needs to listen and learn from
them.
A salesperson who encounters an objection
can provide additional persuasive information,
clarify the sales presentation, or offer the basic
argument for the product in a different manner.
Step Six: CLOSING THE SALE
In selling, the term closing indicates that the
sale is being brought to a finish.
When the prospect's willingness to close is not
clearly revealed, the salesperson may utilize
what is called the trial close.
A Trial Close is a tactic indented to draw from
the prospect information that will signal
whether a sale is near.
Step Seven: THE FOLLOW UP
The closing of a sale must not be viewed as the
end of the process but the start of the company's
relationship with a customer.
The best way to keep customers it to follow up
after the sale.
During the follow-up, the salesperson makes sure
that everything has been handled as promised and
that the order was shipped promptly and received
on schedule in good condition.
SALES MANAGEMENT
Is a marketing activity
dealing with planning,
organizing, directing, and
controlling the personal
selling effort.
Members of the sales force
are managed so that their
efforts are directed toward
organizational goals
A sales manager is responsible for:
1. SETTING SALES OBJECTIVES
should be precise and quantifiable and should
include a reasonable time frame given the
organization's resources, its overall promotional
strategy , and the competitive environment in
which it operates.
2. ORGANIZING THE SALES FORCE
Since non-retail sales forces must regularly
contact their customers either face-to-face or by
telephone, sales departments are generally
organized so that sales personnel are responsible
for certain accounts.
3. RECRUITING AND SELECTING SALES PERSONNEL
Recruiting starts with finding and hiring
individuals for sales positions in the company. The
task of the sales manager is to get the right person
for the job.

4. TRAINING THE SALES FORCE
Training of sales personnel is a continuous
process.
Companies may send a newcomer to the field
with an experienced sales person or put the recruit
through an intensive training program.
5. DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE COMPENSATION
PLAN
There are several ways of compensating the sales
force:
a. Straight Salary - this is an hourly or daily wage
plan not tired to sales performance.
b. Straight Commission - this is payment tied to
specific units of sales performance.

c. Quota-Bonus plan - in this method, each
salesperson is assigned a sales quota, that is a
specific level of sales to be achieved over a
specific period.
d. Salary Plus Commission - this compensation
plan combines two pay methods by granting the
salesperson a straight salary and a commission
on sales.
6. MOTIVATING THE SALES FORCE
Many corporations use the element of sales
promotion such as sales contests, bonus plans,
prizes and trips to be won, and sales conventions
held nationally or internationally to keep sales
motivation high.
7. EVALUATING AND CONTROLLING THE SALES
FORCE
Evaluation of a sales manager's or a sales
representative's performance is based on whether
he or she has met the appropriate goal or objective.

SALES PROMOTION
Is a marketing device used to
stimulate demand and facilitate
personal selling.
There are two categories of
sales promotion:
a. Trade Promotions- which are
geared towards the members of
the distribution channel such as
the wholesalers and retailers.
b. Consumer Promotions- which
are aimed at consumers.
Sales Promotions Geared towards
Wholesalers and Retailers
1. TRADE SHOWS
The typical trade shows features booth where
producers, suppliers, and other marketers
display and provide information about their
products.
2.CONTESTS
Competition, stimulated by the chance to win
bonuses or prizes, helps increase the sale level.
3. DISPLAY EQUIPMENT AND POINT-OF-PURCHASE
MATERIALS
Display equipment such as dispensers and other
point-of-purchase materials are provided to
retailers and wholesalers so that they can
conveniently display or highlight the product to be
sold.
4. COOPERATIVE ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION
Suppliers share promotional expenses with their
retailers or wholesalers.
5. ALLOWANCES
are reduction in price, a rebate, merchandise, or
any token given a retailer or wholesaler in
consideration for a large order.

Sales Promotions Aimed At
Ultimate Consumers
1. PRODUCT SAMPLING
New customers are given a sample of the
product for the trial use.
2. COUPONS
Coupons have an attention-getting quality and
are often found as portions of print
advertisement, inserts in newspapers, or printed
on packages or placed inside packages.
3. REBATES
With a rebate, a consumer gets money back from the
manufacturer. It is a price reduction designed to induce
immediate purchase.
4. CONTESTS AND SWEEPSTAKES
Contests and sweepstakes stimulate purchases by
giving consumers a chance to be big winners.
5.PREMIUMS
A premium is a product offered free or at a reduced
price when another product, the key brand, is brought.
6. MULTIPLE-PURCHASE OFFERS
Multiple-purchase offers, such as offering three
products for the price of two, encourages bigger than
normal purchase and helps maintain customer loyalty.

7. POINT-OF-PURCHASE MATERIALS
Banners, pamphlets, coasters, and other similar
products may be used to provide information at the point
of purchase.
8. PRODUCT PLACEMENTS
When a certain product brand is worn or used by a
celebrity in a movie or television show, a very positive
message is communicated in a non-commercial setting.
9. SALES PROMOTION TIE-INS
A tie-in involves a collaborative effort between two or
more companies that work as partnered in a promotional
undertaking.
Tie-ins generally borrow interest value from movies,
sporting events or other marketing efforts.