Part 7 : Communicating Part 7 : Communicating ValueValue

Chapter 19 – Managing Personal Chapter 19 – Managing Personal Communications : Direct Marketing & Communications : Direct Marketing &

Personal SellingPersonal Selling

Direct MarketingDirect Marketing

• Direct marketing is an interactive marketing system that uses one or more media to effect a measurable response or transaction at any location.

• The benefits of direct marketing:a. For customers: home shopping can be fun, convenient,

and hassle-free. It saves time and customers can do comparative shopping

b. For sellers: direct marketers can have the profiles of customers so that they can customize and personalized messages. In the long run, direct marketers can build a continuous relationship with each customer.

• The public and ethical issues in direct marketing (weakness in using direct marketing): irritation, unfairness, deception and fraud, invasion of privacy

Direct MarketingDirect Marketing

• Direct marketers can use a number of channels to reach individual prospects and customers:

I. Direct mail: involves sending an offer, announcement, reminder, or other item to a person.

II. Catalog marketing: companies may send full-line merchandise catalogs, specialty consumer catalogs, and business catalogs usually in print form but sometimes as CDs, videos, or online

III. Telemarketing: is the use of the telephone and call centers to attract prospects, sell to existing customers, and provide service by taking orders and answering questions

IV. Other media: direct response advertising (infomercials), at home shopping channels, and interactive TV

Interactive MarketingInteractive Marketing

• The newest channels for direct marketing are electronic.• The internet provides marketers and consumers with

opportunity for much greater interaction and individualization through well-designed web sites as well as online ads and promotions

• Well-designed web sites: context, content, community, customization, communication, connection, commerce

• The forms of online ads and promotion such as banner ads, sponsorships, search-related ads (advertisers pay only if people click on the links)

Designing the Sales ForceDesigning the Sales Force• Sales personnel serve as a company’s link to its customers. • Designing the sales force requires decisions regarding:i. Objectives: include targeting, communicating, selling, servicing,

information gathering and allocatingii. Strategy: choosing the most effective mix of selling approaches

either a direct sales force (sales using telephone and receive visits from buyers and field sales) or contractual sales force (reps receive commission)

iii. Sales force structures: entails dividing territories by geography/territories, product structure (based on product lines to customers in many location), or market (based on profiles of industries using the product lines)

iv. Size: estimates how large the sales force needs to be involves. Suppose there are 1000 A accounts and 2000 B accounts. A accounts require 36 calls a year, and B accounts require 12 calls a year. Thus, a company needs 60,000 sales calls a year. Suppose the average rep can make 1000 calls a year, the company would need 60 full-time sales representatives

v. Compensation: what types of salaries, commissions, bonuses, expense accounts in determining total compensation

Managing the Sales ForceManaging the Sales Force

• Once the company has established the design of sales force, it has to manage the sales force

• There are five steps involved:a. Recruiting and selecting sales representatives (based on sales

performance, personality, and skills)b. Training the representatives in sales techniques and in the

company’s products, policies, and customer satisfaction orientationc. Supervising the sales force (how much time reps should spend

prospecting for new accounts) and helping reps to use their time efficiently (use “phone power”, simplify record keeping, using the computer)

d. Motivating the sales force and balancing quotas, monetary rewards, and supplementary motivators

Motivation/TrainingEffortsPerformanceRewardsSatisfaction

e. Evaluating sales representatives (by sales report between activity plan and write-ups of activity results; and sales performance)

Principles of Personal SellingPrinciples of Personal Selling• Sales training approaches try to transform a salesperson from a

passive order taker into an active order getter who engages in customer problem solving

• Most trainers agree that selling is seven-step process: a. Prospecting and qualifying prospects: the salesperson can sort out

the target market by mail or phone so that salespeople can assess the prospects’ interest and financial capacity

b. Pre approach about the prospect company: the salesperson could consider what it needs, who is involved in the purchase decision and its buyers personal characteristic and buying style

c. Presentation and demonstration: the salesperson uses: features of products, advantages (features’ strength relative to competitors’ brands), benefits (economic and social benefit), and value monetary

d. Overcoming objection: the salesperson asks the buyers to clarify their objection

e. Closing: the salesperson offers the specific inducements such as special price, extra quantity so that consumer will be no regret to make transaction

f. Follow up and maintenance: the salesperson’s visit or call will detect any problem or satisfaction the target market has