This chapter discuss the role of a company’s salespeople in creating value for customers and building customer relationships, identify and explain the six major sales force management steps, discuss the personal selling process, distinguishing between transaction-oriented marketing and relationship marketing,...
Chapter Thirteen Communicating Customer Value: Personal Selling and Direct Marketing Roadmap: Previewing the Concepts Discuss the role of a company’s salespeople in creating value for customers and building customer relationships Identify and explain the six major sales force management steps Discuss the personal selling process, distinguishing between transaction-oriented marketing and relationship marketing Define direct marketing and discuss its benefits to customers and companies Identify and discuss the major forms of direct marketing Copyright 2007, Prentice Hall, Inc 13-2 Case Study CDW – Relationship Building Success Background Personal Selling’s Role Nation’s largest reseller of technology products and services to small and mid-size businesses Since 2000, sales up 48% to $5.7 billion and profits up 15% annually Highly devoted to customer with “Circle of Service” philosophy “Clicks & people” strategy combines personal selling with strong Web presence Salespeople build and manage relationships by being trusted advisors Training is extensive as salespeople must be knowledgeable and customer focused The Nature of Personal Selling Most salespeople are well-educated, well-trained professionals who work to build and maintain long-term customer relationships The term salesperson covers a wide range of positions: – Order taker: Department store clerk – Order getter: Creative selling in different environments The Role of the Sales Force Personal selling is a paid, personal form of promotion – Involves two-way personal communication between salespeople and individual customers Salespeople: – Probe customers to learn about problems – Adjust marketing offers to fit special needs – Negotiate terms of sales – Build long-term personal relationships The Role of the Sales Force Sales force serves as critical link between company and its customers – They represent the company to the customers – They represent the customers to the company – Goal = customer satisfaction and company profit Sales Force Management The analysis, planning, implementation, and control of sales force activities Includes: – Designing sales force strategy & structure – Recruiting and selecting salespeople – Training salespeople – Compensating salespeople – Supervising salespeople – Evaluating salespeople Sale Force Structure Territorial: – Salesperson assigned to exclusive area and sells full line of products Product: – Sales force sells only certain product lines Customer: – Sales force organized by customer or industry Complex: – Combination of several types of structures Outside & Inside Sales Forces An outside sales force travels to call on customers in the field An inside sales force conducts business from their offices via telephone or visits from perspective buyers – Includes: • Technical support people • Sales assistants • Telemarketers Team Selling Used to service large, complex accounts Can find problems, solutions, and sales opportunities that no single person could Can include experts from different areas of selling firm Pitfalls: – Can confuse or overwhelm customers – Some people have trouble working in teams – Hard to evaluate individual contributions The Personal Selling Process Handling Objections: – The salesperson seeks out, clarifies, and overcomes customer objections to buying Closing: – The salesperson asks the customer for an order Follow-up: – The salesperson follows up after the sale to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business The selling process is transaction oriented; most firms go beyond this and attempt to build mutually profitable relationships Direct Marketing Direct marketing consists of direct connections with carefully targeted individual consumers to both obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships – One-on-one communication in which offers are tailored to needs of narrowly defined segments – Usually seeks a direct, immediate, and measurable consumer response The New Direct-Marketing Model Some firms use direct marketing as a supplemental medium For many companies, direct marketing constitutes a new and complete model for doing business Some firms employ the direct model as their only approach Some see this as the new marketing model of thismillennium Benefits of Direct Marketing Benefits to Buyers: – Convenient – Easy to use – Private – Ready access to products and information – Immediate and interactive Benefits of Direct Marketing Benefits to Sellers: – – – – Powerful tool for building customer relationships Can target small groups or individuals Can tailor offers to individual needs Can be timed to reach prospects at just the right moment – Gives access to buyers they could not reach through other channels – Offers a low-cost, efficient way to reach markets Customer Databases An organized collection of comprehensive data about individual customers or prospects, including geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral data Direct Marketing Forms Telephone marketing Direct-mail marketing Catalog marketing Direct-response TV marketing Kiosk marketing Online marketing Telemarketing Used in both consumer and B2B markets Can be outbound or inbound calls Do-Not-Call legislation has impacted the telemarketing industry Direct-Mail Marketing Involves sending an offer, reminder, announcement, or other item to a person at a particular address Permits high target-market selectivity An be personalized, and is flexible Higher CPM yields better prospects than mass media Easy to measure results Catalog Marketing With the Internet, more and more catalogs are going digital Print catalogs still the primary medium Expected sales in 2008 = $175 billion Web catalogs have specific advantages and disadvantages when compared to printed catalogs Direct Response TV Marketing Direct-response advertising: – TV spots that are 60 or 120 seconds long Infomercials: – A 30 minute or longer advertising program for a single product Home shopping channels: – Entire cable channels dedicated to selling multiple brands, items, and services Kiosk Marketing Information and ordering machines generally found in stores, airports, and other locations – Example: In-store Kodak kiosks allow customers to transfer pictures from digital storage devices, edit them, and produce high-quality color prints Integrated Direct Marketing Involves carefully coordinated multiplemedia, multiple-stage campaigns – Marketers try to improve response rates and profits by adding media and stages that contribute more to additional sales than to additional costs – Example: Integrating a paid ad with response channel (Web or phone), direct mail, outbound telemarketing, face-to-face sales call, continuing communication Public Policy and Ethical Issues in Direct Marketing Irritating to consumers Taking unfair advantage of impulsive or less sophisticated buyers Targeting TV-addicted shoppers Deception, fraud Invasion of privacy Rest Stop: Reviewing the Concepts Discuss the role of a company’s salespeople in creating value for customers and building customer relationships Identify and explain the six major sales force management steps Discuss the personal selling process, distinguishing between transaction-oriented marketing and relationship marketing Define direct marketing and discuss its benefits to customers and companies Identify and discuss the major forms of direct marketing Copyright 2007, Prentice Hall, Inc 13-32 ... psychographic, and behavioral data Direct Marketing Forms Telephone marketing Direct- mail marketing Catalog marketing Direct- response TV marketing Kiosk marketing Online marketing Telemarketing... transaction-oriented marketing and relationship marketing Define direct marketing and discuss its benefits to customers and companies Identify and discuss the major forms of direct marketing Copyright... Creative selling in different environments The Role of the Sales Force Personal selling is a paid, personal form of promotion – Involves two-way personal communication between salespeople and individual