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H. Changing Nature of the Sales Force: The Impact of Technology
1. Re-engineering of sales (virtual selling) has occurred for several reasons:
·Personal selling has become more complex and more difficult to make a sale
·Customers have become more knowledgeable about what they want, but
also need guidance and advice
·Corporations are becoming increasingly flat with fewer middle managers
providing product information
·Intensifying global competition means more pressure at the point-of-sale
·Demand for productivity from all parts of the organization
2. Software has been developed to help salespeople perform standard activities
(customer relationship management software.)
3. Table 13.2 Page 394 The Virtual Selling Organization Outlines the characteristics
of the virtual selling organization.
4. Illustration: Waters NuGenesis Technologies Corp. (www.waters.com) Page 394
5. Illustration: Lanier Worldwide (www.lanier.com) Page 394
6. Other Innovations:
·Virtual sales representatives who interact with visitors to the companies
web site see Figure 13.12 Page 394 Medconference (AstraZeneca)
I. Direct Marketing
1. Direct Marketing Process: Interactive and needs a measurable response.
·Direct marketing targets individuals usually for a short-run response.
·No salespeople are involved in the process.
·Direct marketing is a communication and channel of distribution.
·This type of marketing is easily measured because there is a response
from the customer.
·Process involves:
·Setting an objective
·Determining the target market
·Choosing the medium/media
·Getting a list of customers
·Analyzing the list
·Developing the offer
·Testing the offer
·Analyzing the results
·
2. Direct Marketing Methods:
·Include Internet-based marketing, T.V. (infomercials) and radio.
·Increase in this method due to desire to increase the efficiency of channels
of distribution and the increase in customer databases to make the method
successful.
·Table 13.3 Page 397 Direct Marketing Sales by Medium and Market
·Telemarketing: Personal message at least in theory, intrusive and expensive
for the company. To make this medium successful:
·The list of customers must be a good list of prospects
·The offer must be difficult to pass up and
·Integrity.
·There are perceived risk to purchasing over the telephone must offer
risk reducers such as money back guarantees and brand recognition
·Direct Mail: Less expensive for the company, less intrusive for the customer
and less ill will toward method than telemarketing. To be successful:
·The copy should be persuasive explaining the product’s benefits, large
font, short and friendly.
·Guidelines say it should not take a reader more than 4 minutes to get the
message. Layout/design is important because mail is often screened
particularly in business-to-business situations.
·Illustration: Caterpillar (www.cat.com) Page 400
·Direct E-mail
·Table 13.5 Page 402 Relative Effectiveness of Direct E-mail Outlines
the effectiveness of direct e-mail including response rates, cost per
contact, revenue per contact, and ROI index
·Illustration: Seiko (www.seikousa.com ) Page 401
3. Privacy Issues: Of the three direct-marketing channels, telemarketing and e-mail have
received the most attention from regulators.
·Telemarketing: Federal Trade Commission established a do-not- call list
where customers who do not wish to receive telemarketing could be put on
the list and companies that violated would be fined.
·Internet privacy issues: Platform for Privacy Preferences standards on the
Internet mandates that web sites must provide options to customers such as
opting in or opting out of receiving direct e-mail.
·European Union Directive on Data Protection established in 1998 states:
·A company must obtain permission of the customer to obtain personal
information and explain its purpose
·It must promise not to use it for anything other than the stated purpose
without consent.
Teaching Tips and Strategies from Barbara S. Faries, MBA
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the concepts involved with direct
channels of distribution including personal selling and direct marketing.
Key Terms and Concepts Introduced Include:
·Territory
·Breakdown method
·Workload method
·Marginal economic method
·Sales quotas
·Commission
·Salary
·Incentive payments
·Sales contests
·Virtual selling
·Direct marketing
·Measurable response
Note: Two recurring themes in this Instructor’s Manual are the first two items:
·Link theory to practice.
·Engage students to link work experience to the concepts demonstrated in
the text.
·Instructors are encouraged to link theory to practice by finding current examples
in the business environment that demonstrate the key concepts above.
·If your class contains those already working in the field, have them describe how
the concepts in theory match those in the actual workplace.
One of the most neglected aspects of teaching marketing and market management is
personal selling. Many students continue to embrace the old image of the high-pressure
sales person rather than the new model of relationship-builder and business developer. I
encourage discussion of the personal selling process and emphasize how important it is in
the marketing process. If you have students who are salespersons, it is often productive for
them to discuss their jobs and how they approach the selling process. Many times the
discussion will include the salesperson as business developer and long-term customer
relationship builder.
The chapter touched on the various software programs that assist salespersons and
companies track their customers and prospects. I have the students discuss those they know
about and compare/contrast the benefits/features while pointing out that these help build
sustainable customer relationships. (Chapter 14 Customer Relationship Management
expands on this topic.) Well-known customer relationship management (CRMs) systems
include:
Salesforce www.salesforce.com
ACT! www.act.com
GoldMine CRM www.frontrange.com/goldmine
SalesNow www.salesnow.com
FreeCRM www.freecrm.com
SugarCRM www.sugarcrm.com
Review Questions
1. It is sometimes said that salespeople should be familiar with their customers’ marketing
plans (e.g., understanding the customers’ competitors and customers). Of what use
would this information be to the salesperson?
2. Considering the different tasks a salesperson must perform how is the job different for
an automobile salesperson and a representative selling a computer system?
3. What products or services would be most appropriate for implementing the three
different approaches to determining sales force size described in this chapter? Be
specific.
4. Besides the criteria for assigning salespeople to territories described in the book, what
other factors should be taken into account?
5. How should the increased use of technology in the salesperson’s job affect companies’
recruiting and hiring practices? What are the benefits of having a sales force that is
sophisticated in its use of technology?
6. For what kinds of products and services would direct e-mail be appropriate? Other
than sales, what other goals can direct e-mail achieve?
