Principles of Marketing, 15e (Kotler/Armstrong)
Chapter 16 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion
1) Which of the following is true with regard to personal selling?
A) Personal selling entails personal presentations by a firm’s sales force for the purpose of
making sales and building customer relationships.
B) Personal selling involves making personal requests to potential buyers to enter into short-term
business relationships with firms.
C) Personal selling distances the buyer from the seller and does not focus on building enduring
relationships.
D) An outside sales force is not involved in personal selling.
E) Personal selling is a relatively new profession.
2) A(n) ________ is an individual who represents a company to customers by prospecting,
communicating, selling, servicing, information gathering, and/or relationship building.
A) salesperson
B) trainer
C) auditor
D) manager
E) human resource personnel
3) Which of the following is true about the sales force of a company?
A) Salespeople represent customers to the company and manage the buyer-seller relationship.
B) Salespeople represent workers’ interests to upper management.
C) The primary responsibility of a sales force is to formulate operational strategies.
D) The sales force is responsible for product development and product strategy.
E) The sales force oversees the auditing process and recovers money from defaulting customers.
4) Which of the following would most likely improve coordination between marketing and
sales?
A) Salespeople should participate in marketing planning sessions by sharing firsthand customer
knowledge.
B) Salespeople should directly participate in the development of new products.
C) The sales force should strategize promotional strategies and be the primary decision makers
about marketing.
D) Marketing managers should field test new promotion strategies before the sales team.
E) The marketing and the sales departments should conduct annual job rotations.
5) At Price & Wallace Inc., a pharmaceuticals company, members of the sales force and
marketing department tend to have disagreements when things go wrong with a customer. The
marketers blame the salespeople for poorly executing their strategies, while the salespeople
blame the marketers for being out of touch with customers. Which of the following steps should
the higher management at Price & Wallace take to help bring the sales and marketing functions
closer together?
A) establish a customer sales force structure and make sure that sales quotas are easily
achievable
B) establish a complex sales force structure
C) emphasize traditional methods of selling
D) adopt a sales force automation system and implement team selling
E) appoint a high-level marketing executive to oversee both marketing and sales
6) ________ is defined as analyzing, planning, implementing, and controlling sales force
activities.
A) Benchmarking
B) Sales force management
C) Business intelligence
D) Sales force automation
E) Sampling
7) In the ________, each salesperson is assigned to an exclusive geographic area and sells the
company’s full line of products or services to all customers in that region.
A) territorial sales force structure
B) digital marketing system
C) product sales force structure
D) geographical operations system
E) customer sales force structure
8) Which of the following is true about the territorial sales force structure?
A) The territorial sales force structure does not define each salesperson’s job clearly.
B) Salespeople specialize in selling only a small portion of the company’s products.
C) In a territorial sales force structure, separate sales forces are set up for different industries.
D) Travel expenses are relatively small as each salesperson travels within a limited geographic
area.
E) In a territorial sales force structure, separate sales forces are often established to handle a
single, large account in every territory.
9) If a company ________, it should adopt a product sales force structure, in which the sales
force specializes along product lines.
A) specializes in a single product
B) manufactures a small number of simple products
C) maintains that product specialization is counter productive
D) has numerous and complex products
E) lacks salespeople with superior technical know-how
10) Which of the following is true about the product sales force structure?
A) A product sales force structure is most appropriate for a company that manufactures a small
number of simple products.
B) In a product sales force structure, each salesperson is assigned to an exclusive geographic area
and sells the company’s full line of products or services to all customers in that territory.
C) In a product sales force structure, salespersons specialize in only a particular product line as
the company produces numerous and complex products.
D) In a product sales force structure, a single salesperson can become an expert in all product
categories.
E) In a product sales force structure, specialization is highly discouraged.
11) In the ________, separate sales forces are set up for different industries.
A) territorial sales force structure
B) digital marketing system
C) product sales force structure
D) geographical operations system
E) customer sales force structure
12) Which of the following is true about the customer sales force structure?
A) Customer sales force structure is a combination of territorial sales force structure and product
sales force structure.
B) Each salesperson is assigned to an exclusive geographic area and sells the company’s full line
of products or services to all customers in that territory.
C) Salespersons specialize in only a particular product line as the company produces numerous
and complex products.
D) Companies using customer sales force structure tend to ignore the importance of long-term
relationship building with customers.
E) Separate sales forces are set up for different industries, serving current customers versus
finding new ones, and serving major accounts versus regular accounts.
13) Which of the following helps companies in setting sales force size?
A) workload approach
B) pull strategy
C) push strategy
D) top-down approach
E) bottom-up approach
14) Kevin is a salesperson working for a company manufacturing gardening tools. He is involved
in door-to-door sales and travels everyday to call on customers. In his company, Kevin is most
likely a part of the ________.
A) top management
B) outside sales force
C) product designing team
D) customer support team
E) inside sales force
15) Robin works in a manufacturing company in Ohio. She sells products and handles customer
requests via the company’s online live chat feature. In her company, Robin is most likely a part
of the ________.
A) outside sales force
B) inside sales force
C) product designing team
D) operations management team
E) executive management
16) Kelly works as a sales representative at Ginner Machine Works. She uses the phone and the
Internet to identify prospects and make sales. Kelly calls customers and explains the products
offered by Ginner and the advantages of using them. If requested, she also mails the customer
product information brochures. Which of the following is most likely Kelly involved in?
A) benchmarking
B) product development
C) telemarketing
D) innovation
E) performance appraisal
17) Amanda Perkins is a senior sales manager in Arlington Steelworks. As the customer base of
her company has grown larger and more demanding over the last few years, Amanda insists on
________, or using groups of people from various departments such as, sales, technical support,
engineering, and even upper management to service complex accounts.
A) cross selling
B) e-procurement
C) team selling
D) observational research
E) vendor screening
18) Which of the following best explains why companies are adopting the team selling approach
to service large, complex accounts?
A) Products have become too complicated for one salesperson to handle a large company’s
needs.
B) Customers prefer dealing with many salespeople rather than one sales representative.
C) Job rotation, an integral part of team selling, keeps workers motivated and boosts their
morale.
D) Team selling facilitates the evaluation of individual contributions.
E) With team selling, companies are not required to train the outside sales force any longer.
19) All of the following are disadvantages of team selling EXCEPT ________.
A) selling teams can be confusing and overwhelming for customers
B) salespeople who are used to having customers all to themselves may have trouble learning to
work with and trust others on a team
C) team selling reduces the overall efficiency of the selling process
D) individual contributions and compensations can be difficult to assess in team selling
E) team selling discourages individual contributors because the team receives credit for good
performance
20) All of the following are problems associated with the poor selection of salespeople EXCEPT
________.
A) lower sales
B) costly turnover
C) less productivity
D) fewer training expenses
E) disruptive customer relationships
21) Eric Brown is a human resource manager in a company selling and manufacturing personal
computers. Who among the following is Eric most likely to hire as a salesperson if his objective
is to minimize training costs post recruitment?
A) Samantha, a fresh college graduate
B) Richard, a product developer from a competing firm
C) Nancy, an experienced engineer with no prior experience in personal selling
D) Melissa, a proven salesperson from a competing firm
E) Henry, a young salesperson with a few months’ experience in a large MNC
22) Which of the following abilities would LEAST likely be measured when recruiting and
testing applicants for a sales position?
A) sales aptitude
B) organizational skills
C) accounting skills
D) analytical skills
E) personality traits
23) The purpose of a training program for salespeople is to teach them about all of the following
EXCEPT ________.
A) customers’ buying habits
B) customers’ buying motives
C) competitor strategies
D) industry history
E) company goals
24) Which of the following is a primary reason that companies use e-learning to conduct sales
training programs?
A) Customer needs and habits can be unambiguously conveyed through online training
programs.
B) Sales training programs that do not use e-learning are mostly ineffective.
C) E-learning eliminates employee attrition.
D) E-learning is the best way to simulate real-life sales calls.
E) E-learning cuts travel and training costs.
25) All of the following are basic types of compensation plans for salespeople EXCEPT
________.
A) straight commission
B) straight salary
C) salary plus commission
D) salary plus company shares
E) salary plus bonus
26) More and more companies are moving away from high-commission plans because
________.
A) outside salespeople tend to undermine the efforts of the inside sales team
B) high-commission plans require salespeople to work overtime
C) salespeople tend to become pushy which affects customer relationships
D) salespeople are prone to taking multiple sales jobs to maximize their income
E) salespeople end up spending too much time traveling to meet customers
27) Which of the following is most likely a true statement about sales compensation in
economically tough circumstances?
A) Cutting sales force compensation is usually a last resort for firms that want to maintain
positive customer relationships.
B) Morale is boosted by distributing commissions equally among low and high sales performers.
C) Online selling is discontinued to improve customer relations.
D) Compensation for the inside sales force is reduced to increase commissions for the outside
sales force.
E) Low performers are retained and top performers are dismissed to reduce commission
payments.
28) Which of the following sales management tools helps a salesperson know which customers
to visit and which activities to carry out during a week?
A) t-test
B) z-test
C) call plan
D) analysis of variance (ANOVA)
E) risk register
29) A(n) ________ shows how much time is spent selling, traveling, waiting, taking breaks, and
doing administrative chores by the salesperson.
A) customer relationship management tool
B) corporate social networking site
C) time-and-duty analysis tool
D) outsourcing relationship management tool
E) product lifecycle management analysis
30) Which of the following is the best way for a company to increase selling time?
A) implementing high-commission plans
B) reducing the number of customers
C) sharing less information with customers
D) simplifying administrative duties
E) implementing mass customization
31) Which of the following involves computerized, digitized sales force operations that let
salespeople work more effectively anytime, anywhere?
A) SWOT analysis
B) BCG matrix
C) digital marketing system
D) sales force automation system
E) field service management system
32) Which of the following is an advantage of using a sales force automation system?
A) lowers sales team training costs
B) records major competitor’s sales
C) eliminates the need for an inside sales force
D) eliminates employee attrition
E) improves customer service
33) Which of the following is a potential drawback of using Web-based technologies for making
sales presentations and servicing accounts?
A) Web-based technologies lower the overall efficiency of salespeople.
B) The cost of the technology outweighs the advantages gained through eliminating travel.
C) Web-based technologies can intimidate salespeople or clients who are unfamiliar with them.
D) Salespeople who use web-based technologies tend to be less attentive to customer needs.
E) Online selling usually takes more time than direct selling.
34) ________ describes the feeling that salespeople have about their opportunities, value, and
rewards for a good performance in a company.
A) Culture shock
B) Organizational climate
C) Reverse culture shock
D) Segregation
E) Satisficing
35) ________ refers to the standard that establishes the amount each salesperson should sell and
how sales should be divided among the company’s products.
A) Conditional sale
B) A bill of sale
C) A sales quota
D) Prospecting
E) Satisficing
36) Which of the following refers to a positive incentive intended to increase the sales force
effort?
A) sales contests
B) prospecting
C) telecommuting
D) sales collateral
E) annual sales plan
37) A(n) ________ is a written representation of a salesperson’s completed activities.
A) bill of sale
B) call report
C) tender
D) sales quotation
E) contract of sale
38) Ultra Tech Inc., a company manufacturing gardening tools, has decided to switch to a
territorial sales force structure. Which of the following benefits is the company most likely to
gain as a result of this decision?
A) The cost of training new recruits would be eliminated.
B) An increased focus on short-term customer relationships would boost local sales of
specialized products.
C) Each salesperson would be assigned to sell a single product in which he/she specializes.
D) The capacity for mass production of a wide range of products would significantly increase.
E) As each salesperson travels within a limited geographic area, travel expenses would decline.
39) Johnson Business Solutions maintains one sales force for its copy machines and a separate
sales force for its computer systems. Johnson Business Solutions utilizes a(n) ________.
A) product sales force structure
B) customer sales force structure
C) territorial sales force structure
D) digital marketing system
E) geographical operations system
40) Morrill Motors splits the United States of America into 10 sales regions. Within each of
those regions, the company has separate sales personnel selling the company’s full line of
products. Which sales force structure does Morrill Motors use?
A) territorial
B) complex
C) customer
D) product
E) market
41) Sigma Inc. has 2,000 Type-A accounts, each requiring 35 calls per year, and 1,000 Type-B
accounts, each requiring 15 calls per year. What is the sales force’s workload?
A) 15,000 calls
B) 35,000 calls
C) 70,000 calls
D) 85,000 calls
E) 95,000 calls
42) Stahl Inc. has 1,000 Type-A accounts, each requiring 30 calls per year, and 3,000 Type-B
accounts, each requiring 10 calls per year. If each salesperson at Stahl Inc. can make 1,500 sales
calls per year, how many salespeople would be needed to meet the total workload?
A) 25
B) 35
C) 40
D) 45
E) 60
43) Which of the following is true with regard to the inside sales force of a company?
A) The inside sales force is invariably more attentive to customer needs than the outside sales
force.
B) Unlike the outside sales force, the inside sales force does not require training.
C) Inside sales representatives engage in face-to-face interaction with customers.
D) The inside sales force is far more knowledgeable about customer habits than are outside
salespeople.
E) Inside salespeople provide support for the outside sales force, freeing them to spend more
time selling to major accounts and finding new prospects.
44) A hybrid sales rep ________.
A) works exclusively from remote locations
B) is a modern cross between a field sales rep and an inside rep
C) rarely engages in face-to-face interactions with customers
D) performs sales audits
E) sets the sales objectives of companies
45) Hannah Adams is a senior sales manager in Elmo Corp., a rapidly-growing company
manufacturing personal computers and printers. In order to handle sales effectively, Hannah
insists on using the services of different groups of people from different departments within the
company such as, the sales, marketing, technical support, and finance departments. In this
instance, Hannah makes use of ________.
A) team selling
B) competitive marketing intelligence
C) hybrid selling
D) occasion segmentation
E) sales force automation systems
46) Mary Conti, a sales manager at National Computer Training, wants to evaluate the
performance of her sales force in the New England territory. Which of the following would Mary
most likely use?
A) SWOT analysis
B) breakeven analysis
C) sales forecast
D) expense reports
E) BCG matrix
47) Travis Computing Systems earns most of its revenue from sales and in-person computer
services. The sales force at Travis recently began telemarketing and Web selling. How would
telemarketing and Web selling most likely benefit Travis?
A) The need for an outside sales force would be completely eliminated through telemarketing.
B) Travis sales reps would be able to engage in more frequent face-to-face interaction with large,
high-value customers.
C) Travis sales reps would be able to service hard-to-reach customers more effectively.
D) The overhead costs of Travis would significantly decrease.
E) The current liabilities of Travis would decrease.
48) Cravenshaw Metalworks has witnessed a rise in the number of its industrial customers in
recent years. The company uses different groups of people from the sales, marketing, technical
support and finance departments for servicing large, complex accounts. In this instance,
Cravenshaw Metalworks uses ________ in order to enhance the quality of its customers’ buying
experience.
A) product differentiation
B) team selling
C) competitive marketing intelligence
D) satisficing
E) e-procurement
49) At the beginning of each year, the management of Dee Decor states the exact amount a
salesperson should sell. This specific sales target is also known as a ________.
A) sales lead
B) prospect
C) bill of sale
D) channel length
E) sales quota
Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions.
Reliable Tools Company is a manufacturer of hubs and axles for the trailer and heavy truck
industry. Although Reliable Tools only has 15 customers, the company is the sole supplier of
hub and axle components to those customers. Monthly sales at Reliable Tools are approximately
$1 million. “You might say we have all our eggs in one basket,” says owner Arthur Deetz.
It is critical that a competent sales force be maintained in order to nurture those few but large
accounts. Ninety-five percent of Reliable Tools’ customers are located in Michigan, Ohio, and
Indiana, which means that travel time to all customers is relatively short. However, given the
nature of the industry, time spent with each customer is crucial.
50) How would a customer sales force structure benefit Reliable Tools?
A) It would eliminate the need for the company’s salespeople to travel to meet customers.
B) It would enable the company’s salespeople to build close relationships with customers.
C) It would help the company’s salespeople become experts in the products they sell.
D) It would enable the company’s management to cut training costs substantially.
E) It would make telemarketing irrelevant.
51) Which of the following promotions would be most appropriate for Reliable Tools to use in
its attempt to promote its products and generate new business leads?
A) rebates and price packs
B) premiums
C) specialty advertising
D) samples
E) conventions and trade shows
52) Which of the following is the first step in the personal selling process?
A) handling objections
B) follow-up
C) presentation and demonstration
D) preapproach
E) prospecting and qualifying
53) In the ________ stage of the selling process, a company first identifies qualified potential
customers.
A) preapproach
B) follow-up
C) prospecting
D) presentation
E) approach
54) Prospects can be qualified by looking at all of the following characteristics EXCEPT
________.
A) occupational mobility
B) financial ability
C) volume of business
D) location
E) possibilities for growth
55) During the prospecting stage, a salesperson needs to identify the good leads and screen out
the poor ones through a process known as ________.
A) closing
B) satisficing
C) presenting
D) qualifying
E) approaching
56) Before calling on a prospect, the salesperson should learn as much as possible about the
organization and its buyers. This step is known as ________.
A) preapproach
B) closing
C) approach
D) presentation
E) prospecting
57) In which of the following steps of the selling process is a salesperson most likely to meet the
customer for the first time?
A) prospecting
B) pre-approach
C) follow-up
D) approach
E) closing
58) During the ________ step of the selling process, the salesperson tells the value story to the
buyer, showing how the company’s product or service solves the customer’s problems.
A) prospecting
B) preapproach
C) presentation
D) closing
E) follow-up
59) ________ refers to the sales step in which a salesperson asks the customer for an order.
A) Prospecting
B) Demonstration
C) Approach
D) Closing
E) Handling objections