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Chapter 20 - Personal Selling and Sales Management Marketing 6th
Answers to End of Chapter Learning Aids
Marketing Digitally
1 Go to Salesforce.com’s You Tube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/salesforce. Watch a
few of the short videos and discuss how the tools described would help you as a salesperson.
Students’ answers will vary depending on which video they watched. One of Salesforce.com’s offerinsg is
the App Cloud.
1 To learn more about careers in sales, go to www.bls.gov/oco/, the website for the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. This site contains a wealth of information about careers in all fields. Click on
“Sales.” Choose any of the sales fields listed, and explore that career field. What experience is
necessary to be hired for that job? What is the median salary? What do earners in the highest
10 percent of performance earn? Is job growth anticipated in that field?
This exercise gives students the chance to explore different sales careers in depth, including what
experience is needed, the median salary, what the top performers earn, and anticipated growth potential
for particular fields.
Marketing Applications
1 How has your perception of what it would be like to have a career in sales changed since you
read this chapter?
Students may have had very different ideas about the sales profession prior to reading the chapter, and
2 “Salespeople just make products cost more.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Discuss why you’ve taken that position.
This question challenges students to consider the degree to which they think salespeople provide enough
value to justify their costs. Depending on the types of products or services students consider, they might
agree or disagree. For standardized, commodity-like products, they might believe salespeople do not add
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Chapter 20 - Personal Selling and Sales Management Marketing 6th
3 Choose an industry or a specific company that you would like to work for as a salesperson.
How would you generate and qualify leads?
4 Why is it important for salespeople to be good listeners? To be good at asking questions?
Students might offer any number of answers, but most responses likely will center on understanding the
customer’s needs, determining the customer’s position in the buying process, and/or effectively handing
5 Suppose you are a salesperson at a high-end jewelry store. What can you do to ensure that
your customers are satisfied? Now imagine you are the store manager of the same store; what
can you do in your position to guarantee customers remain happy with the service they
receive?
6 Imagine that a time machine has transported you back to 1961. How was a day in the life of a
salesperson selling appliances such as washing machines different in 1961 than it is now?
In 1961, there was little variation in appliances. There were maybe a few colors and a few additional
7 What are some of the potentially ethically troubling and illegal situations facing professional
salespeople, and how should they deal with them?
Ethical and legal issues arise in three areas of personal selling: (1) the relationship between the sales
manager and the sales force, (2) inconsistencies between corporate policy and the sales force’s ethical
If a sales manager treats people unfairly or unequally in hiring, promotion, supervision, training, assigning
duties and quotas, compensation and incentives, and firing, the salesperson has legal recourse if the
company does not rectify the situation, because federal laws protect workers in such cases. Another
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Chapter 20 - Personal Selling and Sales Management Marketing 6th
8 Why would Gillette use a company sales force, while a small independent manufacturer of
organic shaving cream uses manufacturer’s representatives?
This question deals with two similar product categories, so students should focus on the sizes and
product mixes of the companies to explain how these different sales force structures help them achieve
9 Similar to the way a sales manager evaluates a salesperson, your instructors evaluate your
performance to assign you a grade. Choose one of your classes and analyze the advantages
and disadvantages of the objective and subjective bases used to evaluate your performance.
10 A customer has the following reservations. How do you respond?
a. “I really like all the things this copier does, but I don’t think it’s going to be very
reliable. With all those features, something’s got to go wrong.”
b. “Your price for this printer is higher than the price I saw advertised on the Internet.”
An integral part of the sales presentation is handling buyers’ reservations and objections. This exercise
challenges students to consider their possible responses; effective answers will focus on avoiding an
11 Imagine that you have just been hired by the school newspaper to sell ad space. You are
asked what you think would be a “fair” compensation package for you. Using the information
from the chapter, make a list of all the elements that should be included in your compensation
package. How would this compensation package change over time and with continued strong
performance?
This question describes a situation students are likely to encounter at some point in their careers. In their
answers, students should focus on a combination of both financial and nonfinancial rewards.
12 You have taken a summer job in the windows and doors department of a large home
improvement store. During sales training, you learn about the products, how to best address
customers’ needs, and how to sell the customer the best product to fit their needs regardless
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Chapter 20 - Personal Selling and Sales Management Marketing 6th
of price point. One day your manager informs you that you are to recommend Smith Windows
to every window customer. Smith Windows are more expensive and don’t really provide
superior benefit except in limited circumstances. The manager is insistent that you
recommend Smith. Not knowing what else to do, you recommend Smith Windows to
customers who would have been better served by lower-cost windows. The manager rewards
you with a sales award. Later the manager tells you that he received an all-expenses-paid
cruise for his family from Smith Windows. What, if anything, should you do with this
information?
Students will respond in various ways. This scenario may make the typical salesperson very
Quiz Yourself
1 One of the advantages of personal selling over other types of marketing communication is that
a. salespeople can build strong relationships with customers.
b. personal selling almost always costs less than other marketing communication alternatives.
c. personal selling has greater reach than advertising.
d. cold calling is easier than direct mail advertising.
e. personal selling requires less training than other types of selling.
13 All of the following are service quality dimensions related to follow-up except
a. ethics
b. reliability
c. tangibles
d. responsiveness
e. empathy
Chapter Case Study: Alta Data Solutions: Making the Sale
1 Who should be at the presentation?
Students should demonstrate that they understand who the relevant players are for a sales presentation
such as this one.
At a minimum, Brad Alexander should be at the meeting, because he is the decision maker, along with
Vicki Nguyen, Mike Smith, and the product manager whom Nguyen encouraged the client to travel to see.
14 How should she start the meeting?
Using a real-world scenario, students should think about appropriate ways to initiate a sales presentation.
Their answers should mention the need for introductions.
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Chapter 20 - Personal Selling and Sales Management Marketing 6th
15 What are the key points she should make in her presentation?
Students must plot out an effective presentation that covers all the bases of what a salesperson wants
clients to know.
16 What reservations should she expect? How should she handle them?
In answering this final question, students must think through the possible concerns the client might pose
and suggest ways of addressing and mitigating them.
Additional Teaching Tips
This chapter focuses on the personal selling process, ethical and legal issues of selling, and managing
the sales force. Students are familiar with the selling process and most of the concepts relating to
customer sales; however, they are likely unfamiliar with the B2B buying process so vocabulary such as
product specification, RFP, and performance assessments should be thoroughly reviewed.
Students can often regurgitate the two selling processes in Exhibit 20.2. However, they may not have a
true understanding of what happens in each stage and how it leads to sales. Divide the class into 4 or 5
groups. Assign two groups the personal selling process with the mission to develop a script of selling a
common product (pick one, a car perhaps). Each of these two groups should have a different product to
script through the personal selling process and present the skit to the class. The class will have the task
of identifying the various stages of the personal selling process (taking notes) and the skit is discussed
after the “debut.”
Students have fun with the skit and learn more about the importance of the personal selling process.
While two groups are scripting and rehearsing the personal selling assignment, two or three other groups
are assigned a product that they will script and present using the B2B buying process. The role of the
audience is again to take notes on identifying each phase of the B2B buying process with class
discussion after the presentations.
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Chapter 20 - Personal Selling and Sales Management Marketing 6th
Another key area is ethical and legal issues of personal selling. Online Tip: Have students post a legal
or ethical selling dilemma in a story problem (bait and switch, puffery, embellishment of reimbursements,
etc.). Have other students write their own and have the learning community respond to each other’s
ethical selling dilemma. The writer of the dilemma would have the task of contributing to a solution
through feedback on the discussion board once the students posts a response.
Connect Activities
Activity Type Learning Objectives 20-
01 02 03 04
Service Quality Dimensions Click & Drag X X
Service Quality Dimensions
Activity Type: Click and Drag
Learning Objectives: 20-02
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: Students are asked to identify service provider actions and customer perceptions
related to each of the five service quality dimensions.
Activity
Introduction: Demonstrating the five service quality dimensions—reliability, responsiveness,
Concept Review: Follow-up is the fifth step in the personal selling process. With relationship selling,
the sale is never really over, even after the sale has been made. The attitudes customers develop
Follow-Up Activity
Role-playing: In pairs or small groups, have the students develop a short role-play of a service
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Chapter 20 - Personal Selling and Sales Management Marketing 6th
The Personal Selling Process
Activity Type: Click & Drag
Learning Objectives: 20-02
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: Students are asked to match up tasks in a fictional personal selling process with
the step of the process that each represents.
Activity
Introduction: The following activity highlights the various steps of the personal selling process
Concept Review: Although selling may appear a rather straightforward process, successful
Personal Selling: GPI Procurement Services
Activity Type: Video Case
Learning Objectives: 20-01, 20-02, 20-04
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: Discusses the relationship selling approach, as executed by GPI Procurement.
After the video ends, students are asked questions about the video and related course concepts.
Activity
Introduction: André Thornton, president and CEO of GPI Procurement Services, believes in building
Concept Review: Personal selling is the two-way flow of communication between buyer(s) and the
seller that is designed to influence the buyer's purchase decision. Personal selling can take place in
various situations: face to face, via video teleconferencing, on the telephone, or over the Internet.
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Chapter 20 - Personal Selling and Sales Management Marketing 6th
Video: The video is presented to the student below the introductory information. The video plays
Follow-Up Activity
Ask the class how many of them want to start a business someday (or have already started one).
Sweetwater
Activity Type: Video Case
Learning Objectives: 20-02
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: Describes the relationship selling approach as executed by Sweetwater, an
online seller of musical instruments and related equipment. After the video ends, students are asked
questions about the video and related course concepts.
Activity
Introduction: Sweetwater is a music retailer that prides itself on building relationships with its
Concept Review: This video covers the five steps necessary to complete a typical sales transaction.
Video: The video is presented to the student below the introductory information. The video plays
Follow-Up Activity
Assign or review in class the “Sweetwater Story” page on the Sweetwater website
(http://www.sweetwater.com/about/). It underscores the points made in the video.
Ask the class, despite all of the positive things said in the video and on the website, what is the
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Chapter 20 - Personal Selling and Sales Management Marketing 6th
Alta Data Solutions: Making the Sale
Activity Type: Case Analysis
Learning Objectives: 20-02, 20-03
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: This case presents a hypothetical sales situation in which a sales rep is having
problems closing a large sale. After reading the case, students are asked to analyze the situation by
applying chapter concepts.
Activity
Introduction: This case presents a hypothetical sales scenario involving a technology solutions firm
Follow-up Activity
Ask students to role play a sales call aimed at closing the sale. Alternately, this can be assigned as an
ISeeIt Video Case: Business to Business Marketing Strategy
Activity Type: Video Case
Learning Objectives: 20-01, 20-03
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: This video case looks at the role of sales representatives in B2B marketing,
considering a potential business relationship between a bottled water company and a coffee shop.
Activity
Introduction: Personal selling serves three major roles in a firm’s overall marketing effort: (1) it
creates a critical link between the firm and its customers; (2) salespeople are the company in a
customer’s eyes; and (3) it may play a dominant role in a firm’s marketing program. This final point is
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Chapter 20 - Personal Selling and Sales Management Marketing 6th
Video: The video is presented to the student below the introductory information. The video plays
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