978-1305405769 Chapter 17 Part 2

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Chapter 17: Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

In this exercise, you will be showing the following video clip of the Canadian NBA star, Steve Nash, and

the hip-hop mogul, 50 Cent, headlining as promoters for the Vitamin Water product line:

http://vimeo.com/24593207

This video clip ties into many aspects of marketing. Nash and 50 Cent talk about a promotion where

consumers are encouraged to create their own Vitamin Water product and label. The winner of the

competition receives a cash prize and their own personal Vitamin Water. The promotion offers celebrities,

competition, and the opportunity for individual consumers to hit it big.

Since the video is funny, students understand the product, and consider the marketing and promotion of

this brand as hip and original. Instructors will love to use this discussion starter because they can be done

with the topic in 5 minutes and energize the class.

Chapter 17: Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

CLASS EXERCISES

Class Exercise 1: Understanding the Steps Involved in Personal Selling

The objective of this class exercise is to help students understand and apply the steps used in the personal

selling process. Students may want to make a table with the steps and the scenarios.

Prompt for students:

Explain how you can use the seven steps of personal selling in everyday activities such as dating, asking

parents for an allowance, negotiating a higher grade on a term project, getting a job, or asking for a pay

raise.

The seven steps are:

• PROSPECTING: The salesperson develops a list of customers.

• PREAPPROACH: The salesperson finds and analyzes information about each prospect’s specific

product needs, current use of brands, feelings about available brands, and personal characteristics.

• APPROACH: The salesperson adopts a certain approach to contact a potential customer. The first

contact is generally to assess the buyer’s needs and objectives. The prospect’s first impression is

usually a lasting one.

• MAKING THE PRESENTATION: The salesperson aims to attract and hold the prospect’s

attention to stimulate interest. Product demonstrations, listening to comments, and observing

responses are important.

• OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS: One of the best ways to do this is to anticipate and counter

objections before the prospect has an opportunity to raise them. Otherwise, the objections can be

dealt with when they occur.

• CLOSING: The salesperson asks the prospect to buy the product by attempting a trial close, which

involves asking questions with an assumption that the prospect will buy the product. A salesperson

should try to close at several points during the presentation.

• FOLLOW-UP: The salesperson contacts the customer to learn about problems or questions that the

customer may have. This may also be used to determine future needs.

Class Exercise 2: Classifying Salespeople

This exercise is relatively straightforward. Almost every student will have had some contact with one or

several of these types of salespeople. However, students usually do not think about the types of selling

these people do. Have your students classify each salesperson and justify their answers.

Prompt for students:

Salespeople are typically classified as inside salespeople, outside salespeople, and support personnel.

Salespeople can focus on current-customer sales or new-customer sales. How would you classify the

following salespeople?

1. Pharmaceutical salesperson selling to doctors

2. Xerox copier salesperson

3. Retail store salesperson

Chapter 17: Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

4. Telemarketer soliciting donations for a charity

5. Real-estate agent

6. Heavy equipment salesperson

7. Agent for a snack-food distributor who only stocks shelves

8. An Avon salesperson

9. A salesperson selling commercial health insurance

10. Agent for a snack-food distributor who fills a retailer’s orders

Answers:

The most likely answers:

Class Exercise 3: The Personal Selling Process

This exercise is recommended as a group activity.

In this chapter, you learned about the elements of the personal selling process. All of you may have

participated in this process at some point. In this exercise, you will analyze one such encounter.

Step 1: Discuss within your group your individual experiences with various types of sales people. Then

choose one encounter among those discussed for the group activity. The encounter may either be positive

or negative.

Step 2: Describe the sales encounter your group has chosen. Who was involved? Where did it take place?

What product was being sold? What was the outcome?

Step 3: Choose members of your group to act out the various parts within this example and develop a

short script of the encounter.

Step 4: Define why you think the encounter was or was not successful. If the encounter was not

successful, why did it fail? What could the sales person have done differently that may have affected the

outcome?

Step 5: Do a role play: let members of your group act out various parts involved in the sales encounter.

Step 6: Explain why you think the encounter was or was not successful. If the encounter was not

successful, what could the sales person have done differently to make it successful?

Chapter 17: Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

CHAPTER QUIZ

1. Which of the following types of salespeople direct much effort toward helping customers—

especially retail stores—promote the product.

a. Missionary salespeople

b. Inside salespeople focused on new-business sales

c. Technical salespeople

d. Outside salespeople focused on new-business sales

e. Trade salespeople

2. The first step in the selling process is:

a. preapproach.

b. approaching the customer.

c. making the presentation.

d. overcoming objections.

e. prospecting.

3. In order to encourage purchases of consumer products, marketers may offer to let buyers pay less

than the regular price shown. This is a type of consumer sales promotion method known as:

a. cents-off offers.

b. coupons.

c. rebates.

d. refunds.

e. premiums.

4. Sales promotion is defined as a(n):

a. activity used as a direct inducement to resellers, salespeople, or consumers.

b. advertising campaign.

c. cyclical activity aimed at producing short-run effects on sales.

d. noncyclical activity aimed at producing long-run effects.

e. material used in personal selling.

Chapter 17: Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

SEMESTER PROJECT

In this chapter, you learned about the elements of the personal selling process. In this exercise, you will

learn how following those elements can lead to a successful interview and a job offer.

Prospect: Identify two firms with which you would like an interview.

Pre-approach: Gather information about each firm and what they are looking for in entry-level applicants.

Check within your network of family, friends, and university resources to see if there are any

opportunities to get more inside information.

Approach: Determine how you can best contact the firm for an interview.

Presentation: Use a video camera to film yourself doing a mock interview with someone from career

services, a friend, or family member. Analyze the presentation. What did you do well that you should

reinforce? What did you not do well that you need to improve?

Closing the sale: Prepare a thank-you note for the interviewer and for anyone who assisted you in the

process.

Chapter 17: Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

ANSWERS TO ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION AND REVIEW

1. What is personal selling? How does personal selling differ from other types of promotional

activities?

2. What are the primary purposes of personal selling?

3. Identify the elements of the personal selling process. Must a salesperson include all these

elements when selling a product to a customer? Why or why not?

4. How does a salesperson find and evaluate prospects? Do you consider any of these methods to

Chapter 17: Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

be ethically questionable? Explain.

5. Describe the different types of support personnel.

The three types of support personnel include missionary, trade, and technical salespeople.

6. Why are team selling and relationship selling becoming more prevalent?

7. Identify several characteristics of effective sales objectives.

Sales objectives should be stated in precise, measurable terms and be specific regarding the time

11. What major factors should be taken into account when designing the size and shape of a sales

territory?

12. How does a sales manager, who cannot be with each salesperson in the field on a daily basis,

control the performance of sales personnel?

13. What is sales promotion? Why is it used?

14. For each of the following, identify and describe three techniques and give several examples: (a)

consumer sales promotion methods and (b) trade sales promotion methods.

Students’ choices for techniques and examples may vary, but they may include any of the following:

a. Consumer sales promotion methods

Chapter 17: Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

loyalty. Small toys offered in cereal boxes are examples of premiums.

drawing. Sweepstakes are often sponsored by cigarette manufacturers.

to product movement.

• Using merchandise allowances, the manufacturer agrees to compensate resellers with

certain amounts of money for providing special reseller promotional efforts, such as

advertisements or displays. This technique is used for high-volume, high-profit, easily

handled products.

15. What types of sales promotion methods have you observed recently? Comment on their

effectiveness.

This is an open-ended question that will enable students to recall some sales promotion methods that

Chapter 17: Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

ANSWERS TO DEVELOPING YOUR MARKETING PLAN

The information obtained from the following questions should assist you in developing various

aspects of your marketing plan found in the “Interactive Marketing Plan” exercise at

www.cengagebrain.com.

1. Review the various types of salespeople described in this chapter. Given your promotional

objectives (from Chapter 17), do any of these types of salespeople have a place in your

promotional plan?

2. Identify the resellers in your distribution channel. Discuss the role that trade sales promotions

to these resellers could play in the development of your promotional plan.

Students will have different resellers in their distribution channels depending on their product and

their product’s target market. Distribution channels for different products can look very different.

3. Evaluate each type of consumer sales promotion as it relates to accomplishing your

promotional objectives.

Students should begin by stating their promotional objectives. They then need to outline the different

Chapter 17: Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

COMMENTS ON VIDEO CASE 17: NEDERLANDER ORGANIZATION

REWARDS THE AUDIENCE

Summary

The Nederlander Organization is a theatrical organization that owns concert venues and Broadway

theaters. Nederlander describes itself as a lifestyle company, which puts it in a specific niche with a

specific type of customer. The organization engages in promotional activities for various concerts as well

as production of Broadway shows. Nederlander Organization has leveraged these relationships with its

Audience Rewards program, a type of sales promotion that has allowed it to build strong relationships

with customers by enhancing their experience. The unique nature of the industry and smaller size of its

target market allow Nederlander to create a valuable experience for customers through personal selling

and sales promotion activities. The Audience Rewards is similar to a frequent-flyer program.

Nederlander’s sales promotion program strongly benefits smaller venues. The Audience Rewards

program also depends on outside relationships with major companies that sponsor the rewards for the

program. Nederlander’s target market is an attractive opportunity for large companies. A market

dominated by 30- to 59-year-old females with an annual income of approximately $200,000 appeals to its

corporate partners because they want to get access to its customers. In addition to the many benefits of

this program, sales promotion has provided Nederlander Organization with a competitive advantage over

other companies.

Questions for Discussion

1. Why do you think more targeted promotional efforts such as personal selling and sales

promotion are necessary for Nederlander’s specific target market?

Students’ answers may vary, but they should point out that the success of its theaters depends largely

have a more difficult time promoting their shows.

2. How does Nederlander’s Audience Rewards program result in a competitive advantage?

3. Describe how Nederlander’s strong customer relationship management results in increased

loyalty to the organization.