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Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion 529
3. Consumer-oriented sales promotions
a. Consumer-oriented sales promotions are novel, often
entertaining ways to persuade new and existing customers
to try products
b. They may include games, contests, sweepstakes, or
services
ii. The coupon industry has lost some of its popularity
in recent years due to complex accounting rules and
clout of retailers
iii. Consumers receive so many coupons they cannot
vii. Refunds help companies increase purchase rates,
promote multiple purchases, and reward product
users
e. Samples, bonus packs, and premiums
i. Sampling refers to the free distribution of a product
vi. Bonus packs are specially packaged items that give
the purchaser a larger quantity at the regular price
vii. Premiums are items given free or at reduced cost
with the purchase of other products
f. Contests and sweepstakes
inexpensive to run and the number of winners is
predetermined—with some contests the number of
people who might win cannot be predicted
v. Both contests and sweepstakes have become more
sophisticated and creative in the Internet age, where
they can be handled at low cost and provide instant
data
g. Specialty advertising
i. Specialty advertising is a sales promotion technique
that places the advertiser’s name, address, and
message on useful items that are then distributed to
target customers
ii. Today, just about everyone owns a cap or T-shirt
with the name or logo of a company, organization,
or product displayed on it
2. Trade-oriented promotions
a. Trade promotions are those techniques that appeal more to
marketing intermediaries than to final consumers
i. Marketers use trade promotion in push strategies by
encouraging resellers to stock new products,
continue carrying existing ones, or promote them to
bringing quick results
b. Trade allowances
i. A trade allowance is a special financial incentive
offered to wholesalers and retailers that purchase or
promote specific products, taking several forms
c. Point-of-purchase advertising
i. Point-of-purchase (POP) advertising refers to a
display or other promotion located near the site of
the actual buying decision
ii. This method capitalizes on the fact that buyers
make many purchase decisions within the store
d. Trade shows
i. Trade shows are usually organized by industry trade
associations, often as part of their annual meetings
or conventions
ii. Vendors who serve the industries are invited to
appear at the shows and display and demonstrate
their products for attendees
iii. Industries that hold trade shows include
e. Dealer incentives, contests, and training programs
i. Manufacturers run dealer incentive programs and
contests to induce retailers and their salespeople to
increase sales and promote products
ii. Push money (also called spiffs) refers to an
incentive that gives retail salespeople cash rewards
532 Part 6 Promotional Decisions
for every unit of a product they sell
retail salespeople
2. Strategic Implications of Marketing in the 21st Century
a. Companies are discovering the power of personal selling in
generating sales, and in building customer relationships
b. As buyers become more sophisticated, salespeople must
Assessment check questions
8.1. Define sales promotion. Sales promotion includes marketing activities
8.2. Identify at least four types of consumer-oriented sales promotions.
8.3. Identify at least three types of trade-oriented sales promotions. Trade-
oriented sales promotions include trade allowances, POP advertising,
ANSWERS AND TEACHING NOTES TO CHAPTER EXERCISES
Chapter 17 Assurance of Learning Review
1. How does each of the following factors affect the decision to emphasize personal selling or
nonpersonal advertising and sales promotion?
Answer: Personal selling is the process of a seller’s person-to-person promotional presentation to a
buyer. Here are some suggestions as to how these factors would affect the decision to stress personal
selling or not. Students will probably have additional ideas.
a. geographic market concentration—affects the decision due to travel expenses and number of
staff needed to cover large territories
2. Which of the four sales channels is each of the following salespeople most likely to use?
Answer: Personal selling takes place through several communication channels: over-the-counter selling
(including online selling), field selling, telemarketing, and inside selling. Some suggestions on appropriate
channels for these products:
a. salesperson in a Kohl’s store —over-the-counter selling
b. Century 21 real estate agent—field selling, telemarketing
3. What is team selling? Describe a situation in which you think it would be effective.
Answer: Team selling is a relatively new form of personal selling, occurring when a salesperson is joined
by specialists from other areas to complete the selling process. Teams can be structured as formal and
4. Why is it important for a salesperson to understand order processing—regardless of the type of selling
he or she is engaged in?
Answer: Order processing, mostly seen at the wholesale and retail levels, involves identifying customer
needs, pointing them out to customers, and completing orders. It’s important for all salespeople to
understand because it’s part of most selling positions in some way—all customers in all industries have
5. What is the role of a sales incentive?
6. Suppose you are hired as a salesperson for a firm that offers prep courses for standardized tests.
Where might you find some leads?
Answer: Students should have a number of ideas on selling prep courses for tests. You might start with
reviewing the tests themselves to understand the task at hand for students preparing to take them. Then
you would want to familiarize yourself with the curriculum of the prep courses to understand what your
firm is selling. You would want to understand the firm’s overall objectives, sales goals, and related target
7. What is expectancy theory? How do sales managers use it?
Answer: Expectancy theory is the concept that motivation depends on an individual’s expectations of his
or her ability to perform a job, and how that performance relates to attaining a desired reward. Sales
Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion 535
▪ Assess needs, values, and abilities of each salesperson
▪ Assign appropriate tasks for each person
8. What is the role of sales promotion in the marketing effort?
Answer: Sales promotion includes those activities other than personal selling, advertising, and publicity
that enhance consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness. It is an integral part of the overall marketing
9. What are the benefits of sampling? What are the drawbacks?
Answer: Sampling refers to the free distribution of a product in an attempt to obtain future sales. It gets a
higher response rate than most promotions—about three-quarters of consumers who receive samples try
them, particularly if they’ve requested them. Sampling allows marketers to target potential customers and
10. What is trade promotion? What are its objectives?
536 Part 6 Promotional Decisions
Projects and Teamwork Exercises
1. Answer: A discussion on what is cross-selling can be initiated. Ask students to think of firms that could
benefit from cross-selling. What different kinds of goods or services can they offer to their customers?
2. Answer: The students could present this exercise in the form of role-play to the rest of the class. The
class can discuss whether the sales pitch worked in each of the scenarios. What should be avoided by a
salesperson? What must a salesperson do to close a sale without being pushy or aggressive?
3. Answer: What are the ingredients of a good presentation? Are you going to use any visual aids or
equipment? Who is your target audience? What knowledge of the situation do you need to possess to
make an effective presentation? Answers to these questions would give students the confidence to
4. Answer: Student responses will vary. Encourage them to interrogate their own positions as
consumers. What appeals to one person may not appeal to another.
Point Value: 1
5. Answer: Students answers may vary. After the students have presented their sketches to the class, a
discussion about whether their sketches were effective could be initiated.
a. Sea World or Busch Gardens—key chain, pens or pencils, crayons
b. Subway—some sort of reusable bag, beverage cup
c. Verizon Wireless—cell phone clip or pouch
Critical-Thinking Exercises
1. Since the implementation of the national Do Not Call Registry, some Americans have noticed an
increase in door-to-door selling as well as emails containing sales messages. As a marketer, do you think
this type of selling is effective? Why or why not?
Answer: Expect a wide range of responses. However, many students may have little experience with
door-to-door selling. One point students should consider is the timing of door-to-door selling. Most
2. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is well known for its specialty coffees, available in many retail outlets
such as supermarkets and convenience stores. But visit a medical office or a car dealership, and you
might find it there as well—in one-cup dispensers, ready for individuals to brew while waiting. This
requires personal selling to office managers, doctors, and the like. What role does relationship selling
play in this situation? What kind of training might Green Mountain sales reps receive?
Answer: Students’ answers will vary. These are business-to-business sales and regular contact would be
the key to development and maintenance of this business. Green Mountain can learn more about
3. Assume that a friend asks you to solicit donations for a local charity. (You pick the charity.) Outline
your approach and presentation as a salesperson would.
Answer: Make sure students go through each of the seven steps in the sales process listed in the
chapter. They should be able to identify which steps are the most important for this task, and which
4. Why is the recruitment and selection stage of the hiring process one of a sales manager’s greatest
challenges?
Answer: As the chapter illustrates, there are two reasons why the recruitment and selection process is so
important. (1) The selection process involves substantial amounts of money and management time. (2)
5. Food manufacturers often set up tables in supermarkets and offer free samples to shoppers, along
with coupons for the promoted items. Sometimes restaurants offer free coffee or drink refills. What other
products might lend themselves to sampling? Make a list. Pick one of the items and come up with a
sampling plan for it. Where and when would you sample? To whom would you offer samples?
Answer: Student answers will vary. Be sure to consider what the objectives of such a program are and
what products are being offered for this kind of promotion.
Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion 539
`
Ethics Exercises
You have been hired by a discount sporting-goods retailer for an over-the-counter sales position. You
have completed a training course that includes learning about the products, assisting customers, and
1. Do you agree with your friend’s actions? Why or why not?
Answer: Student opinions will vary. Their answers should focus on ethical behavior and its importance in
2. Should you discuss the situation with your friend? Should you discuss it with your supervisor? Explain
your response.
Answer: Student opinions will vary. Encourage them to consider the eventual results of this friend’s
Internet Exercises
1. Sales careers. Visit the three websites below here and review the material on careers in sales. Make
a list of five interesting facts about sales careers. Did this exercise make you more or less interested in a
sales career? Explain your answer.
2. Compensation systems. Go to the websites listed below and review the material on compensation
systems. Prepare a report outlining the major issues associated with designing a sales compensation
system.
http://www.inc.com/guides/sales-compensation-plan.html
http://www.davekahle.com/compfeature.html
http://tecmidwest.com/2014/04/effective-sales-compensation-plan/
3. CES. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is one of the largest trade shows in the world. Visit the
CES website (http://www.cesweb.org) and answer the following questions:
a. When and where is the CES held?
Answer: The CES is held in Las Vegas, Nevada during the first week of January every year.
b. How many attended the most recent CES? How many firms and organizations had exhibits?
Case 17.1 Shaq Promotes His Personal Brand—Questions for Critical Thinking
1. O’Neal advocates entertaining and inspiring as ways to convey a successful promotional message.
What makes people take his messages seriously enough to buy products as a result of his approach?
Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion 541
Answer: O’Neal is on Facebook and Twitter. He has already established himself as someone who has a
2. One marketing communications executive says social media promotions help humans connect with
other humans and not with logos. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Answer: Students answers may vary. With almost 9 million followers on Twitter, O’Neal’s approach to
marketing his own brand in combination with other products continues to be successful. His sense of
Video Case 17.2 Hubway Rolls Out Partners and Promotions—Questions for Critical Thinking
1. Describe how Hubway can use relationship selling to build partnerships with retailers and corporations.
Answer: Hubway could use relationship selling to develop customized membership programs for
corporations, provide adaptive bikes or other equipment for companies with disabled employees, be
2. How might Hubway create sales promotions using specialty advertising?
Answer: Hubway could sell advertising space on its bicycles and at its stations, including on the bike
Part 6 Video Case Generating Buzz—Questions for Critical Thinking
1. If you were a Food Network marketer, how would you state the network’s overall marketing message?
Answer: The Food Network’s overall marketing message would touch on the topics of lifestyle, passion,
2. Describe the types of advertising appeals that you think would be most effective with Food Network
viewers.
Answer: The most effective advertising appeals for Food Network probably would be based on emotion
3. In what ways do Food Network and its advertisers benefit from cross-promotion?
4. How might Food Network marketers use sales promotion techniques to build loyalty among viewers?
Answer: Sales promotions that involve cash or prizes; direct communication with talent (celebrity chefs
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING EXERCISES
Personal Selling
Purpose:
To understand the idea and importance of personal selling
Background:
The power of personal selling in generating sales and in building strong, loyal customer
relationships is crucial to the success of a firm. This exercise explores the idea of selling in a
creative way.
Estimated Class Time:
About five minutes
Preparation/Materials:
None needed
Exercise:
Provide the class with a list of materials. The list could contain items such as sand, ice, water,
Questions for Reflection:
• What problems did you encounter when you were making a sales pitch?
• How do you motivate someone to buy the product that you are selling?
Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion 543
Selling and Memory
Purpose:
To demonstrate the connection between selling and memory
Background:
Effective sales presentations—especially in a B2B context—must “cut through the clutter” in way
that the prospect remembers (in a positive light, of course!). This exercise is designed to illustrate
concepts that will help create more memorable presentations.
Relationship to Text:
The Sales Process
Student Recall Table
Word Number of Students
Who Recalled Word
1. Twig
3. Crew
5. Tool
7. Copy
9. Coat
11. Boat
13. Disk
15. Barn
17. Tree
19. Lock
21. Sock
23. Bell
25. Germ
544 Part 6 Promotional Decisions
Exercise*:
Before you introduce the sales process, read the list of words below to your class at a slow,
steady rate, without emphasizing any word more than any other. When you finish, ask your
students to write down as many of the words as they can recall. Collect the papers after a couple
of minutes. Before the next class period, create your visual aid as shown on the next page. When
you present the chart to your class, cover the student recall section. Ask your students to guess
which words most people recalled. They typically answer the first word, the last word, and the
word related to your school . . . and frequently they are correct. This usually leads to an
interesting discussion of key sales presentation concepts.
Questions for Reflection:
• What steps can you take to ensure a strong first impression?
• What are examples of strong and weak closes?
• How do the primacy and recency effects relate to selling yourself in job interviews?
*This exercise was adapted from McGinnis, John, “Using a Word List to Reinforce Selling Concepts,”
Great Ideas for Teaching Marketing.
The Face-to-Face Sales Process
Purpose:
To give students a chance to practice face-to-face selling
Background:
Relationship to Text:
The Sales Process—Approach, Presentation, Handling Objections, Closing
Estimated Class Time:
About 20 to 25 minutes
Preparation/Materials:
None needed
Exercise:
After you have covered the sales process, divide your class into pairs, and ask each pair to
choose one of the following situations for a “sales” presentation:
• Convincing your sister to lend you her truck for a ski trip with your friends
Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion 545
• Convincing your teacher to give you an A, when you really deserve a B
• Convincing your parents to send you on a spring vacation trip to Florida
• Convincing someone you really like to go on a date with you
• Convincing a cop not to give you a traffic ticket
Give the class about 10 minutes to prepare their presentations. Remind them to consider each
stage of face-to-face selling, and give them license to fill in the details of their situation. Then,
Questions for Reflection:
• What part of the sales process is most important? Why?
• Which works better, a team presentation or an individual presentation? Why?
Salesperson Time Allocation
Purpose:
To illustrate a key evaluation tool for salesperson time allocation
Background:
Since salespeople often work quite independently, analysis of how they spend their time is a key
variable in evaluating and coaching them for top performance. This exercise is designed to
introduce a prevalent approach to salesperson time allocation.
Relationship to Text:
Managing the Sales Effort
Estimated Class Time:
About 10 minutes
Preparation/Materials:
You’ll need to make a transparency or PowerPoint slide of the time allocation chart on the next
page.
Exercise*:
Present the time allocation chart to your students, and share the profiles of these three
salespeople: there are two men and one woman; one has twelve years experience, one has
seven years experience, and one has one year experience; their commission-based annual
546 Part 6 Promotional Decisions
Time Management Analysis Chart
Activities
Salesperson 1
Salesperson 2
Salesperson 3
Avg.
Face-to-face selling
13%
21%
33%
22.3%
Account Servicing
(customer problems,
questions, etc.)
21%
14%
7%
14.0%
Sales Call Planning
8%
7%
3%
6.0%
Proposal Preparation
7%
8%
4%
6.3%
Prospecting
2%
2%
6%
3.3%
Paperwork
9%
16%
1%
8.7%
Self-Improvement
2%
0%
1%
1.0%
Training
0%
0%
0%
0%
Copywriting
2%
4%
0%
2.0%
Cold Calling
3%
3%
0%
2.0%
Questions for Reflection:
• How big a role should this type of analysis play in evaluating salespeople? Why?
• Should salespeople be evaluated beyond simply the revenue they generate each period? If
so, what other evaluation tools would make sense?
Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion 547
Relationship to Text:
Consumer-Oriented Sales Promotions
Estimated Class Time:
About 20 minutes
Preparation/Materials:
None needed
Exercise:
Break your class into small groups. Challenge each group to develop a creative consumer sales
promotion for the following businesses:
• Baskin-Robbins ice-cream store
• Jet Blue airline
• The Wall Street Journal
• Office Depot
• Toyota Prius
• Fanta Cola
Direct them to create one piece of consumer communication for each sales promotion idea.
Questions for Reflection:
• Does sales promotion make more sense for some product categories than for others? Why?
• Can sales promotion ever be used to both generate short-term sales and build brand image?
How?
