Chapter 18 ♦ Sales Promotion and Personal Selling 18–13
present its work to the class.
APPLICATION EXERCISES
Purpose: To have students think critically about sales and sales experiences from the customer and sales rep point of
view.
Setting It Up: This works best as an individual assignment. The journal format allows for collection of data as well as
reflection on their meaning.
This exercise was inspired by the following Great Idea in Teaching Marketing:
John Ronchetto
University of San Diego
SALES AND CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENTIAL JOURNAL AND PAPER
During the first 10 weeks of a personal selling course, students keep a journal or diary of their separate sales and/or
customer service experiences with local merchants. For each interaction they register factual information (where, when,
nature of interaction), note key selling or conflict resolution techniques utilized by the sales or service person and any
In the second phase of this assignment students write about one of their most noteworthy experiences in terms of
learning value. They discuss the organization, the sales or service situation, e.g., buying a new product, the type of good
or service, e.g., personal computer and other items of significance (time of day, location of business, layout of store). In
addition, based on their reading of the personal selling text, acting as participants and observers of in-class student sales
role plays, and class discussions on sales and service concepts and practices, students evaluate this experience.
ETHICS EXERCISE
1. Is it unethical to advertise products at their post–rebate price in order to increase sales? Why or why not?
What is another sales promotion method Hi-Tech Electronics could use to persuade customers to buy their
plasma TV at the store?
Students’ answers will vary. Most products containing a rebate will show the original price, the price after the
18–14 Chapter 18 ♦ Sales Promotion and Personal Selling
2. Rebate programs are commonly used by electronic manufacturers because the rebates arouse consumers’
interest in buying products; yet only half of purchasers ultimately claim their rebates. Is a rebate program
itself unethical if the manufacturer knows consumers are unlikely to receive their money?
Students may have differing opinions. It would be unethical for manufacturers’ to not pay the customers who do fill
3. Visit a local electronics store – or Web site – and find a product being sold with a mail-in rebate offer. Are the
rebate instructions clear? Would you take the time to complete the process?
MARKETING PLAN EXERCISE
The next stage of the strategic planning process focuses on the chosen company’s sales promotion and personal selling
decisions. Use the exercises in this section to guide you through the final elements of Part 5 of your strategic marketing
plan.
CASE STUDY
Ron Popeil Wheels, Deals, Has Mass Appeal
1. What does Ron Popeil bring to personal selling that makes him so effective?
Ron Popeil has an uncanny ability to clearly describe the features and attributes of his new–to-the-world products.
2. What trade sales promotion tools does he use? Why does he use that when he is selling direct to consumers?
3. Explain how Ron Popeil’s selling tactics allow him to achieve the desired objectives of sales promotions.
By producing and distributing focused infomercials, in which operators are usually standing by to take orders, Ron
4. Do you think it is likely that America will ever see someone like Ron Popeil in the future? Why or why not?
Chapter 18 ♦ Sales Promotion and Personal Selling 18–15
LESSON PLAN FOR VIDEO
Company Clips: Vans – Off the Wall Promotions
Steve Van Doren, son of the founder, is the self-proclaimed “ambassador of fun” at Vans. Because Vans doesn’t want to
discount its products or lower prices, it has to find other ways to create value for consumers. So, to keep the brand
energized, the company is constantly developing promotions that can only be described as fun, an important element for
attracting trendsetting customers. The core of Vans’s strategy revolves around unique and authentic contests and
giveaways. The company relies on word–of-mouth advertising and credible personal selling. In this video segment, Vans
marketers explain how they use Web sites, contests, giveaways, and athletic events to attract and keep customers.
1. How does Vans use giveaways and contests to market its products? Why do these strategies work so well for
Vans?
Giveaways and contests are a good strategy for Vans because their marketing goal is to build customer and brand
2. How does Vans approach recruiting and training its sales force?
Vans attracts employees who already have a “relationship” with Vans, by wearing the company’s shoes or apparel,
3. How has trade shows changed in recent years? What is Vans’ main goal at trade shows today?
Trade shows have evolved to be less about writing up orders and selling products, but about communicating to
18–16 Chapter 18 ♦ Sales Promotion and Personal Selling
Supplemental Exercise: Video
Company Clips
Pre-Class Prep for You:
• Preview the Company Clips video segment for Chapter 18. This exercise reviews concepts for LO1-LO7.
• Review your lesson plan.
• Make sure you have all of the equipment needed to show the video to the class, including the DVD and a way to
project the video.
Pre-Class Prep for Students:
• Have students review and familiarize themselves with the following terms and concepts: trade promotions; personal
query the manager about the benefits of using reps.
Video Review Exercise Activity
• Warm-up
o Briefly discuss students’ findings from the final activity in the Pre-Class Prep. Review the types of
products sold at the store, the number of reps the store works with, and the benefits derived from working
with reps.
• In-Class Preview
o Review Exhibit 18.2, Comparison of Personal Selling and Advertising/Sales Promotion.
• Follow-up
o Discuss the role of relationship selling at Vans.
o Quiz students on the following: “How is the recruiting process similar to the selling process?”
Supplemental Exercise: Class Activity
Sales Force Structure and Compensation
The purpose of this exercise is to determine the best structure for a sales force in a variety of industries. Divide the class
into teams. Each team will represent a new company that is creating a sales force to sell the product or service to a
national market. The teams can represent one of the following product categories (no two teams should have the same
category): 1) a video game targeted to kids age 8 to 12; 2) a book about budget travel around the world, targeted to
college students; 3) a cell phone that doubles as a PDA; 4) an ergonomic backpack targeted to high school and college
students; and 5) sneakers with rollers targeted to the teen market.
Each team should determine the following:
Chapter 18 ♦ Sales Promotion and Personal Selling 18–17
GREAT IDEAS FOR TEACHING CHAPTER 18
Rich Brown, Freed-Hardeman University
GREEN EGGS AND HAM MAKE FOR A GREAT FINAL EXAM
This is the final exam I use in my Personal Selling classes. On seeing the exam students often initially react as if I have
gone crazy. They end up enjoying the test, are able to show what they have learned in class, and many of them tell me
they learn more about selling and themselves while doing the test. I strongly encourage them to be creative in their
THE TEST
I have put a copy of Green Eggs and Ham on reserve in the library. You may want to buy your own copy; you should
never let yourself get so busy you don’t have time to read a Dr. Seuss book to a little kid. You are not to work together.
GRADING HELP
Things Sam Did Well
Things Sam Could Have Done Better
Linda Warren and Katie Wootten, Truman State University
MONOPOLY SALES SIMULATION
The purpose of this game is to introduce the friendly, but competitive spirit of sales through an in-class simulation
adapted to the Monopoly board game. The game incorporates many marketing and sales functions that the sales team
can use in a selling scenario – from building a sales force to closing a sale. Students get excited, competitive and
creative about this game!
Pre-game Preparation
18–18 Chapter 18 ♦ Sales Promotion and Personal Selling
The sales team will name and position their business, make business cards, formulate their marketing and promotional
strategies and create their brand identities. Sales managers will be responsible for training their sales team (with
instructor guidance) and should include topics such as sales techniques, ethics and customer relationship management.
Sales approaches, territories, negotiation and closing methods should also be included with training.
Student Roles – Defining the Game Rules and Parameters
Each team will get an equal number of Monopoly properties to sell. To encourage an open and competitive marketplace,
the printed property prices are concealed. The price paid for the property minus the actual value will equal the profit
earned on the properties.
At least one student will need to assume the role of Banker to receive and disperse Monopoly funds.
As an interesting twist in the game, a Constable position is recommended to enhance the strategic balance of the game
Game Day
Set up the Monopoly board or an overhead slide of the board with the prices concealed. The banker should disperse
Monopoly funds to the role playing customers using the formula $6100+$200(number of customers)/#of customers and
distribute the $200 incentive money to each sales team. Sales VP’s will oversee final marketing activities like set up and
Post Game Class
Discuss some of the selling tools and techniques the teams used during the simulation and how they were customized to
different buyers. Also discuss methods employed to address buyer reluctance and negotiation techniques.
Chapter 18 ♦ Sales Promotion and Personal Selling 18–19
This game is adaptable to classes in Marketing Principles as well as Selling and Sales Management classes.
Appendix A
Consumer Role Suggestions
Consumer 1 Couple with 2 children, desire upscale neighborhood
Consumer 2 Single, professional, 25, prefers urban setting
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Julie M. Pharr, Tennessee Technological University
CONDUCTING A SALES MANAGEMENT AUDIT
Students taking a sales management course can learn a great deal about the duties and responsibilities of a sales
manager by conducting a sales management audit. To conduct the audit, group students into pairs. Have each pair of
Audit Questions
General:
• What product or service does your company sell?
Territory Management:
• Explain how the sales territories are designed.
territory?
Training:
• What methods do you use to train new sales reps?
• Who does the training, and how long does it last?
• What ongoing training is done for existing sales reps?
18–20 Chapter 18 ♦ Sales Promotion and Personal Selling
• What objectives do you stress in your training programs?
• How do you evaluate the results of training?
• Who is responsible for designing the training program(s)?
Compensation:
• What methods are used to compensate your sales reps?
• If a sales rep does not meet quota consistently, what measures are taken to improve the situation?
Evaluation:
• How do you evaluate job performance?
• How often are evaluations done?
• How is the information from the job evaluation used (for promotions, etc.)?
Recruiting:
• How do you find recruits?
Instructors not wishing to furnish teams with a full list of audit questions may have students brainstorm their own
questions in each of the above areas. Questions can then be critiqued and compiled to form a master list for use by the
entire class. After completion of the written audit, students should compare results by giving oral reports of their
findings. The audit demonstrates the variety and complexity of sales
Kathleen M. Bailey, Loyola University of New Orleans
LEARNING ABOUT SALES PRESENTATIONS
Salesperson Interview
I have each student go out and interview a salesperson and go on a few calls with the salesperson. They do this after they
themselves have done sales presentations for the class (which are videotaped) for the class.
Outline for Interview with Salesperson
1. Name, job title, company, product lines
2. How long has he/she been there?
7. What is their selling “philosophy”?
8. What type of training do they receive?
Chapter 18 ♦ Sales Promotion and Personal Selling 18–21
Outline for Things to Observe During Sales Call
Before the sales call, have salesperson tell who is being called on and purpose of the call.
1. Identify customer type.
2. What type of selling model did he/she use?
3. How did the salesperson begin the presentation?
James S. Cleveland, Sage College of Albany
DISCUSSION BOARD TOPICS TO ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION
Discussion board questions provided to students to encourage them to engage in thinking and writing about the content
of the Principles of Marketing course usually take the form of a provocative statement to which students are asked to
respond. An example of this would be: All PR is good PR.
I have developed, therefore, a series of discussion board questions to use with experienced, adult students. These
questions are designed to encourage them to use their experiences as employees and consumers as doorways to better
understand the course material, and to make their own responses more interesting to themselves and to the other students
in the class who will read and comment on them.
Each question has three parts:
1. First, there is a sentence or two from the students’ textbook introducing the topic. By using the text author’s
own words, students are enabled to locate relevant material in the text more easily, the text content is
Here are additional such discussion board questions developed for Chapter 18 of Marketing 10e. Each is written to
fit the same text cited above but could easily be rewritten and revised to fit another text.
1. Until recently, personal selling focused almost entirely on making a one-time sale and then moving on to the
2. Review the information on relationship selling on page 547of your text.
18–22 Chapter 18 ♦ Sales Promotion and Personal Selling
3. Then identify a recent experience when you either bought or sold something. Was relationship selling used? If
Part 5 ♦ Promotion Decisions – Solutions 18–23
PART 5 – SOLUTIONS
MARKETING MISCUES
Yellow Tail’s Tails–for-Tails Campaign
1. Yellow Tail engaged in cause-related marketing. Why did the effort misfire?
The effort misfired because Yellow Tail did not do due diligence in vetting its “cause” partner. There were
2. What role did the social media ecosystem play in this public relations nightmare?
Social media played the key role in the dissemination of the angst about the tails-for-tails campaign. The U.S.
Sportsmen’s Alliance tweeted about the collaboration between Yellow Tail and the HSUS. The agricultural
18–24 Part 5 ♦ Promotion Decisions – Solutions
CRITICAL THINKING CASE
Lap Dance at Boston Blazers Lacrosse Game: Promotional Mistake or Creative Genius?
3. Do you think the performance was a well thought-out effort to generate publicity for the
Boston Blazers?
Given the impact on attendance at the next game and the NLL commissioner’s comment about bringing
4. How did viral marketing impact the Boston Blazers?
For a professional sport that rarely garners public attention and one that has struggled to even get news
coverage, viral marketing had a huge impact on both the team and the sport. Students could be asked to search