PERSONAL SELLING

Personal selling is oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the intention of
making a sale. The personal selling may focus initially on developing a relationship with the
potential buyer, but will always ultimately end with an attempt to "close the sale"
Personal selling is one of the oldest forms of promotion. It involves the use of a sales force to
support a push strategy (encouraging intermediaries to buy the product) or a pull strategy (where
the role of the sales force may be limited to supporting retailers and providing after-sales service).

Objectives of Personal Selling

Personal selling is used to meet the five objectives of promotion in the following ways:

 Building Product Awareness – A common task of salespeople, especially when selling in

business markets, is to educate customers on new product offerings. In fact, salespeople serve
a major role at industry trades shows where they discuss products with show attendees. But
building awareness using personal selling is also important in consumer markets. As we will
discuss, the advent of controlled word-of-mouth marketing is leading to personal selling
becoming a useful mechanism for introducing consumers to new products.
 Creating Interest – The fact that personal selling involves person-to-person communication
makes it a natural method for getting customers to experience a product for the first time. In
fact, creating interest goes hand-in-hand with building product awareness as sales
professionals can often accomplish both objectives during the first encounter with a potential
customer.
 Providing Information – When salespeople engage customers a large part of the conversation
focuses on product information. Marketing organizations provide their sales staff with large
amounts of sales support including brochures, research reports, computer programs and many
other forms of informational material.
 Stimulating Demand – By far, the most important objective of personal selling is to convince
customers to make a purchase.
 Reinforcing the Brand – Most personal selling is intended to build long-term relationships
with customers. A strong relationship can only be built over time and requires regular
communication with a customer. Meeting with customers on a regular basis allows salespeople
to repeatedly discuss their company’s products and by doing so helps strengthen customers’
knowledge of what the company has to offer.
Advantages of Personal Selling

a) Personal selling is a face-to-face activity; customers therefore obtain a relatively high

degree of personal attention
b) The sales message can be customized to meet the needs of the customer
c) The two-way nature of the sales process allows the sales team to respond directly and
promptly to customer questions and concerns
d) Personal selling is a good way of getting across large amounts of technical or other complex
product information
e) The face-to-face sales meeting gives the sales force chance to demonstrate the product
f) Frequent meetings between sales force and customer provide an opportunity to build good
long-term relationships.

Disadvantages of Personal Selling

The main disadvantage of personal selling is the cost of employing a sales force. Sales people are
expensive. In addition to the basic pay package, a business needs to provide incentives to achieve
sales (typically this is based on commission and/or bonus arrangements) and the equipment to
make sales calls (car, travel and subsistence costs, mobile phone etc).
In addition, a sales person can only call on one customer at a time. This is not a cost-effective way
of reaching a large audience.
PROCESS OF PERSONAL SELLING

• Prospecting and Qualifying

Step1.

• Preapproach
Step 2.

• Presentation and Demonstration

Step 3.

• Overcoming Objections
Step 4.

• Closing
Step 5.

• Follow-Up and Maintenance

Step 6.
Step1. Prospecting and Qualifying: - The first step in selling is to identify and qualify
prospects. More companies are taking responsibility for finding and qualifying leads so that the
salespeople can use their expensive time doing what they can do best: selling. Companies can
qualify the leads by contacting them by mail or phone to assess their level of interest and financial
capacity. The leads can be categorized, with "hot" prospects turned over to the field sales force
and "warm" prospects turned over to the telemarketing unit for follow-up. Even then, it usually
takes about four calls on a prospect to consummate a business transaction.

Step2. Preapproach:- The salesperson needs to learn as much as possible about the prospect
company (what it needs, who is involved in the purchase decision) and its buyers (personal
characteristics and buying styles). The salesperson should set call objectives: to qualify the
prospect, gather information, make an immediate sale. Another task is to decide on the best contact
approach, which might be a personal visit, a phone call, or a letter. Finally, the salesperson should
plan an overall sales strategy for the account.

Step3. Presentation and Demonstration: - The salesperson now tells the product "story"
to the buyer, following the AIDAS formula of gaining attention, holding interest, arousing desire,
obtaining action and giving satisfaction.

The AIDAS theory of personal selling is one of the widest known theories and is the basis for
training materials across numerous organizations. AIDAS stands for Attention, Interest, Desire,
Action, and Satisfaction. The AIDAS theory simply states that a prospect goes through five
different stages before finally responding satisfactorily to product. Thus he should be led
comfortably through all five stages.

Attention - Gaining attention is a skill and just like any skill, gaining attention can be improved
upon with practice. The initial attempt of the sales person must be to put the customer completely
at ease. Casual conversation is one of the best openers after which the sales person can gain
customer attention by leading him onto the sale.
Interest - After gaining the attention, it is very important to maintain interest. Some sales people
are very good in the opening but as the technicalities take over, they become uncomfortable while
explaining the product. Whereas others who are strong in the product department might open
bluntly but create interest in the second stage.
Desire – Personal seller has to create enough desire in the customers mind such that he immediately
has to buy the product. Imagine an aquaguard sales man or a tupperware sales person. They
highlight the product in such a manner that the customer might be thinking “Why didn’t I buy this
product before”. Thus kindling that desire becomes an integral part of the AIDAS selling theory.

Action - Although there may be desire for the product, the customer might not act on it. The seller
might want to buy the product but he might NOT buy it. In such cases the customer needs to be
induced. There are various ways to induce the customer such that he buys the product. It is
important for the sales person to understand whether to directly induce the customer or whether to
push subtle reminders that you are there for a sales call. Both methods work, but personal seller
need to know the customer.
Satisfaction - What would you do after the customer has given the order? The customer has just
parted with his money. So even after the customer has bought the product, there is need to reassure
the customer that he has made the right decision. The product is good for the customer and the
personal seller has only presented the product. It was his decision and he is right about it. These
small cues post the sales process really give confidence to the customer and he then looks forward
to your product rather than thinking whether or not he has made the right decision.
The salesperson uses a features, advantages, benefits, and value approach (FABV). Features
describe physical characteristics of a market offering, such as chip processing speeds or memory
capacity. Advantages describe why the features provide an advantage to the customer. Benefits
describe the economic, technical, service, and social benefits delivered by the offering. Value
describes the worth (often in monetary terms) of the offering. Too often, salespeople spend too
much time dwelling on product features (a product orientation) and not enough stressing the
offering's benefits and value (a customer orientation).

Step4. Overcoming Objections: - Customers typically pose objections during the

presentation or when asked for the order. Psychological resistance includes resistance to
interference, preference for established supply sources or brands, apathy, reluctance to giving up
something, unpleasant associations created by the sales rep, predetermined ideas, dislike of making
decisions, and neurotic attitude toward money. Logical resistance might consist of objections to
the price, delivery schedule, or certain product or company characteristics.
To handle these objections, the salesperson maintains a positive approach, asks the buyer to clarify
the objection, questions the buyer in a way that the buyer has to answer his or her own objection,
denies the validity of the objection, or turns the objection into a reason for buying. Handling and
overcoming objections is a part of the broader skills of negotiation.

Step5. Closing: - Now the salesperson attempts to close the sale. Salespeople need to know
how to recognize closing signs from the buyer, including physical actions, statements or
comments, and questions. There are several closing techniques. They can ask for the order,
recapitulate the points of agreement, offer to help the secretary write up the order, ask whether the
buyer wants A or B, get the buyer to make minor choices such as the color or size, or indicate what
the buyer will lose if the order is not placed now. The salesperson might offer the buyer specific
inducements to close, such as a special price, an extra quantity, or a token gift.
Step6. Follow-Up And Maintenance: - Follow-up and maintenance are necessary if the
salesperson wants to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business. Immediately after closing,
the salesperson should cement any necessary details on delivery time, purchase terms, and other
matters that are important to the customer. The salesperson should schedule a follow-up call when
the initial order is received to make sure there is proper installation, instruction, and servicing.
This visit or call will detect any problems, assure the buyer of the salesperson's interest, and reduce
any cognitive dissonance that might have arisen. The salesperson should also develop a
maintenance and growth plan for the account.