CHAPTER
1
10th Edition
Selling Today
Manning and Reece
Personal Selling and
the Marketing Concept
1-1
Definition of Personal Selling
• Person-to-person communication with a prospect
• Personal selling is a process of
• Developing relationships
• Discovering needs
• Matching products with needs
• Communicating benefits
• Viewed as a process that adds value
1-2
Strategic/Consultative
Selling Model
FIGURE
1.1
1-3
Personal Selling in the Information Age
• An evolution from the industrial economy
to the information economy
• Began in the 1950s
• New emphasis is information exchange
rather than producing goods
• Implications for personal selling
1-4
A Shift in Emphasis
Industrial economy
• Advances occur in
transportation and
manufacturing
• Strategic resources are
capital and natural
resources
• Products and factories
define the business
Information economy
• Advances occur in
information technology
• Strategic resource is
information
• Business is defined by
customer relations
• Sales success depends
on adding value
• Sales success means
meeting sales quotas
1-5
Personal Selling as an Extension
of the Marketing Concept
Move from a product orientation (peddling)
to a customer orientation (partnering)
1-6
The Marketing Mix
FIGURE
1.3
1-7
Important Role of Personal Selling
• Often the major promotional method
• Firms invest in personal selling
• Personal selling has evolved because:
• Products and services are more complex
• Competition has greatly increased
• Customer demand for quality, value, and
service has risen sharply
1-8
Evolution of Consultative Selling
Features of consultative selling include:
• Customer is a person to be served, not a
prospect to be sold
• Two-way communication identifies
(diagnoses) customer’s needs; no highpressure sales presentation
• Emphasis on information giving, problem
solving, and negotiation rather than
manipulation
• Emphasis on service after the sale
1-9
Strategy and Tactics
• Tactics
• Specific techniques,
practices, and
methods used in
customer interaction
• Strategy
• Carefully conceived plan needed to
accomplish sales objectives
• A prerequisite to tactical success
1-10
Strategy vs. Tactics Exercise
Strategy Tactic


Use a fact sheet comparing your
product to the competition
Analyze the features of your
leading competitors


Identify the following:
Use specific questions to diagnose
needs
Analyze a territory to determine
those with specific needs
1-11
Selling
Model
FIGURE
1.5
1-12
1-20
Step
:
1
Develop a Personal
Selling Philosophy
 Adopt the marketing concept
 Value personal selling
 Assume the role of a problem
solver/partner
1-13
Step
2
Develop
a
Relationship
:
Strategy
 Adopt a win-win philosophy
 Project a professional image
 Maintain high ethical standards
1-14
Step
:
3
Develop a Product
Strategy
 Become a product expert
 Sell benefits, not features
 Configure value-added solutions
1-15
Step
:
4
Develop a Customer
Strategy
 Understand the buying process
 Understand buyer behavior
 Develop prospect base
1-16
Step
5
Develop
a
Presentation
:
Strategy
 Prepare objectives
 Develop a presentation plan
 Provide outstanding service
1-17
E-Commerce and the Complex Sale
• Electronic business
Complex sales involve several forms of
information technology support, including:
• Electronic product catalogs
• Contact management systems
• PowerPoint and Excel
• Internet applications
• Electronic commerce
1-18
Evolution of Partnering
• Buzzword of 1990s, became business
reality in 2000s
• “Strategically developed, long-term
relationship that solves the customer’s
problems”
• Relationship selling relies on a customized
approach to each client
• Enhanced with high ethical standards and
CRM
1-19
Value Creation
• Value-added selling = creative
improvements that enhance customer
experience
• The information economy rewards
salespeople who add value at each step
• When customer is not aware of value
added by salespeople, the focus may shift
to price
1-20