AB323B20 Sales Planning And Operations

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Assignment Code: AB323B20

Programme: BTEC Higher National Diploma in Business (Marketing)

Unit Title and Number: Sales Planning and Operations (Unit 20)

QFC Level and Credit value: 5;15 credits

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Table of Contents

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Submission Front Page

Table of Contents

Introduction

1.1 Explain How Personal Selling Supports the Promotional Mix

1.2 Compare Buyer Behaviour and the Decision Making Process in Different Situations

1.3 Analyse the role of sales teams within the marketing strategy

3.1 Explain How Sales Strategies Are Developed in Line with Corporate Objectives

3.2 Explain the importance of recruitment and selection procedures

3.3 Evaluate the role of motivation, remuneration and training in sales management

3.4 Explain how sales management organises sales activity and control sales output

3.5 Explain the Use of Databases in Effective Sales Management

4.1 Developing a Sales Plan for Sports wears

4.2 Investigate Opportunities for Selling Internationally

4.3 Investigate Opportunities For Using Exhibitions Or Trade Fairs

References

Introduction
Personal selling is an important tool of any organisational marketing mix. According to
Kotler, Armstrong and Wong (2008, p.779), “Nothing happens until someone sells
something” One principal way to get this done is through personal selling. According to
Buell (1984), personal selling is a face-to-face promotional marketing approach that
generally helps in product direct marketing and sales conclusion.
The goals of personal selling are to generate revenue and provide services that enhance
customer satisfaction in the process of customers’ purchases. Thus, this often leads to
success within the competitive marketplace through established relationship between
the salesperson and the customers.

The aims of this section is to explain how personal selling helps in achieving the
overall business marketing objectives. Then, the roles and objectives of
sales management wouldbe examined using a range of business organisations.
1.1 Explain How Personal Selling Supports the Promotion Mix
Promotion is used to communicate products to existing and potential customers. It is
one of the basic elements of marketing mix (shown in figure 1.1 below) used by
business marketers to raise customer awareness of a product or brand, generate sales,
create brand loyalty (McCarthy and Brogowicz, 1981). The various tools used for
promotion process is called promotional mix, also shown in figure 1.1 below.
Promotional mix is one the four marketing tools that often helps an organisation to
achieve its overall
marketing objectives.

Figure 1.1:
Marketing/Promotional
Mix
Source: DLS Web
(Online)
In the opinion of
Kaser (2012) the
purpose of
promotional mix is as
shown in AIDA model
in figure 1.2 below

Figure 1.2: AIDA Model

Source: Adapted from Kaser (2012)
In this marketing promotional mix process model, before a salesperson can stimulate the
action of closing a sale on a product, the attention of the customers has to be firstly
attracted before any interest can be built, or any desire can be created for the product.
The Promotional Mix
The variety of promotional methods used to communicate the existence of a product to
customers is referred to as the promotional mix. According to Kotler and Armstrong
(2012), promotional mix is made up of the elements shown in figure 1.3 below
Figure 1.3: Promotional Mix
Source: Kotler and Armstrong (2012)
Personal Selling Mix
The principal aim of personal selling is to improve the interaction between the customers
and sales salespersons. Some of the tactics used for persona selling are as shown in
figure 1.3 above.
According to Kotler, et al. (2008, p.789), personal selling is “transaction oriented” with the
aim to help salespeople to close sales with customers. This is helpful as presentations
can be customised to customers’ needs, desires, responses and feedbacks, as well as
handling objections that other promotional elements cannot handle.
In addition, Personal selling can minimize resources and time spent in creating
awareness for a product. Resources are directed towards targeted customers instead of
mass messaging that may not yield any sales results, which may in turn create Return-
On-Investment (ROI) compared to other promotional mix. Personal selling presents the
opportunity to persuade customers to buy more of a product.

Personal selling also has the strengths to achieve more within limited resources. It can
help in achieving other multitasks such as payment service, repairs service; return
products service, delivery service and marketing information service, in addition to the
main role of selling.

One of the disadvantages of personal selling is high cost arising from increased
competition, high salaries and incentives, travel and lodging costs and other selling
costs. In an attempt to reduce costs per sale, developing customer base may be
jeopardized. Examples are using fresh graduates instead of the experienced
salespeople, and placing salespersons on commission only. A salesperson placed on
commission only will only be after maximizing sales earnings at the expense of sales
territory and customer development.

Again, marketing tools such as telemarking, direct mail and online marketing can be used
to achieve cost effective sales compared to personal selling. Telemarketing and online
communication can also deliver sales message, respond to questions, take payments
and follow up the sales activities (Boundless, 2015)
Another disadvantage is the difficulty to control the number of salespersons. It is much
easier to turn on or off adverts but alteringthe level of sales forceis more difficult due to
some legal factors.

Another very important weakness of personal selling is its transaction orientation that
aims at selling at the expense of long-term relationship. Relationship marketing, which
emphasises maintaining profitable long-term relationships with customers by creating
superior customer value and satisfaction,is being embraced by most organisations due
to high competitive market environment. According to Kotler, et al. (2008), it costs
more to wrest new customers from competitors than maintaining the existing ones.

Personal Selling and Advertising

Advertising is an impersonal communication of a product to customers through paid
media (Jobber, 2012). One of the supports advertising offers personal selling is that it
creates awareness for a product and creates demand for salespeople. It creates
attention, builds interest, arouses desires and helps consumers to purchase’s action.
Generally, fewer effortsare needed by salespeople to sell an advertised product.

Similarly, a well-advertised product often attracts customers and lessens the impact of
competitive products. Thus, salesperson stands on competitive advantage to sell the
advertised product. Sellers of Coca-Cola generally enjoy this promotional tool as the
product enjoys mainly non-personal promotions.

Advertising helps salespeople to have steady selling such as umbrellas that is

advertised as not only useful during the raining seasons but also during the summer for
protection against sunshine. Hence, salespeople still have some degree of sales during
off-seasons

However, most advertisement is pufferies: deceptive, exaggerated and misleading.

Salespeople often have difficulty in convincing consumers to demand such product. In
2000, Pizza Hut challenged Papa John for claiming that it had better ingredients with
better pizza as the claim was found to be puffery (Hearst Newspapers, 2016)

Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

Sales promotion is designed to stimulate consumers’ purchases. It offers reasons to buy
now (Kotler, et al., 2008). Some of the tools used are shown in figure 1.4 below:
 Figure
1.4: Sales
Promotio
nal Tools
Source:
Staffords
hire
Universit
y (2012)
The
tools in
figure
1.4
above
can be

classified as shown in figure 1.5 below

Figure 1.5: Classes of Sales Promotion

Source: Kotler, et al (2008)
Sales Promotion
The main objectives of sales promotion are to increase the demand of the consumers,
stimulate market demand, convert prospects to actual consumers, and product availability
improvement (Boundless, 2016).
Sellers can use consumer promotion to increase short-term sales, get consumers to try
a new product, woo off consumers from competitors, reward loyal customers and
stimulate consumers to load-up matured products. For instance, discounts can be given
to sellers and resellers for them to stock more of a product. A product can be more
shelf space in a retail outlet in order to attract consumers’ attention for an increased
purchase.

In addition, Dibbs et al (2016) presented that Buy-One-Get-One-Free (BOGOF)

incentives are used to induce consumers to purchase more by offering additional value
to the offered product. In addition, sales staff can be offered incentives in order to sell
more to customers

Most of the main retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer’s promote
their products through the offers of loyalty cards. Some other businesses also promote
their products by offering complimentary goods free to their customers. Examples are a
free cup of tea or coffee for shopping at Waitrose (Waitrose, 2016) and free one-year
broadband and fibre for one year for signing up with Sky (Sky UK, 2016).

Salesforce promotion helps to motivate salespeople to sell more and sign up new customers
The objectives of sales promotional tools are to help personal selling process. However,
some of the negative sides of sales promotions include:

 They often attract ‘brand switcher’ because non-users and competitors product’s users do not generally
act on the promotions.
 Constant promotion on a product may carry negative impression about the product itself. It may be
assumed the product can only sell only if it is under offers
 Researches show that adverts help personal selling than sales promotions (Kotler, et al, 2008). Marketers
really use sales promotions for dominant and selling brands
Personal Selling and Public Relations
Public relations (PR) promotional tool seeks to build good relationships with customers
and other stakeholders of an organisation. It helps to obtain favourable publicity
building up a good corporate image and handling unfavourable image.

PR such as press releases, public service activities, and consumer surveys publications
and special conferences are unpaid communication that aims to build log-term positive
image for a product or company.

The costs of this tool are generally low when compared to other tools. PR that promotes
good image of a product or company can help personal selling. However, since
organisations pay little or nothing for PR, they have less control over the publications of
bad news, which can a negative resultant impact on personal selling.

Personal Selling and Direct Marketing

Direct marketing is a promotional tool that allows organisations to directly communicate
with customers using methods such as email, direct mail, telephone direct marketing,
text messaging and kisok marketing, telemarketing. It involves a specific call-to-action
(Kuester, 2012). A great deal of many people can be reached with minima costs such
as a local grocery or restaurant, reaching people with coupon mailer. This can help
personal selling.
However, the downside is that people are becoming non-responsive to this method.
Mailed ads are tossed in trash without being read. Spam filters can prevent messages
being delivered impacting salespeople and business inflows.

Conclusion
All elements of promotional mix may be effective in the areas of their employment,
such as advertising creating awareness to a wider range of customers, and PR having a
force to create good image for a product, but personal selling, though relatively
expensive, is a good compliment to other elements to drive home business marketing
objectives