Personal Selling

Personal Selling

Introduction

One of the roles of the relationship manager is to sell concepts and as such , he or she deals with people at different levels . While television and press advertising may be an appropriate medium for the promotion of consumer goods such as chocolate bars , personal selling is the best way to market such goods as pitcher and faucet systems to potential consumers . Today , personal selling is one of the popular marketing communication tools which help to reach potential consumer and persuade him /her to purchase . The organization under

analysis is The Brita Products Company (Brita , a pitcher and faucet systems retailer . Brita enters markets where it can excel and present a moving target to their competitors by continually improving its position . Three of the most important factors of Brita are innovation , quality and inventory reduction

The Role and Nature of Personal Selling in Managing Customer Relations

Personal selling is person-to-person communication between a company representative and a prospective buyer . Following Allen Personal selling is unique because it involves personal contact (Allen , 1999 In Brita , the seller 's communication effort is focused on informing and persuading the prospect , with the short-term goal of making a sale and with a longer-term goal of building a relationship with that buyer . The main objective for marketing strategy is to market high-quality products . The strategy developed by Brita is called class to mass and involve three main elements : to be established in class , in mass and along in grocery (Deighton , 2002 . Also , it markets the standards pitchers in supermarket chains , drug and grocery stores

The salesperson 's job is to correctly understand the buyer 's needs match those needs to the company 's products , and then persuade the customer to buy . Because selling provides a two-way communication channel , it is especially important in marketing such products as pitcher and facet systems that may be expensive and technologically complex . Sales personnel can often provide headquarters with important customer feedback that can be utilized in design and engineering decisions . The challenge to companies that wish to pursue low-cost personal selling overseas , however , is to establish and maintain acceptable quality among members of the sales team (Cotter et al , 1996

The Role of Personal Selling in Managing Customer Relations

For Brita , personal selling is one of the most important tools to manage customers ' relations . In Brita , a sales representative develops a personal selling philosophy based on the company 's goals (See Appendix 1 . This requires a commitment to the marketing concept and a willingness to adopt the role of problem solver or partner in helping customers . Also , personal selling allows the company to develop a relationship strategy , which helps the company to establish and maintain high-quality relationships with prospects and customers . The relationship strategy provides a blueprint for creating the rapport and mutual trust that will serve as the basis of a lasting partnership (Comstock , Higgins , 1997 . This strategy connects sales personnel directly to the concept of relationship marketing , an approach that stresses the importance...