UNIT-I

PROMOTION MIX & PERSONAL SELLING

Personal Selling

Definition: Personal selling is also known as face-to-face selling in which one person
who is the salesman tries to convince the customer in buying a product. It is a
promotional method by which the salesperson uses his or her skills and abilities in an
attempt to make a sale.

Promotion Mix
Definition: The Promotion Mix refers to the blend of several promotional tools used
by the business to create, maintain and increase the demand for goods and services.

The fourth element of the 4 P’s of Marketing Mix is the promotion; that focuses on
creating the awareness and persuading the customers to initiate the purchase. The
several tools that facilitate the promotion objective of a firm are collectively known as
the Promotion Mix.

The Promotion Mix is the integration of Advertising, Personal Selling, Sales Promotion,
Public Relations and Direct Marketing. The marketers need to view the following
questions in order to have a balanced blend of these promotional tools.

Elements of Promotion Mix

 PROMOTIONAL MIX TOOLS:
A promotional mix is an allocation of resources among five primary elements:

 Advertising.
 Public relations or publicity.
 Sales promotion.
 Direct marketing.
 Personal selling.

Element of Marketing Communication Process

For Effective Communication, the marketer should know how communication works?
Following are the nine elements that are involved in the marketing communication
process.

 Sender
 Encoding
 Message
 Media
 Decoding
 Receiver
 Response
 Feedback
 Noise

Each of these is discussed one by one.

1. Sender:

The party or person who is sending the message to the other party or person is the
sender.

2. Encoding:

The conversion of thought into the meaningful symbols is called encoding.

3. Message:

The group of symbols transmitted by the sender is called a message.

4. Media:
The channel of communication through which transfers the message from sender to
receiver is called media.

5. Decoding:

The conversion of symbols into meaning by the receiver is called decoding.

6. Receiver:

The sent message received by another person or party is called the receiver.

7. Response:

The reaction shown by the receiver before the message is called response.

8. Feed Back:

The portion of the response of the receiver that is sent back to the sender is called
feedback.

9. Noise:

The unplanned distortion during the process of communication due to which the
receiver understands the wrong meaning of the original message is called noise.

The effective message is that where the process of encoding is matched with the
decoding of messages. The message sent should be consisted of words and symbols
that are known to the receiver.

Marketing Communication Process Steps

There are certain steps that should be involved in the effective marketing
communication process. Themarketing and promotional activities should focus on
these steps in order to attract a huge portion of long run customers. Following are the
steps that make communication process effective.

 Identification of the Target audience

 Determination of the communication objectives
 Designing of Message
 Message Content
 Message Structure & Format
 Choosing Media
 Collecting Feedback

1. Identification of the Target Audience:

The first step in the effective marketing communication process is to identify the target
audience. These audiences may be potential customers or other people that can
influence the decisions of these customers. The audience may include the individuals,
groups, general public or special public. The audience has a direct effect on the
decisions of the communication, like what to say? How to say? And when to say? Etc.

2. Determination of the Communication Objectives:

In this step the marketing communicator should clear the objectives of the
communication process. In most of the situations, the purchase is required by the
marketing communicator, but purchase is made after a prominent customer decision
making process. The communicators should also understand the standing position of
the customer. Generally there are six Stages of Customer Readiness through which
a customer pass to make a purchase which are as follow.

 Awareness
 Knowledge
 Liking
 Preference
 Conviction
 Purchase

The target group of the marketing communicator is not much familiar with the new
product or its silent features. So the marketing communicator should create the
awareness and knowledge of its new product and features. But this is not the surety
to the success; the new product should also provide superior customer value too.

3. Designing of the Message:

In this step the marketing communication, communicator focuses upon the design
of the message. Any message that can attract the attention, develop the interest,
arousal of desire and stimulate the action is the effectively designed message. This
procedure is best known as AIDA model that can make any message effective and
potential. Besides this the marketing communicator also decides about the content
and structure of the message.

4. Message Content:

In this step of the marketing communication process the content of the message is
decided. The theme or an appeal is suggested that can bring the desired response
from the audience or receiver. Following are the three appeals that should be used in
this regard.

 Rational appeal:
The self interest of the audience is focused on the rational appeal in which the benefits
availed by the usage of the products or services.

 Emotional Appeal:

In this case positive or negative emotions are stimulated to encourage the purchase
of the product.

 Moral Appeal:

In this situation the morality is included in the message to influence the targeted
customers.

5. Message Structure & Format:

In this step the important issues of the message structure together with the message
format is analyzed. In marketing communication of a product, it must be decided that
the message must include the conclusion or may keep to the audience to get a
conclusion from them. Or the massage presents either only the strengths of the
product or both the strengths and weaknesses. Moreover the format of the message
is also focused on which the size and shape use, eye-catching colors, and headlines
etc are decided in the most effective manner.

6. Choosing Media:

The channels of communication are decided in this step of a marketing communication

process, which may take the following two forms.

 Personal:

In this channel of communication two or more persons directly communicate with

each other like face to face, through the mail, on the telephone, or through a chat on
the internet. Personal Addressing and feedback is allowed in the personal
communication.

 Non Personal:

Non personal messages are spread through these channels which also excludes the
option of feedback. Such channels include print media, display media, broadcast
media, online media etc.

7. Collecting Feedback:
 This is the last step of the marketing communication process in which the feedback
from the target customers. This can help the marker to alter the promotion program or
other marketing activities. For this purpose the buying behavior of targeted customers
is analyzed in the light of the new product. Questions may also be asked to the
customers to collect their views about the positive and negative aspects of the new
product.

FACTORS IN DECIDING PROMOTION MIX:

The management must consider the following factors in determining the promotion
mix, these are:

1. Nature of Product: The different type of product requires different promotional

tools. Such as, for the industrial products Viz. Machinery, equipment or land personal
selling is more appropriate as a great deal of pre-sale and after-sale services is
required to sell and install such products. On the other hand, advertising and publicity
are more suitable for the consumer goods, especially the convenience goods.
2. Nature of Market: The number and location of customers greatly influence the
promotion mix. In case the group of potential customers is small and are concentrated
in a particular locality, then personal selling is more likely to be effective. Whereas, if
 the customer base is large and widespread, then the blend of advertising, personal
selling, and the sales promotion is required to sell the product.

Also, the type of customers influences the managerial decisions of the promotion mix.
The type of promotion for the urban, educated and institutional customers would be
different as compared to the rural, illiterate and household customers.

3. Stage of Product’s Life: The promotion mix changes as the product moves
along its life cycle. During the introduction stage, the principal objective of the
promotion is to create the primary demand by emphasizing the product’s features,
utility, etc. therefore, the blend of advertising and publicity is required. As the product
reaches its maturity stage the advertising and personal selling is required to maintain
the demand of the customers.

And finally, during the decline stage the expenses on other promotional activities are
cut, and more emphasis is laid on sales promotion with the intent to push up the
declining sales.

4. Availability of Funds: The marketing budget also decides the promotion mix. If the
funds available for the promotion are large, then the blend of promotional tools can be
used, whereas in the case the funds are limited then the management must choose
the promotional tool wisely.
5. Nature of Technique: Each element of the promotional mix has unique
features that significantly influences the purpose of promotion. Such as, the
advertising is an impersonal mode of communication that reaches a large group of
customers. Its expression can be amplified with the use of colors and sound that helps
in developing the long lasting brand image in the minds of the customer.

The Personal selling involves face to face interaction that helps in developing cordial
and personal relations with the customers. Likewise, the sales promotion is short-term
incentives given to the customers with the intent to boost sales for a shorter period of
time.

6. Promotional Strategy: The promotion mix largely depends on the company’s

promotional strategy, i.e. whether it accepts the Push Strategy or a Pull
Strategy. In a Push strategy, the manufacturer forces the dealers to carry the product
and promote it to the customer, i.e. convince the potential buyers to buy it. Here,
personal selling and trade promotion are likely to be more effective.

In the case of a Pull Strategy, the consumers ask the dealers to carry the product, i.e.
customers themselves purchase the product. Here, advertising and consumer
promotion are more appropriate.
7. Readiness of Buyer: Different promotional tools are required at different stages of
buyer readiness. Such as, at the comprehension stage, the blend of advertising and
personal selling plays a vital role. Whereas at the conviction stage, personal selling is
more effective. At the time of sales closure, the blend of sales promotion and personal
selling is likely to be more effective.

Hence, the advertising and publicity are more effective at the early stages of buying
decision process while the sales promotion and personal selling are more effective
during the later stages.

PERSONAL SELLING:

Personal selling is also known as face-to-face selling in which one person who is the
salesman tries to convince the customer in buying a product. It is a promotional
method by which the salesperson uses his or her skills and abilities in an attempt to
make a sale.

Personal selling is a face-to-face selling technique by which a salesperson uses his or

her interpersonal skills to persuade a customer in buying a particular product. The
salesperson tries to highlight various features of the product to convince the customer
that it will only add value. However, getting a customer to buy a product is not the
motive behind personal selling every time. Often companies try to follow this approach
with customers to make them aware of a new product.

The company wants to spread awareness about the product for which it adopts a
person-to-person approach. This is because selling involves personal touch, a
salesperson knows better how to pitch a product to the potential customer.
Personal selling can take place through two different channels –

 through retail
 through direct-to-consumer channel.
Sales Force management:

Sales Force management is the planning, analysis, implementation of the plan and
evaluation of the sales force functions in the target market.

The major steps involve –

1) Designing sales force objective and strategy
2) Sales force size
3) Recruitment and selection
4) Training and motivation
5) Compensating
6) Supervising
7) Evaluation and control of sales people

STEPS IN SELLING PROCESS:

CUSTOMER REALTIONSHIP MANAGEMENT:

CRM or Customer Relationship Management is a strategy for managing an

organisation's relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers.
A CRM system helps companies stay connected to customers, streamline processes,
and improve profitability.

Benefits of CRM:
Improved ability to cross-sell. The more you know about your clients' needs and wants
the better able you are to provide the solution to their next problem. Increased team
colloration. This is where many firms who fail to require their executives to use the
CRM fail to reap the benefits of the CRM

Criteria for Evaluating Personal Selling

A number of criteria may be used to evaluate the contribution of the personal
selling effort to the promotional program. They include the following.

• Provision of marketing intelligence—the ability of the sales force to feed back

information regarding competitive programs, customer reactions, market trends, and
other factors that may be important in the development of the promotional program.
• Follow-up activities—the use and dissemination of promotional brochures and
correspondences with new and existing customers, providing feedback on the
effectiveness of various promotional programs.

• Program implementations—the number of promotional programs implemented; the

number of shelf and/or counter displays used, and so forth; the implementation and
assessment of cooperative advertising programs.

• Attainment of communications objectives—the number of accounts to whom

presentations were made (awareness, evaluation), the number of trial offers accepted,
and the like.

Combining these criteria with those used by the sales department, the promotions
manager should be able to accurately assess the effectiveness of the personal selling
program. Making these evaluations requires a great deal of cooperation between the
departments.