What is personal selling? Personal Selling: Principles and Examples

Benefits of Personal Selling:

1) the presence of direct contact (which is not in advertising) between the buyer and the seller: face to face or through telecommunications, for example, in telephone sales. Personal interaction provides communication flexibility: the seller sees or hears the reaction potential buyer on the message and can modify the message during its transmission in accordance with the reaction. Personal, personalized communication allows the salesperson to tailor the message to the specific needs of the consumer's situation. The effect of the presentation can be assessed by the seller immediately due to the presence of immediate and reliable feedback. If there is an unfavorable reaction, the seller may modify the message;
2) direct focus on target markets and types of consumers. Personal selling is the most effective element of marketing communications. Based on the results of studies in which performance data was summarized for several enterprises that used print advertising and mailing along with personal sales, the following distribution was obtained:
- advertising publications – 5–7% of clients;
- mailing list – 10–25 % clients;
- direct sales – up to 70 % clients.

Disadvantages of Personal Selling:

1) high cost of contact. A visit to the consumer includes the costs of recruiting the seller, his training, wages, his transportation and travel expenses. Reach large audiences through personal sales may be expensive;
2) limited audience coverage. The high cost of personal selling makes it impossible to reach large number consumers;
3) different delivery of the message. Different people may not convey the message equally or accurately. This makes it difficult to convey a cohesive and unified message to all consumers.

Scope of personal selling

There are several conditions for using personal selling:

the company is small or does not have sufficient funds for advertising;
buyers are concentrated in a small area;
the personal influence of the sales representative helps to establish contacts and develop trust in the company and its products;
high prices for products;
the product must be demonstrated in action;
products must be customized to individual customer requirements;
the product is purchased infrequently;
The product is one that can be exchanged for a new one when the old one is returned and the appropriate additional payment is made.

Personal sales are mainly carried out on the market industrial goods(Business to Business - B2B). By now this form marketing communications is also successfully used in the consumer market (Business to Customer - B2C).

On consumer market personal selling is called multi-level marketing.

Multi-level marketing– this is the organization of a company’s sales system on the principle of “reproduction” of distributors, who thanks to this have the opportunity to receive multiplex income. With the help of multi-level marketing, you can distribute almost all the products that are sold in a store. When implementing multi-level marketing, it is assumed to create a network of distributors, each of which attracts new sellers.

Currently, the multi-level marketing system is used only for the distribution of consumer goods.

Stages of personal selling

In the most general approach, the sales process is usually divided into three phases:

1) pre-sale preparation. Refers not only to the product (inspection, elimination of defects and packaging), but also to the seller himself ( appearance and behavior);
2) work at the point of sale;
3) post-sales analysis. It means collecting and processing information - customer stereotypes regarding the seller and the product being sold, i.e. recording objections to the purchase, new uses of the product and thinking through responses to objections.

There is one more short definition sales stages, called sales scale according to J.-F. Krolaru:

receiving the client and establishing contact;
identifying needs and listening;
argumentation and presentation of the product;
implementation of the sale.

Taking a closer look, the sales process consists of seven stages.

Stage I.Finding and evaluating potential buyers. To implement this stage, the following techniques are used:

clarification of names potential customers from existing clients;
analysis of information sources such as suppliers, dealers, sellers who are not competitors, bankers, officials trade associations;
membership in organizations that potential clients belong to or are members of;
carrying out correspondence and personal contacts to constantly maintain attention to oneself;
analysis of media sources (newspapers, magazines) in order to find names of potential clients;
reaching potential customers via telephone and mail;
visits to various institutions without prior arrangement.

Stage II. Preliminary preparation for the visit. The seller should learn as much as possible about the potential client: both about the company (its needs and requirements, the circle of people involved in making purchasing decisions), and about the buyers themselves (about their character traits and style of purchasing behavior). Information about the company can be found in official sources and receive it from third parties. Before each visit, the salesperson must set himself certain tasks: either qualify (i.e. evaluate) a potential client, or obtain information, or make an immediate sale. The next task is to decide on the best way to approach the client: a personal visit, a phone call, or writing a letter. You should also think about the most convenient time of contact, because at certain times many potential clients are busy. Finally, the salesperson must consider an overall strategic approach to the sales relationship with the customer.

Stage III. Approach to the client. A salesperson must know how to meet and greet a customer to ensure a good start to future relationships. The seller’s appearance, his opening words, and his subsequent comments all play a role in this matter. The salesman should be dressed approximately the same as the customer, be polite and attentive to him, and avoid distracting mannerisms, say, pacing back and forth in the office or staring at the client. Opening words traveling salesman must necessarily be positive in nature. You can then ask some of the most important questions or show samples to grab the buyer's attention and pique their curiosity.

Stage IV.Presentation and demonstration of goods. The seller talks about the product, demonstrates how the product will help you earn or save money. He talks about the properties of the product, focusing on the benefits that the product brings to the buyer. When presenting, the formula is used AIDA(attracting attention, maintaining interest, arousing desire and inciting action).

There are three types of presentations:

1) method of a pre-established approach, in which the seller memorizes the main points of his story. Pre-worked presentations are used primarily when peddling or by telephone;
2) approach from the standpoint of formulating the client's needs and requests. First, the client's needs and buying behavior style are identified, then they are formulated for him. The buyer is drawn into the conversation in such a way that he himself talks about his needs and relationships, then the seller formulates them for the buyer and tells how exactly the product can satisfy these needs;
3) approach from the standpoint of meeting the needs and requests of the client. The salesperson begins by identifying the customer's true needs, encouraging him to talk about his needs. This approach requires the ability to listen and respond quickly to a problem with a suitable solution.

You can improve the quality of sales presentations by using visual materials (diagrams, slides, brochures, product samples). The more opportunities a buyer has to see or try a product, the better he will remember its properties and benefits.

Stage V Overcoming objections. A potential client always has objections, both during the presentation and after its completion. This is explained psychological characteristics or logical reasons. When faced with objections, the seller must be positive, ask the buyer to explain the essence of the objections, and ask questions in such a way that the buyer himself answers his complaints. The seller must either refute the objection or translate the objection into an additional argument in favor of making a purchase.

Stage VI. Concluding a deal. After overcoming objections, the seller should try to close the deal. Not all sellers reach this stage; many do not know how to do it correctly. As a rule, sellers lack confidence, or they feel guilty insisting on receiving an order, or they cannot grasp the psychological moment of the transaction. The seller must catch signs of the buyer's readiness, such as certain physical actions, statements, comments, questions. There are several ways to complete a deal. The seller can directly ask to place an order, stipulating the main points of the agreement, the type of product, offer assistance in placing the order, and hint that the buyer may miss out on benefits if he does not place the order right now. The seller may also offer certain benefits, such as a reduced price, free additional services or a gift.

Stage VII. Completing the transaction and checking the results. This stage is implemented if the seller wants to check whether the buyer is satisfied and plans to repeat business. After concluding the transaction, the seller must work out all the necessary details regarding time and delivery conditions, etc. The seller plans his next visit so that by the second visit the buyer has already received the goods and can be sure that all subsequent actions regarding the goods are carried out properly. A repeat visit allows you to identify any problems that have arisen and demonstrate to the buyer that the seller is interested in him.

Personal or individual selling is the verbal presentation of a product to one or more potential buyers for the purpose of making a sale. Personal selling is a method of communication in which a salesperson seeks to encourage and/or persuade potential buyers to purchase a firm's product/service.

The benefits of personal selling.

1. Availability direct contact between consumer and producer: sitting opposite each other or using telecommunications, such as telephone sales. Individual contact provides communicative elasticity: the seller observes or hears the reaction of a possible buyer to information and can change the information during its transmission depending on the reaction of the interlocutor.

2. Personal communication allows the seller to tailor information to the specific needs of the consumer.

3. The effect of the presentation can be assessed by the seller immediately due to the presence of direct and reliable feedback. In a situation of negative reaction, the seller may change the information.

Disadvantages of personal selling.

1. High price contact. A visit to a consumer includes the costs of selecting a seller, his training, his salary, his transportation and travel expenses. Reaching large audiences through personal selling can be prohibitively expensive.

2. Small audience size. The high price of personal sales does not allow reaching a large number of buyers.

3. Different sellers may not provide the same information. This makes it difficult to provide consistent and consistent information to all customers.

Personal selling can include any personal contact of representatives of enterprises that contribute to one degree or another to the growth of sales of goods. Representatives of enterprises include: sales agents, traveling salesmen, brokers, insurance agents. A sales agent is a person acting on behalf of an enterprise and performing one or more functions: searching for possible clients; establishing communication; sales; service organization; information search and resource allocation.

At some stages of the product acquisition process, especially the stages of creating preference, persuasion and invitation to action, personal selling is the most effective means. Personal selling promotes the formation of various connections, from formal (seller - buyer) to friendly ones. For a professional salesperson, the client's needs are the subject of personal attention, from which long-term professional contacts arise. Personal selling forces the consumer to react to communication in a certain way, at least with a polite refusal. Personal selling is the most expensive means of promotion. Therefore, it is necessary to find out exactly in which areas this type of promotion will bring maximum commercial effect.

Used in personal selling marketing communications: trade presentations, fairs and sales exhibitions, special promotional events.

14.2. Personal Selling Process

The sales process is a sequence of steps, each of which must be studied flawlessly by the sales agent. All these steps are focused mainly on winning new consumers and receiving orders from them. The personal selling process is quite difficult, as it is necessary:

1) negotiate (here you mainly need to have the gift of persuasion, present arguments to existing objections and skillfully use eloquence);

2) establish a connection (to do this you need to know how to accept a client, start communication, approach the issue correctly, sensitively monitor the development of the relationship and complete the sale just at the moment when it is necessary);

3) satisfy the need (this means understanding the need or finding the client’s motivating reasons for purchasing a tourism product, i.e., finding the main aspects of the client’s interest, listening carefully to complaints or criticism).

The sales process consists of the following stages:

1) receiving the client and starting communication with him;

2) determining the client's needs;

3) a story about the product;

4) overcoming possible disagreement;

5) conducting a transaction;

6) further contact with the client.

The first step of the sales process is accepting the client and starting to communicate with him. The beginning and/or maintenance of friendly relationships depends on the client’s sociability and sincerity, on the one hand, and the seller’s ability to attract his interest, on the other. As a result, the company's employees need to follow ethics and morale in their work. These are the basic qualities that they undoubtedly need.

Inspiration, initiative, activity are those components without which it is impossible to create an atmosphere most favorable for establishing connections with clients. Selling is often made with faith in victory and self-confidence. A tourism product sales manager must experience certain feelings towards himself, the organization, his business, which should help him appear in front of other people a confident person. For Personal Selling Success great value has not only psychological factor, but also the appearance of the employee. He must look appropriate, be clean and neatly dressed. This should not be forgotten, since all people are very susceptible to such little things as a sloppily tied tie, bad manicure, etc.

There are several ways to help you start communicating with a client. The first is to immediately address the problem that the client is fully occupied with. The second method is based on immediately stunning the client with one striking phrase or one colorful image. The third method is based on recognizing and accepting a person as an individual (every person needs recognition). There is mainly primary recognition, that is, the client must be recognized as a completely independent participant in personal selling. The fourth method is a subtype of the first and differs in its approach to problems. If in the first option the client’s preferences are recognized and revealed during the conversation, then in the fourth option the seller specifically brings the conversation to the problems that bother the client. The manager studies and considers these problems during the conversation. The fifth way is to immediately begin discussing the main issue, making a proposal that will not fail to interest the client.

Determining the customer's needs is an important aspect of personal selling. The road to the sale itself goes through a careful study of the client's needs. But it is necessary to take into account that people acquire benefits, not the properties of the product. Therefore, the main element of personal selling should not be the product and its characteristics, but the benefit for the client. To achieve this, you need to analyze the client's needs, and to carry out the analysis, the seller must have certain psychological qualities.

An essential element of identifying client needs is listening. It is important not only to know about the needs of the client in order to provide evidence, but it is equally important to be able to listen to the person.

Product story– the most important stage in the process of personal selling. How a particular travel service is described to a large extent depends on its image, the client’s interest, and therefore the desire to purchase it. When presenting a product, the manager must solve several problems: attract the client’s attention, interest in purchasing the service and push him to take the necessary actions.

Client disagreement can be of a psychological and logical order. Psychological disagreement is determined by the characteristics of the client as an individual. Overcoming it requires the manager to have knowledge about the characteristics of customer behavior and experience in this area. The reason for the appearance of logical disagreement may be due to the lack of real benefits of the existing product and its incorrect presentation. To overcome such disagreements, the manager needs to have an excellent knowledge of both the product he represents and similar products of competitors, and precisely know their strengths and weaknesses. This approach makes it possible to foresee in advance, firstly, the client’s potential disagreement and prepare convincing arguments, and secondly, to find a way out of any difficult situation even with unforeseen arguments from the interlocutor.

The logical end of the personal selling process is further contact with the client. The travel agency always wants the consumer to be satisfied with the service, as this ensures further interaction. The best possible customers are today's satisfied consumers. Further contact with the client makes it possible to find out the requirements and wishes of clients, which are the starting point for improvement. individual services and development of the product strategy of the tourism enterprise.

Workshop

Situation

A person has booked a room at the Marriott Hotel, Surfers Paradise, England. During this period, the new hotel offered special preferential conditions for those who lived nearby in order to introduce them to its services and thereby create the conditions for positive reviews from local residents. The hotel message stated that check-in is after 2pm. But when the person arrived at 2:30 pm, the check-in employee said that there were no available rooms yet and asked him to wait a little. An hour later the employee announced that the room was ready. The guest came into the room, opened the door and saw several people in the room. Then he returned to the check-in desk and announced this to the employee. The puzzled employee checked the information on the computer and made several phone calls. As a result, he learned that the sales person was obliged to show the room to potential guests, but did not bother to exclude it from the list of ordered rooms. Normally this would not have been a problem, but on this day there were many people wanting to check into the hotel and waiting for their rooms. After cleaning, the rooms were made available to the waiting guests. The check-in desk clerk explained to the client what had happened and asked him to return to the room. Later, he was given champagne and fruit with an apology from the manager.

Questions

1. Analyze this situation from the perspective of personal selling. Draw conclusions.

2. What are the features of the personal selling process?

3. How can you improve the effectiveness of presenting a tourism product?

Exercises

1. You recently became a manager in a travel company. A potential client comes to your office. You begin to tell him about the quality of your tours, compare your company’s offers with those of your competitors. But the person tells you that he is not interested in quality and is going to leave dissatisfied. Why did this potential client react so negatively to your words? What can be done in this situation to correct the situation before the person leaves?

2. The Canary Islands are called the “Islands of Eternal Spring,” emphasizing one of the main advantages of the resort. Indeed, in Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura, located five hundred kilometers north of the equator and a hundred kilometers from Morocco, there are no seasons familiar to us: it is warm in winter and summer, autumn and spring. clear weather and this, of course, attracts tourists from all over the world here, to the Canaries. Tourist infrastructure began to develop here in the early 90s of the 20th century using the most advanced technologies. Therefore, holidays in the Canary Islands surpass all well-known resorts in mainland Spain in terms of quality, service and comfort. For those who are concerned about the ecology of recreation, it is undoubtedly important that about 80% of the beaches in the Canaries are marked with the Blue Flag of the European Union - highest rating level of service and cleanliness.

When constructing most hotels in the Canaries, the latest trends were taken into account hotel business. The hotels are distinguished by large territories and park areas, well-equipped spacious rooms. As for accommodation, you can stay anywhere: all hotels on the Canary Islands are comfortable, with convenient access to the sea. The choice of accommodation is varied: from aparthotels with kitchenettes without meals to all-inclusive hotels.

The excursions offered to tourists in the Canary Islands are exciting and unusual. For example, on the yacht “Mustcat” from the port of Colon, on the southern coast of Tenerife, you can go on a boat trip. Visitors to the Teide Nature Reserve have a unique opportunity to see solidified lava fields and fantastic rock formations. And, of course, the famous carnival in Tenerife is of great interest to tourists all over the world.

There is practically no rain in the Canaries, and the air temperature is almost always 25–29 degrees. The climate and weather in the Canary Islands are so favorable that the swimming season lasts almost all year round. (Information about the tour of a large travel company).

Think about what exactly is missing from this message as information in the personal selling process? How can this information be supplemented?

Homework

Your company has decided to implement a rather unusual tourism product. You have no competitors in this market segment. But the product is also quite specific. Prepare a presentation of this tourist offer. Try to cover all aspects involved in personal selling.

Submitting your good work to the knowledge base is easy. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

What sales stages exist today?

Today, business education has a stable systematization of sales stages. So, let's look at the stages of selling a product for a sales consultant:

preparations for sales (advertising);
establishing contacts with the client;
identifying needs;
product presentation;
trial deal;
discussion of business proposals;
completion of the transaction;
establishing long-term cooperation.

Don't be afraid of rejection

Today, different kinds of objections, confrontation and differences in goals should not be perceived as something unusual or problematic. If we talk about sales, then everything is quite the opposite. It should be said that only when the seller is faced with a client’s refusal or the buyer’s disagreement with the transaction does the sales technique of the seller of a consultant for furniture and other goods begin to appear - working on questions and objections and further negotiations regarding cost.

The professionalism of a sales consultant is manifested in how exactly he knows how to carry out negotiations after he has received a refusal at the first purchase offer, so his arsenal should always have a number of techniques that are necessary specifically for further negotiations with the buyer. The variety of all techniques is based on the basic principle of conducting commercial negotiations. It consists in the absence of contradictions on the part of the seller. In a direct confrontation with the client, the only correct step, in his opinion, can be taken - to simply stop negotiations, turn around and leave. Depending on the success with the buyer, the client’s desire for further cooperation with the company, his willingness to give the seller the necessary information at future stages of the sale, as well as his loyalty to the company in general will depend. Therefore, when carrying out commercial negotiations when contradictions inevitably arise, the seller should not put pressure on the buyer, as this will have a very bad effect on the results of the sale, because the client will internally “defend himself”.

Working with questions of interest

Today, there is an established opinion that a seller must be active, energetic, and able to convince anyone and anything. But as practice shows, the most effective sellers are those who know how to listen. The sales technique of a sales consultant is that they are asked leading questions, and they also give the interlocutor the opportunity to say whatever he needs. Even when identifying needs, the seller must be sure to ask questions that will help him determine the real needs of the client and at the same time make him feel truly important, and then he will move into a more comfortable state. This is exactly how a sales consultant should behave. The technique of work is to ensure that the client is satisfied.

Through the questions he asks and his behavior, the consultant should demonstrate such a position that the client understands that he really needs to know how the goods and services offered satisfy the needs.

To do this, the seller must find out what the potential buyer really needs from the product. Taking the position of a simple consultant in this case would be most appropriate, since it is sometimes very difficult for clients to say what they really need, since they themselves do not always clearly imagine their desires.

What are clients afraid of?

Due to the fact that the potential buyer himself does not accurately understand what he needs, in his subconscious he develops a desire to be defensive when negotiating with the seller. The latter should always be ready to communicate with such a client. It is imperative to be aware that the buyer is taking such a position not at all because of a difficult character or because he does not like the personality of the seller. This closed position is based on the client’s usual fears:

he is not sure that his choice is really the right one;
the client is afraid to pay extra, choosing a product with a large markup;
he does not know by what criteria the product and the entire assortment are actually evaluated;
he is afraid of deception from a sophisticated seller;
he does not want to meet with an arrogant and rude consultant;
he does not want to get into an awkward position by showing his incompetence in the properties of the product.

And if even one of his worst fears becomes even slightly justified, he will immediately leave. Sales methods, sales techniques - everything should be aimed at eradicating the client’s fears at this stage and carefully working through all objections.

Dealing with emerging objections

In general, commercial negotiations can be considered to have begun when the seller encounters the first objection. With this type of negotiation, this is the most natural shape buyer behavior. For a qualified consultant, any objection is a signal that the client does not have enough information. For the sales person, the buyer's objections are valuable. The sales technique of the sales consultant is also aimed at the fact that, based on the objections, he will always draw a conclusion about the necessary product for the client, and he will try to do everything to remove the uncertainty.

Novice sellers very often take objections as the client’s negativity directed at them personally, which causes a negative reaction. If the seller conducts a conscious, thoughtful conversation, the situation will always remain under control, and he will not react in any way to the potential buyer’s objections, but will simply work with them.

The work should start with a simple compliment. This should be expressed by interest in the client’s opinion and in the response to this objection. Very often this technique is called “joining an objection”, which is built on the principle of “aikido”. For example, in response to a client’s objection that monitors pose a health hazard, we can say that there really is such an opinion, but monitors are now assembled using a special technology with a protective layer, which makes them completely safe. In such a situation, the seller seems to join the objection, creates mutual understanding with the client, and demonstrates that they have much more in common than disagreement. In order to strengthen the “agreement effect,” before answering an objection, you should add: “It’s good that you said this,” “I understand you,” and so on. This is how the seller makes it clear to the client that his opinion is really important to him, and it has a right to exist.

The level of training of a sales consultant is also determined by the fact that he can adapt to each individual buyer.

With the help of affirmative statements, the seller ensures a conflict-free transfer of negotiations to the stage of cooperation. This is achieved by agreeing with the existing objections and then developing the thoughts contained in the objection: “You are indeed right in what you say about the high cost of this machine. But due to such expenses you will get a lot additional benefits, which should also be discussed."

Very often, objections contain indirect references to advantages. The seller must turn a negative into a positive, pay attention to the good parameters of the goods or services.

“Your product has a suspiciously low price, and besides, you’re still new in this business", the client might say. And he can be answered that it is precisely due to its short existence that the company is forced to adhere to competitive prices.

The most important thing is to reassure the buyer, make suggestions to him, not argue, try to just talk and dispel all his fears.

True objections

The client's real objections are very often masked behind unimportant reservations, since very often he himself does not realize what the true motives are that drive him. Therefore, in order to reach real, and not imaginary, obstacles that will stand in the way of the seller, you should first talk to the client and understand why he does not want to make a purchase.

How should a salesperson break through a false objection to a true one?

A technique called “guessing” can work well in this situation. The seller using it asks questions to all the client’s objections that are aimed at removing all excuses: “If there were no financial restrictions, what would you do?”, “If you didn’t have such a problem, would you make the deal? " If even then the client has objections, then you can repeat the questions. The very last objection will be true.

False objections

At the same time, you should not ignore the client’s other objections, even if the seller can see that they are obviously false. Moreover, if the buyer has expressed several objections, then the simplest of all should be answered first.

Cost discussion

A critical point in commercial negotiations is the client's reaction to the value announced by the seller. There are a number of techniques that make it possible to do given cost justified.

A technique called “sandwich” is that during negotiations the price is placed between two “layers”, each of which contains an undeniable benefit for the client. Using this technique, you must strive to ensure that the negotiations end and begin with indications of benefits and benefit, and not just simple numbers.

When using the “comparison” technique, the seller correlates the cost of the product with its benefits that it will bring to the client: “If you think about how much money you can save with this product in a year...”, “Think about how much benefit this will bring to you.”

The “division” technique involves deciphering the value by decomposing it into small components. Thus, you can divide the cost of a purchased product by the number of years during which you plan to use it, and then calculate the cost per month of its use.

How to control your voice?

We all know that depending on a person’s voice, one can give an assessment with 80% probability of age, character, current emotional and physical state. Based on the pronunciation of words, the interlocutor can draw a conclusion about where the speaker is from, what education he has and the general level of development of the speaker.

The sales technique of a sales consultant with a high level of qualifications must have a well-developed skill in establishing emotional contact with the buyer due to the vocal mood of the second. In everyday life, people intuitively adapt their own voice to the voice of their interlocutor, especially when they want to achieve something from him. The professionalism of the seller is also manifested in the conscious control of his voice and intonation, depending on the personality of each client, his goals, and the stages of sales.

The consultant must be “on the same wavelength” with the buyer and help him with the choice of goods, using his wealth of knowledge about the qualities of goods or services. If he manages to make friends with the buyer, then he will get a regular customer.

In conclusion, when the question arises on how to increase personal sales as a salesperson, it is safe to say that you should use all the above tips and strive for more.

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