Personal selling occurs when a sales representative meets with a potential client for the purpose of transacting a sale. Many sales representatives rely on a sequential sales process that typically includes nine steps. Some sales representatives develop scripts for all or part of the sales process. The sales process can be used in face-to-face encounters and in telemarketing.
Definition
Personal selling can be defined as "the process of person-to-person communication between a salesperson and a prospective customer, in which the former learns about the customer's needs and seeks to satisfy those needs by offering the customer the opportunity to buy something of value, such as a good or service".Cant, M.C. and van Heerde, C.V., Personal Selling, Juta, 2004, p. 3 The term may also be used to describe a situation where a company uses a sales force as one of the main ways it communicates with customers.
Brief history
The earliest forms of exchange involved bartering systems. However, the advent of coinage enabled exchange to occur more efficiently and over much larger distances. The earliest references to selling, involving coin-based exchange, comes from Herodotus who noted that "The Lydians were the first people we know of to use a gold and silver coinage and to introduce the retail trade." Shaw, E.H. and Jones, D.G.B, "A History of Marketing Thought," in Handbook of Marketing, Barton A Weitz and Robin Wensley (eds), Sage, 2003, p. 41, Online: https://www.researchgate.netpublication235362475_A_History_of_Marketing_Thought This implies that selling and buying, originated in the 7th century BCE, in the area now known as Turkey. From there, selling spread along Mediterranean, and then diffused throughout the civilized world.Shaw, E.H. and Jones, D.G.B, "A History of Marketing Thought," in Handbook of Marketing, Barton A Weitz and Robin Wensley (eds), Sage, 2003, p. 41
The Socratic philosophers expressed some concerns about the new type of selling in around the 4th century BCE. Their commentary was primarily concerned with potential disruption of the more social aspects of selling. Traditional forms of exchange encouraged a social perspective - emphasizing the social bonds that united members of a society. For example, during periods of drought or famine, individuals shared in the plight of their neighbours. However, the advent of this new form of selling encouraged a focus on the individual such that in times of scarcity, sellers raised their prices.Shaw, E.H. and Jones, D.G.B, "A History of Marketing Thought," in Handbook of Marketing, Barton A Weitz and Robin Wensley (eds), Sage, 2003, pp 41-42
During the Medieval period, trade underwent further changes. Localized trading based on transactional exchange and bartering systems was slowly transformed as transportation improved and new geographic markets were opened.Braudel, F. and Reynold, S., The Wheels of Commerce: Civilization and Capitalism, 15th to 18th Century, Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 1992 From the 11th century, the Crusades helped to open up new trade routes in the Near East, while the adventurer and merchant, Marco Polo stimulated interest in the far East in the 12th and 13th centuries. Medieval merchants began to trade in exotic goods imported from distant shores including spices, wine, food, furs, fine cloth, notably silk, glass, jewellery and many other luxury goods. As trade between countries or regions grew, trade networks became more complex and different types of sellers filled in the spaces within the network. During the thirteenth century, European businesses became more permanent and were able to maintain sedentary merchants in a home office and a system of agents who operated in different geographic markets.Casson, M. and Lee, J., "The Origin and Development of Markets: A Business History Perspective," Business History Review, Vol 85, Spring, 2011, doi:10.1017/S0007680511000018, pp 22–26 Exchange was often conducted at arm's length, rather than face-to-face.
Local market traders and itinerant peddlers continued to supply basic necessities, but permanent retail shops gradually emerged from the 13th century, especially in the more populous cities.Pevsner, N. and Hubbard, E., The Buildings of England: Cheshire Penguin, 1978, p. 170 By the 17th century, permanent shops with more regular trading hours were beginning to supplant markets and fairs as the main retail outlet. Provincial shopkeepers were active in almost every English market town. These shopkeepers sold a very broad range of general merchandise, much like a contemporary general store.Cox, N.C. and Dannehl, K., Perceptions of Retailing in Early Modern England, Aldershot, Hampshire, Ashgate, 2007, p,. 129
Large business houses involved in import and export, often offered additional services including finance, bulk-breaking, sorting and risk-taking. In the 17th century, the public began to make mental distinctions between two types of trader; local traders (Dutch: meerseniers) which referred to local merchants including bakers, grocers, sellers of dairy products and stall-holders, and the merchants (Dutch: koopman), which described a new, emergent class of trader who dealt in goods or credit on a large scale. With the rise of a European merchant class, this distinction was necessary to separate the daily trade that the general population understood from the rising ranks of merchants who operated on a world stage and were seen as quite distant from everyday experience.Honig, E.A., Painting & the Market in Early Modern Antwerp, Yale University Press, 1998, pp 6-10
In 18th century England, large industrial houses, such as Wedgwood, began mass-producing certain goods such as pottery and ceramics and needed a form of mass distribution for their products. Some peddlers were employed by these industrial producers to act as a type of travelling sales representative, calling on retail and wholesale outlets in order to make a sale.Tadajewski, M. and Jones, D.G.B., "Historical research in marketing theory and practice: a review essay," Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 30, No. 11-12, 2014 [Special Issue: Pushing the Boundaries, Sketching the Future], pp 1239-1291 In England, these peddlers were known as Manchester men because of the prevalence of the practice in the sale of cotton cloth manufactured in Manchester.Silver, A.W., Manchester Men and Indian Cotton, 1847-1872, pp 54-58 and p. 226 Employed by a factory or entrepreneur, they sold goods from shop to shop rather than door to door and were thus operating as a type of wholesaler or distribution intermediary.Casson, M. and Lee, J., "The Origin and Development of Markets: A Business History Perspective," Business History Review, Vol 85, Spring, 2011, doi:10.1017/S0007680511000018, p. 33 They were the precursors to the field sales representative.
Selling roles and situations
Sales activity can occur in many types of situations. Field representatives call on clients, who are typically business clients; door-to-door sales teams call on householders, sales staff may work in a retail or wholesale environment where sales personnel attend to customers by processing orders or sales may occur in a telemarketing environment where the sales person makes telephone calls to prospects. In terms of number of transactions, most selling occurs at the retail level; but in terms of value, most selling occurs at the high-end business-to-business level.Murphy, P.E., "George E Brenkert- Marketing Ethics", [Book Review], Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 24 May 2009
Different types of sales roles can be identified: Order takers refers to selling that occurs primarily at the wholesale or retail levels. Order processing involves determining the customer needs, pointing to inventory that meets the customer needs and completing the order.Boone, L.E. and Kurtz, K.L., Contemporary Marketing, Stamford, CT, Cengage, 2014, p. 579 Order getters refers to the in-field sales activity where a sales representative travels to the client's home or work place to makes a sales presentation in order to win new business or to maintain relations with existing clients.Boone, L.E. and Kurtz, K.L., Contemporary Marketing, Stamford, CT, Cengage, 2014, p. 580 Missionary selling is often seen as a sales support role. The missionary sales person distributes information about products or services, describes product attributes and leaves materials but does not normally close the sale. The missionary sales person often prepares the way for a field sales person. For example, a pharmaceutical sales representative may call on doctors and leave samples, manufacturer information such as results of clinical trials, copies of relevant journal articles etc. in an effort to persuade doctors to prescribe a medication or course of treatment. Cold calling refers to a situation when a sales representative telephones or visits a customer without a prior appointment. Cold calling is widely regarded as a demanding sales technique due to its unpredictable nature and the likelihood of rejection. In a cold calling situation, the sales representative is likely to be more conscious of the client's time, and may seek to condense the sales process by combining the approach and the sales presentation into a single step.Boyan, L., Successful Cold Call Selling, American Management Association, 1989 Relationship selling (also known as consultative selling) refers to a sales practice that involves building and maintaining interactions with customers in order to enhance long term relationships. Relationship selling often involves a problem solving approach where the sales representative acts in a consultative role and becomes a partner in the client's problem-solving exercise.Lamb, C.W.L., Hair, J.F. and McDaniel, C., Marketing, South-Western, 2011, p. 286 Relationship selling is often found in high-tech selling environments. See also: Solution selling
The sales process
The first text to outline the steps in the selling process was published in 1918 by Norval Hawkins.Friedman, W.A., Birth of a Salesman: The Transformation of Selling in America, p. 158 The basic steps, which have changed only a little since Watkins first proposed them, are prospecting, qualifying leads, preapproach, approach, need assessment, presentation, meeting objections, closing the sale and following up.Boone, L.E. and Kurtz, K.L., Contemporary Marketing, Stamford, CT, Cengage, 2014, p. 583
Prospecting–Identifying prospects or prospecting occurs when the sales person seeks to identify leads or prospects (i.e., people who are likely to be in the market for the offer). To identify prospects, sales representatives might use a variety of sources such as business directories (for corporate clients), commercial databases or mailing lists or simply look at internal records such as lists of lapsed customers. The aim of prospecting is to increase the likelihood that sales staff spend time with potential clients who have an interest in the product or service.
Qualifying leads–After identifying potential customers, the sales team must determine whether prospects represent genuine potential customers. This part of the process is known as qualifying leads, or leads who are likely to buy. Qualified leads are those who have a need for the product, a capacity to pay and a willingness to pay for the product, and are willing to be contacted by the salesperson.
Pre-approach–Refers to the process of preparing for the presentation. This consists of customer research, goal planning, scheduling an appointment and any other tasks necessary to prepare for the sales presentation.
Approach–Refers to the stage when the salesperson initially meets with the customer. Since first contact leaves an impression on the buyer, professional conduct, including attire, a handshake, and eye contact, is advised.