Sales Promotion & The Personal Selling Process
Personal Selling has been around for decades, and is still used by many of the biggest companies. This type of selling required the salespeople/sales representatives to make presentations to potential buyers in hopes of making sales and building long-term relationships with consumers. There are many different techniques used for personal selling, depending on the company and the product being sold.
Swipe-A-Load (S-A-L) utilizes a sales force to contact universities and apartment complexes regarding the purchase of the system. In this case, the sales force is made up of telemarketers, who use the phone to market to potential consumers. Also included in the S-A-L sales force includes trade shows and video conferencing. Video conferencing would work similarly to telemarketing, however, sales representatives attending trade shows must make sales pitches in-person, which can require extensive training. Personal Selling plays a large role in S-A-L's marketing mix.
Swipe-A-Load (S-A-L) utilizes a sales force to contact universities and apartment complexes regarding the purchase of the system. In this case, the sales force is made up of telemarketers, who use the phone to market to potential consumers. Also included in the S-A-L sales force includes trade shows and video conferencing. Video conferencing would work similarly to telemarketing, however, sales representatives attending trade shows must make sales pitches in-person, which can require extensive training. Personal Selling plays a large role in S-A-L's marketing mix.
Sales Promotion includes short-term incentives to encourage the consumer to purchase now. Major sales promotion tools include: rebates, price packs, promotional products, premiums, point-of-purchase promotions, contests, sweepstakes, games, and event sponsorships. As mentioned in our group's marketing practicum, one of Old Spice's main forms of marketing is through sales promotion. I stated in our practicum, "They offer coupons on their various social media platforms, and as rewards for playing online games. Event marketing is the fastest growing area of promotion. For the past eight years, Old Spice has sponsored the college basketball tournament known as the Old Spice Classic. During the holidays, Old Spice offers product gift sets to encourage consumers to buy their products over competition. And throughout the year, they will offer free samples with the purchase of another product."
The objectives of sales promotion varies by product/company, but may include urging short-term buying, or boosting customer brand involvement. Usually, sales promotion is used with another form of marketing such as personal selling, direct marketing, or advertising. Together, these tools create the promotions mix.