PERSONAL SELLING
In contrast to
advertising and publicity, which use impersonal methods of communication,
personal selling makes use of direct personal communications to influence the
target customers. Personal selling is a highly distinctive method of promotion,
and makes use of oral presentation in conversation with existing and potential
customers, for the purpose of making a sale.
ROLE OF PERSONAL SELLING
Personal selling, as
the name implies, is an individual to individual selling. It, therefore,
carries the distinctive advantage of flexibility in terms of tailoring the sales presentation to the needs of the
buyer. Another unique advantage comes from its two-way communication, and human
interaction thereby providing instant feedback. These two unique advantages
make personal selling the most result-oriented promotion method.
Generally speaking,
the nature of goods marketed, as well as the distribution system adopted, determine the
role of personal selling in a firm. Therefore, personal selling is used
extensively in the case of industrial goods, where the salesperson
performs functions such as assisting the customer in designing the product
specifications, product installation, product commissioning, solving technical
problems through providing service after sales and helping customer to have
optimal utilization of the product. In the case of consumer goods, on the other
hand, the role of personal selling gets usually restricted to the dealer level.
The scope of the tasks performed include obtaining periodic orders, ensuring
supplies, offering tips to dealers on product display and attaining desired
levels of stock movement. Similarly, the role played by personal selling is
more in a firm which uses door-to-door selling method through its sales force than
in the firm which sells through large stockiest, distributors or sole-selling
agents.
