Managing Personal Communications

• Managing Personal Communications.

Learning Objectives

• Determine how companies use direct marketing for competitive advantage.
• Ascertain the pros and cons of database marketing.
• Identify the decisions companies must consider when designing a sales force.
• Recognize the challenges of managing a sales force.
• Explore how salespeople can improve their selling, negotiating, and relationship marketing skills.

Direct Marketing

• Direct marketing uses consumer-direct (CD) channels.
• Direct marketing can reach and deliver goods and services to customers without using marketing middlemen.
• Direct marketing can be timely, targeted, testable, and measurable.
• Direct marketing allows for testing specific campaign/offer elements live.
• Direct mail involves sending marketing materials directly to potential customers through postal services.
• Telemarketing involves contacting potential customers over the phone to promote products or services.
• Catalog marketing disseminates product information and offers through printed catalogs.
• Shopping channels utilize television or online platforms to showcase and sell products directly to consumers.
• Best practices for effective direct mail campaigns include: paying attention to timing, making the message consumer-centered, personalizing messages so that they stand out, integrating direct mail with other marketing channels, and making the call to action easy to do.
• Public and ethical issues: irritation, unfairness, deception/fraud, and invasion of privacy.

Customer Databases and Database Marketing

• A database holds customer or prospect structured repository of relevant and up to date information.
• Database marketing builds, maintains, and uses customer databases.
• Database marketing is a process of building customer relationships, lead generation and qualification, and sale/transaction.
• The goal of database marketing is to maximize customer lifetime value.
• A data warehouse serves as a central repository for integrated data, often from one or more disparate sources.
• Key components of data mining include: using sophisticated statistical and mathematical techniques and extracting useful information about individuals, trends, and segments.
• Data mining is commonly used by casinos and credit card companies.
• Databases provide ways to identify prospects, decide which customers get an offer, to deepen customer loyalty, to reactivate customer purchases, and to avoid serious customer mistakes.

Designing the Sales Force

• Sales force objectives include growth penetration in Fortune 100.
• Sales force strategy includes shifting resources from telemarketing.
• Sales force structure creates a Major Account Team.
• Sales force size, ramp up over next 12 months to 60.
• Sales force compensation is 60% base salary and 40% commission.
• Strategic market sales force assigned to major accounts.
• A geographic sales force visits customers in different territories.
• A distributor sales force coaches distributors.
• An inside sales force sells and takes orders online, and via phone.

Sales Force Compensation

• Compensation includes a fixed amount (salary), variable amount (commission), expense allowances, and benefits.
• Compensation also includes straight salary, straight commission, and a combination of the two.
• Maximize direct sales time by time-and-duty analysis and hour-by-hour breakdowns of activities.
• Sales technology is now almost fully electronic with tablets, websites, and social media.
• Sales representatives are motivated by pay and sales contests.
• Sales quotas also help to motivate sales reps.
• Six steps in effective selling includes: prospecting & qualifying, pre-approach, presentation & demonstration, overcoming objections, closing, and follow-up & maintenance.
• A good sales rep listens more than they talk.
• SPIN represents the the method of SPIN questions (situation, problem, implication, need-payoff).
• Steps for managing the sales force includes: recruiting, selecting, training, supervising, motivating, and evaluating.

Personal Communications Key Take-Aways

• Four primary types of direct marketing.
• Customer database characteristics and database marketing.
• Four primary types of sales forces.
• Sales force compensation.
• Effective selling process.
• A good sales rep listens more than they talk.