Page 202 - DMGT547_INTERNATIONAL_MARKETING

Unit 11: Communication Decision for International Markets

competition. The role of salesperson becomes quite important as he/she acts as representative Notes
of the firm with whom potential customers with directly interact with. The customer always
wants to be sure that he or she is getting value for his or her money. The salesperson helps in
winning the trust of customer in the firm by making a potential customer an actual one, hence
giving the firm some competitive advantage.
Personal selling is personal communication between a firm representative and a potential
customer to persuade prospective customer to buy something their product or service idea. This
is in contrast to the mass, impersonal communication of advertising, sales promotion and other
promotional tools.

Example: One of the most important factors which contributed to the sales success of
Amway Products in India was the door-to-door sales.
The efforts of sales people have a direct impact on such diverse activities as:
Increase awareness of new products and business ventures.

Keeping existing products running well in market.
Provide convenience to customers as products are sold directly at homes.
Creating a relationship and trust through interpersonal approach.

Generating actual sales for the firms.
Direct Feedback from customers.
Supplement with the product promotion.
Provides an effective method in explaining firm’s reliability and reputation, product
features, clarifying customer doubts and resolving their issues.
One of the major limitations is its high cost, especially in advanced countries.
Decisions taken in personal Selling:
Size of personal selling effort: This is determined by importance of the firm’s new product
or service and how much is firm is invest in money, time and in other resources
Allocation of Sales Effort: This involves Geographical Allocation, i.e. the area which a
given sales person needs to cover or the geographical position assigned to each sales
person here he or she has to generate sales for the firm
Allocation of product to sales personnel: A firm might be having a number of products
and services to sell. A salesperson can’t sell all the products or services due to his or her
physical limitations. Hence the firm needs to focus on what products are needed to be sold
by the salesperson. This is done as per demands of the products or services or when a new
product is launched.

Scheduling: Time is a valuable resource, hence, the firm needs to make crucial decisions
scheduling of the personal selling effort.

Cost Involved: Budget for personal selling determines the size of personal selling effort
and is generally on higher side as it is quite labour intensive.

11.3.4 Sales Promotion

Sales promotion refers to any paid consumer or trade communication program of limited
period that adds substantial value to a product or brand. Sales promotion is a vital element of

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