Exam 33: Personal Selling and Sales Management

Jel Sert Company makes convenient,durable,and eye-catching packaging.Its salesperson is demonstrating to a manufacturer of sports drinks how Jel Sert's packaging would serve as a silent salesperson for its products.The salesperson is conducting a _____.

Volvo has a Web site that caters to car enthusiasts who might want to see concept cars evolve into real-life products.Volvo would likely have used data mining to locate people who were car enthusiasts and innovators.

Advanced Bionics Advanced Bionics is a global leader in the development of implantable, high-tech neurostimulation devices used to treat deafness and chronic pain. Just two-and-a- half years after introducing its new stimulators, the firm is doing $200 million in domestic sales. How has Advanced Bionics been so successful? Its success can be attributed to its outstanding products and to three aspects of its sales approach. First, Advanced Bionics hired the right talent for its sales force. Companies tend to use experienced sales reps-often hired away from competing companies-to sell new medical devices. This can be very expensive since experienced reps generally expect as much as $200,000 in annual income. So when Advanced Bionics brought its medical device to market, it hired people with no experience selling medical devices and turned them into sales reps. Hiring inexperienced salespeople created some problems, however, and the company experienced high turnover rates during its first two years in operation. Second, Advanced Bionics provided salespeople with a rigorous training program. Third, Advanced Bionics allowed salespeople to plan their own activities while managers monitored their progress and pushed them to improve. In short, the company has been able to succeed by selecting good people, training them well, and managing them carefully. -Refer to Advanced Bionics.Advanced Bionics has cutting-edge technology and its customers are very sophisticated.Salespeople need to persuade physicians,neurosurgeons,and orthopedic doctors to use Advanced Bionics' products.Which of the following statements is NOT an advantage that personal selling offers the company?

A new salesperson generally receives training in all of the following EXCEPT:

_____ is the ultimate goal of a new trend in marketing that focuses on understanding customers as individuals instead of as part of a group.

_____ means having both the authority to make the purchase decision and the funds to pay for it.

In relationship selling,salespeople focus more time on generating leads than on qualifying leads.

Danita is in charge of new business development for her advertising agency.She recently made a sales presentation to the administration of Northwest Medical System to discuss the creative approaches her agency would use to differentiate Northwest Medical from its competition.Danita ended the presentation by asking,"When would you like our firm to begin working on your new brand awareness campaign?" In which stage of the selling process would such a question most likely be asked?

Internet companies use product and customer profiling to reveal cross-selling opportunities while a customer is surfing their sites.

The interaction between a customer and the organization is the foundation on which a CRM system is built.

All of the following statements about recruiting and training the sales force is true EXCEPT:

Many high-end hotel chains award points for every dollar spent in one of their hotels.Customers who earn a high number of points are given special privileges that may include upgraded hotel rooms or several free nights.This is an example of the leveraging of customer information to:

You are the sales manager for Cone Machinery,a manufacturer of custom-made sawmill machinery.You are responsible for designing the training program for its new salespeople.List four major areas in which you would like your salespeople to receive instruction.

_____ in a CRM environment involves collecting customer information through comments and feedback on product and service performance.

College Entertainers Most colleges and universities have a campus activity board that brings entertainers and special events to campuses. To locate and hire these entertainers, many campuses send their student activity board members to one of the seven regional conventions or the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) convention. More than 100 entertainers, talent agencies, and companies that provide promotional services exhibit their products at these conventions in an area similar to a trade show. (Conference attendees call this the Marketplace.) Approximately 20 entertainers are selected to present a short program (called a showcase) in which they demonstrate what they would do if hired to perform on campus. Many other entertainers have videos and CDs, which they hand out to student attendees. Only one or two members of any student group can actually set up a contractual agreement with an entertainer or his or her agency. Other student attendees provide input as to which entertainers best match the demographics of their institutions. -Refer to College Entertainers.The student members might agree to pay lodging and travel expenses in return for the entertainer reducing his or her fees by $100.This is an example of:

After Ruth and Mike had paid in advance for their week's stay at a Vermont Inn,Ruth felt that they might have chosen poorly and that they were committing themselves to stay at a place they might hate.Then Ruth got a letter from the Inn's owner stating that she was looking forward to their visit and asking what they most enjoyed for breakfast.The hospitality of the letter dealt with Ruth's cognitive dissonance by:

Kraft Foods Kraft Foods has established dedicated teams to focus on their business with many of their largest customers. With "Team Kroger," Kraft has combined with Nabisco selling organizations in order to bring more unique shopper insights to Kroger supermarkets. This helps Kroger understand their shoppers and customize their programs to grow even more. At the same time, Kraft has strengthened its relationship with Kroger by gaining a better understanding of the supermarket's needs and how it can help support Kroger's business objectives concurrently with its own. -Refer to Kraft Foods. The sales team in Bentonville,Arkansas,devotes all of its efforts on satisfying the needs of its largest customer,Walm-Mart. This is an example of a sales force organized by:

According to the CEO of Allied Office Products,"We're a head-count business: I know that if you have a 60-person office,you should buy $300 worth of basic office supplies-paper,pens,staples-from us with each order,but if that's all we get,we stagnate.For us to grow,we have to convince the customer,who already likes our products and service,to buy more than just basic supplies; we have to increase the order by 10,20,or 30 times." Allied's salespeople are trained to push the company's less traditional,higher-margin lines such as coffee and refreshments,printing and forms management,and office furniture.Allied's salespeople are engaging in:

Relationship selling:

Empowerment in a CRM environment is normally a process of collecting customer information through customers' feedback on products.