Direct Selling

Where advertising reaches a mass audience, personal or direct selling focuses on one customer at a time. That kind of individual attention makes direct selling expensive, but it also makes it effective. As the costs of personal selling have risen, the utilization of salespeople has changed. Simple transactions are completed by clerks. Salespeople are now used primarily where the products are complex and require detailed explanation, customized application, or careful negotiation over price and payment plan. But whether the sale involves an automobile or a customized computer network, personal selling involves much more than convincing the customer of the product’s benefits. The salesperson helps the customer identify problems, works out a variety of solutions, assists the buyer in making decisions, and provides arrangements for long-term service. Persuasion is only part of the job. A much more important part is problem solving.

Because the selling process has become much more complicated, most companies now provide extensive training for the sales force. The average length of the initial training program is four months. A training program for new members of the sales force teaches them about such matters as company history, selling and presentation techniques, listening skills, the manufacture and use of the company’s products, and the characteristics of both the industry and its customers. Moreover, because the sales force plays such a critical role in the marketing process, most companies provide on-going training for all members of the sales force to help them deepen their product knowledge and improve their interpersonal and negotiating skills.

With the increasing complexity of business problems and products, effective sales solutions often require more knowledge than any one person can master. As a result many companies now use sales teams to service their largest and most complicated accounts. Such teams might include personnel from sales, marketing, manufacturing, finance, and technical support.