Personal selling is said to be a cost it has a narrow audience and an organization can survive without it. (Discuss) According to Pride,W and Ferrell O, Personal selling can been defined as a process of informing customers and persuading them to purchase product through personal communication in an exchange situation. Personal selling is the process of person to person communication between a sales person and a prospective customer in which the sales person learns about the prospect needs and seeks to satisfy those needs by offering the prospective customer the opportunity to buy something of value such as good or service.

Personal selling objectives include creating product awareness, creating interest, providing information, stimulating the demand and reinforcing the brand. Personal selling plays a crucial role in the market based economy. It provides for time, place and possession utility that is the right product at the right time and the right quantity. The objective of the personal selling process is to generate customer satisfaction and build a long-term relationship with them.

Personal selling process includes prospecting and evaluating potential customers, preparing to approach, approaching the customers, making a presentation to the customer, handling objections, closing the sales deal and follow up. From this process of personal selling we can see that the result of the effects of personal selling can be seen easily seen normally with the increased sales figures and the relationship built between the organization and its customers compared to other promotional mix like advertising and public relations which are aimed at groups of people some of whom may not be prospective customers.

A major disadvantage of personal selling is its costs, which are very high compared to other promotional mix as most business spent more of its money on personal selling, but I disagree that an organization can survive without it as the major objective of any business is to sell its service or product. There are three types of Personal selling that can be mentioned that is retail selling, whereby the sales person communicates with the individual whom they intend to sell the products or services. There is also business to business selling whereby the sales person sells products to industrial uyers, lastly the trade selling whereby the sales people sells products to marketing intermediaries such as retailers and wholesalers Personal selling provides individual buyers with the opportunity to consult with a salesperson and to make a more informed decision when purchasing a product or service. Personal selling is indeed a cost to the Personal selling is different from other marketing tools such as advertising and Sales Promotions. Advertising is a communication tool which targets many consumers simultaneously.

Unlike advertising, personal selling is targeted at an individual prospect and develops the relationship. Advertising aims at a group and is non-personal where the communication primarily relies on the media. Although Personal Selling is a cost to the organization it is very critical to the successful growth of any nation’s economy to sell the product and services therefore the success of any organization which does not practice personal selling can be limited. I guess if it was not done there could be huge piles of products in the warehouse and also many services like insurance could be history.

Personal selling is very important particularly for companies that operate in business to business markets where purchasing situations often involves complex technical products, large dollar amounts professional buyers and multiple companies who influence purchasing decision. The significance of personal selling is reflected in the number of salespeople employed by major companies, for example Coca-Cola relying on advertisement and sales promotion to boost sales in but a huge sales force to sell to retailers and wholesaler regardless that the product of Coca- cola is known world -wide.

The cost are relatively high compared to other promotional tools and the limited number of potential customers are offered the same time that is potential customers can be approached as individual or in small groups, but still using personal selling as a promotional tool is expected to increase the number of customers and sales volume. A business cannot survive without personal selling there are tangible evidence that sales are the major source of revenues to a business, salesman introduces the goods to the customers, arouses their interest and persuades them to purchase the goods and finalizes the deal.

He plays a very significant role in selling the products. Indeed, salesmanship is the major factor underlying the success of most business houses. As the sales people pushes sales of product or a service, there is an assurance to the business of gaining profits thereby continuity of business is brought about. The benefits of personal selling show its significance to the consumer by giving them opportunity to make more enquiries about his product. This helps then to match their needs and the product. The seller also informs them of new products and explains to them how best they can use these products.

He may also give and demonstration of use and also explains to them the precautions they should take while using the products. The sales person educates the consumers and guides them so that they can make informed choice of the products which will best satisfy their needs. They also provide their after-sales service also. Relationship building is definitely the key to business to business selling, therefore personal selling is very important though costly but the rewards it brings to the organization is pleasing.

Personal selling also benefit the business as a salesman increases the sales and expand, the market by identifying new customers and persuading them to buy the products. Where the product is for selected buyers, like tractors or Cleaning services, the salesman identifies the potential customers. He will explain to them using literature the composition of the product or service how it is operated and so on, the person to person contact will help in selling the product and not advertising. There is also creation of more and more regular demand thus makes planned and regular mass production possible.

The sales person understands the needs, tastes and preferences of the consumers as well as the nature of products that will match the market demand. By making planned and regular mass production possible, the business will achieve all its set goals Personal selling would be applied if the cost per sale is justified like Insurance products, loan products, credit card sales, personal banking products, high value kitchen appliances in which the benefits from the customer to the company are more than the costs that are incurred for the sale to happen.

Selling is important in the financial contribution to the organization Sales force is directly responsible for generating sales revenue. Personal selling is the most effective tool, especially at the later stages of buying process. It is very useful in building buyer preference, convictions and action. The personal selling is said to be a cost to the organization because of the costs involved which includes the cost of employing a sales force sales people which is very expensive.

The equipment to make sales calls which includes car, travel and subsistence costs, and mobile phone is also an expense to the organizations. Other cost incurred is staff back up costs and sales training programs but still and organization cannot survive without it as Sales people identify opportunities and create value and organize resources of their organization that the company can exploit In addition, personal selling has narrow audience as a sales person can only call only one customer at a time.

This is not a cost-effective way of reaching a large audience but long-term profit is justified for the cost incurred. Personal selling costs are also high due to the compensation plans that are involved to attract the desired number of sales representatives that are highly productive. In addition to the basic pay package, a business needs to provide incentives to achieve sales typically this is based on commission and bonus arrangements.

The bonuses can be based on performance which triggers most sales people to perform very well so that they will earn higher salaries Sales Personnel need to move from one point to another, sales promotion, insurance, website utilities and telephone bill since personal selling involves person-to-person contact, the money spent to support a sales staff. Personal selling permits all kinds of relationships to spring up, ranging from a matter of fact selling relationships to a deep personal friendship.

Sales representatives usually have customer’s best interests at heart. Personal selling provides individual buyers with the opportunity to consult with a salesperson and to make a more informed decision when purchasing a product or service. Training Costs are also very high as most forms of personal selling require the sales staff be extensively trained on product knowledge, industry information and selling skills.

For companies that require their salespeople attend formal training programs, the cost of training can be quite high and include such expenses as travel, hotel, meals, and training equipment while also paying the trainees’ salaries while they attend. Although the money involved in personal selling is very high, the positive results brought by the use of personal selling still have high beneficial as high sales are generated while evaluating the strengths and weakness of the company’s products

Personal selling is the face-to-face interaction of a seller with a potential buyer wherein the seller tries to persuade the buyer to purchase the product or service he is promoting on behalf of a company. Personal selling helps a company build and improve lasting relationships with customers and is a handy tool in the hands of marketers due to various reasons. It gives marketers the freedom to make adjustments in the promotional message to satisfy the information needs of customers. It also allows them to target the promotional message with utmost precision and direct it at the most promising leads.

The two-way flow of information and the interaction that it facilitates, allows marketers to obtain valuable feedback from the customers that in turn helps them identify the strengths and weaknesses in existing products and improve new product development. Therefore the cost incurred will be far much less than the benefits of personal selling Reference Kotler, Philip. Marketing Management. 1994, 8th ed. Prentice-Hall, Ralph W. Jackson, Robert D. Hisrich (1996), “Sales and Sales Management”, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA Pride W, and Ferrell O. Marketing concept and Strategies, 1989 6th Edition, Boston Graphics, Texas, USA