BCOS 186 Personal Selling and Salesmanship Solved Assignment 2022 – 23
IGNOU BCOMG Solved Assignment 2022 – 23
BCOS – 186: PERSONAL SELLING AND SALESMANSHIP
TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT
COURSE CODE: BCOS-186
COURSE TITLE: Personal Selling and Salesmanship
ASSIGNMENT CODE: BCOS-186/TMA/2022-23
COVERAGE: ALL BLOCKS
Maximum Marks: 100
Note: Attempt all the questions.
In this Post you will get BCOS 186 Personal Selling and Salesmanship Solved Assignment 2022 – 23 which is a very important subject in IGNOU BCOMG 2nd Semeter. In order to Secure Handsome Marks in IGNOU BCOMG Solved Assignment 2022 – 23 simply note down the solved assignment and submit it before 15th October 2023.
Section – A
1. What are the various steps of sales process in personal selling. Discuss them in detail. (10)
Ans: In personal selling, a sales person has to go through various steps, which are explained as follows:
a) Identifying Prospects: The first step in the personal selling process is identifying the prospects who can be your final customers. For example, if your company manufactures rubber, then the prospects will include all the manufacturers who use rubber in their manufacturing process, like – rubber tyre manufactures etc. A sales person can find the all the prospects by
Ø Trade shows.
Ø Data bases.
Ø Existing customers.
Ø Internet enquiry.
Ø Channel members, etc.
b) Qualifying Prospects: After identifying all the prospects, the qualifying ones are find out. It is basically the screening process that who can be the more potential buyers, who not only have the willingness to buy your product but also have the capacity to buy the product. These qualifying prospects are then contacted like a proper target market.
c) Pre Approach: The sales person then tries to find the prospective customer’s needs and present perceptions. Many prospects are busy at certain times of the day. The sales person tries to find out the right time to meet the prospects. He makes initial calls to the potential customers and tries to make an initial contact with the prospects.
d) Sales Approach: After pre approach, the sales person makes a final approach to the potential customers to make them convince regarding the benefits of the product. As there is a very popular saying that first impression is the last impression. A sales person must behave politely and courteously. He needs to develop a good relation with the potential buyers.
e) Presentations and Demonstrations: After sales approach, the potential customers are given presentations and demonstrations about the company’s products and they are explained about the benefits and features of the product. Using multimedia makes the presentations more effective and interesting. Audio, video tools are used to create interest in the presentations. The sales professionals must have all the knowledge regarding the company’s product and its attributes.
f) Handling Grievance and Objections: Potential customers may have doubts regarding the product features and may have other queries too. A good salesman solves all the queries of the potential customers effectively so as to make them convince regarding the benefits of the product. The sales person provides more information about the product to the potential customers to solve their queries.
g) Closing the Sales: After handling all the grievances and objections, a good sales person needs to close out the sales process effectively. The sales person may give some information, booklets, brochures, pamphlets to the potential customers. The sales person may ask the potential customers to buy the product. He can ask the prospects that at what time they would like to take the delivery, what color they would prefer etc.
h) Follow Up: A good sales person will keep a regular follow up with the customers so that they again purchase from the same company. The sales person’s objective is not to make some sales, but his objective is to make long term relationship with the customers and make loyal customers towards the products of the company.
2. State the various qualities required by the salesman to become a successful salesman. (10)
Ans: Essential Qualities of a Good Sales Person
It is very difficult to enlist the qualities of people engaged in personal selling. The quality will vary from time to time and from situation to situation. It also depends upon the customers’ demand and nature of the product. Again a salesman may be effective in one situation but may fail in another situation. So in real life certain qualities may be suitable for a particular line of product and may be irrelevant in any other case. However, there are certain common qualities, which every salesman should possess in order to become successful in their life. These qualities are listed below.
1. Physical quality: A salesman should have a good appearance and an impressive personality. He should also have a sound health.
2.Mental quality: A good salesman should possess certain mental qualities like imagination, initiative, self-confidence, sharp memory, alertness etc. He should be able to understand the needs and preferences of customers.
3. Integrity of character: A good salesman should possess the qualities of honesty and integrity. He is to gain the confidence of the customers. He should be able to understand their needs and guide them how to satisfy those needs. His employer too should have faith in him. A salesman should be loyal both to the employer and to the customers.
4. Knowledge of the product and the company: A salesman should have full knowledge of the product and the company he is representing. He should be able to explain each and every aspect of the product i.e. its qualities, how to use it, what precautions to be taken, etc. He should be able to explain the business and service record of the company. He should also have knowledge of products of rival companies. So that he can put across the superiority of his own products.
5. Good behaviour: A salesman should be co-operative and courteous. Good behaviour enables one to win the confidence of the customers. He should not feel irritated if the buyer puts up many questions even if the questions are irrelevant. It is also not necessary that the person he is trying to convince buys the product. The salesman has to remain and courteous in every case.
6. Ability to persuade: A good salesman should be good in conversation so that he can engage the person he is attending in conversation. He should be able to convince him and create the desire in his mind to possess the commodity.
3. Write explanatory note on buying motives of the customers. (10)
Ans: There is a buying motive behind every purchase. A buying motive means what induces a person to buy a product or services. The buying motive may differ from one buyer to another. For example, one person may buy a watch to know time while another may buy it as a gift for his beloved.
Salespersons must know and understand the motives which prompt people to buy, only then they can design effective sales presentations. Buying motives can be classified into two broad categories – rational and emotional.
1. Rational Buying Motives: The motives which are based on logic or reasoning are called rational buying motives. Buyers with these motives make an objective review of the available information before deciding what to buy and how much. The information relates to the quality and prices of different brands of a product service. A rational buyer makes an objective examination of the product/service. For him/her the functional use is more important them the appearance. He relies on the advice/suggestion of experts. He seeks and tries to get value for the money spent. Some example of rational buying motives is given below:
a) Cost: Rational buyers compare the costs of alternate brands. In case the quality is the same, they buy the lowest priced brand.
b) Quality: Quality and reliability is the main rational motive. Cost and quality together determine value. A rational buyer wants to secure full value for each rupee spent.
c) Health: Rational buyers prefer food items and other products which are good for health. Organic food, green tea, etc. are popular as these contain no preservatives. Consumers who want to lose weight prefer skimmed milk to full cream milk.
d) Security: Rational buyers want to secure their future and the future of their families. CCTV cameras, alarm system, key chain and other devices are used to protect houses, offices, shops, etc.
e) Comfort: Furnishings, vehicles and several other products are purchased for comfort motives. Recreation and amusement are also the reasons for buying.
f) Convenience: In order to save time and energy, people use online banking and digital payment systems. Online shopping is becoming increasingly popular for the same motive.
2. Emotional Buying Motives: Emotional buying motives refer to sentiments. These relate more to the heart than to the brain. Such motives are no less powerful than rational motives.
In several cases both rational and emotional motives together lead to a purchase decision. For example, a person may buy a life insurance policy both for investment and out of fear. When you buy a car for mobility rational motive may be dominant. But when you buy a sedan as a status symbol the emotional motive is dominant.
Buying Motives
|
Rational Motives |
Emotional Motives |
|
1. Cost-economy in purchase and use. 2. Efficiency in use or operation. 3. Handiness of the product. 4. Durability. 5. Reliability. 6. Dependability in use. 7. Increase in earnings. 8. On time delivery. 9. Time saving. 10. Good after sale service. |
1. Pride of possession. 2. Emulation. 3. Distinctiveness in design. 4. Beautiful packing. 5. Most advertised brand. |
Buying motives are very useful in personal selling.
1. Buying motives indicate the reasons which prompt people to buy. Their understanding helps sales people in appealing to these motives.
2. Knowledge of buying motives enables salespeople to design their sales approaches in a flexible manner.
3. Sales people who understand buying motives can be more effective in their jobs.
4. Different motives may be dominant for different buyers or at different situations. Therefore, sales people have to handle each customer in an unique way.
4. What do you understand by personal selling? Explain importance of person selling in modern marketing. (10)
Ans: Meaning of Personal Selling
Personal selling is a face-to-face selling technique by which a salesperson uses his or her interpersonal skills to persuade a customer in buying a particular product. The salesperson tries to highlight various features of the product to convince the customer that it will only add value. However, getting a customer to buy a product is not the motive behind personal selling every time. Often companies try to follow this approach with customers to make them aware of a new product.
Personal selling (or salesmanship) is the most traditional method, devised by manufactures, for promotion of the sales of their products. Prior to the development of the advertising technique, personal selling used to be the only method used by manufacturers for promotion of sales.
According to Philip Kotler, ““Personal Selling is the face to face interaction with one or more perspective purchasers for the purpose of making presentations, answering questions, and procuring orders”
According to Duncan, “Salesmanship is the art of presenting an offering so that the prospect appreciates the need for it and a mutually satisfactory sale follows.”
W. Major Scott, “It is the part of a salesman’s’ business to create demand by demonstrating that the need does exist, although before his visit there was no consciousness of that need.”
Significance of Personal Selling
Personal selling is the personal communication of information about goods, services and ideas to the prospective buyers or existing buyers to meet their needs or requirements. The importance of personal selling can be grouped under three heads for businesses, customers and society respectively.
Importance of Personal selling for business
1. Immediate feedback: The sellers get quick response or feedback of the performance of products in the market. All other tools of promotion mix like advertisement and sales promotion have certain time lag in communicating the results of progress of various products and services. The immediate and real time feedback helps the business to keep the information generated through personal selling in consideration to improvise products for future use.
2. Minimum wastage of efforts: Personal selling identifies and search the most appropriate prospects for selling goods and services. The effective prospecting assists in focusing the efforts only on those who have the higher probability of making a purchase. It helps in minimization of sales force efforts on interested potential buyers only.
3. Cost Control: Personal selling plays an important role in reducing the selling expenses and thereby bringing more profits for the company. The selling expenses are controlled by emphasizing only on those prospects who have higher probability of making a purchase decision.
4. Customer confidence: The collaborative or partnering nature of personal selling in finding the right solution at the right place, delivering better products and services ultimately results in winning the customer confidence and gaining larger share in the market.
5. Goodwill: The objective of personal selling is to bring revenues for the company along with winning customer on continual basis. The goodwill and reputation of the company is developed through satisfying the needs of the target segment in an effective manner.
Importance of personal selling for Consumers
The customer centric approach is embedded in the personal selling. The various benefits of personal selling can be outlined as follows:
1. Assists in identification of needs: The salesperson provides information about the different products for different needs of potential buyers. Personal selling efforts are more about understanding the demands and enlightening the potential buyers by providing them information of new arrivals, modifications in products and identifying the right kind of product to meet their needs.
2. Personalization and customization: Personal selling is highly customized form of communication. The customized information for different customers is designed keeping in consideration the various factors affecting their buying behaviour. It differs from advertisement in the mode and manner of communication. Advertisement is unilateral whereas personal selling is bilateral and personalized according to the requirements of different buyers.
3. Provides consultation and guidance: The personal seller also provides follow up services to maintain the relationships with customers. The after-sale services such as installation, repairs, maintenance with respect to use and disposal of services are also ensured in personal selling.
4. Source of information: The feedback or the responses of the customers for company’s offerings can be easily gauged by the salespersons. Personal selling acts as interface between the customers and top management of the company. The feedback received from the customers’ act as an input for further improvisation, modification or removal of products in future.
Importance of Personal selling to society
Personal selling plays a constructive role in the progress of society. The importance of personal selling for selling can be illustrated as follows-
1. Improvement in standard of living: Personal selling enables educating buyers about the about new improved products. It assists in maintaining equilibrium by reducing the fluctuations in price. Salesperson acts as an interface between the company and customers at large. The inputs of the customers and society at large are communicated for developing better products at affordable prices.
2. Employment opportunities: The scope of personal selling also entails creating employment opportunities for people. The working conditions are also changing because of the online presence of the companies; salesmen need not to go door to door but now assist customers in choosing a final product out of all the available options.
3. Opportunities for career advancements: Personal selling enables creation of opportunities for career advancements. From starting his career as a field salesman, a person can raise his level till the CMO too passing through the stages of area sales manager, regional sales manager among others. Moreover, competitors are also looking for a start sales performer. Hence, he can always be showered by the offers from the competitors.
4. Free Movement in any industry: Each industry is engaged in selling activity, hence, selling skills give a person an additional advantage to move across industries without having any kind of specialized degree. A small training is sufficient to make him understand about all the technical jargons of that industry.
5. Discuss in detail certain conditions that favour personal selling. (10)
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Section – B
6. What steps sales manager can take to avoid puffery and misrepresentation in selling. (6)
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7. What do you understand by creative salesmanship? Explain the Characteristics of Creative Selling. (6)
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8. “The salespersons’ motivation directly impacts his sales performance and his ability to achieve sales targets.” Comment. (6)
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9. Explain the significance of ‘trial close’ in closing the sale with suitable examples. (6)
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10. What are the primary and secondary responsibilities of a Sales professional? (6)
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Section – C
11. Write short notes on: (10)
(a) Digital Marketing.
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(b) Tour diary.
Ans: Tour diary is a document containing information about a salesman visit to various places for selling purpose. Every salesman has to give detailed account of his visits. The tour diary must include information about name of visited place, purpose of the visit, name of the person contacted with, date and time, mode of convenience etc.
A tour diary helps a company informed about movement of salesperson, there regularity and it also shows their dedication towards work. A salesman consistently visiting various places for qualifying and identifying prospects, gathering information about prospects, giving presentations to the prospects is considered a valuable asset for the company. Tour diary is also helpful in measuring efforts and performances of a salesman.
12. Distinguish between: (10)
(a) Door-in-the-Face Technique and Foot-in-the-door Technique.
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(b) Organization Skills and Persuading Skills
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