Introduction
The ultimate goal of every business is to sell its products to as many customers as possible in order to make high profits. To achieve this goal, businesses employ various strategies, which include advertising, public relations, publicity, and direct salespersons to market their products. This paper will discuss the importance of each of these strategies in the process of marketing a product.
Significance of a Salesperson
Salespersons make significant contributions to their companies since they possess a variety of values that alternative marketing systems such as e-commerce cannot replace. To begin with, a salesperson is an expert who is well connected in a particular market segment. This enables him to reach out to customers and to identify their needs, thereby creating opportunities for new product development and market share expansion.
An effective salesperson is usually likeable and is capable of building strong relationships with customers. The relationships enable customers to identify with the company’s product, thereby increasing the chances of repeat purchases. Salespeople identify important leads that ultimately turn into huge sales.
They are passionate about the company’s product and explain its benefits to customers in a manner that creates a lasting emotional impact. It is this personal connection rather than the product or brand that turns potential customers into actual customers. In a nutshell, salespersons are very important since they enable companies to take business away from their competitors.
The type of the product being sold determines the significance of the salesperson. For instance, first moving consumer goods (FMCG) such as bread usually do not require a salesperson because the consumers already have adequate knowledge about them. Additionally, the product is so important to the consumer that they have to buy it without being persuaded by a salesperson.
However, for a service such as insurance a salesperson is very important because the product is costly, has complicated features, and is often associated with rip-off. In this context, a salesperson is not only needed to explain the benefits of the product, but also to convince customers to purchase it.
Expectations of a Salesperson
The main expectations of a salesperson include the following. First, a salesperson expects to maintain a high customer satisfaction rate. This helps in reducing customer attrition by improving the loyalty of existing clients. Second, a salesperson expects to maintain a positive and professional attitude.
A positive attitude is important to a salesperson since he is bound to experience rejection in the market. A positive attitude provides the motivation to pursue new leads in order to meet sales targets. Third, a salesperson expects to meet his sales targets within the set timeline. In order to realize this expectation, the salesperson is required to have excellent negotiation skills and product knowledge.
The sales role is a position that I would be interested in. This decision is supported by the following facts. To begin with, the role will enable me to make valuable contributions to the company. Undoubtedly, selling is the most important activity in any company since it directly generates revenue.
The sales role is also important to me because it creates new challenges that have to be addressed through innovative strategies. This not only eliminates boredom, but also provides numerous opportunities for learning and creativity. Working as a salesperson is a highly rewarding career in nearly every company. For instance, most organizations provide their sales personnel with a fixed and a variable pay. The variable component provides the opportunity to the salesperson to increase his income according to his ability.
Advertising Policy
Ethics determine the long-term benefit of advertising. Specifically, the society’s perception or attitude towards an advert can lead to an increase in demand or a total rejection of a product. An advertising activity is considered to be ethical if it demonstrates respect to the target audience.
Showing respect in advertising involves anticipating and addressing the intentional and the unintentional effects of an advert on the society. Based on these perspectives, my advertising policy would be to create responsible desire. This involves using advertising to create desire or stimuli in a manner that does not create harm in the society. Basically, this policy is based on the principle of do good and no harm.
The proposed policy is likely to be effective because it addresses all the elements of a firm’s triple bottom line. The elements include profitability, social responsibility, and environmental responsibility. Creating responsible desires leads to sustainable advertising. Adverts that do not cause any harm to the society and the environment will not be resisted by social activists or banned by the government. Thus, they can be used for a long time to stimulate the public to purchase a particular product, thereby increasing the company’s profits.
Public Relations, Publicity, and Corporate Advertising
Publicity, public relations, and corporate advertising have the following similarities. First, they are all used to create awareness about a company and its products. Second, they all depend on the print and electronic media to convey information about the company and its products.
Publicity, public relations, and corporate advertising are different in the following ways. Publicity is the act of drawing the attention of the media in order to improve the visibility of a brand, product or a company in the public. The main objective of publicity is to garner as much media coverage as possible in order to create awareness about a brand or a product.
Unlike advertising, publicity is often not paid for. Moreover, publicity does not involve controlling what is being covered by the media. Thus, publicity can be positive or negative. For instance, Virgin Cola brand received positive publicity in the US when the chairman of the company that produces it, Sir Richard Branson, drove a Sherman tank down a street in New York in 1998 during its launch. The main strength of publicity is that it enables companies to create brand awareness at a low cost.
Public relations activities are concerned with influencing the public’s opinion through the media. Thus, its main objective is to improve the reputation of a brand or a company. For instance, after the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP used public relations in 2012 to regain its reputation as an efficient firm in the oil industry. Thus, the main benefit of public relations is to help companies to minimize the negative impact of various events on their brands.
Advertising involves paying media companies to convey specific information about a brand or a product. Unlike publicity, advertising enables the company to determine the message that the media presents to the public about its product.
The difference between advertising and public relations is that the later positions information as news, whereas the former presents information as an appeal to make a purchase decision. For instance, Nokia Lumia 920 gained market share in the US in 2012 after its advert presented iPhone 5 (its main competitor) as boring.
Publicity in Future
Publicity will continue to play an important role in improving the competitiveness of products in future because of the following reasons. First, publicity ensures credibility since the message about the product emanates from an independent source. As the public becomes more informed about the consequences of consuming various products, publicity will be one of the tools that companies will use to enhance the credibility of their brands.
Second, publicity is cost-effective and provides a lot of information to the public. As competition increases in various industries in future, companies are likely to turn to publicity to improve their brand awareness at low costs. Finally, technological advancements such as the use of the internet and smartphones to access real-time information will enhance the suitability of publicity in marketing.
Conclusion
Advertising, publicity, and public relations are used by marketers to improve the brand awareness for their products. Unlike advertising and public relations, publicity is cost-effective and is likely to be used in future by companies that have limited marketing budgets. Apart from implementing the aforementioned strategies, companies should employ salespersons to sell their products. However, the need for a salesperson depends on the characteristics of the product.
References
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