Introduction
Marketing is one of the most important processes in the lifecycle of a product created for a specific or general market. It’s a commercial process that involves promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service across its target users (Shimp, 2008). One of the main objectives of marketing is generating sales by translating a certain message into something that makes a product or service desirable. An effective marketing campaign involves a lot of crucial elements that include a slogan and a reliable sales team. Research has established that a salesperson plays a pivotal role in determining the success of a marketing campaign in terms of the way people embrace the products or services being promoted. Generally, the success of a salesperson is measured by their ability to push for the product to be accepted in the market and convince people to make a purchase (Scott, 2015).
Also, a salesperson should endeavor to build a product or service into a household name that people can easily associate with at any given instance. The ability to turn a product into a household name depends a lot on the preparedness and persistence shown by the salesperson to convince people about its desirability (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2009). Having a well trained and highly experienced salesperson often forms part of the requirements for a marketing program. Besides, the salesperson ought to have a strong personality, the right attitude, and persistence because clients provide different experiences that can easily dampen one’s spirit or motivation to work (Shimp, 2008).
The significance of a salesperson in pushing products
Studies have established that a salesperson plays a crucial role in the prospects of a marketing campaign successfully pushing a product into a market. First, a salesperson acts as an ambassador of the product to the people who might not have heard or seen it before (Belch & Belch, 2009). In most cases, prospective buyers associate the product sold to them with the image presented by the salesperson. Therefore, a salesperson has a huge ethical responsibility of ensuring that his or her image reflects the values that the product they sell offers the consumer.
For example, it is unethical for a salesperson marketing a detergent to have dirty or stained clothes that give the buyer a wrong impression about its efficiency (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2009). Experts argue that a salesperson should always maintain an image that can send an instant message to a customer before they even begin the process of convincing them to make a purchase (Scott, 2015).
There are certain skills and competencies that an effective salesperson should have to become a good product ambassador. One of these skills is persistence. This skill is very helpful, especially to salespeople that are new to the job because they might feel ignored and irrelevant if a potential customer turns down their offer (Belch & Belch, 2009). This skill helps to increase their opportunities for selling their products because the more they get turned down the greater the motivation to recover the lost chances. Studies have established that a great number of people have tried their hand in sales but chose to quit soon after their first prospect got turned down (Scott, 2015). This kind of reluctance by some salespeople contributes a lot to the inability of certain products to fulfill their potential in certain markets.
Second, a salesperson is relevant to pushing a product in a market because they provide clients with all the information they need to know reliably. This role requires a salesperson with top-notch communication skills to meet the needs of various clients objectively. During the initial stages of a sales process when the representative meets with a client to present their proposal, a lot of crucial information is often exchanged (Scott, 2015).
This means that the salesperson ought to be in a position to provide answers to all the questions that the client has about their product or service. Effective communication by a salesperson also entails active listening, especially to any sentiments or recommendations raised by the client about the product (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2009). Although most salespeople tend to feel that the questions they ask are the most relevant, it is important to note that active listening provides a good basis for putting across the best queries. Salespeople often act as intermediaries between a client and their employer (Scott, 2015).
Research has established that the type of goods being sold can impact on the ability of a salesperson to successfully push a product into certain markets. This is highly dependent on several factors such as the availability of a market, existing competition, the marketing strategy used, as well as customer needs and preferences (Scott, 2015). Certain types of goods cannot be sold without establishing the availability of a market. For example, electric cars are slowly gaining momentum in the European and American automobile market.
These cars are yet to be introduced in Africa and other parts of the world. The main reason for this is the fact that these parts do not have a ready market for this product due to factors such as infrastructure and economic empowerment of the people (Belch & Belch, 2009). This one type of product that cannot be pushed into a market that is not ready for it. Existing competition is also another factor that can make a certain type of product to be locked out of a market. Research has established that introducing a product in a market that already has the same product can either have a highly positive or negative outcome (Callen, 2009).
If the product offers the same quality as its existing competitors, the consumers are likely to give the product a good reception, thus making it’s market penetration much easier. On the other hand, if the new product highly compromises the quality standards that the consumers are used to, the chances of it having a difficult market penetration due to poor reception are very high. A good example is a soft drink brand (Scott, 2015). If a new brand being introduced does not offer anything new and exciting to the consumers, then its market performance will be very dim.
Customer needs and preferences also impact on the ability of certain products to penetrate a market effectively. Various markets have their unique demands and user preferences that must be put into consideration before developing any product for them. These elements are often influenced by various factors beyond the control of consumers (Callen, 2009). This means that a market analysis is very important in ensuring that a product achieves the highest number of sales possible. For example, recent developments in technology have created different kinds of users with unique needs and interests.
Most digital device manufacturing companies often conduct separate analyses for all their target markets to establish the specific needs of the users. One of the notable features that are influenced by this factor is menu languages, inbuilt applications, and physical features that appreciate the people’s cultural values. In the contemporary world, technology companies such as Samsung develop their products according to the major needs of their target market (Scott, 2015). They have to consider the features that users from a certain market will use the most and those that they will largely find irrelevant to have on their devices. Experts argue that this kind of considerations makes the work easier for the salespeople, as well as provides increased opportunities for more sales because people tend to give the products a very warm welcome (Belch & Belch, 2009).
Expectations of sales professionals
One of the main objectives of every business is achieving the highest number of sales for their products and services as much as possible. This is largely the work of sales professionals who shoulder the burden of ensuring that their company’s products reach all the parts of their target market and beyond (Shimp, 2008). According to experts, some organizations tend to develop a certain set of performance indicators that help to set the expectations for their sales team. Research has established that sales professionals are expected to meet certain levels of performance and discipline to achieve their goals objectively (Belch & Belch, 2009).
One of the expectations is striving towards providing the best quality client experience by satisfying their needs. Customer satisfaction is one of the major support pillars of successful marketing strategies used by some of the biggest multinational companies in the world. Sales professionals also ought to have a professional attitude that entails treating all clients equally, with dignity, as well as according them their personal space about their tastes and preferences (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2009). Another expectation of sales professionals is the ability and desire to go after every opportunity that presents its self to capture a client. According to studies conducted to determine the most common traits among the most successful sales professionals, aggressiveness and persistence identified as the features that influence top performance by these people (Belch & Belch, 2009).
Sales professionals also ought to ensure that they create, maintain, and regularly maintain their contact list to ensure that none of the clients is lost due to breakdown in communication or any other causes (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2009). This plays a crucial role in building a strong network that can be effectively exploited to create more opportunities for selling the products. Good communication and negotiation skills are a highly desirable set of skills among sales professionals. This job mainly entails telling people about the qualities of a product and convincing them to buy for a better or a different experience (Shimp, 2008). Other notable expectations include maximizing on the resources available in an organization, attending sales meetings regularly, and demonstrate high levels of professionalism.
Working as a salesperson is a career I would highly be interested in because it helps one to develop in numerous life aspects. First, I will create my network of friends through the numerous people that I meet in the line of duty. These people will help me grow in my career, as well as in other areas in life that I will find them helpful. Second, working as a salesperson is advantageous for improving my communication and negotiation skills. These two elements apply prominently in the contemporary world, thus I would be in a better position to apply them more than most people. Thirdly, a profession in sales attracts huge financial rewards as long as someone is persistent and aggressive enough with all the opportunities that present themselves. Therefore, a career in sales is a glamorous as any other job.
Ethical policy for advertising activities
Research has established that salespeople have an ethical responsibility of ensuring that their advertising activities do not partially prevent objective consideration of certain issues in an unfair way (Abrahams, 2008). This mainly entails issues that involve the competitors or their target clients. The plan of action that I would take to prevent my advertising activities attracting negative reviews would entail careful consideration of the steps taken by my competitors to promote their products. Research has established that the most effective advertising campaigns that build a product into a household name tend to capitalize on the gaps existing in the market (Abrahams, 2008).
I would ensure that I do not make a negative dig on any of my competitors because it would create a bad impression about my intentions. Instead, I would focus on giving the consumers information about my products in a unique way that will make them associate the product with new experiences and more adventure (Abrahams, 2008). Also, I would always ensure that my target audience understands the extra benefits they would get from using my product compared to the others that are available in the market. It is very important to ensure that the consumers associate my products with positivity rather than negativity directed towards the competitors (Abrahams, 2008).
Public relations, publicity, and corporate advertising
Public relations, publicity, and advertising are some of the crucial elements of any marketing campaign. The three elements have similarities and differences in the way they are applied. One of the characteristic similarities between them is the fact that they are all used as a means of conveying information about a product, cause, project, or interests to the public (Callen, 2009). Their differences apply in terms of the way they are used to convey the message. Public relations entail the process of availing information about a product or service to various media outlets in a bid to get coverage targeting the consumers. It involves three major steps, namely determination of public attitudes, identification of organizational policies that guide such processes, as well as development and execution of the public relations program (Abrahams, 2008).
Some of the tools used in public relations include press releases, press conferences, exclusives, interviews, the internet, and community involvement. The effectiveness of public relations is measured by establishing the degree of impression on the targeted audience, as well as the percentage of positive and negative reviews written by the media (Shimp, 2008). Some of the benefits associated with public relations include building the credibility of a product, reduces costs of marketing, helps to avoid clutter, allows selectivity, as well as building the image of the involved parties (Abrahams, 2008). An example of public relations is when Nike used a press conference to announce its sponsorship deal with Michael Jordan.
Publicity refers to the act of issuing a message on behalf of a product, cause, or idea to create awareness among the public (Abrahams, 2008). It is often a short-term engagement that is not always controlled by the hiring party. In most cases, publicity can be either positive or negative depending on the intention of making the move. Some of the tools used in publicity include feature articles, special events, captioned photos, news releases, and press conferences. Some of the benefits associated with using publicity instead of advertising include higher credibility, high news value, and a high frequency of exposure (Callen, 2009). A good example of publicity is campaigns created to expose a scandal involving a prominent person in a bid to capture the attention of others. Shortly, the role of publicity will change and most probably lead to a decrease in its level of impact on conveying information. This response is influenced by the fact that its reach in terms of influence and frequency is hard to determine. Also, its timing is very tentative and also has low flexibility (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2009).
Corporate advertising refers to a promotion carried out to draw the public’s attention about the interests of an organization to boost its image. This form of marketing involves an organization associating its self with a specific event that will help promote its message to the target audience. There are four major types of corporate advertising, namely image advertising, event sponsorship, advocacy, and cause-related advertising (Callen, 2009). Corporate advertising is usually used to create a positive image about an organization, communicate its viewpoint regarding numerous issues, and boost employee morale to work among other objectives. Some of the tools used for corporate advertising include sporting events, music shows, causes, and cultural events. A good example of corporate advertising is the involvement that Coca-cola has had with the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) world cup competition.
References
Abrahams, R. (2008). The Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies. California: The Planning Shop.
Belch, G.E., & Belch, M.A. (2009). Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Callen, B. (2009). Managers Guide to Marketing, Advertising, and Publicity. New York: McGraw Hill Professional.
Hawkins, D., & Mothersbaugh, D. (2009). Consumer Behavior Building Marketing Strategy. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Scott, D.M. (2015). The New Rules of Marketing & P.R.: How to use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Shimp, T. (2008). Advertising Promotion and other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications. New York: Cengage Learning.