In order to stimulate buyer’s response towards making a purchase, proper manipulation of the marketing mix is required. The following represents the four elements of marketing mix: product, price, promotion, and place (Kotler, 2003). The sales concept in marketing is essential in the process of availing a product to customers.
When a company makes sales it means that its marketing mix is well organized. A good sales strategy requires appropriate combination of the marketing tools. First, the product must have the right features that appeal to customers. Second, the product should be priced in an affordable manner so that consumers can consume it in large numbers.
Third, customers need to be informed of the existence of the product through promotional efforts. Lastly, the product must be made available to the targeted group.
Sales function also involves the understanding of consumer behavior. Consumer behavior is a study of how consumers make decisions to spend on the resources that they have. These resources include time, money, and the efforts involved in the buying process. A consumer’s buying behavior is driven by social, cultural, psychological, and personal factors (Perner, 2008).
Understanding the behaviors of consumers enables all the stakeholders in the market including consumers, marketers, and scholars of human behavior to gain an insight on certain consumption related ways. Therefore, marketers can be able to make the right strategic decisions so as to improve on their organizational performance.
As the owner/chef of Personal Touch Catering, selling concept is a major concern in relation to meeting the company’s objective. The business has been experiencing difficulties in satisfying the customers’ needs because of poor selling strategy. In coming up with a marketing plan, sales is important because this is a catering company that is involved in food preparation; an ever demanding service.
It would be therefore important to consider the incentive pay plan that can motivate employees who are directly connected to customers during catering. In catering, sales is realized through the food product sold or prepared and thus having appropriate strategy of increasing sales would imply that marketing plans can meet the company’s goals.
In setting up sales plans, the marketing mix is to be fully represented in the catering field. The selling effort would include holding promotional activities and insistent advertising.
Making sales will be a greater concern and the company might consider the following factors before setting affordable prices for services offered: selecting the price objective in order to increase sales growth, determining the demand in relation to responses and testimonies, estimating the cost involved in catering field, analyzing the competitor’s prices, costs, and offers, and more importantly selecting the pricing method or strategy (Kotler, 2003).
Because of poor sales identified, Personal Touch Catering can consider adopting a promotional pricing strategy. Promotional pricing is based on offering products and services at a discounted price in order to penetrate the market. Besides, the company can launch new and improved services to its customers to cater for consumer requirements and outshine competitors. Moreover, marketing and sales process can be developed through improvement of number of orders or contacts of customers and suppliers.
Other sales efforts include setting up sales commission program so that employees are motivated to engage in selling process. Customers are to be informed of any upcoming sales promotion in order to maintain them. Again, it would be appropriate to offer free improved catering services to customers because such strategy might lead to customer loyalty hence increased sales (Macintosh, 2010).
Having considered the sales efforts, there is need to understand the behaviors of various consumers in different market segments in order to set prices that are inline with the desired quality of the product.
Since the company has the capacity to carry out market research, the management should opt to gather information relevant to the consumer perception and try also to educate consumers on various products and services, hence segmenting the market. Other psychological influences such as motives, attitude, personality and self concept, and lifestyle are to be considered in order to set prices that are favorable.
References
Kotler, P. (2003). Marketing Management. (11th Ed). New York: Prentice Hall.
Macintosh, M.H. (2010). Marketing Concepts. “Five tips for integrating marketing and sales”. Web.
Perner, L. (2008). Consumer Behavior: The Psychology of marketing. Web.