Personal Selling

When you think of door-to-door salesmen or telemarketers you probably picture them as the supreme evil.  Its true, direct marketing in general used to be very sells orient instead of people-oriented which caused them to come off as pushy, annoying, and at times straight up rude.  But this is not necessarily true anymore.  Companies realize that even one bad salesperson can leave a bad taste in many peoples mouths and companies train salespeople to do better.  They train salespeople to listen more than they talk and try to meet the customers needs.

Personal selling is the interpersonal communication process by which a seller ascertains and then satisfies the needs of a buyer, to the mutual, long-term benefit of both parties.  This means that a salesperson must strive to create a relationship, not just a one-time sell.  While he may not be much of a listener Kenny Brooks, shown below, is quite an entertainer while selling his product.  Even when he asks his customers a question, he does not wait for their answer.  While this still may give Kenny Brooks a one-time sell almost every time, Mr. Brooks learns nothing about his customer and therefore cannot make a better offer for them; however, if you have not seen this video, it is worth a watch.

Pros and Cons

There are reasons companies didn't give up on personal selling when the bad views of salesmen and telemarketers arose including:

• Personal communication is more persuasive than any other medium.  Salespeople can find what potential customers really want and need and offer them a product to help them.  No other medium can do that.
• Feedback is instant.  Personal selling is extremely easy to measure.  It can help a company create a database quicker than any other medium can.
• Once a relationship is established the lifetime value of that customer is locked in.  A customer is more likely to buy a slightly more expensive product from someone that they feel wants to help them and cares about them than off a rack at a store.

So why use any other advertising? Because:

• Personal selling is a costly and time consuming medium.  A trained salesperson must be paid and not all visit or calls are quick.  If they are quick a sell was probably not made.  A relationship cannot be built in 60 seconds.
• Even when given different titles, salespeople are still viewed negatively by many people.

Interesting Facts 

• Everybody sells something in their lifetime.  Rather it is lemonade, a fundraiser, or an actual job, everybody has been or will be a salesperson.
• For many people, salespeople are the face of the company, or even ARE the company.