Deck 19: Ethical Marketing in a Consumer-Oriented World: Appraisal and Challenges

Question 1

company. Customer relationships are so integral to Murray's that its cheesemongers taste the cheese with the customers. In this way, Murray's in-store sales force educates themselves about the cheeses they are selling and creates a valuable experience where the customer feels appreciated. By establishing this unique experience, Murray's often succeeds in getting customers to purchase more products at once and make repeat purchases.
This positive customer environment is what Murray's Cheese hopes to bring to Kroger's. Those Kroger employees who sell Murray's cheeses undergo extensive training beforehand. Murray's even created a 300-page cheese service guide for these recruits. Kroger customers seem to appreciate the more attentive customer service they receive in these Murray branded shops. In a pilot program where three Murray's Cheese shops replaced Kroger cheese departments, sales increased SO to 100 percent. It was such a success that, under the new partnership, Murray's Cheese will open 50 Murray's shops in Kroger supermarkets within three years.
Personal selling does not always have to be about traveling throughout sales territories, calling on prospects. Murray's in-store cheesemongers make and close sales doing what they do best: educating customers and sharing the gourmet cheese experience. With Kroger's success at promotion and Murray's strengths in personal selling, it looks to be a win-win situation for both partners. Murray's motivated cheeeemongers help to satisfy the needs of their customers and achieve personal goals.
1. How would you explain the sales presentation that is most effective for selling Murray's cheese products?
2. How would you apply the concept of relationship selling to building long-term customers at Murray's Cheese?
3. Do you think that Murray's Cheese salespeople need extensive motivation and training?

Answer 1

1. For selling M's cheese, the sales people are given extensive training prior to starting their work. Sales people first learn about the various products and make an interesting experience when selling it to customers.
M's sales representatives inform customers about the product and try to persuade them to make a purchase. They make quick presentations and close sales in customer-friendly environment.
2. M's sales representatives do not believe in selling; rather, they believe in building relationships with customers. They want their customers to purchase their cheese regularly in the near future; it should not be a onetime deal. Sales people explain customers about cheese and ask customers to taste it.
When customers know what they are buying by checking the quality of the product beforehand, they stick to same brand. This type of relationship helps M's cheese create long-term clients.
3. Yes, M's sales representatives must be given extensive training. M's has its own values and, to retain long-term customers, they need to share these values with every customer. If sales people are not sufficiently motivated they will not be able to convince customers that the product is the best.
They should know the actual way of selling M's cheese and so must undergo an extensive training. It is not a normal sale, where people can just call or travel to customers. All the representatives must follow a trend, which can be considered as their trademark.
So, before recruiting, a strong motivational training must be given to all sales people of M's cheese.

Question 2

Why are team selling and relationship selling becoming more prevalent?

Answer 2

Following are the reasons why relationship and team selling are more important today:
1. It builds partnership and strengths relationship with the customers at different levels through multiple collaboration points.
2. It has high response speed which builds great customer satisfaction.
3. Customers get a high level of comfort by this type of selling as it easily differentiates competitors from Core Company.
4. Customers gets a benefit of expert answers from the specialist all different fields like finance, marketing, technical and others.
5. It ensures that a marketer have a complete understanding of subject and customer expectations.
6. It not only engages customers on terms and price but also along dimensional range of products.

Question 3

When developing its marketing strategy, a company must consider the different forms of communication that are necessary to reach a variety of customers. Several types of promotion may be required. Knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of each promotional element is necessary when developing the marketing plan. Consider the information in this chapter when evaluating your promotional mix:
Review the various types of salespeople described in this chapter. Given your promotional objectives (from Chapter 17), do any of these types of salespeople have a place in your promotional plan?
The information obtained from these questions should assist you in developing various aspects of your marketing plan found in the "Interactive Marketing Plan" exercise at www.cengagebrain.com.

Answer 3

Salespeople can be classified into various types depending on their capabilities and responsibilities.
The major types of sales people are:
Order getter: they pursue new customers to purchase the product and thus increase company's sales.
Order takers: they do not perform any creative selling. They take repetitive orders from long lasting customers of company. Such salespeople only help in customer satisfaction.
Support personnel: these people engage in various other activities along with sales like educating customers, marketing products and building goodwill.
Following would be the salespeople who will fit into the objectives of the promotional plan:
1) Creating awareness among people : this objective of any promotional plan can be fulfilled with the help of order getters as they successfully pursue new customers.
2) Stimulating demand of the product : support sales personnel helps in completing this promotional objective because they help in sales, marketing and work words the goodwill of company.
3) Retaining loyal customers : order takers are best for this approach as they take orders from long lasting customers.
4) Reducing fluctuations in sales : order takers satisfy old customers and maintain the balance in sales. So, they will be able to handle fluctuation in promotional plan.
5) Encouraging the trial of product : order getters can influence new customers to buy a product because they are energetic enough to close new sales.

Question 4

Identify several characteristics of effective sales objectives.

Question 5

What is personal selling? How does personal selling differ from other types of promotional activities?

Question 6

In support of this effort, two developments can be noted. First, IRL has followed a trend observed in NASCAR and has involved several celebrities in the sport through team ownership. Among the celebrities involved with IRL teams are NBA star Carmelo Anthony, former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, and actor Patrick Dempsey. Another celebrity involved with the IRL is rock star Gene Simmons. He is a partner in Simmons Abramson Marketing, who was hired to help the IRL devise new marketing strategies. The firm's entertainment marketing savvy is being tapped to help the IRL connect with fans on an emotional level through its drivers, whom Simmons referred to as "rock stars in rocket ships."
Second, driver personalities began to give the IRL some visibility. The emergence of Danica Patrick as a star in the IRL has broadened the appeal of the league and assists in efforts to reach young males. Patrick was a 23-year-old IRL rookie in 2005 who finished fourth in the Indianapolis 500. The combination of the novelty of a female driver, her captivating looks, provocative advertising (particularly her Go Daddy ads), and personality made her the darling of American sports in 2005. Patrick's effect on the IRL was very noticeable; the IRL reported gains in event attendance, merchandise sales, website traffic, and television ratings during Patrick's rookie season. Patrick has drawn the interest of many companies that have hired her as a product endorser, including Motorola, Boost Mobile, and XM Radio. In addition, she has appeared in photo shoots in FHM and the 2008 and 2009 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues. Other drivers such as Helio Castroneves and Marco Andretti, who have gained notoriety in Indy racing, also increased awareness of the IRL.
Driver personalities are critical to the promotion and communication process. Most of the drivers endorse their respective sponsors and end up in television advertising promoting the product. This is often done while show-ing the driver in an Indy Racing Car, also promoting the league. Drivers to some extent engage in personal selling by interacting with fans, signing autographs, and making personal appearances. Public relations for the driven is important in television talk show appearances and various other word-of-mouth communication that is created when spectators start discussing the drivers. It is even possible for drivers to appear in television programs as a type of product placement, promoting themselves, the Indy League, and the IRL.
The Future
Another development for the IndyCar Series is a new television broadcast partner. ABC has televised the Indianapolis 500 for 45 years, and IRL will continue that relationship, but most of the other races on the IndyCar Series schedule (at least 13 per season) will be televised by VERSUS, a cable channel that replaced ESPN as IRL's broadcast partner. While VERSUS has a smaller audience than ESPN, it covers fewer sports and plans to give the IndyCar Series more coverage than ESPN did when it owned the broadcast rights. In addition, VERSUS signed a 10-year contract with the IRL.
Perhaps the biggest development for IRL in recent years is its acquisition of a title sponsorship. A title sponsorship is the use of a corporate brand name to be associated with all communication about the league. Due to the decline in its popularity, the IRL lacked a title sponsor for many years. In 2009, the clothing provider hod decided to become the official title sponsor of the IRL for the next six years. This sponsorship is likely to be very beneficial for the IRL, particularly as it came at a time when many sponsors for NASCAR and the IRL were pulling out due to the recession.
Auto racing is the fastest-growing spectator sport in the United States. Unfortunately, the disagreement among top leadership in open-wheel racing divided the sport, leading to a period of decline in open-wheel racing, while other forms of auto racing have grown. Therefore, the new IRL must strengthen its standing in the American motorsports market. The support of major celebrities like Patrick Dempsey and the popularity of drivers like Danica Patrick have boosted the ratings of the IRL, but not enough to overtake NASCAR. With the two major open-wheel leagues unified once more, the IRL must begin the task of reconnecting with former fans and building connections with a new audience."
1. How does the Indy Racing League utilize the various components of integrated marketing communication?
2. How do driver appearances on television and public events contribute to promoting the Indy Racing League?
3. What is the link between sponsorships of cars and drivers by corporations and promotion of the IRL?

Question 7

TerrAlign
TerrAlign offers consulting services and software products designed to help a firm maximize control and deployment of its field sales representatives. See how the company provides sales territory management solutions by visiting www. terralign.com.
Identify three features of TerrAlign software that are likely to benefit salespeople.

Question 8

How should a sales manager establish criteria for selecting sales personnel? What do you think are the general characteristics of a good salesperson?

Question 9

Leap Athletic Shoe Inc., a newly formed company, is in the process of developing a sales strategy. Market researchers have determined that sales management should segment the market into five regional territories. The sales potential for the North region is $1.2 million; for the West region, $1 million; for the Central region, $1.3 million; for the South Central region, $1.1 million; and for the Southeast region, $1 million. The firm wishes to maintain some control over the training and sales processes because of the unique features of its new product line, but Leap marketers realize that the salespeople need to be fairly aggressive in their efforts to break into these markets. They would like to provide the incentive needed for the extra selling effort. What type of sales force compensation method would you recommend to Leap? Why?

Question 10

What major issues or questions should management consider when developing a training program for the sales force?

Question 11

approaches to personal selling are used by sales representatives from companies like Amway and Avon. The salespeople have to be involved in the personal selling process of prospecting, pre approach, approach, making the presentation, overcoming objections, and dosing the sale. There are sales managers who have to recruit, train, and motivate the company's sales representatives. Many direct sales representatives develop long-term associations with the customers through regular communications over prolonged periods of time. Besides direct personal relationships and contacts, many of the sales reps are using social networking to simulate communication that would otherwise occur face-to-face. The importance of this method of selling can be seen with global sales results of more than $8.4 billion for Amway and more than $11 billion for Avon.
However, despite the growing popularity of direct selling in China, the career does have its downsides. Although some direct sellers have become wealthy, many do not earn any more income than they would have as a cashier or clerk. Some Chinese officials still regard direct selling with suspicion since a common tactic of con artists is to pose as direct sellers. Therefore, China implemented laws limiting the ways direct selling companies could compensate their sales force and banned teachers, doctors, and civil servants from becoming direct sellers.
Taking all of that into account, many direct sellers find the benefits outweigh the costs. Not only is direct selling flexible, it also helps women earn income in uncertain financial times when family members are out of work. Even women who do not earn much money in sales appreciate the flexibility and corporate culture. They look forward to the promise of future rewards with the company. Direct selling companies are also benefiting, with Amway predicting at least a 10 per-cent gain in 2010 Chinese sales. Although direct selling may be taken for granted in America, it is gaining an eager fan base among women in China.
1. Why are direct selling personal sales representatives legitimate or authentic salespeople?
2. Why do you think direct selling is even more successful in China than the United States?
3. What are the social and economic benefits of the sales opportunities that are provided to women in developing countries?

Question 12

Explain the major advantages and disadvantages of the three basic methods of compensating salespeople. In general, which method would you prefer? Why?

Question 13

When developing its marketing strategy, a company must consider the different forms of communication that are necessary to reach a variety of customers. Several types of promotion may be required. Knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of each promotional element is necessary when developing the marketing plan. Consider the information in this chapter when evaluating your promotional mix:
Identify the resellers in your distribution channel. Discuss the role that trade sales promotions to these resellers could play in the development of your promotional plan.
The information obtained from these questions should assist you in developing various aspects of your marketing plan found in the "Interactive Marketing Plan" exercise at www.cengagebrain.com.

Question 14

What major factors should be taken into account when designing the size and shape of a sales territory?

Question 15

What are the primary purposes of personal selling?

Question 16

How does a sales manager, who cannot be with each salesperson in the field on a daily basis, control the performance of sales personnel?

Question 17

TerrAlign
TerrAlign offers consulting services and software products designed to help a firm maximize control and deployment of its field sales representatives. See how the company provides sales territory management solutions by visiting www. terralign.com.
Identify three features of TerrAlign software that are likely to benefit sales managers.

Question 18

What is sales promotion? Why is it used?

Question 19

Consumer sales promotions aim to increase sales of a particular retail store or product. Identify a familiar type of retail store or product. Recommend at least three sales promotion methods that could effectively promote the store or product. Explain why you would use these methods.

Question 20

For each of the following, identify and describe three techniques and give several examples: (a) consumer sales promotion methods and (b) trade sales promotion methods.

Question 21

When developing its marketing strategy, a company must consider the different forms of communication that are necessary to reach a variety of customers. Several types of promotion may be required. Knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of each promotional element is necessary when developing the marketing plan. Consider the information in this chapter when evaluating your promotional mix:
Evaluate each type of consumer sales promotion as it relates to accomplishing your promotional objectives.
The information obtained from these questions should assist you in developing various aspects of your marketing plan found in the "Interactive Marketing Plan" exercise at www.cengagebrain.com.

Question 22

What types of sales promotion methods have you observed recently? Comment on their effectiveness.

Question 23

Identify the elements of the personal selling process. Must a salesperson include all these elements when selling a product to a customer? Why or why not?

Question 24

TerrAlign
TerrAlign offers consulting services and software products designed to help a firm maximize control and deployment of its field sales representatives. See how the company provides sales territory management solutions by visiting www. terralign.com.
Why might field sales professionals object to the use of software from TerrAlign?

Question 25

Producers use trade sales promotions to encourage resellers to promote their products more effectively. Identify which method or methods of sales promotion a producer might use in the following situations, and explain why the method would be appropriate.
a. A golf ball manufacturer wants to encourage retailers to add a new type of golf ball to current product offerings.
b. A life insurance company wants to increase sales of its universal life products, which have been lagging recently (the company has little control over sales activities).
c. A light bulb manufacturer with an overproduction of light bulbs wants to encourage its grocery store chain resellers to increase their bulb inventories.

Question 26

How does a salesperson find and evaluate prospects? Do you consider any of these methods to be ethically questionable? Explain.

Question 27

Briefly describe an experience you have had with a salesperson at a clothing store or an automobile dealership. Describe the steps the salesperson used. Did the salesperson skip any steps? What did the salesperson do well? Not so well? Would you describe the salesperson as an order getter, an order taker, or a support salesperson? Why? Did the salesperson perform more than one of these functions?

Question 28

Are order getters more aggressive or creative than order takers? Why or why not?