Core Concepts of Marketing

SALESPROMOTIONANDPUBLICRELATIONS 213

andnotaboutthemarket.We' retalkingaboutflippingthataround,"heconcludes.^9 Inshort,

effectivepersonalsellingmustfocusoncustomerrelationships.

Tointegratepersonalsellingwithothermarketingcommunicationtoolstoforgestrong

customerrelationships,topmanagementshouldleadtheintegrationeffort.Unlessmanagers

understandwhatsalespeopledo,however,integrationmaynotbesuccessful.Beforecon-

sideringhowtocombinesellingeffortswithothermarketingcommunicationtools,wefirst

examinethejobofpersonalselling.

Theunderlyingrationaleforpersonalsellingisfacilitatingexchange.Assuggested

bya personalsellingexpert,itis"theartofsuccessfullypersuadingprospectsorcustomers

tobuyproductsorservicesfromwhichtheycanderivesuitablebenefits,therebyincreas-

ingtheirtotalsatisfaction."Aprofessionalsalespersonrecognizesthatthelong-termsuc-

cessfortheorganizationdependsonconsistentlysatisfyingtheneedsofa significantsegment

ofitstargetmarket.Thismodemviewofsellinghasbeencalled"nonmanipulativesell-

ing,"andtheemphasisofthisviewisthatsellingshouldbuildmutualtrustandrespect.between

buyerandseller.Benefitmustcometobothparties.Thisperspectiveisdevelopedfurther

intheIntegratedMarketingboxthatfollows.

Typeso fSelling

Considerabledifferencesexistinthevariouskindsofsellingtasks.Earlywritersprovided

two-way classificationofsellingjobs,consistingofserviceselling,whichfocusesonobtaining

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INTEGRATED MARKETING •

SELLINGINVOLVESEVERYTHING

Salespeoplehavebeentaughtforyearsthatthekeytosuc-
cessfulsellingis findingoutwhatpeopleneedandthendoing
whateverittakestofillthatneed. Therearethousandsofbooks
andarticlesbasedonthisprinciplealone.Recently, however,
manysalesprofessionalsarediscoveringa betterwaytosell.
Therealdefinitionofsellinghastodowithfindingout
whatpeopleorbusinessesdo,wheretheydoit,andwhythey
doitthatway,andthenhelpingthemtodoit better.
Theword"need"doesn'tappearinthatdefinitionatall,
becausethereisnoneedassociatedwithtoday'sselling.A
successfulsalespersonfirstaskstheprospectaboutthecom-
pany'sgoalsbeforetryingtofillanimaginedneedwiththe
productorservicebeingsold.
Criticsoftillsapproachsaythatdeterminingwhata busi-
nessdoesisthesameasdeterminingitsneeds."It'sallseman-
tics,"theysay."Theword'do'isthesameastheword'need'."
Butit's notsemantics.Thereis a majordifferenceinthenew
salesphilosophy.
Whatdoestheconceptofneed-drivensalesreallymean?
Foronething,theword"need"impliesthatsomethingismiss-
ing. Forexample,ifa carhasonlythreewheels,thereisa
needfora fourth.Thedriverofthecarrealizesthatsome-
thingismissingandstopsatthenearesttireshop.
Abusinessgenerallyhasa fullcomplementoftires,or
neededitems.Evenifa businessneedssomething,it doesnot

wanta salespersontocall.Theneededserviceoritemsis

boughtassoonastheneedis recognized.Ina proactivesale,

thebusinessis runningsmoothlywhenthesalespersoncalls.

Thesalesperson,havingbeentrainedina needs-drivenindus-

try,askstheprospectwhatis missing.Thebuyerrepliesthat

nothingis needed.Thesalespersoninsiststhatsomethingmust

bewrong,andattemptstoprovethatthereisa solutiontothe

"pain"thebusinessisexperiencing.

Therearetwopossibleoutcomestothisscenario.Thefirst

is that nosaleismade.Thesecondisthatthesalespersondoes

uncoversomedeep-seatedproblemthatcanbefixed,anda

saleis made.Butthisisanarduousprocessthatpaysoffall

tooinfrequently.

Thetopcompetitorofsalespeopletodayis thestatusquo.

Peoplecontinuetodowhattheydobecauseitworks.The

salespersonisa messengerofchange.Heorshemakesa sale

byhelpingsomeoneimprovethewaytheydobusiness.

Sources:StephanSchiffman, "Here's theRealDefinitionofSeil-

ing,"TheMarketingNews,December8, 1997 , pp.4-5; Diana

Ray," Value-basedSelling,"SellingPower,September 1999 , pp..

30 -33;RochelleGarner,"TheTiesThatBind,"Sales&Marketing

Management,October 1999 , pp.71-74.