220 CHAPTER 8 COMMUNICATINGTOMASSMARKETS
recognizethatsomecustomerswillbuya productwithoutcontactwitha salesperson.Prod-
uctcatalogsthatfeatureeverythingfromcomputerstoclassicautomobiiesaremaileddirectly
tocustomersororderedontheInternet.Theseoftenprovidealltheinformaticnaboutthe
productthecustomerneedstoknow.Questionscanbeansweredthrougha toll-freenum-
ber,anInternetcommentfOIID,ore-mail.Salespeopleofthetwenty-firstcenturyshould
eitherintegratedirectmarketingtosupportthesellingprocessorofferthecestomerbene-
fitsnotavailaolethroughothermarketingcommunicationstechniques.
Onthisverysmallplanet,salespeoplewillalsohavetoadjusttonewsourcesofcom-
petition. CompaniesinAsia,SouthAmerica,andEasternEuropeareintroducing,housands
ofnewproductstoindustrializednationseveryyear.Thesalespersonofthefuturemust
knowhowtorespondtoforeigncompetitorsandhowtoentertheirmarkets.Aprogram
thatintegratespersonalsellingwithothermarketingcommunicationtoolswillgivesales-
peoplemoreopportunitytoactefficientlyandhavesellingsuccess.
NEWSLINE:NEWTOYSFORSALESSUCCESS?
Recenttechnologicaladvanceshavegivensalespeoplemorewaysthan
evertoimprovesalesandproductivity.Tomaketechnologywork,
however,youhavetocontrolitinsteadoflettingitcontrolyou.Start
bylearningtouseeverydaytools(computer,fax,ande-ma!l)more
effiCientlyandeffectively.OnceyouknowhowtogetthemObtoutof
technology.youcangetmoreoutofeachworkday.
- Getavoice-mailadvantage.Youcanavoidtime-consumingtwo-
wayphoneconversationsbyoutliningdetailinvoicemail.Also,
,fyouneedthepersonforwhomyou'releavingthemessageto
takesomeactions,saysointhemessage,thensaythere'sno
needtocallyoubackunlesstheyhavequestionsorproblems.
- Improveyouremailhabits.Toavoidfrequentinterruptionsto
yourworkday,setasidespecific,scheduledtimesdUringtheday
toansweryoure-mail.
- Faxcasually.Whenyou'refloodedwithfaxes,forgetabouttak-
ingthetimetosendrepliesonnewsheetsofpaperandfillout
coversheei~~.Instead,simplyhand-writeyourrepliesatthebot-
tomofthefaxyoureceivedandturnitaround.
- GetbetteracquaintedwithyourPC.TakeanhO'_lrorsobeforeor
afterworkfOTaweektolearnallofyourcomputer'sfunctions
andhowtheycanboostyourproductivity.
- Makeasoundinvestment.Yourelyontechnologyeverydayto
doyourjob,soitpaystospenda littlemoreforeqUipmentthat
won'tletyoudown.Carefullyassessyour'cechnologyneeds,
thenshoparoundforeqUipmentthatmeetsthosei'1eed~without
a lotofbellsandwhistles.
- Takeabreak.Overallincreasesinthespeedofbusinesscan
leaveasalespersonfeelingdoneinandturnedout.
Sources:RobinSharma. " ATechnologyEdge,"SellingPower,January/Febru-
ary,1998,pp.37-38;GingerConlon,"HowtoMoveCustomersOnline,"Sales
&MarketingManagement,March2000,pp.27-28;NeilRackman, "TheOther
RevolutioninSales,"Sales&MarketingManagement,March2000,pp.34-35.
