CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
A Firm having carried out some researches and found out what the buyers want, specifications and requirements converts these findings into product concepts and lastly into goods and services that can satisfy these identified wants, in their exact specification and requirement. Hence” the typical firm can be seen as on input-output system” ”(Okeke C. I 1993).
It is not enjoy to look at a firm more so in the context of marketing as on input-output system. This is because several other chain of activities preceed the input as well as the output.
A wholestic perspective considers all these interlocking and interrelated activities that preceed input and follow after output. For example, the output must be in the right proportion, must be effectively priced, promoted and distributed.
Yet all these do not even guarantee exchange and transfer of title from the firm to the buyers, neither do they even guarantee a reward or profit to the firm.
In other words, all these activities may be properly integrated, blended and as well form the bases on which a firm should b e viewed.
“Good distribution, new products, improved manufacturing resources, skillful advertising and many other factors in marketing must inevitably fail if a manager is unable to build a team of men able to compete with strong competition and sell efficient to every type of buyers”. (Jack 1983 P.80)
Hence the popular sloggan in marketing that “nothing happens until a sale is made” (Okeke 1993)
To implement these marketing variables, the sales force has to be utilized by the sales manger, they have to exhibit their primary sales manship functions whereby they act as intermediaries between the company and prospective customers, discharging their duties as the voice of the company to the customers and directs the voice of the customers to the company.
Therefore, personal selling brings the buyer and seller into direct contact. It is important that every organization should have some number of persons known as the sales force whose responsibility are to be sure that customers and prospects are contacted and convinced to accept the items offered in exchange for a value needed by the organization.
There is no amount of advertising, sales promotion and publicity that can be equal to personal selling. This is because, contacts must be established by somebody with buyers some where for market transactions to take place.
The sales force in modern marketing do not only perform the current sales, they are also concerned with laying the foundation for further sales through the performance of information gathering function.
To properly carry out this, there should always exists in an organization, a skilled manager who manages the sales force efficiently and effectively.
As a result, sales management is defined “as the organization efforts necessary in planning sales objectives, specifying selling efforts needed in realizing the objectives, selecting, training and motivating appropriate sales force and controlling their operations towards ensuring the full realization of sales objectives (Okeke 1993: 40).
Salespersons are trained in a method of analysis and customer management.
Today, selling is a profession that involves mastering and applying a whole set of principles, personal selling has some different styles, some antithetical to the spirit of the marketing concept.
Three major aspects of personal selling are sales manship, negotiation and relationship management (Kotler 1993).
Sales manship is the act of the sales persons persuading the customer or prospect to see his point of view or do something the way he wants.
Negotiation means the act of two or more parties reacting an agreement on the price and the other terms of sales. Most business selling involves negotiating skills.
Price is the issue being negotiated always, others include contract completion time, quality of goods and service offered, purchase volume, responsibility for financing risk taking, promotion, product safety etc.