Year 9 Business - Term 1 - Weeks 7 - 8 Task 1

Year 9 Business - Promoting & Selling - Term 1 Weeks 7 - 8

Selling Techniques

• In order to sell its product, a company will first develop selling strategies and then put them into practice.

• To determine whether these strategies have been successful, it will be necessary to monitor and evaluate their outcomes; that is, the sales achieved.

Developing and implementing selling techniques

• The first step in developing and implementing a selling technique is to identify the target market for the product.

• Once the target market is established, the company uses a variety of techniques to introduce its product to the market and to encourage consumers to buy it.

• These include: brand name, logo and packaging; advertising; special promotions; personal selling; and publicity.

Brand name, logo and packaging

The design, colour and images associated with the product that are intended to appeal to the target market.

Advertising

Decisions about what forms of advertising will be used, for example, billboards, magazine and television advertisements, letterbox drops, social media and the use of celebrity faces.

Special Promotions

These include items 'on special'; special promotions of new products; giveaways in stores or elsewhere; and add-ons to other deals.

Personal Selling

Part of the selling campaign might involve personal phone, email or in-person contact

Publicity

The product may be promoted by gaining free publicity.

Developing and implementing selling techniques

• As well as these promotional strategies, other factors form part of the selling techniques used by companies.

• In relation to goods sold in shops, the shop layout and furnishing affect how well the goods sell.

• If the layout is roomy, attractive and well lit, sales will be higher than if it is difficult to move around shop and locate items.

• For example, the lighting used for fruit and vegetables is often soft and warm to display the colour of the goods in the best possible way.

Developing and implementing selling techniques

• Music is another factor used in stores to create an atmosphere that encourages shoppers to buy.

• Clothes shops for young people often play the sort of music that appeals to the target audience, whereas bookstores may play classical music, which appeals to quite a different audience.

Developing and implementing selling techniques

• The position of specific items in a store is also very important.

• If the item is put at the checkout, at the end of an aisle or at eye level, people are more likely to buy it.

• Often such purchases are made on the impulse (that is, on the spur of the moment) or in preference to another brand that may be more difficult to find.

• Companies pay a shops a lot more to have their goods displayed in these key areas.

Developing and implementing selling techniques

The position of specific items in a store is also very important. If the item is put at the checkout, at the end of an aisle or at eye level, people are more likely to buy it. Often such purchases are made on the impulse (that is, on the spur of the moment) or in preference to another brand that may be more difficult to find. Companies pay a shops a lot more to have their goods displayed in these key areas.

Multiple Choice

These include giveaways in store or elsewhere.

• brand name, logo and packaging

• advertising

• special promotions

• personal selling

• publicity

Multiple Choice

part of the selling campaign involving phone calls, email or in-person contact

• brand name, logo and packaging

• advertising

• special promotions

• personal selling

• publicity

Multiple Choice

for example: billboards, television, radio, magazines, letterbox drops, etc.

• brand name, logo and packaging

• advertising

• special promotions

• personal selling

• publicity

Multiple Choice

the product may be promoted for free.

• brand name, logo and packaging

• advertising

• special promotions

• personal selling

• publicity

Multiple Choice

The design, colour and images associated with the product that are intended to appeal to the target market.

• brand name, logo and packaging

• advertising

• special promotions

• personal selling

• publicity

Monitoring and evaluating selling techniques

• Companies keep detailed records to track (monitor) the volume and value of sales on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, six-monthly and an annual basis.

• This data can be analysed in a number of ways.

• For example, personal logins by sales staff on computerised cash registers can be used to track the sales performance of individual staff. Under-performing staff can be given extra training or dismissed if their performance does not improve.

Monitoring and evaluating selling techniques

• Sales of a good or service during in-store promotions can be calculated to determine the effectiveness of the strategies adopted.

• Sales can also be analysed before, during and after media-based advertising campaigns to determine whether the promotion is making a difference to sales.

Monitoring and evaluating selling techniques

• Comparing sales of a product (or products) to previous years is also useful, especially if new long-term marketing strategies have been adopted.

• If the marketing campaign has been successful, sales should have gone up.

Monitoring and evaluating selling techniques

• Sales can also be compared on a store-by-store basis or on the basis of which groups of people (markets) are purchasing the product.

• Advertising resources can be reallocated or increased to boost sales in specific stores or markets.

• For example, a product might have been targeted at both young boys and girls, but mostly boys are buying the product.

• The advertiser needs to find out why the product isn't appealing as much to girls and come up with a marketing strategy that will increase sales to girls, that is, marketing that will better target girls.

Monitoring and evaluating selling techniques

• Consumer surveys and focus groups can also be used to gather information about brand recognition; in other words, how well people know a particular brand.

• The Nike swoosh is a good example of successful brand recognition. An effective promotion should boost brand recognition within the targeted market.

• Surveys and focus groups can also be used to gather information about the effectiveness of different selling techniques.

• For example, a producer may reconsider using telemarketing to sell its goods if there is consumer resistance to this kind of selling.