Concept selling

Concept selling
See also
Consumer orientation Sales analysis Pay per lead Canvassing Promotion strategy Target population Route to market Direct marketing Acquisition process

Concept Selling is a comprehensive action plan relating to the sale and distribution of a product or service 3. (Drucker 1974 p. 63)..

Idea of concept selling

The concept of sales is based on the claim that customers left alone will not buy enough of the company's products. The organisation must therefore take aggressive sales and promotional action 3. (Drucker 1974 p. 63). This concept assumes that consumers are typical of inaction or even resistance to buying, so they should be skillfully persuaded to do so. To this end, the company has a number of effective sales and promotion tools in its position 1. (Abela 2006 p. 5-16.).

Functions of concept selling

The specific course of action depends on the types of goods offered by the business and consumers, but usually the tasks of a sales concept are as follows (Swaim R., 2013):

• forecasting - searching for new consumers,
• planning - determining how much time to spend on current and future customerscommunication - informing consumers about products offered or services provided by a specific undertaking,
• sales - commencement of relations with a specific customer, presentation, clarification of doubts and signing a contract,
• service - resolving customer difficulties, offering technical support, guaranteeing the source of financing and preparing the delivery of goods or services,
• gathering information - carrying out market analysis and intelligence activities,
• allocation - the process of selecting customers in the event of a shortage of a specific product or service (Perreault, McCarthy 1999, p. 150-152).

Usage

• The concept of sale is most often used for less sought-after goods, which buyers normally do not think about, such as insurance, encyclopaedias, a place in the cemetery. Various sales techniques are constantly being improved in order to locate potential buyers (Perreault, McCarthy 1999, p. 150-152). Aggressive sales also apply to sought-after goods, e.g. cars: as soon as the customer enters the showroom, the car dealer tries to "harness" the customer. If the customer likes the car in the showroom, they are informed that there is another customer interested in buying the car, so they must decide immediately (Perreault, McCarthy 1999, p. 150-152). If the customer hesitates because of the price, the seller offers to talk to the manager about the possibility of obtaining a special discount. The customer waits 10 minutes, and when the seller returns triumphantly declares that "the boss does not like it, but he has managed to get him to give his consent". The aim is to "make the customer" and "finalize the sale" (Kotler, Armstrong 1999, p. 21-27).
• The sales concept is also used by non-profit organisations, in particular the founders of foundations, admission offices for studies and political parties. A political party is vigorously trying to "sell" its candidate to electors, presenting him as an excellent person for this position (Kotler, Armstrong 1999, p. 21-27)
• The candidate walks around the constituencies in the morning until the evening, exchanging handshakes, kissing children, meeting with donors, giving lively speeches. Countless amounts of money are spent on radio and television advertising, posters and mail. The candidate's shortcomings are not revealed because the aim is to sell. Nobody is worried about later satisfaction (Brennan, Baines, Garneau, Vos, 2008 p. 8.)
• After the elections, the newly elected official continues his sales-oriented policy towards citizens. He pays little attention to public expectations, but much of his effort is spent on persuading the public to accept his and his party's policies.
• Most companies use the concept of sales in case of overproduction. Their aim is to sell what they do, not to produce what the market wants. In modern industrial economies, overproduction has reached such a scale that most markets are consumer markets (i.e. buyers play a dominant role in them) and sellers have to fight for customers (Brennan, Baines, Garneau, Vos, 2008 p. 8.). Potential customers are attacked on all sides by TV advertising, newspaper advertisements, direct mail and telephone calls that encourage them to buy. Every step of the way someone tries to sell something. As a result, marketing generally identifies itself with aggressive sales and advertising (Kotler, Armstrong 1999, p. 23).

Elements of concept selling

In order to create an effective and efficient concept selling, it is important to set up a sales department, as it is an element that binds the consumer to the company. The preparation of the sales department consists of the following steps (Swaim 2013 ):

• Target setting,
• the definition of an action plan,
• selecting the appropriate organisational structure,
• quantification of the population,
• determining the salaries of sales department employees.

References

• Abela, A. (2006).The relationship between marketing and consumerismMarketing and consumerism. European Journal of Marketing, 40(1/2), p. 5-16.
• Brennan, R., Baines, P., Garneau, P. and Vos, L. (2008). Contemporary Strategic Marketing. 2nd ed. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 8.
• Drucker, P. (1974).Customers are the boss Management: Tasks, Reposnsibilites, Practices. New York: Harper & Row, p. 63.
• Kotler, Ph., G. Armstrong (1999) Principles of Marketing. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Perreault, W. D., Jr., Jerome McCarthy E.(1999) Focusing Marketing Strategy with Segmentation and Positioning Basic Marketing: A Global-Managerial Approach. 13th ed. Boston: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
• Swaim R., (2013) Peter Drucker on Sales and Marketing

Author: Natalia Jaskot