Assignment title: Management
This section will explain how personal selling at Johnson Brothers Ltd supports the promotion mix. Marketing is one of the activities which form the backbone for any company. For Johnson Brothers Ltd also, marketing campaigns are crucial and hence the two brothers had build an efficient sales team to run marketing activities for new & second hand cars Morgan, (2013). Marketing enables efficient communication of organization with customers and ensures effective customer relationship management. These marketing campaigns are run in order to benefit stakeholders. In order to carry out different marketing activities, companies build marketing mixes. Marketing mixes are marketing tools comprising of four crucial Ps. These Ps include Products, Promotion, Place and Price. Besides marketing mix, organizations also develop promotional mix. Promotional mix is a blend of different promotional activities such as sales, advertising, public relations, personal selling and direct marketing tools Morgan, (2013) Personal Selling Personal selling is defined as the selling of products or services of sales team by personally meeting clients and ensuring to form efficient customer relationships. Among all the activities included in promotional campaigns of an organization, personal selling plays a crucial role. In order to personally sell products or services, sales teams usually conduct trade presentations or incentive programs. As far as Johnson Brothers Ltd is concerned, the company considers personal selling as one of the most effective selling tools Morgan, (2013). Few reasons why Johnson Brothers Ltd considers personal selling of cars crucial include it is highly flexible. Generally, it is very hard to convince customers to buy a car. Hence, personal selling is feasible. Sales team at Johnson Brothers Ltd can make customer presentations about their cars and then show them to their clients in order to impress them. It enables sales professionals at Johnson Brothers Ltd to make presentations that fit the motives and needs of customers. Secondly, personal selling is frequently chosen marketing technique at Johnson Brothers Ltd since it requires minimum effort. For instance, Sales professionals of Johnson Brothers Ltd choose their target audience and effectively formulate strategies to present cars suiting their cars. It cuts down the cost of the marketing campaigns Markgraf, (2012). But personal selling requires sales professionals who are high with energy and possess the skills to convince customers effectively. Third reason for inclining towards personal selling is it results in actual sale of cars. Sales agents can visit customer and convince him/her to buy the car right away. One of the most crucial reasons why Johnson Brothers Ltd prefers personal selling it enables the company to gather suggestions and feedback from people. Subsequently, company is able to implement the feedback and work on weak areas. Hence, Johnson Brothers Ltd considers personal selling as one of the most effective techniques that supports promotional activities well. With personal selling, company gets to know about its target audience well and know their responses. 1.2 Compare buyer behavior and the decision making process in different situations with special reference to Johnson Brothers Ltd Buyer behavior Buyer behavior is often defined as the attitude adopted by consumers while purchasing any product or service. It is often crucial for organizations to consider buyer behavior as one of the crucial components while formulating their marketing activities and strategies. It enables companies in decision making process in different situations such as when consumer demand is low or high Riley, (2012). At Johnson Brothers Ltd, the sales of second hand cars were down due to the economic recession. Hence, it is indeed crucial for the sales team to understand behavior of consumer in different situation as in the one discussed above. Johnson Brothers Ltd adopts five -stage process to study consumer behavior. These five stage process includes determining the problem, gathering information, looking for options and evaluating the most feasible options, final purchasing and post purchasing evaluation Riley, (2012). 1. To determine the problem: Consumers often face numerous problems related to choosing suitable cars for themselves. Further, in situations when car market is low, the first step adopted by Johnson Brothers Ltd is to determine the problem. 2. To gather information: Second stage after recognizing the problem is to gather relevant information about the problem. This is the duty of the sales team to look into the problems faced by consumers regarding cars and look for solutions to solve them. 3. To evaluate different options: When gathering information, sales team often gets numerous options for consumers. Since scenarios are different so sales professionals have to find specific options. For instance, if a consumer is facing issues selecting a car then sales team can present different cars in his budget Riley, (2012). 4. To make customers buy: Once options are evaluated, second last stage is making customers buy car of his choice. Although this stage is final but there is one more stage build by Johnson Brothers Ltd to ensure after-sales maintenance services is given to consumers. 5. To carry after-purchase evaluation: Last and final stage is to carry after-purchase evaluation. It ensures that consumers are happy with their purchase of cars and not facing any issues. This is a five-stage process adopted by Johnson Brothers Ltd in order to ensure customers stay satisfied and their problems are rectified as soon as possible. This model is crucial for sales team taking marketing decisions. According to this model, a sales professional has to look into other stages also in spite of focusing on purchase stage only Riley, (2012). 1.3 Analyse the role of the sales teams in the overall marketing strategy for the Johnson Brothers Ltd Sales team has substantial influence on the profitability of business. There are definite roles assigned to every member of sales team that reflect the strengths of products. When marketing strategies are built on the roles taken by sales team, they can set achievable targets and can easily meet them. At Johnson Brothers Ltd, roles assumed by members of the sales team depend on different kinds of cars. For instance, since the products offered by Johnson Brothers Ltd are cars so sales team is allocated different roles. On the other hand, it is also segmented by age so sales team members are responsible for their market segment age group Sheldon, (2006). Once marketing segment is determined, each team member of the sales team is accountable for sales in his area. The role of sales team at Johnson Brothers Ltd is to advocate for the needs of target market for which they are responsible. Johnson Brothers Ltd is facing shortage of competent sales members in its team so it is highly crucial for management to recruit talented sales professional beforehand to handle market. The sales of second hand cars in market have already gone down due to which sales team has to build efficient strategies to meet their targets and generate as much revenue as possible. Sales management is any organization holds a great importance to build effective marketing strategies Sheldon, (2006). After developing overall marketing strategy, responsibilities of sales team include deciding on the promotional material for their targeted market segment. An efficient sales team requires the contribution of every team member. Hence, an integrated team effort can only enhance sales and marketing performance of a sales team. There are various roles and objectives of sales management. Generally sales management refers to training and management of sales staff and tracking and reporting of company's sales. It is intended to enhance the sales of a company if done correctly. The primary role of sales management in an organization includes having knowledge of company's long and short run goals, production process, consumer behavior and competitors Sheldon, (2006). Some of the strategies adopted by sales team at Johnson Brothers Ltd are: 1. Firstly, setting up SMART goals for each product or service of organization is crucial. Goals set by sales team to build effective sales strategies must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-sensitive. 2. Secondly, analyzing target market and their needs to determine what exactly they require. Determining what is required by clients by analyzing their problems can help to build efficient sales strategies Sheldon, (2006). 3. Thirdly, deciding on sales channels that can be accessed by buyers easily. Reaching the right customers and taking right channels to reach customers is crucial. Some of the sales channels include personal selling, selling via internet, telesales etc. Conclusion To conclude, an efficient sales team is responsible for overall marketing of a company. After going through this assignment, person will be able to get in-depth knowledge of sales planning, sales management, and selling process, which can be applied in different markets and environments. This assignment has effectively examined the importance of sales planning and operations in Johnson Brothers Ltd. The report has also looked into the ways through which personal selling supports promotional activities in Johnson Brothers Ltd. Further, the report has also examined consumer behavior and corresponding decision making of Johnson Brothers Ltd in different situations. Towards the end, it has also analysed the role of sales team in building overall marketing processes in Johnson Brothers Ltd. TASK 2 2.1 This section is to prepare a sales presentation for a product or servics 2.2 Carry out sales presentation for a product or service Tasks 3 3.1 This section will explain how sales strategies are developed in line with corporate objectives. Define sales strategy corporate objectives