case study on personal selling

Personal Selling: Definition, Real-Life Examples, and Strategies

Melissa Williams

What Is Personal Selling?

Personal selling advantages & disadvantages, types of personal selling, how to piss people off: the opposite of personal selling, personal selling process, how to get started with personal selling, 5 personal selling examples that are endorsed by prospects.

It’s hard to give a personal selling definition when there are so many out there.

You can browse online for a minute — or ten — and it’s still very unclear.

Let’s look at the best answer plus real-life examples, processes, and how to get started.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• The Opposite of Personal Selling
• 5 Personal Selling Examples

Personal selling is an approach where sellers humanize themselves and show they’re there to help prospects, not sell at them. The approach involves one-on-one interaction between buyer and seller and can be via email, phone, video, or in person (face-to-face).

So instead of taking a megaphone to share features far and wide, you take a step back and turn your head to listen.

This applies to both in-person and virtual meetings. When you don’t have your prospect there to tell you what they want, you can still take a first step.

Read on for 5 examples of personal selling that take place over email. All of them involve the action you need to take when you haven’t spoken yet: looking them up online.

When you identify their responsibilities, interests, and needs, you take one giant leap for sales kind.

Although there are immense benefits of personal selling, there are some disadvantages to this type of selling. Let’s look at both the advantages and disadvantages below.

Personal Selling Advantages

• Creates two-way communication which helps you resolve objections easier
• Builds rapport and forms lasting business relationships
• Helps you convey more information and value

Personal Selling Disadvantages

• Takes more time, effort, and is ultimately more expensive
• Your reach is more limited and you talk to fewer prospects
• Contributes to a longer sales process

Personal selling can typically be categorized into three types of sellers: order takers, order creators, and order getters.

• Order Takers: Order takers serve as the point of contact for customers; they handle customer requests and inquiries. Their primary responsibility is to identify customer requirements and help fill their needs. An example of an order taker is a retail sales rep.
• Order Creators: Order creators don’t complete the transaction themselves; they persuade customers to promote the business’s offering. Examples of order creators include pharmaceutical reps and brand reps working with retailers.
• Order Getters: Order getters reach out to potential buyers directly in hopes of persuading them to buy their product/service. Examples include B2B sales , telemarketing, door-to-door sales, and consultative sales.

We’ve all been there.

Something that, by its nature, irks you happens again, and again, and again — but you brush it off because you can just focus on other things.

Until someone totally calls it out for you, and you’re like, “YES!”

The bad news: You might be the thing annoying your prospects right now (whoops). We get it, you have a quota. But there’s a person on the other end of that email, and your “respectful persistence” is actually pissing them off. To the point that you’re hurting your chances of getting them to take a meeting with you.

The good news: You can actually become the person who identifies what’s annoying them and shows them that there’s a way to totally eliminate it. More on this later.

What to Avoid When Personal Selling

For right now, just remember that you need to avoid these sources of frustration :

• Leading with who you are and what your company does instead of their situation.
• Telling them that you want to talk rather than asking them if they are interested.
• Personalizing a line to them while still being pushy — that’s just putting lipstick on a pig.

With each of the scenarios above, your recipient reads your email the same, no matter what it actually says: “Hi faceless prospect, I have a quota and am worried about me. Confirm a meeting time or else.”

Not the most appealing, right?

We already spend 35% of our workday in meetings that we schedule and we are required to attend. Why would we add another?

Getting to “yes” with a meeting request requires two things: 1) that they agree with you that their time is worth it, and 2) their preferred mode of communication to gather info is to have a call.

Studies show that introverts make up one-third to one-half of the population, and they dislike having meetings where they haven’t info-gathered on their own first. Booking a meeting just to tell them more is not their cup of tea.

What to do about it:

• Read over any professional email before you send it, and ask yourself: If I were the person receiving this email, would I say “yes” to this request?
• If you do ask for a meeting, be specific about what they would get out of that phone call that they can’t learn on their own.
• Think through your tendency to ask for a call. Is there a more engaging way to ask, or a better way to start a conversation that qualifies the match for both of you?

1. Prospecting

Prospecting involves identifying and qualifying ideal buyers for your product/service. This can be done through networking events, referrals, cold outreach, social media, and more. Lead qualification is essential here to narrow down your pool of leads to the prospects that are most likely to turn into paying customers.

2. Pre-approach

Next, research is necessary before contacting/meeting with your leads. That way, you’re entering the conversation prepared with knowledge of their background, business, and market.

3. Approach

The goal of the approach stage is to understand the prospect’s wants, needs, and pain points. You should ask open-ended questions to gauge as much information as possible about the prospect so that you can tailor your pitch to their specific needs.

4. Presentation

Now it’s time to show the prospect why you’re the right fit to solve their problems and help them succeed. This is where you show them your product/service and demonstrate its benefits and how it can help solve their specific pain points .

5. Handling Objections

Sales objections are inevitable. This is where you should be ready to alleviate any concerns they may have and address them head-on. This may include answering unresolved questions, providing further information, and offering tailored solutions.

If all has gone to plan, you’ve built rapport with this prospect and developed a relationship. Now, it’s time to close the mutually beneficial deal. This step involves finalizing contracts, payments, and invoices.

7. Nurturing/Following Up

Last but not least, always follow up with the customer. This is where you ensure the customer is happy, is receiving an effective onboarding process, and is satisfied with the product/service. This step is important to show the customer you still care, even after the sale has been closed.

How can you stop nagging your prospect and become a friendly, useful note in their inbox?

Personalization — Find an interest or need to create affinity bias and remove negativity bias.

Benefit — Show them the end picture; don’t just spell out your features.

Request — Doesn’t have to be their time. It could be a question to open up a conversation.

As emailing individuals, we’re trained to 1) have a disdain for sales emails and 2) like people who are similar to us.

Turn 1 into 2 by showing them that you aren’t just a seller; you’re a human being who is just like them, and you recognize their needs.

This brings us to 3: our brains are wired to love talking about ourselves . Use this to your advantage by focusing on them to start a conversation with your prospect.

Personal Selling Strategy: PBR Approach

How to get started with the PBR approach right now :

Third — Relate this back to your value prop.

Here’s how it works in an email:

• Start from where they are. (Ex. “I noticed XX” — where XX is where they are).
• Add context. (Why you bring it up)
• Connect the dots. (What’s in it for them?)
• Get to the point — make your ask.

Hint : It’s a waste of time (and sabotage to your email) to make an unwarranted request. Yes, your goal might be to book a meeting, but sometimes it’s worth nurturing with questions first. Because their silence to repeated requests to book time isn’t really silence, is it? It’s them saying “Nope, I’m good.”

To help you get started, below are five real personal selling emails that booked meetings.

Tip: Perfect your sales outreach with these data-backed findings.

1. The Candid Close — Give Them a Reason Why

Nothing’s worse than being invited to a meeting without an agenda that truly applies to us.

It’s estimated that we spend 31 hours in unproductive meetings every month. And in every meeting, 73% of people do other work because they don’t relate to the content.

When we’re in control of deciding whether or not to go, we’re going to say no.

Unless we’re given a good reason why it’s worth our time.

In the email below, a Yesware account executive adds two clear reasons for a meeting that help him transition from his Benefit to Request:

Email tracking revealed to this sender that this email was opened multiple times and the link was clicked. So he probably wasn’t surprised when he got this back:

Pro Tip: If your recipient published anything on LinkedIn recently, reference it, link to it, and show you read it with a connecting statement (all in the first paragraph above).

2. Crash My Calendar (Seller Turned Singer-Songwriter)

Hearing our favorite song makes us feel good. Neuroscientists at McGill University discovered that it releases dopamine, a chemical that controls our reward and pleasure centers.

“These findings provide neurochemical evidence that intense emotional responses to music involve ancient reward circuitry in the brain,” says Dr. Robert Zatorre, neuroscientist at The Neuro. “To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that an abstract reward such as music can lead to dopamine release.”

Which is why emailing a prospect with lyrics from a favorite song — adjusted to them and their business needs — puts a smile on their face and a reply in your inbox.

Here’s an example from one of our account executives:

And what Luke got back:

How to do it: Find their favorite band (try Facebook). Look up a song by said band, then tweak the chorus to your value prop.

3. Everyone Has the Same Achilles Heel: Competitors

We’re all constantly working to meet the needs of our target market and stay ahead of competitors at the same time.

It’s a difficult task, and it comes up on all teams across all industries.

Because it’s universal, you can use it for any prospect you’re emailing.

Give their pain point a nudge, then show them how you can fix it.

Here is a good example of personal selling from a Sr. Business Development Rep at Influitive:

There are two important things that Josh does well:

• Goes beyond simply naming a competitor by pointing out a very specific weak spot. This is what delivers true value, along with a very specific way to solve the problem.
• Asks a question instead of requesting my time. This is a good technique to use if you’re creating a drip campaign that you’ll automate. Work up to asking for a meeting.

How to do it on your own:

• Find their competitor.
• Identify one weak spot where you can help, and make it specific.
• Ask a question that is relevant, would likely be answered by a “no,” but should be a “yes.” If it’s clear you have the intel to get them to “yes,” boom – there’s their incentive to answer.

4. Connecting on a Human Level — What’s Bothering Them?

Some days, it can feel like the world is out to get you.

Personal selling lets you turn this around for someone by showing them you’re on their side.

Check out this email from our Account Executive Clare Durkin:

How to do it on your own: Find something that’s been bothering your prospect (ideally outside of work), then use a high-level connecting statement to tie it to a pain point on their team. Here, the connection is wasted time. In this case, it’s okay to ask for a meeting, because:

It’s the fastest way to help them solve the problem.

Here’s what Gloria replied back:

5. Bringing In Their Favorite Movie

What’s your favorite movie?

Think about it.

Now, how would you feel if someone acknowledged your love for this movie and geeked out with you about it?

You’d probably be impressed, and if it came through your inbox, it would be a welcome reprieve from typical business emails.

Here’s an email sent by our sales consultant Alex (and the reaction he got back):

How to do it: Find their favorite movie (try Facebook and Twitter). Identify a character and at least one well-known attribute that you can relate back to your own product or service (through metaphor). What end benefit do they both share?

Here’s how it works in Alex’s email:

Character : Jedi → Salespeople at JBX

Attribute 1 : Lightsaber → Sales enablement tool

Attribute 2 : Mind tricks → Engagement data

Shared end benefit : Success (whether it’s conquering the sith or scaling and growing a team).

Note: This technique works best for movies where there’s a clear protagonist and antagonist.

That’s all for now. Do you have any examples of emails that worked for you? We’d love to hear from you!

• “Personal selling” = Finding out who they are & what their needs are, then catering your initial outreach to that. Your first email should start a conversation where you listen .
• Move away from features and identify your value prop. What’s the end benefit?
• Lead with them, not you.
• Use a tool like email tracking to see when they’re opening your emails.

This guide was updated on October 10, 2023.

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What Is Personal Selling? Importance, Objectives & Examples

Have you felt your sales efforts lack customer connection? 

Personal selling offers a direct approach to engaging potential customers, addressing their specific needs, and convincing purchases. 

Let’s delve into the world of personal selling, exploring its essence, and significance in fostering business growth.

Key Takeaways

• Connect & Convince: Personal selling thrives on direct, one-on-one interactions, specifically tailored to meet each buyer’s unique needs. This approach not only aims to build strong connections but also convinces individuals to make a purchase.
• Drive Sales & Build Relationships: It addresses specific customer objections head-on, thereby boosting conversion rates. More importantly, it nurtures long-lasting relationships, laying a solid foundation for repeat business and referrals.
• Measure and Optimize: The success of personal selling can be measured through key performance indicators like conversion rates and average deal size. Continuous analysis and strategic adjustments ensure sustainable growth.

Table of Contents

What is personal selling.

Unlike mass marketing techniques, this involves a personalized, tailored interaction between a seller and a buyer. 

It differs from mass marketing techniques. A personalized interaction between a seller and a buyer. The interaction is tailored to each individual. Personal selling is a dynamic process that allows for real-time feedback. Specific concerns can be addressed here. The sales rep and pitch are tailored to each person’s unique needs and preferences.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Personal Selling

The following table outlines the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing personal selling in businesses: 

Importance of Personal Selling

Personal selling is a critical component of any successful business strategy, and its importance cannot be overstated. Here’s why,

Source: Epsilon

Building Long-Term Customer Relationships: 

Personal selling builds trust and rapport. It lays the foundation for long-term customer relationships. These relationships can drive repeat business and referrals. 

Driving Higher Conversion Rates: 

The one-on-one nature of personal selling allows for addressing specific objections and concerns. This increases the likelihood of closing a sale. 

Gaining Valuable Customer Insights: 

Through personal interactions, salespeople gather insights about the prospect. They get to know customer needs, preferences, and pain points. These insights enable businesses to continuously improve their services, and marketing strategies.

Objectives of Personal Selling

In the world of sales, personal selling plays a pivotal role in achieving key business goals. Let’s explore the primary objectives that drive this effective strategy:

Acquiring Qualified Prospects:

One of the main objectives of personal selling is to identify and engage with customers interested in a company’s offerings.  Sales reps target specific prospects to boost conversion chances.

Uncovering Customer Insights:

Personal interactions enable salespeople to gather valuable customer insights. This feedback helps in understanding evolving customer needs and identifying pain points. And also companies can inform the development of new or improved products and services.

Boosting Sales and Revenue:

At its core, personal selling aims to drive sales and revenue growth for businesses. By tailoring their pitch to each customer’s unique needs and preferences. In this way, sales reps can effectively communicate the value proposition of their offerings. This tailored approach ultimately leads to more closed deals.

Nurturing Long-Term Customer Relationships:

Personal selling allows businesses to foster relationships with existing customers. Through personalized interactions and attentive service, sales reps can build trust and loyalty. This encourages repeat purchases and positive word-of-mouth referrals.

Creating Emotional Connections:

Effective personal selling goes beyond just presenting features and benefits. It involves establishing a personal connection with customers. It creates a sense of trust and understanding. 

These emotional connections can increase successful sales and long-term customer loyalty. Personal selling enables business growth as well as lasting customer relationships. They can gain valuable insights for continuous improvement. 

Key Takeaways:

• Identify and engage qualified prospects
• Gather customer insights for product development
• Boost sales and revenue through tailored pitches
• Nurture long-term customer relationships
• Create emotional connections for increased loyalty

Personal selling is a powerful tool that enables businesses to connect with customers, build relationships, and drive sales while also gaining valuable insights for continuous improvement.

Process of Personal Selling

Successful personal selling guides buyers and salespeople from the initial prospecting stage to the post-sale follow-up. The key stages of the personal selling process are,

Prospecting for Potential Customers

• This stage involves identifying and qualifying prospects interested in your service.
• Salespeople use techniques, such as referrals, networking, cold calling, or online research, to build a list of potential customers who fit their target market.

Pre-approach and Planning

• Before making contact with a prospect, salespeople conduct thorough research. 
• They analyze the prospect’s business, needs, challenges, and decision-making process.
• This information is then used to develop a tailored sales strategy that addresses the prospect’s specific requirements and pain points.

Making the First Move: Approach

• This is the initial contact with the prospect, where the salesperson aims to capture their attention and interest.
• The approach can be made through various channels, such as cold calls, emails, social media outreach, or in-person meetings. 

The goal is to establish a connection and secure an opportunity to present their offering.

Presentation Tailored to the Prospect’s Needs

• The salesperson delivers a compelling sales pitch addressing the prospect’s specific needs and pain points.
• The presentation should highlight the unique benefits of the service and how it can solve the prospect’s problems or help them achieve their goals.

Handling Objections and Concerns

• Prospects may raise objections or concerns during the sales process, and salespeople must address them professionally and persuasively.
• This involves actively listening to the prospect’s concerns, providing relevant information or examples, and offering solutions that alleviate their doubts.

Closing the Sale

• After addressing all objections and concerns, the salesperson aims to secure the commitment from the prospect to purchase their product or service.
• This may involve negotiating terms, finalizing the deal, and guiding the prospect through the purchasing process.

Post-sale Follow-up and Relationship Maintenance

• The personal selling process doesn’t end with the sale. Salespeople should provide ongoing support, address any issues or questions that may arise, and nurture the customer relationship.
• This stage involves follow-up communications, offering additional products or services, and seeking referrals or testimonials for future business opportunities.

Examples of Personal Selling

Automotive industry.

Personal selling tailors experience leveraging market research, highlighting fuel efficiency and popular configurations.

Software Solutions

Software firms use personal selling to solve industry issues, showing how their solutions streamline work and boost productivity. They match specific needs with demos and case studies.

Travel and Hospitality

Personal selling curates memorable experiences by recommending destinations and activities aligned with individual preferences and emerging trends.

Fashion and Retail

Personal selling tailors advice to customer behavior and style insights using data and trends, suggesting complementary products based on past purchases and local fashion trends.

Real Estate

Agents use market research to grasp buyer/seller needs. They prioritize amenities and school districts. Property values and pricing are determined by local market analysis.

These examples showcase how market research empowers personalized selling experiences, addressing customer needs through data-driven insights across industries.

How to Measure Success in Personal Selling

It’s essential to track and analyze relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics, to know the effectiveness. Here are some commonly used measures:

What KPIs Should You Track in Personal Selling?

Roi analysis.

It is also crucial to conduct a comprehensive return on investment (ROI) analysis for personal selling activities. 

This involves comparing the total costs associated with personal selling (including salaries, travel expenses, and marketing resources). This will be measured against the revenue generated through closed deals. 

Continuous monitoring and optimization ensure that resources are allocated effectively and drive sustainable growth.

👉 What are the three core tasks of personal selling?

The three core tasks are getting customer attention, holding interest, and motivating the buying decision.

👉 What are personal selling tools?

Common personal selling tools include sales scripts, product samples, catalogs, presentations, CRM software, and communications tools like video conferencing.

👉 Can personal selling be done remotely?

Yes, personal selling can be done remotely using video calls, phone conversations, and personalized emails. The key is maintaining a personalized approach and building a strong relationship with consumers, even if you’re not physically present.

👉 How long does it typically take to close a deal with personal selling in B2B?

The time it takes to close a deal can vary widely depending on the complexity of the product or service, the buying process of the company, and the personal relationship between the salesperson and the client. It could take anywhere from a few weeks to several months.

👉Is personal selling effective for all types of B2B products and services?

Personal selling is most effective for products and services that are complex, high-value, or require customization. It’s particularly useful where buying decisions involve a significant commitment and where organizations and buyers benefit from a consultative approach to identify the best solution for their needs.

Kickstart Your Personal Selling Journey

Personal selling empowers businesses to excel and achieve remarkable success. By embracing this powerful strategy, companies can:

✅ Connect with customers on a deeper, more meaningful level

✅ Cultivate long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships

✅ Drive sustainable growth and profitability

By implementing a structured approach and monitoring key performance indicators, businesses can optimize their strategies for sustained growth and success across various industries.

• Build Customer Relationships That Last , Harvard Business Review
• Objection Handling: 44 Common Sales Objections & How to Respond , Hubspot
• Sales Prospecting 101: A beginner’s guide , Zendesk

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What is Personal Selling and Why is it Important?

Discover personal selling, why it’s important, and how it can help your business increase sales.

Customers like to do business with people they know, like, and trust, which is why personal selling is such an important technique in sales and business.

Personal selling is a marketing technique that involves direct, face-to-face interaction with potential customers. Not only does this technique build relationships, but it also improves customer satisfaction, builds trust, and helps build brand awareness.

Personal selling involves person-to-person communication, which requires interpersonal skills and expertise to persuade leads to buy products and services.

There are many different types of personal selling, including retail sales, business-to-business sales, and telemarketing. Personal selling is especially effective with high-end products like cars and homes but is just effective with smaller purchases, especially for repeat sales and sales referrals.

Having a personal selling strategy is important for many reasons. Continue reading to learn more about the personal selling process and how it can benefit your customer relationships.

What is personal selling?

Personal selling is a type of marketing strategy that involves one-on-one interaction with prospective customers to sell a product or service.

While personal selling is a part of marketing, there are several key differences between the two. Personal selling and marketing are both important components of building a brand strategy , but they differ in their approach and objectives.

Marketing entails a broader set of activities that are designed to create awareness of a company's products or services, generate interest among potential customers, and ultimately lead to sales. Marketing can involve a wide range of tactics, including advertising, public relations, content marketing, email campaigns, social media, and more.

Personal selling is a technique that involves face-to-face selling between a sales rep and a prospective customer. With personal selling, sales representatives try to persuade a potential customer to purchase your product or service. This technique helps to build relationships with customers and ensure customer satisfaction.

Types of personal selling

There are several types of personal selling, each with its own features and objectives. Here are some of the most common types:

• Retail sales : This is the most common type of personal selling. It involves experienced salespeople selling products directly to consumers in retail stores or online. The salesperson is responsible for explaining the features and benefits of the product, answering any questions the customer may have, and closing the sale. Examples of retail sales include a salesperson at a clothing store, electronics store, or car dealership.
• Business-to-business (B2B) sales : B2B sales involve selling products or services to other businesses. The salesperson may need to work with a team to understand the needs of the business and to tailor their sales pitch to meet those needs. Examples of B2B sales include a salesperson selling office equipment to a company or a sales representative selling industrial machinery to a manufacturer.
• Telemarketing : Telemarketing involves sales reps making sales calls to potential customers over the phone. The salesperson is responsible for making a persuasive sales pitch and overcoming any objections the customer may have. Examples of telemarketing include a salesperson calling customers to sell them credit cards, insurance policies, or subscriptions to a service.
• Direct selling : Direct selling involves salespeople selling products or services directly to consumers in their homes. The salesperson typically demonstrates the product, explains its features and benefits, and helps the customer place an order. Examples of direct selling include a salesperson selling cosmetics, kitchenware, or cleaning products to customers in their homes.
• Consultative selling : Consultative selling involves salespeople acting as consultants to their customers, helping them to identify their needs and offering solutions to meet those needs. The salesperson may need to conduct a needs analysis, provide product demonstrations, and offer customized solutions to the customer. Examples of consultative selling include a salesperson selling software solutions to a business or a financial advisor helping a client plan for retirement.

Why is personal selling important?

Personal selling is important because it involves direct communication between a salesperson and a prospective customer, with the aim of persuading them to purchase a product or service or increase revenue through personalization .

Personal selling typically happens with face-to-face meetings, but it can also be conducted via phone, video conferencing, or other communication channels.

The focus of personal selling is on building relationships with customers and tailoring the sales approach to their specific needs and preferences. Examples of personal selling might include a car salesperson meeting with a potential customer to show them different car models and features, a real estate agent giving a tour of a property to a prospective buyer, or a financial advisor meeting with a client to discuss investment options. Personal selling can also help you build a personal brand strategy .

The focus of marketing is on reaching as many people as possible and generating interest and demand for a product or service, which you can do by using personal selling techniques.

Personal selling process

The personal selling process typically includes several steps, each designed to move the potential customer closer to making a purchase. Understanding these personal selling techniques is crucial so you can optimize the selling process.

By following these steps, salespeople can effectively move prospects through the customer journey and increase their chances of making a successful sale.

Prospecting

So, What is the first step in the personal selling process?

The first step in the personal selling process is prospecting . This involves identifying potential customers who may be interested in the product or service being sold. Prospecting can be done through various means, such as referrals, cold calling, networking events, or social media.

Pre-approach

Once potential customers have been identified, the salesperson needs to do some research and preparation before making contact.

This involves gathering information about the customer, such as their needs, preferences, and buying habits, as well as information about the product or service being sold.

The salesperson may also prepare a sales presentation or demonstration to use during the approach stage.

The approach stage is where the salesperson makes initial contact with the potential customer. The goal is to make a good first impression and establish rapport with the customer. The salesperson may use various techniques, such as a warm greeting, a compliment, or an opening question to engage the customer and start a conversation.

Presentation

Once the salesperson has established a rapport with the customer, they will move on to the presentation stage. This involves showcasing the product or service being sold and explaining its features, benefits, and value proposition.

The salesperson may use various presentation techniques, such as product demonstrations, testimonials, or case studies, to illustrate the product's benefits and persuade the customer to make a purchase.

Overcoming objections

During the presentation, the potential customer may raise objections or concerns about the product or service being sold. The salesperson needs to be prepared to address these objections and provide satisfactory answers that alleviate the customer's concerns.

This may involve providing additional information, offering solutions, or addressing any misconceptions the customer may have.

The final stage in the personal selling process is closing the sale. This involves asking for the customer's business and finalizing the transaction. By the closing stage, you should have formed a personal connection with the customer.

The salesperson may use various closing techniques, such as offering a discount, creating a sense of urgency, or emphasizing the benefits of the product or service, to encourage the customer to make a purchase.

After the sale, following up with the customer to get feedback after the purchase is key to strengthening the personal relationship and nurturing future sales.

It's important to note that not every sales conversation will lead to a sale, but by understanding the personal selling process, salespeople can increase their chances of success, build stronger customer relationships, and improve the customer experience.

Advantages and disadvantages of personal selling

Personal selling advantages and disadvantages may come into play when deciding to use this concept for your business. It can be a very effective component of a well-designed marketing strategy, so knowing the pros and cons is essential.

• Customization: With personal selling, you have the power of personalization at your side. For example, a salesperson selling office equipment to a business can identify the specific needs of the business and provide customized solutions that meet those needs.
• Relationship-building: A financial advisor who engages in personal selling can build a strong relationship with clients by providing personalized financial advice, answering questions, and demonstrating a genuine interest in the client's financial well-being. This can lead to long-term business relationships and referrals.
• Immediate feedback: A salesperson who is selling a new product can observe the customer's reactions and adjust their sales pitch accordingly. For example, if the customer seems hesitant about the price, the salesperson can explain the value of the product and offer additional information to address the customer's concerns.

Disadvantages

• High cost: Personal selling strategies can be expensive. For instance, a company that employs a sales team to sell industrial machinery to other businesses may incur significant costs associated with travel, equipment, and salaries. This can be particularly true if the sales cycle is long and requires multiple visits.
• Limited reach: With personal selling, you may not reach as many people as you would with other marketing techniques. For example, a salesperson selling cosmetics to customers in their homes can only reach a limited number of customers at a time. This can make it difficult to generate significant sales or reach a wider audience.
• Inconsistent quality: A company that relies on untrained or inexperienced salespeople to sell its products may encounter issues with quality and effectiveness. This can result in missed sales opportunities and negative customer experiences. For example, if a salesperson is not knowledgeable about a product, they may not be able to answer customer questions or provide effective solutions.

Humanize your sales process with personal selling

You can improve your customer experience by adding personal selling to a well-thought-out marketing strategy. But to get started with personal selling for your business, you need to have the right tools and resources, which you can get with Mailchimp.

Mailchimp has all the tools and resources you need to seamlessly strengthen your business, build your brand, and humanize your sales process. Contact us today to get started.

Personal Selling: Definition, Techniques, and Examples in 2024

• March 4, 2024

Once upon a time, sales was 100% personal selling. But now, thanks to globalization, advances in technology, and the rising cost of travel, personal selling is just one of many techniques available to salespeople to warm up a lead and close a deal.

Personal selling should be part of a wider sales mix, alongside telesales, email marketing, sales promotion, advertising, and public relations. But personal selling must not be overlooked: it remains an extremely important part of a salesperson’s arsenal and is a skill every good salesperson must master.

What is personal selling?

Personal selling is when a salesperson meets a potential buyer or buyers face-to-face with the aim of selling a product or service. The most traditional form of sales, many salespeople are lured to the industry by the adrenaline rush of high-stakes personal selling; picture those whisky-swilling Mad Men, or the ultra-driven salesmen of Glengarry Glen Ross.

These days, there’s a lot more to sales than attending meetings.

Why? Simply put – the expense.

Think about it: each face-to-face meeting requires significantly more investment – from both sides – than just contacting a prospect via email or phone. Suddenly, you’ve got travel expenses. And the time it takes to prepare for, travel to, and take the meeting only adds to the cost. This is why it’s vital to consider the value and type of product you’re aiming to sell – as well as the likelihood of closing the deal – before automatically opting for personal selling.

But face-to-face meetings certainly still have their place. Consider this: 68% of B2B customers are lost due to indifference or perceived apathy rather than mistakes. Attending a sales meeting is a prime way to combat this issue by showing you care enough to invest time and money in your prospect on good faith.

Fifty-eight percent of buyers state that sales meetings are not valuable, and that there should be a greater focus on the value businesses can deliver to them. On the face of it, this doesn’t sound like great news for salespeople who shine in meetings. But it does mean that over 40% of prospects are open to sales meetings. The other 60% may just need convincing that a meeting will help you add real value to their business.

Personal selling Techniques

1. focus on the right leads.

With the extra time and monetary investment required for face-to-face sales meetings, it’s essential businesses lock down ROI by choosing the right prospects to meet in person through a comprehensive lead-qualifying process.

Not every meeting will lead to a sale, but you can get yourself closer to hitting those sales stats by asking yourself:

• What is the value of this potential sale?
• What is the size of the business you’re selling to?
• Is your product or service genuinely going to serve the business well?
• Could building a strong relationship with the DM lead to more business down the line?
• Is a sales meeting actually going to help close the sale? Perhaps the DM is extremely time-poor and prefers email or telephone communication?
• What value can you add in a sales meeting?

2. Exceed expectations through preparation

Salespeople who turn up to a meeting without preparing properly are a serious irritant for buyers. In fact, 82% of B2B buyers think sales reps are unprepared. This suggests that many prospects have been deterred from sales meetings – which they may consider a waste of time – due to negative past experiences.

It’s your job to change their mind.

Buyers don’t want to work with pushy salespeople. For buyers, a positive sales experience involves a sales representative who:

• listens to their needs
• is invested in the success of their business
• provides relevant information

Yet, just 13% of prospects believe a sales rep can understand their needs – suggesting salespeople have a reputation for not listening properly and just pushing ahead with a boilerplate pitch.

Active listening is of course vital for sales reps – not just in the meeting, but ahead of it. Note down every piece of information you receive via call or email and use this to your advantage in the meeting to prove you understand the business’s real needs. And practice active listening outside of meetings – when your mind is racing, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Put yourself head and shoulders above the competition by over preparing. Don’t just research the company so you can show off by reciting stats or dates in the interview – learn about their pain points, their budgets, and what they’re trying to achieve. You can then position your product or service as a solution that helps them achieve their wider goals.

Your presentation should never be boilerplate: use the information you’ve gathered through research and listening to tailor it specifically to the company’s goals and how your product or service slots into their strategy.

3. Add value in the meeting

These days, it’s drummed into sales reps that they must add value in meetings, demonstrating that they’ll continue to provide useful assistance should the client sign on the dotted line. Doing this successfully demonstrates that you know what you’re talking about, and also that you care about working with the company long-term to help them achieve their goals, thereby building trust.

But what are the best techniques for adding value in that initial meeting?

Sixty-nine percent of buyers state that providing primary research data that’s relevant to their business is the best way for reps to add value. Furthermore, 95% of customers choose to buy from providers that offer relevant content at every stage of the buying process.

The amount your company is willing to invest in research or content ahead of the meeting will no doubt vary depending on the size of the potential deal. But there’s always some level of research salespeople are able to do ahead of the big date.

Use your company’s tools to pull data surrounding the business and its competitors that the organization hasn’t gathered itself. Give an analysis of the top-level findings in your presentation, explain how your products and services can help with the challenges you’ve uncovered, and then send the DM the data and your analysis. Ask your content team to create a bank of assets surrounding regular FAQs and industry pain points – whether blogs, infographics, videos, or ebooks – so you’re able to send links to additional helpful information during or after the meeting.

4. Make it clear you’re in this together

The best-performing sales reps use collaborative words like “we” or “us” instead of words like “I” or “me.” This is a simple method for making the prospective buyer feel like you’re on their side and want nothing more than to see their business thrive.

Asking intelligent, in-depth questions surrounding their business challenges, and coming back with potential solutions related to your products and services, takes this a step further, as does turning up to the meeting with the research and data outlined above.

However you do it, make sure your client leaves the meeting seeing your relationship as a partnership.

5. Tell a story

An important stat to remember when crafting your pitch: following a presentation, 63% of prospects remember stories, but just 5% remember statistics. Storytelling hooks in prospects significantly more than a bunch of dry numbers.

Turn how you can add value to your client into a story, with a clear beginning (now), middle (how you’ll work with them) and end (the results they can expect).

Ensure case studies are told in story form, too. Where relevant, you can also tell the story of your company to gain buy-in: you’ll be seen less as a faceless entity, and more as a friendly brand.

When to Use Personal Selling?

Although personal selling can be used in most business scenarios, it is especially effective when you have a:

• Highly specialized offering: Personal selling is an effective way to introduce a specialized product, as it allows you to explain and demonstrate how the product is specifically tailored to your prospect’s needs. It also allows for more personalized conversations with potential customers, allowing them to ask questions and learn about the benefits of the product.
• Small market with a few large buyers: When there are only a few buyers in the market, you can reach them all through personal selling. Your sales reps can visit each buyer directly and provide detailed information about your product, convincing them of its value.
• High-end/complex product: Personal selling is especially useful when selling high-end or complex products. It allows you to explain why the customer should invest in this product, rather than settling for cheaper options available on the market. You can also demonstrate how the product works in detail, which is often necessary with more complicated items.
• Highly competitive market: You’ll need something to make your product stand out from the rest if you’re in a highly competitive market. This can be done through personal selling. Your sales rep can demonstrate how your product is different and has features that other products don’t.
• Lack of funds for other advertising channels: There are times when your company isn’t doing very well. But even if you can’t afford other advertising channels, such as TV or radio advertisements, you can still use personal selling to market your products.
• Trade show or an exhibition to leverage: Personal selling is perfect for leveraging trade shows and exhibitions, as you can use these events to introduce your product to a large group of people at the same time. Your sales reps can also go ahead and engage with each interested customer individually, explaining why they should choose your product over the competition.

Personal Selling Examples

An example of the importance of genuinely making your customer feel like you’re on their side and building trust comes from Andrew Peterson, CEO of Signal Sciences. While at college he worked at The North Face, and says his favorite customer interactions were always those where he’d recommend the customer go to another brand to find the product they needed.

Speaking to Inc , he said: “Don’t get me wrong, I loved The North Face and all of their products! But I was always more intent on getting the customer the best product for what they were looking for. When that wasn’t something from our company, I’d tell them what they should get instead and where to get it from. Funny thing was, they always ended up buying at least something from me because they were so shocked I wasn’t just pushing our products on them. A great lesson I learned from this is that the best salespeople are the ones you trust.”

When working in sales, Richard Nieset, chief customer officer at Pixlee, found a unique way to tackle one of his employer’s toughest clients in a brilliant example of personal selling. Having been warned that the contact was a “pain in the butt” who led on salespeople but never committed, he went to a meeting armed with a toy gun filled with six bullets.

Speaking to Inc, he explained: “Here was my deal: He could ask me for anything he needed from us and anything we could possibly do, we would do. But each time he asked, he had to give me one of those bullets. When I got all six bullets, I would get to ask for something in return. And you can probably guess what that was going to be. Eventually, I got him to agree, leading to one of the largest deals in our company history.”

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Case Study Hub | Samples, Examples and Writing Tips

Case study on personal selling, personal selling case study:.

Personal selling is the technique or method used in marketing to advertise and attract customers to purchase goods and services. Personal selling is an interesting method which has appeared not so long ago. The principle of personal selling is very easy: the seller or administrator calls a random person up and tries to advertise the production of the company. The method has a range of advantages and disadvantages. The best positive side is that there is a live contact with the potential customer and the seller can change his behaviour and tactics as soon as he sees the client loses interest or becomes bored.

Do you need case study help on Personal Selling? Read more here!

Psychologically, personal selling is a good think, because many people are too well-bred to break the conversation over the phone up and with the run of time they catch all the necessary information about the product and often become interested in it.

It is obvious that a seller should possess a range of special communicative skills and to be good at human psychology. The person should be flexible and look for the phrases and the right words which can help her sell the product. The biggest disadvantage of personal selling is the clients’ prejudice that the product advertised by the seller does not worth anything; its quality is low and price high. Moreover, many people do not like being told what to buy. Finally, personal selling is quite an expensive type of advertisement, because the boss has to pay money to the sellers who spend their time trying to sell goods over the phone.

Personal selling is quite a useful type of advertising but it can be used only in the particular cases. A good personal selling case study is expected to be informative, logically composed and interesting. One should present the history of the method, its main principles and techniques and catch the importance of the method for the marketing. After that one can move to the research of the direct problem related with personal selling in the particular case or situation. One should investigate the case site, understand the cause of the problem and analyze its effect. In the end one should demonstrate his knowledge and present good methods which can improve the situation for the better and reduce the consequences of the problem under research.

The web is the best help for students who have problems with the organization of their case studies. A free example case study on personal selling written by an expert illustrates the general ways and standards of writing which can be borrowed by a student. It is wise to read at least a few free sample case studies on personal selling in the Internet to improve your knowledge on the topic and writing skills.

At EssayLib.com writing service you can buy a custom case study on Personal Selling topics. Your case study will be written from scratch. We hire top-rated Ph.D. and Master’s writers only to provide students with professional case study help at affordable rates. Each customer will get a non-plagiarized paper with timely delivery. Just visit our website and fill in the order form with all paper details:

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The Impact of Personal Selling on the Purchasing Behavior towards Clothes: A Case Study on the Youth Category

This study aimed to find the impact of personal selling on the purchasing behavior for youth in buying clothes. To achieve the objectives of the study, hypotheses were formulated and tested on a sample of the target community made up of 289 young men and women. The questionnaire design (32) was divided into five dimensions, four dimensions based on the personal characteristics of salespersons and their display of goods, characteristics of clothing stores, promotion done by salespersons in the sale of clothing, and the fifth focused on youth's clothes purchasing behavior. The results of the study showed that 76.7% of males and 99.1% of females prefer to purchase from clothing retail stores. The sampling showed that salespersons in retail stores are honest in dealing with their customers but do not have the ability to negotiate with them. They neither have the required sales skill nor play a big role in stimulating sales, and they do not grant discounts to customers. The study recommended the importance of training and qualification for salespersons in personal selling to help them deal truthfully with customers and develop the ability to negotiate. Salespersons should be granted the authority to give discounts to customers.

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Personal Selling Case Studies Samples For Students

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Do you feel the need to check out some previously written Case Studies on Personal Selling before you begin writing an own piece? In this free catalog of Personal Selling Case Study examples, you are given a fascinating opportunity to discover meaningful topics, content structuring techniques, text flow, formatting styles, and other academically acclaimed writing practices. Adopting them while composing your own Personal Selling Case Study will surely allow you to finalize the piece faster.

Presenting the finest samples isn't the only way our free essays service can help students in their writing endeavors – our experts can also create from point zero a fully customized Case Study on Personal Selling that would make a solid foundation for your own academic work.

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Example of case study on best buy analysis, free snapple case study case study example, executive recommendations letter.

The mission statement of Snapple Group is delineated in its company intention of being a domestic leader in the flavored beverage industry. Its reputable and established brand allows it to deliver beverages of superior quality to its existing and potential customers. As such, in order to achieve its mission, the company bases its operations on the following objectives:

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Red bull marketing strategy {type) to use as a writing model, marketing strategy, good example of lake superior lodge case study, introduction, methods used to decide the readiness of an organization to participate in international case study example.

- The firm’s strong point and flaws and also approvals for addressing resource deficiencies and other weaknesses. - The suitability of the firm’s yields and services, to the foreign market. Here, the suitability of the products and services to international customers is determined.

Potential markets to a product

- Retailers - The government - International community

Information could be gathered from

- Print-this occurs in paper works such as newsletters, microfiche, books, periodicals, magazines, newspapers among others - Televisions and radio media. This includes advertisements. - Online information. This involves the use of the internet and search engines.

Examples of international market intelligence

Communicating value case study examples, communicating value.

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Personal Selling Strategies

Sales Management achieves personal-selling objectives through personal-selling strategy • Key decisions in personal – selling strategy are : a) The kind of sales force required and b) The size of sales force required • The decision on the kind of salespersons defines the role that sales personnel play in their contacts with customers & prospects. The decision on the size of the sales force dictates deployment of sales personnel as well the frequencies & intensities of their contacts with customers & prospects Personal selling objectives & personal setting strategies vary with the kind of competitive setting prevailing in the industry. • When the qualitative personal selling objectives change, changes are required in the kind of sales force. • When quantitative personal selling objectives change, changes are usually required in the size of the sales force COMPETITIVE SETTINGS • Individual companies operate in different competitive settings that define the nature & intensity of competition the sales force will face in the market • Economists have identified 4 basic kinds of competitive market settings.

Read also Major Pricing Strategies They are : Pure or perfect competition Monopolistic competition Oligopolistic competition No direct competition Pure Competition • A market setting characterized by : 1) a large number of buyers & sellers, none powerful enough to control or influence the prevailing market price 2) No single buyer or seller is large enough to appreciably affect the product’s demand or supply 3) All sellers’ products are identical, so buyers are indifferent as to which seller they buy from 4) All buyers are always fully informed about all the sellers’ products ; prices 5) No artificial restraints on prices exist If these assumptions represented the real world in an industry, then no company would bother itself with any marketing strategies because 1) Each seller would be too small to gain business at the expense of others through price cutting, if it did cut price, the others would immediately match the cut 2) Product differentiation will be ruled out as all products are identical 3) No seller would gain by promoting through advertising or personal selling as all buyers buy based on price ; are already fully informed4) As sellers ; buyers are in direct contact, marketing channels ; distribution will not be required The real world knows no industries operating under such conditions Monopolistic Competition • A competitive setting characterized by : 1) A large number of sellers of a generic product but each seller’s brand is in some way differentiated from every other brand 2) Most ultimate consumers appear convinced that different brands of the same generic product are not exactly alike. This provides marketers with opportunities to build brand preferences among buyers 3) Most ultimate consumers are not fully informed about the offerings of competing sellers 4) It is easy for competitors to enter the industry Most modern marketers operate in similar competitive settings that provide marketing opportunities & clearly require skill in planning & implementing an overall marketing strategy • Sellers differentiate their brands through individualizing one or several components of the marketing mix• Advertising differentiates the brand in the minds of ultimate consumers, personal selling ensures the desired distribution intensity & that middlemen provide the needed push. An unusual distribution method or innovative pricing can also help differentiate the brand Oligopolistic Competition the number of competitors is small, they are individually identified & known to each other • it is very difficult for new competitors to enter the market • each seller is a large enough organization & has a large enough market share • each seller must weigh the possible reactions of each of its competitors in formulating & implementing its own overall marketing strategy • Oligopolies exist in such industries as steel, cement, petroleum, aluminium, automobiles, appliances, computers, etc • The successful firm keeps on growing & the less successful ones disappear through mergers & takeovers When one seller introduces a new variation of a basic product, the other sellers risk a rapid loss of market share if they fail to respond appropriately & almost immediately • All competitive moves are watched closely, are imitated, matched, improved upon or otherwise countered by other competitors as rapidly as they can launch counter-offensives • Personal selling strategy plays important roles in building & maintaining dealer co-operation, in servicing the distribution network & in gathering information on competitors’ activitiesNo Direct Competition (Monopoly) • The monopolist does not face any direct competition but faces indirect competition • It must initiate ; stimulate primary demand (for the product category) through promotional strategies • It needs distribution strategies ; requires the implementation of personal selling strategy DETERMINING THE KIND OF SALES PERSONNEL • Making this decision requires consideration of qualitative personal-selling objectives. What should be the duties and responsibilities of the sales personnel ? How should their job performance be measured ? Each company deals with a unique set of marketing factors, such as the strengths and weaknesses of its products (what it sells), the motivations and buying practices of its customers and prospects (whom it sells to), its pricing strategy, and the competitive setting—different selling jobs require different levels of selling and nonselling abilities, training, technical and other knowledge.

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Choice of Basic Selling Style • Sales job roles can be grouped into four basic styles that cut, to a large degree, across industry and company boundaries : 1) trade selling 2) missionary selling ) technical selling 4) new-business selling Trade selling : • The trade salesperson develops and maintains long-term relations with a stable group of customers. This is low-key selling, with little or no pressure, and the job is dull and routine. • Advertising and other forms of promotion are more vital to overall marketing strategy than is personal selling. Missionary selling : • The missionary salesperson is concerned only incidentally with securing orders, since orders result from the missionary’s primary public relations and promotional efforts with customers of the customers. The medical “detailer” who calls on doctors and hospitals to acquaint them with new drugs is an example. Technical selling : • The technical salesperson performs advisory functions similar to those of the missionary salesperson but, in addition, sells direct to industrial users and other buyers.

• The technical salesperson devotes considerable time to acquainting industrial users with technical product characteristics and applications and to helping them design installations or processes that incorporate the company’s products. • In this selling style, the ability to identify, analyze, and solve customers’ problems is important.New-business selling : • The new-business salesperson’s main job is to find and obtain new customers, that is, to convert prospects into customers. • The salesperson specializing in new-business selling should be unusually creative and ingenious and possess a high degree of resourcefulness. DETERMINING THE SIZE OF THE SALES FORCE Three basic approaches are used in approximating this number: (1) The work-load method (2) The sales potential method (3) The incremental method Work Load Method • In the work load method the basic assumption is that all sales personnel should shoulder equal workloads.

Management first estimates the total workload involved in covering the company’s entire market and then divides by the workload that an individual salesperson should be able to handle, thus determining the total number of salespeople required.• The six steps in applying the work load approach are shown in the following example : 1. Classify customers, both present and prospective, into sales volume potential categories (Classification criteria, other than sales volume or sales volume potential, can be used as long as it is possible to distinguish the differences in selling effort required for each class. Assume that there are 880 present and prospective customers, classified by sales volume potential as follows : |Class |A |large |150 accounts | |Class |B |medium |220 accounts | |Class |C |small |510 accounts | 2. Decide on the length of time per sales call and desired call frequencies n each class (Several inputs are used in making these two decisions, for example, personal judgment, the opinions of sales personnel, and actual time studies).

Assume that both present and prospective customers require the same amounts of time per sales call and the same call frequencies per year as follows : Class A : 60 minutes/call x 52 calls/year = 52 hours/year Class B : 30 minutes/call x 24 calls/year = 12 hours/year Class C : 15 minutes/call x 12 calls/year = 3 hours/year 3. Calculate the total work load involved in covering the entire market.In our example, this calculation is Class A : 150 accounts x 52 hours/year = 7,800 hours Class B : 220 accounts x 12 hours/year = 2,640 hours Class C : 510 accounts x 3 hours/year = 1,530 hours Total = 11,970 hours 4. Determine the total work time available per salesperson. Suppose that management decides that salespeople should work 40 hours per week, 48 weeks per year (allowing 4 weeks for vacations, holidays, sickness, etc. ), then each salesperson has available 0 hours/week x 48 weeks = 1,920 hours/year 5.

Divide the total work time available per salesperson by task. Assume that management specifies that sales personnel should apportion their time as follows : Selling tasks 45% 864 hours Non selling tasks 30%576 hours Traveling 25% 480 hours 100% 1,920 hours 6. Calculate the total number of salespeople needed. This is a matter of dividing the total market work load by the total selling time available per salesperson : 11,970 hours —————- = 14 salespeople needed 64 hours The work load approach is attractive to practicing sales executives. It is easy to understand and easy to apply Sales Potential Method • The sales potential method is based on the assumption that performance of the set of activities contained in the job description represents one sales personnel unit.

• A particular salesperson may represent either more or less than one sales personnel unit. If the individual’s performance is excellent, that individual may do the job of more than one unit ; if the individual’s performance is below par, he or she may do less. Sales job descriptions are constructed on management’s assumption that they describe what the average salesperson with average performance will accomplish. With that assumption, then, one can estimate the sales revenue that each salesperson (that is, each sales personnel unit) should produce. • Dividing the forecasted sales volume by this amount and allowing for sales force turnover results in an estimate of the number of salespeople needed.

These relationships are summarized in the equation : N= S / P + T ( S / P) This reduces to N = S / P (1+T) whereN = number of sales personnel units S = forecasted sales volume P = estimated sales productivity of one sales personnel unit T = allowance for rate of sales force turnover • This is a simplified model for determining the size of a sales force. An assumption implicit in this simple model is that sales potentials are identical in all territories. • The crucial estimate of the sales productivity of one unit of sales strength relies heavily on the accuracy and completeness of the sales job description. Estimating the sales force turnover rate is a matter of reviewing previous experience and anticipating such changes as retirements and promotions. Incremental Method • Conceptually, the incremental method is the best approach to determining sales force size. • It is based on one proposition : net profits will increase when additional sales personnel are added if the incremental sales revenues exceed the incremental costs incurred.

• The company now has 15 people on its sales force and wants to determine whether it should add additional staff.Its sales executives estimate the following increases in sales volume, cost of goods sold, and gross margin that would result from the addition of the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth salespersons. • Next, they calculate the net pro/it contribution resulting from the addition of each salesperson • Although this method is the most conceptually correct, it is also the most difficult to apply. • It requires, first, that the company develop a sales response function to use in approximating (in terms of sales volume) the market’s behaviour in relation to alternative levels of personal-selling effort. A sales response function is a quantitative expression that describes the relationship between the amount of personal-selling effort and the resulting sales volume.

• Not many companies have the research sophistication required for development of sales response functions, but some apply the basic concept. • It is doubtful that the incremental method is appropriate where personal-selling is not the primary means of making sales, that is, in cases where other forms of promotion, such as advertising, have stronger influences on sales volume than does personal-selling effort.

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• Leaders Speak
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• Is personal selling dead? The rise of virtual selling

There is tremendous scope for improvement in deploying and exploiting the technology in accelerating the sales performance...

• ETBrandEquity
• Published On Jan 23, 2021 at 09:53 AM IST

• Updated On Jan 23, 2021 at 09:53 AM IST

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