28.1 Introduction
Personal selling or salesmanship is the oldest and the most popular method of selling goods and services to the end user. This procedure involves face-to-face communication between the seller and the potential buyer. It may be of two types :
1. Counter Selling: This happens when a customer comes to the shop or store and the salesperson receives him. It first and foremost involves retail store selling. It also includes 'phone-in-orders'.
2. Door-to-Door Selling: In this case the salesperson visits to the residence or office of the customer. This is also known as field selling. These days salespersons also contact customers through telephone, mobile, fax and internet.
Personal selling is the process of supporting, persuading and convincing a potential buyer to buy a product or service in a face-to-face condition. It involves direct and personal touch between the seller or a staff member with the prospective buyer. They …show more content…
Personal selling is both an art as well as a science. It needs application of knowledge, mind and skills to influence people (art). It also contains a systemic knowledge (science) in the form of basic rules and techniques which one can learn in a course on marketing. Personal selling aims at mutual benefit of both the buyer and the seller. It gives customer satisfaction which ensures money-making sales volume to the organization. Personal selling is oral communication with potential buyers about a product with the intention of making a sale. The personal selling may focus initially on building a relationship with the potential buyer,. This most of the time end with an attempt to “close the sale”. Personal selling is an important factor of promotion mix and successful promotional tool. In spite of the above advantages, personal selling has several disadvantages. Firstly personal selling is the costliest method of promotion. Secondly, it can cover only partial number of customers at a