Definition of Marketing The following definitions were approved by the American Marketing Association Board of Directors: Marketing: Marketing

is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large

Physical Distribution Functions Of Marketing Involve The Following Activities: 1. Storage Storage simply means holding and preserving the raw materials and products in store between the time of production and time of use or consumption. Storage creates time utility by holding stock for longer period as the materials and goods may not be in demand immediately. Manufacturers will have to maintain a stock of raw materials received from their suppliers for uninterrupted production. They also have to store the finished products so that they can supply to the distributors and wholesalers at the time they need. 2. Warehousing A warehouse is a place where goods are stored and shipped or distributed to the customers when they need. Warehousing includes activities like storing, assembling, packaging for reshipment to other places. Warehousing involves specialized process of storing surplus goods for use or consumption in the near future.

3. Transportation Transportation refers to the physical transfer of goods from one place to another. Products are not consumed at the point of origin or production. So, they have to be transported to the point of consumption. Transportation actually takes goods from production centers to the consumption centers. Transportation creates place and time utilities. Transportation could be by land, water, or by air or pipeline.

Importance of Marketing
Marketing is a very important aspect in business since it contributes greatly to the success of the organization. Production and distribution depend largely on marketing. Many people think that sales and marketing are basically the same. These two concepts are different in many aspects. Marketing covers advertising, promotions, public relations, and sales. It is the process of introducing and promoting the product or service into the market and encourages sales from the buying public. Sales refer to the act of buying or the actual transaction of customers purchasing the product or service.

Since the goal of marketing is to make the product or service widely known and recognized to the market, marketers must be creative in their marketing activities. In this competitive nature of many businesses, getting the product noticed is not that easy. Strategically, the business must be centered on the customers more than the products. Although good and quality products are also essential, the buying public still has their personal

preferences. If you target more of their needs, they will come back again and again and even bring along recruits. If you push more on the product and disregard their wants and the benefits they can get, you will lose your customers in no time. The sad thing is that getting them back is the hardest part. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELLING AND MARKETING

Selling vs Marketing
SELLING 1 Emphasis is on the product 2 Company Manufactures the product first 3 Management is sales volume oriented 4 Planning is short-run-oriented in terms of todays products and markets 5 Stresses needs of seller 6 Views business as a good producing process 7 Emphasis on staying with existing technology and reducing costs 8 Different departments work as in a highly separate water tight compartments 9 Cost determines Price 10 Selling views customer as a last link in business

MARKETING

1 Emphasis on consumer needs wants 2 Company first determines customers needs and wants and then decides out how to deliver a product to satisfy these wants 3 Management is profit oriented 4 Planning is long-run-oriented in todays products and terms of new products, tomorrows markets and future growth 5 Stresses needs and wants of buyers 6 Views business as consumer producing process satisfying process 7 Emphasis on innovation on every existing technology and reducing every sphere, on providing better costs value to the customer by adopting a superior technology 8 All departments of the business integrated manner, the sole purpose being generation of consumer satisfaction 9. Consumer determine price, price determines cost 10. Marketing views the customer last link in business as the very purpose of the business

1definition of sales promotion

Activities, materials, devices, and techniques used to supplement the advertising and marketing efforts and help coordinate the advertising with the personal selling effort. sweepstakes are among the most well-known sales promotion tools, but other examples include special displays, coupons, promotional discounts, contests, and gift offers.

2sales promotion
Stimulation of sales achieved through contests, demonstrations, discounts, exhibitions or trade shows, games, giveaways, point-of-sale displays and merchandising, special offers, and similar activities.

Objectives of Sales Promotion

Sales promotion is a tool used to achieve most of the five major promotional objectives discussed in the Promotion Decisions tutorial: Building Product Awareness Several sales promotion techniques are highly effective in exposing customers to products for the first time and can serve as key promotional components in the early stages of new product introduction. Additionally, as part of the effort to build product awareness, several sales promotion techniques possess the added advantage of capturing customer information at the time of exposure to the promotion. In this way sales

promotion can act as an effective customer information gathering tool (i.e., sales lead generation), which can then be used as part of follow-up marketing efforts. Creating Interest Marketers find that sales promotions are very effective in creating interest in a product. In fact, creating interest is often considered the most important use of sales promotion. In the retail industry an appealing sales promotions can significantly increase customer traffic to retail outlets. Internet marketers can use similar approaches to bolster the number of website visitors. Another important way to create interest is to move customers to experience a product. Several sales promotion techniques offer the opportunity for customers to try products for free or at low cost. Providing Information Generally sales promotion techniques are designed to move customers to some action and are rarely simply informational in nature. However, some sales promotions do offer customers access to product information. For instance, a promotion may allow customers to try a fee-based online service for free for several days. This free access may include receiving product information via email. Stimulating Demand Next to building initial product awareness, the most important use of sales promotion is to build demand by convincing customers to make a purchase. Special promotions, especially those that lower the cost of ownership to the customer (e.g., price reduction), can be employed to stimulate sales. Reinforcing the Brand Once customers have made a

purchase sales promotion can be used to both encourage additional purchasing and also as a reward for purchase loyalty (see loyalty programs below). Many companies, including airlines and retail stores, reward good or preferred customers with special promotions, such as email special deals and surprise price reductions at the cash register.

Importance Of Sales Promotion

Sales promotion is important for any business to make a sale. The following highlight the importance of sales promotions: 1. Attract New Customers Sales promotion is targeted towards creating new customers. Free samples, gifts etc. are given to the customers so that they can try the brand. This sales promotion incentive creates impulse on the customer to buy the product. This process sometimes leads to change in brand loyalty among the customers. 2. Introduce New Product Sales promotion is very important for the manufacturers to introduce new products into the market. This is also done through free samples, gifts and discounts. 3. Encourage More Purchase Sales promotion encourages the customers to buy more or in greater quantity. 4. Sales In Off-season Many products have seasonal demand and the sales promotion helps the customer buy the product when the season is over. This is possible through

price reductions and heavy discounts. 5. Competitive Pressure Sales promotion helps the firms face the competition. Sales promotion becomes an effective tool for the sales. Sales promotion is essential for every firm to compete in the market. 6. State Of Economy Rising prices make the customers more conscious and sales promotion becomes attractive to them. During recession, customers are encouraged to buy the products through facilities of discount, gift and price reduction. 7. Point Of Purchase Promotion Sales Promotion informs the customers about the product and stimulates the buyers at the point of purchase. The customer's intention to purchase is increased so that she/he is encouraged to buy better quality goods in larger quantity.

Methods of Sales Promotion

Sales promotion for companies is all about the ways the company markets the product or service it is touting in order to make money. Marketing also involves some testing on the part of the business to determine which combination of these methods works best for its products or services, and allows the company to sell the most.

Step 1
Identify the potential customers. To create a sales promotion, you must first come to understand whom you are trying to sell the product or service, so you can then choose a methodology that appeals to the customer. Create a scenario that describes who the

customer is, how they think and feel, what they like to do, what their household income is and how the product or service benefits them or fills a need they have.

Step 2
Plot your product in the life cycle, which is composed of four main stages: introductory, growth, maturity and decline. Sales promotion efforts are different in each stage because the needs of the audience are different in each stage. Determining where your product falls in the product life cycle reveals how you should be marketing your product. Generally, products in the introductory stage require sales promotions to bring awareness to customers; growth products offer sales promotions that differentiate it from its competition; maturity requires more of a reminder type sales promotion using coupons and special sales; and the decline stage is typically where cost cutting measures occur to cut down on sales promotions.

Step 3
Choose a sales promotion. Start off by choosing one method to implement as a sales promotion. You may start by offering coupons to customers. Coupons can work for almost any stage of the product life cycle and coupons can be distributed in a variety of ways. You can distribute coupons online via email, in stores where the product is sold, on your business website, in direct mail--your own direct mail campaign or in coupon supplier mailers such as Value Pak and Red Plum.

Step 4
Track the response rate. When you implement the sales promotion, track the response rate of the method. For example, coupons may include a coupon code that customers have to input in online orders or provide during a phone order to claim the savings. If the sales promotion is successful generates a profitthen you can mimic the sales promotion in future campaigns. If not, you can modify the existing sales method or add a new method to the mix.

Step 5
Implement a new sales promotion. Try out a new sales promotion, such as giving away free samples for customers to try. You may combine giving away free samples with a coupon so after a customer tries the product, likes it and decides to buy it, the user also has the added incentive of saving money to buy the product.

Step 6
Repeat Steps 3 to 5. Continue to add and subtract sales promotions until you find the marketing mix that works best for your business.

Sales objectives
Many marketers use the promotional sales as a tool to learn the response of the first time users, by offering reduced price, sales coupons, or money-back guarantees. To increase the repeat purchase from the existing users. It can work as an introductory platform for a new

product. But a hosing plan and get a domain name free. Sales promotion is a vehicle to defend your business against your competitors. By giving your users free coupons upon buying every products so as they can get considerable discount on the next purchase with a specified time will certainly bind your customers with your products and it will unlikely that they will switch on a new brand, even if it being highly competitive. Try to target and find a new segment in the market by focusing geographic and psychology of users such as users with high and low purchasing needs. Normally, arranging a competition or contents are very helpful for targeting a specific interest group.

Types of Sales Promotion

In the Sales Promotion tutorial we saw that promotions can be classified into three main areas: Consumer Market-Directed Trade Market-Directed Business-to-Business MarketDirected. In this tutorial we look more deeply into each of these classifications by examining the different types of promotions that fall into each. As we will see much of what is covered is

very familiar to even those who are new to marketing as it involves promotional methods consumers are exposed to nearly every day. For marketers, it is important to understand the value each type of sales promotion holds for helping them meet their promotional objectives.

QUALITIES OF GOOD SALESMAN

/ successful salesman
A successful salesman should possess following main three types of qualities. 1. Professional qualities. 2. Specific qualities. 3. General qualities. Some of the most important points in professional, special and general traits of goods salesman have been explained below: Training and experience A good salesman should be expert in his respective field. He should have knowledge about the technique of production and art of salesmanship. He must be trained in speaking regional and other languages. It is advisable for the successful result of the operation

that a salesman must undergo on practical training before coming to the actual job. Latest information A salesman must have up-to-date information in regarded to quality, nature, description, prices and importance of the dealing products. He should also have the knowledge of potential market, organization of his firm and taste of his consumers. Psychological approach A salesman should be in a position to follow the psychology of human nature. He must have ability of understand his customer's choice. So he should talk in terms of the customer's interest and he must create pleasant atmosphere to achieve favorable attention and interest on the part of the prospect buyer. Convincing style A good salesman should adopt convincing style in order to win prospect's confidence. He must persuade his prospect that the specific product being sold will best fill that need. Sound appearance A salesman should have the personality of good health and sound physique. He must be stalwart young man with pleasing manners and nice habits. He must possess the abilities of influencing and attracting other persons. Honesty

It is a prominent quality of a good salesman. .In order to establish the goodwill of firm he must be honest and sincere in performing his duty. There is no place for dishonest salesman in any business. Steady work It is the most important trait of successful salesman that he should be industrious. He must show enthusiasm for his profession and constantly work hard to achieve more success in his field.

Courtesy A salesman must be very polite. Courtesy in to business what oil is to machinery. It costs nothing but wins a reputation. So polite language should be used for the object of winning buyer's confidence. This will also help him to make regular and permanent customers. In addition to the foregoing qualities, a salesman should be sincere, self reliant, sociable, and tactful and diplomatic. Sociability A good salesman must keep in touch with the people of different nature in the world and not keep himself to himself. He should move about with a view to widen his range of acquaintances. Salesman should therefore, possess a quality of mixing freely with unknown person within a short time. He should be sociable and popular in order to win new friends.

Self Reliance and persistence Another notable quality of the goods salesman is ability to convince the prospective customers with persistent efforts. In order to adequately satisfy customers demand he must be a man of self reliance. He should have perseverance and determination. Dependability The successful salesman should have the capacity of dependability. It keeps him much to win the heart of both customer and employer. A dependable salesman will remain loyal to firm. Thus he will be sincere in his approach to customer with a view to increase the volume of sales and enhances the firms reputation.

Others
Tolerate by Nature Organized Flexible Enthusiasm

The Nature of Personal Selling

Selling is one of the oldest professions in the world. Today, most salespeople are well-educated, well-trained professionals who work to build and maintain long-term relationships with customers. They build these relationships by listening to their customers; assessing customers needs, and organizing the companys efforts to solve customer problems. The term salesperson covers a wide variety of positions and responsibilities. The person can be: 1). An inside order taker.

2). An order getter (a great amount of creative selling skills are demanded in this position). Personal selling is likely to be emphasized in a promotional mix when the market is concentrated or the product has a high unit value, is technical in nature, and requires a demonstration. It is also useful if the product can be tailored to an individual customers need, or the product is in the introductory stage of the product life cycle.

Nature of Personal Selling

Gives marketers: The greatest freedom to adjust a message to satisfy customers informational needs, dynamic. Most precision, enabling marketers to focus on most promising leads. vs. advertising, publicity and sales promotion Give more information Two way flow of information, interactivity. Discover the strengths and weaknesses of new products and pass this information on to the marketing department. Highest cost. Businesses spend more on personal selling than on any other form of promotional mix. Goals range from finding prospects

convincing prospects to buy keeping customers satisfied--help them pass the word along.

characteristics of personal selling

Personal selling is having flexibility of system it provides one to one contact between the buyers and sellers. It Identify specific sales prospects the first step in the selling process is prospecting identifying qualified potential customers. Approaching the right potential customers is crucial to selling success. Direct contact with the potential buyers provides opportunity to demonstrate the product and to customers and to answer the queries and questions of the customers. Answer questions during the presentation step of the selling process, the salesperson tells the product "story" to the buyer, showing how the product will make or save money. The salesperson describes the product features but concentrates on presenting customer benefits.
ROLE OF PERSONAL SELLING IN MARKETING

Personal selling is the interpersonal arm of promotion mix. Advertising consists of one-way, non personal communication with target consumer group in contrast personal selling involves two way personal communications between sales people and individual consumer -weather face to

face, by telephone, through video conferences, or by other means. Personal selling can be more effective than advertising in more complex situation like explaining product benefits, demonstrating the proper operation of the product, educating consumers about new products, answering different questions about their products and clear any doubts about it, organizing and implementing point of purchase promotion and also arranging the terms of sale, follow up the purchase to se that consumer is satisfied, also develop such a kind of personal relationship that the consumer can trust your product also it is very important because through this sales person can collect very useful competitive information. Sales people can also work with whole sellers and retailers to gain their support and to help them be more effective in selling the companys product they serve as a critical link between a company and its consumer. Sales people also represent consumer to the company, they learn about the needs of the consumer and work with other in the company to create greater consumer value.

The Importance of Marketing

Financial success often depends on marketing ability. Finance, operations, accounting, and other business functions will not really matter if there is not sufficient demand for products and services so the company can make a profit. There must be atop line for there to be a bottom line. Many companies have now created a Chief

Marketing Officer, or CMO, position to put marketing on a more equal footing with other C-Level executives such as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Press releases from organizations of all kinds-c-from consumer goods makers to health care insurers and from nonprofit organizations to industrial product manufacturers-trumpet their latest marketing achievements and can be found on their Web sites. In the business press, countless articles are devoted to marketing strategies and tactics.
FUNDAMENTALS OF SUCCESSFUL PERSONAL SELLING

Sales people must have greater flexibility, he must tailor sales presentations to fit the needs and behavior of the individual customers

He must have the potential of explaining the product benefits, answer questions of his customers

He must be truthful

He must behave in a reliable manner

Must seek similarity of personality between you and the customer and the commodity interest and goals

Sales person must see whether the person or his prospects has the potential to pay for the product or not.