Chapter 14: Personal Selling and Customer Service

A(n) _____ is an advocate not only for the firm that employs him or her, but also for those who purchase the firm's products. A. customer service rep B. technical specialist C. rack jobber D. venture capitalist E. external auditor

A. customer service rep

Which of the following is a good example of a sales technology? A. software for shelf-space management B. Any or all of these are good examples of sales technologies. C. spreadsheet analysis of sales data D. order status information available over the Internet E. digital presentations

B. Any or all of these are good examples of sales technologies. - Software for sales technology include spreadsheet sales analysis, digital presentations, time management, sales forecasting, customer contact, and shelf-space management.

Which of the following statements is true of compensating salespeople? A. A salesperson's commission can only be based on a percentage of dollar sales. B. Salespeople earn more than the office or production force. C. Commissions paid to salespeople increase the need for working capital. D. A straight salary offers the least security for a salesperson. E. The straight salary method of payment reduces the amount of sales supervision needed.

B. Salespeople earn more than the office or production force.

Which of the following statements about sales force organization is false? A. Team selling involves different specialists to handle different parts of the selling job. B. Inside salespeople are often used with small or hard-to-reach customers. C. Carefully set sales territories can reduce the cost of sales calls. D. A major accounts sales force is used to sell to small retailers who are not covered by wholesalers in the channel. E. The first step in deciding how many salespeople are needed is to estimate how much work can be done by one person in a given time period.

D. A major accounts sales force is used to sell to small retailers who are not covered by wholesalers in the channel.

The sales manager of the Retro Butterfly Chair Corp. wishes to compensate his sales force in a way that will provide some security, incentive, flexibility, and control. The company should ideally offer its sales force A. straight salaries. B. a value pay plan. C. straight commissions. D. a combination plan. E. a fixed pay plan.

D. a combination plan. - Most salespeople want some security, and most companies want salespeople to have some incentive to do better work, so the obvious method is a combination plan that includes some salary and some commission.

Which one of the following options offers firms the best means of avoiding ethical issues related to personal selling? A. using commissions to motivate salespeople to sell lots of product B. trusting salespeople to do the right thing C. adopting a "do-what-you-need-to-do attitude" in regards to sales D. focusing on the short-term needs of the firm as opposed to building long-term customer relationships E. establishing a marketing mix that offers genuine benefits to the target customers

E. establishing a marketing mix that offers genuine benefits to the target customers

Which of the following is true of order-taking? A. It involves establishing relationships with new customers. B. It does not involve handling customer complaints. C It is an occasional process. D. It usually occurs before the order-getting phase. E. It requires ongoing follow-up to make certain that the customer is totally satisfied.

E. It requires ongoing follow-up to make certain that the customer is totally satisfied.

An order getter helps bring products out of the A. maturity stage into the growth stage. B. decline stage into the maturity stage. C. decline stage into the market growth stage. D. maturity stage into the introduction stage. E. introduction stage into the market growth stage.

E. introduction stage into the market growth stage.

A salesperson for an auto glass manufacturer is primarily responsible for expanding the company's customer base to markets that have not been served before. Which of the following most likely characterizes the major tasks for this salesperson? A. channel captain B. category captain C. order taker D. technical specialist E. order getter

E. order getter

Which of the following statements is true of missionary salespeople? A. They are usually trained by wholesalers, retailers, or other intermediaries. B. They seek out new customers for their companies' products and sell to them personally. C. They primarily work for retailers. D. They work for customers, trying to strengthen the consumer movement. E. They are sometimes called merchandisers or detailers.

E. They are sometimes called merchandisers or detailers.

prepared sales presentation

a memorized presentation that is not adapted to each individual customer

selling formula approach

a sales presentation that starts with a prepared presentation outline—much like the prepared approach—and leads the customer through some logical steps to a final close.

sales presentation

a salesperson's effort to make a sale or address a customer's problem

consultative selling approach

a type of sales presentation in which the salesperson develops a good understanding of the individual customers' needs before trying to close the sale

prospecting

following all the leads in the target market to identify potential customers

basic sales tasks

order-getting, order-taking, and supporting - one person may do 2 or all 3 tasks in some situations

order getters

salespeople concerned with establishing relationships with new customers and developing new business - producers have a great need for order getters, especially business products - the order getter helps bring products out of the introduction stage into the market growth stage

supporting salespeople

salespeople who help the order-oriented salespeople but don't try to get orders themselves - activities aimed at enhancing the relationship with the customer and getting sales in the long run - three types: missionary, technical, and customer service reps

order takers

salespeople who sell to regular or established customers, complete most sales transactions, and maintain relationships with their customers - main job of wholesalers; order takers is to maintain close contact with customer, place orders, and check to be sure the company fils orders promptly

order-getting

seeking possible buyers with a well-organized sales presentation designed to sell a good, service, or idea

technical specialists

supporting salespeople who provide technical assistance to order-oriented salespeople

missionary salespeople

supporting salespeople who work for producers by calling on intermediaries and their customers - develop goodwill and stimulate demand, help intermediaries train their salespeople, and take orders for delivery by intermediaries

customer service reps

supporting salespeople who work with customers to resolve problems that arise with a purpose, usually after a purchase is made

order-taking

the routine completion of sales made regularly to target customers - ongoing follow-up

close

the salesperson's request for an order

Dan sells life insurance. The insurance company provides a list of prospects, and he starts each sales call by asking the potential customer to explain his or her financial goals. He uses a problem-solving approach to satisfy the customer's needs. In this scenario, which of the following types of sales presentations is Dan probably using? A. consultative selling approach B. missionary approach C. close presentation approach D. selling formula approach E. canned presentation approach

A. consultative selling approach

A salesperson represents the _____ inside the selling firm, providing feedback from the field. A. customer B. debtor C. creditor D. government E. shareholder

A. customer

Whiz-Bang Toy Company wants to build close relationships with its key customers—closely cooperating with them and helping them solve problems. Whiz-Bang also interacts regularly with these customers—sharing orders, invoices, product information, and price changes. What type of sales process would work best for Whiz-Bang Toy Company? A. emphasis on digital self-service B. emphasis on both personal selling and customized e-commerce C. emphasis on order-getting D. emphasis on telemarketing E. emphasis on standardized e-commerce where computers exchange information

B. emphasis on both personal selling and customized e-commerce

In the context of a firm's overall sales efforts, "customer service" is best described as A. the entire process of interacting with a customer to convince them to make a purchase. B. service that is required to solve a problem that a customer had with a previous purchase. C. extra attention devoted to key customers by a dedicated major accounts team. D. websites or other technology that enables customers to make purchases with little or no interaction with a salesperson. E. a service or services that the firm sells to customers.

B. service that is required to solve a problem that a customer had with a previous purchase.

The National Do Not Call Registry has largely reduced A. calls to consumers from nonprofit organizations. B. telemarketing to individual consumers. C. customer service helplines. D. toll-free call lines for businesses. E. inside sales to business customers.

B. telemarketing to individual consumers.

When QaziTech customers have questions about a product they have purchased, or problems using it, they can go online to the company's website and search for answers or interact with others there who have had a similar problem. This is an example of A. order-taking. B. order-getting. C. a community support forum. D. a standardized e-commerce system. E. prospecting with a CRM database.

C. a community support forum.

What sequences of steps do most sales presentations follow? A. action, interview, decision, acceptance B. attention, interest, decision, acceptance C. attention, interest, desire, action D. arrival, inspection, desire, action E. arrival, inspection, decision, action

C. attention, interest, desire, action - AIDA model

From the perspective of a retailer, the purpose of customer service is to A. help customers to buy. B. identify good prospects to become new customers. C. promote future purchases. D. prevent customers from experiencing problems. E. advertise the firms products.

C. promote future purchases. - Customer service promotes future purchases by helping customers solve problems that they have experienced with their past purchases. Customer service is important to retailers, and all businesses, because customers who have experienced problems are typically unhappy with the firm they made a purchase from. Unless customer service makes these unhappy customers happy again, they are unlikely to make additional purchases in the future, and they may also discourage others from buying from the firm they are unhappy with.

The specific sales or profit objective a salesperson is expected to achieve is known as the A. return on investment. B. break-even point. C. sales quota. D. payback point. E. accounting profit.

C. sales quota.

Jefferson works in the sales department of GRDR Inc., a company that makes industrial tools. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering and is an expert in figuring out exactly which of the company's many products best meet the needs of specific customers. Today he is travelling to visit a potential customer, a construction firm that Jefferson's colleague Carla has already visited and convinced to test out GRDR's products. Jefferson's role on GRDR's sales team is probably best described as that of a(n) A. customer service rep. B. order taker. C. technical specialist. D. missionary salesperson. E. order getter.

C. technical specialist.

A company employing which of the following compensation schemes is likely to have the largest total personal selling expenses? A. a company with straight commission salespeople and low sales volume B. a company with salespeople on straight salary and low sales volume C. a company with salespeople on a combined salary and commission plan D. a company with straight commission salespeople and high sales volume E. a company with salespeople on straight salary and with high sales volume

D. a company with straight commission salespeople and high sales volume - Total personal selling expenses are likely to be highest for companies that pay straight commission to salespeople who sell in high sales volume. Commission pay offers the most incentive and is tied to results actually achieved. A commission is often based on a percentage of dollar sales, but it may be a financial incentive based on other outcomes—such as the number of new accounts, customer satisfaction ratings, or customer service problems resolved in some time period.

Customer relationship management databases are often used to help salespeople with all of the following activities, except for A. tracking the needs and interests of customers. B. managing the sales staff's time. C. prospecting for purchasing decision makers. D. giving sales presentations. E. grading prospective customers.

D. giving sales presentations.

A(n) _____ is a written statement of what a salesperson is expected to do. A. requisition form B. promissory note C. executive summary D. job description E. specification sheet

D. job description

When sales situations call for gathering standardized information on customers, but no relationship building is necessary, then A. personal selling is most effective. B. developing a standard digital self-service makes most sense. C. there is no need for customer service reps. D. setting up a standard e-commerce system is sufficient. E. personal selling and customized e-commerce may be required.

D. setting up a standard e-commerce system is sufficient.

Which of the following is true of a straight commission compensation method? A. It is unaffected by the results actually achieved by a salesperson. B. It offers the most security for a salesperson. C. It increases the need for working capital. D. It can only be based on a percentage of dollar sales. E. It reduces the amount of sales supervision needed.

E. It reduces the amount of sales supervision needed. - A straight commission system ties all of a salesperson's compensation to making sales or achieving other goals set by the company. By carefully controlling these goals, a firm can both motivate and direct a sales force with relatively little need for supervision.