Importance of Personal Selling

Personal selling consists of individual and personal communication with the customers in contrast to the mass and impersonal communication through advertising. Because of this characteristic, personal selling has the advantage of being more flexible in operation.

A salesperson can tailor his sales presentation to fit the needs, motives, and behaviour of individual customers. He can observe the customer’s reaction to a particular sales approach and then make necessary adjustment on the spot. Thus, personal selling involves a minimum of wasteful efforts. The salesperson can select and concentrate on the prospective customers.

Personal selling helps in sales promotion. It is very important to manufacturers and traders because it helps them to sell their products. It also helps them in knowing the tastes, habits, attitudes and reactions of the people.

The manufacturer can concentrate on producing those goods which are required by the customers. This will further promote the sales. Moreover, a good salesman is able to establish personal support with customers. This way, the business gains permanent customers.

Improving Image:

Note that salesmanship can remove bad image or misunderstanding by highlighting company’s achievements and offers. The detailed explanation about company and its products removes all doubts and misunderstandings. It helps in restoring company image and reputation in market.

Customer Confidence:

By systematic sales talk and presentation, a capable salesman can remove all doubts, quarries, objections and misunderstandings, and can win customer’s confidence. It increases customers’ faith in company and its offers.

Flexibility:

Sales talks and presentation can be adjusted according to situation to suit individual nature, motives, and problems.

Individual Services:

Salesmanship offers individual services. It can meet personal expectations of buyers. It leads to customer satisfaction.

Complementary to other Promotional Tools:

Personal selling can support advertising, sales promotion, and publicity. It removes the drawbacks of advertising and sales promotion. Advertising increases awareness while personal selling reinforces the advertising message. Similarly, it can make sales promotion tools more effective by personal guidance or conviction.

Personal Attention:

Advertising and publicity are among mass communication tools. They do not cater individual needs. Personal selling focuses on personal problems of customers. It is comparatively more effective and result-oriented.

Importance to Customers:

Personal selling is equally important to the customer as it is for organization. However, the role of personal selling becomes more important for the illiterate and rural customers, who do not have many other means of getting product information.

The customers are benefited by personal selling in the following ways:

1. Helps in identification of needs: Personal selling helps the customers in identifying their needs and wants and knowing how these can be satisfied.
2. Latest Market Information: Through personal selling customers get latest market information regarding price changes; product availability and new product introduction etc. which helps them in taking their purchase decisions in a better way.
3. Expert Advice: Consumers get expert advice and guidance in purchasing various goods and services, which helps them in making better purchase.
4. Better Standard of Living: It induces the customers to purchase a new product which is capable of satisfying their needs and wants in better way and thus, helps in improving their standard of living.