The key towards a successive and creative marketing campaign involves understanding the customer behavior. Based on the lecture from module three, it is evident that a mere marketing strategy without understanding the customer’s preference is a fruitless effort. Every customer has a distinct choice and preference for the type and quality of good that they want. It may be difficult for the company to satisfy every customer’s needs, but it is always advisable to develop a point of balance that puts every customer under consideration. Furthermore, gaining new customers requires the identification of the niche from which the customer derives their satisfaction. This is because customers purchase products based on two aspects; emotional and rational perspective. In certain occasions, the two motives may apply concurrently during the process of purchase. For this reason, it is important for the company to understand what value the product derives to the customer.
Besides, it is also essential to identify the type of buyer and the market to which they are situated. Identifying the market location of the buyer is critical in determining whether the market is concentrated or not. This will help in developing necessary strategies that will give the company an upper hand in attracting the customers despite the competition. The strategies incorporated in such a situation involve the prospecting professional sales where the company identifies the customers in the desire-phase of purchasing a product and request for a sales meeting. Therefore, it is evident that understanding the behavior of the customer will provide the company with an upper hand in deriving customer satisfaction.
Applying Ethics in Professional Selling
Meeting a company’s sales obligation is a critical measure that requires the management to develop a client relationship embodied in proper ethical standards. Customer satisfaction and retention is an involving obligation that every company has to endure and making its efforts a success requires not only trust but respect and ethical values. For this reason, applying a personal ethical code of standards in my business will help me derive a sense of credibility during professional selling, thus gaining more customers. One critical application of ethical standards in professional selling involves the analogy that what we do or sell is more important than what we say. In the business world, there are two segments, advertisement (professional selling), and service delivery. In an advertisement, a company uses the best tone to derive a positive impression towards the customer. However, applying ethical standards will ensure that the quality of service provided by my company is matching the level of quality that we promised during professional selling.
Secondly, ethical standards require the provision of accurate and honest information to our customers. For this reason, I will train my team to develop a culture of honesty and taking responsibility towards one’s actions. This action will ensure that the customers find a reliable source of information that they can rely on in the process of service or product acquisition. Thirdly, since professional selling involves promoting a company’s product in the most convincing and impressive way, many companies tend to instill some pressure on the customer to purchase the product. For this reason, I will ensure that my employees convince the customers in the most attractive way, but allow them to make their decisions based on preference rather than pressure.
Prospecting and pre-approach
Prospecting involves the process of identifying a potential customer regarding a particular product or service and organizing for a sales meeting with the customer. The main aim of prospecting is converting the interest of the customer into a meeting that will convince him/her to purchase the product. However, there are several challenges that may accrue during the process of prospecting, and it includes the problem of identifying potential triggers, poor response rate, and incorrect contact information that results in time wastage. In a broader context, the process of identifying a customer in the desire- phase is challenging and may take time to identify potential customers in the action phase. In addition, in the process of identifying the prospecting customer, a sales agent may receive poor response rate that may result in delayed action. Furthermore, the process of sales prospecting may result in time wastage, which may be caused by receiving wrong contact information from third-party companies.
However, prospecting should be made a priority in the professional selling process since it targets a new customer-base, who were potential but unwilling clients for the products. That is to say, increasing a company’s customer base is a difficult process that takes time and intervention. For this reason, engaging in prospecting in professional selling enable the company to identify the customers that were not consuming the product, but were willing to purchase if convinced properly. Besides, planning the initial sales call is a critical activity that provides the salesperson with the right information to provide to the potential customer. It is important to understand that the customer was in the process of finding a solution from a frontrunner, but the front-runner is not you. Therefore, using proper words and providing accurate information will provide an upper hand in interesting the customer towards the company’s product.
