Article reviews

Submitted By
Kshitij Gupta
Roll No 08/2013

What Makes a Good Salesman

BY DAVID MAYER AND HERBERT M. GREENBERG
As mentioned in the article the author talks about the factors which contribute
to the success of a good salesman. The article starts by stating the implications
of having an ineffective salesman. It discusses the cost involved like salaries,
commissions, recruitment and training cost, cost of lost sales, bad reputation
etc. The article states the reason for inefficiency as that a very high proportion
of those engaged in selling cannot sell. The article discusses the basic
characteristics necessary for a salesman to be able to sell successfully. The
article underlines two basic qualities in a salesman as empathy and ego drive.
Empathy, the important central ability to feel as the other fellow does in order
to be able to sell him a product or service, must be possessed in large measure.
A salesman with good empathy senses the reactions of the customer and is
able to adjust to these reactions. Ego drive makes a salesman want and need
to make the sale in a personal or ego way, not merely for the money to be
gained. A subtle balance must be found between (a) an ego partially weakened
in precisely the right way to need a great deal of enhancement (the sale) and
(b) an ego sufficiently strong to be motivated by failure but not to be shattered
by it. The salesmans empathy, coupled with his intense ego drive, enables him
to home in on the target effectively and make the sale.
The article further discussed the dynamic relationship between empathy and
ego drive. The article states that It takes a combination of the two, each
working to reinforce the other, each enabling the other to be fully utilized, to
make the successful salesman. The article further discusses the four possible
combinations of drive and empathy and evaluates them from the perspective
of the success of a salesman.
Experts have failed to measure The ability to sell effectively. There appear to
be four basic causes for sales aptitude test failure.
1. Tests have been looking for interest not ability- the fact that an
individual might have the same interest pattern as a successful salesman
does not mean that he can sell.

2. Tests have been eminently fakable - These tests only succeed in

negatively screening those who are so unintelligent that they are unable
to see the particular response pattern sought
3. Tests have favoured group conformity, not individual creativity- The
creative thinker, the impulsive free spirit, the original, imaginative, harddriving individual is often screened out by tests that demand rigid
adherence to convention
4. Tests have tried to isolate fractional traits rather than to reveal the
whole dynamics of the man. Most personality and aptitude tests are
totally traitological in their construction and approach. They see
personality as a series or bundle of piecemeal traits.
The article states that sales ability is more fundamental than the product
being sold. According to the article, when emphasis is placed on experience,
and experience counts more than such essentials as empathy and drive,
what is accomplished can only be called the inbreeding of mediocrity. What
companies need is a greater willingness to seek individuals with basic sales
potential in the general marketplace.
The article further talks about the importance of experience in the selection
of a salesperson. According to the article, experience is more or less easily
gained, but real sales ability is not at all so easily gained. It frequently
happens that the blind habit of special experience has kept the company
from using the man in a more effective and appropriate way. Thus, mans
basic inner abilities are more important than the experience. Each present
employee, as well as each new applicant, should be placed in the area
where he can be most creative and productive.
The article further discussed the importance of training. As per the article
the efficiency in training, using the best of modern methods, is necessary.
But training can succeed only if selection succeeds. The article concludes by
stating that the effective salesmen are the key to distribution, and proper
selection is the key to finding, using, and profiting from salesmen of good
quality. Selecting men with empathy and ego drive should contribute in
some degree to helping industry meet one of its most pressing problems,
reducing the high cost of turnover and selecting genuinely better salesmen.

Rediscovering Market Segmentation

By Daniel Yankelovich and David Meer
The article talks about redefining the new criteria for defining market
segments by describing the elements of a smart segmentation strategy. The
article further explains how segmentations meant to strengthen brand
identity and make an emotional connection with consumers. The article
starts with the criteria given in 1964 by the author himself who focused on
non demographic traits instead of demographic traits so that segmentation
could not only contribute to the advertising but also to the product
innovation, pricing and choice of distribution channels.
The article further discusses the evolution of consumer preferences and
purchasing pattern over a period of time. The companies tend to emphasize
the emotional rather than the functional benefits the products offered. As
the competitors increased the speed and skill with which they could copy or
reengineer products the functional dimension of existing offerings became
less compelling. The emphasis has been made on the consumers self
conception, emotions and personality and the fragmentation of the mass
audience has become difficult. The Value and Lifestyles program introduced
in 1978 was seen as a solution by the consumer product companies and
advertising agencies. Psychographics have proved effective at brand
reinforcement and positioning. However, even psychographics have not
been able to single out the new markets and the pricing for the product.
The article further provides a tabulated approach of different
segmentations for different purposes. Psychographic segmentations can be
used to create advertising that will influence consumers to thick warmly
about a particular brand. The table differentiates segmentation on the basis
of two approaches, first to develop advertising and second to develop new
products. Both the approaches are well explains on the basis of population
studies, data sources tapped and analytical tools used. The table concludes
by stating that the segments that differ in their responses to a given
message need to go for developing segmented advertising and the
segments that differ in their purchasing power, goals, aspirations and
behaviour for developing segments for new products.

Companies need to analyse their customer data qualitatively to reflect the

companys strategy, indicate sources of profit, and identify customers
value attitudes and beliefs and to accommodate or anticipate changes in
markets. Segmentations designed to explore personalities of customers will
try to identify groups of potentially interested or susceptible customers
sufficiently numerous and lucrative to justify pursuit. Segmentation must
identify groups that generate revenue for the company. A company should
understand what makes its best customers as profitable as they are and
then seek new customers who share at least a couple of these
characteristics. Segmentation should also examine and explore peoples
lifestyle, attitudes, self image and aspirations. Companies must know what
their customers are actually doing, how willing they would be to purchase
the product in question if particular attributes were added or removed or if
the price is changed. The segmentation is unlikely to be accepted and
applied if it does not align or seems inconsistent with the managers long
experience. Segmentations should be part of ongoing search for answers to
important business questions as they arise. Effective segmentation is
dynamic in two senses. First they concentrate on consumers need, attitudes
and behaviour which can change quickly. Second they are reshaped by
market conditions, such as fluctuating economies, emerging consumer
niches and new technologies.
As per the article to identify the best segmentation for a purpose the
marketers should begin by evaluating the expectations consumers bring to
a particular kind of transaction. These can be located on our gravity of
decision spectrum which can tell how deeply you need to probe consumers
motives, concerns and psyches. Knowing how important a product or
service is to your customers will help you decide which of their expectations
are most likely to reveal their willingness to purchase your product. The
author concludes by stating that with better segmentation the
organizations will be able to respond more quickly and effectively to rapidly
changing market conditions, develop insights into where and how to
compete and gain maximum benefit from scarce marketing resources.

SDM Art Major Sales

BY THOMAS V. BONOMA
The article talks about improving sales effectiveness with the help of
psychology. The author believes that the higher sales can be achieved with
the help of seller awareness of human intentions of purchasing. The article
gives the example of a jet airplane to substantiate his point. The article
explains the influencers who influence decisions, talks about the buying
centre composition, power of the buyer and the needs and wants of the
buyer. Also, there are some anonymous leaders who make the actual
decisions. Considering human psychology results in higher percentage of
sales, fewer surprises in the selling/purchase, improves account selection
and ultimately improves results. The article divides the buying centre and
their importance in purchasing. The roles mentioned are initiator, decider,
influencer, purchaser, gatekeeper and users. Initiator decides whether a
problem can be solved or avoided by acquiring a product or service.
Gatekeepers are a product expert. They largely do the filtering and
determine which vendors get the chance to sell. The gatekeeping process is
formalized with the use of an approved vendors list which constitutes of a
written statement of who can sell and who cant sell.
Article states that the power in the buying center is not perfectly related to
the organizational rank. Managers with reward powers have a higher say in
the purchase decisions. Reward power is the ability of an individual to
influence and encourage power by providing others with monetary, social,
political and psychological support. The power is identified by identifying
the communication style in the organization. Most important people do not
speak much and can be easily identified. No correlation exists between the
functional area of a manager and his or her power within a company.
Influential people have reward power, coercive power, Attraction power,
expert power and status power. The article further discusses the need and
wants of the buyer. According to the article, the basic rule of motivation is
as follows: All buyers act selfishly or try to be selfish but sometimes
miscalculate and dont serve their own interests. Thus, buyers attempt to
maximize their gains and minimize their losses from purchase situations.

First, buyers act as if a complex product or service were decomposable into

various benefits. Second, buyers segment the potential benefits into various
categories. The most common of these are financial, product service, socialpolitical, and personal. Finally, buyers ordinarily are not certain that
purchasing the product will actually bring the desired benefit. Outlining the
buyers motivation suggests several possible selling approaches. The vendor
can try to focus the buyers attention on benefits not a part of his or her
thinking. Sellers can de-emphasize the buyers desire for benefits on which
the vendors offering stacks up poorly. The vendor can also try to increase
the buyers confidence that promised benefits will be realized. According to
the author, selling strategy needs to work with the buyers motivations, not
around them. A simple scheme for keeping tabs on how buyers perceive
sellers is to ask sales officials to estimate how the important buyers judge
the vending company and its actions. This judgment can be recorded on a
continuum ranging from negative to positive. Sales-call planning is not only
a matter of minimizing miles traveled or courtesy calls on unimportant
prospects but of determining what intelligence is needed about key buyers
and what questions or requests are likely to produce that information.
In all cases, key selling assessments involve (1) isolating the powerful
buying-center members, (2) identifying what they want in terms of both
their hot buttons and specific needs, and (3) assessing their perceptions of
the situation. Additionally, gathering psychological information is more
often a matter of listening carefully than of asking clever questions during
the sales interview. Evaluate all sales force control forms and call reports
and discard any that have not been used by management for planning or
control purposes in the last year. Sales management must stress that yours
is a company that rewards careful fact gathering, tight analysis, and
impeccable execution. This message is most meaningful when it comes
from the top. Finally, the notion implicit throughout this article has been
that sellers must understand buying, just as buyers must understand selling.
When that happens, psychology and marketing begin to come together
usefully. Closed sales follow almost as an afterthought.