The following report is giving a clear definition of personal selling methods and explaining how sales personnel do this and I shall give examples to help illustrate my explanations.

Telephone use

Telephone use is very popular within a business as it is a quick and efficient way of communicating with customers and suppliers via the phone. Telesales businesses such as brokers e.g. Whistler technology, rely on phones to communicate with suppliers and customers on a regular basis. Ringing customers can save time visiting them and gives you more of a chance to speak for longer as there is the flexibility of being on the phone as you can do what you want from the comfort of your own home. Even though the internet is a large successful method of communication, speaking over the phone helps understand the tone of the voice of the customer, e.g. if the customer is unhappy with a product or service, they would prefer to receive an apology over the phone than via e-mail as most don’t usually get read.

After sales service

After sales service is when businesses that usually sells products which need installing or insurance. An example would be a business which sells electrical appliances such as Comet; they sell products like washing machines which needs installation. Businesses such as Comet offer an after sales service by giving the customer free installation when they purchase the product from them. This gives the customer satisfaction with the business as they feel they have done everything they can to help the sale run smoothly right through to the product in action.

Cold calling

Cold calling can be a daunting aspect to a sale persons job as it means having to visit customers houses. Businesses such as Anglia Windows have their sales staff cold call peoples houses, usually asking the person whether want a free consultation at that precise moment or if they want to book an appointment to discuss their windows. This can prove extremely successful for a business such as Anglia as they catch customers of guard when they go round, sort of putting the customer in a position to say yes even if they wish not too. This method of sale helps gain a larger audience of customers and proves successful. Doing this however requires a fully trained sales person who is extremely confident in what they are doing. Confidence is necessary for this method of sale as it evolves personally having to go into other people’s houses without them being aware before.

Point of sale

Point of sale is where the customer visits a business and a sale is made over the counter. This is usually when a customer requires a certain product or service which they already know they want, e.g. cigarettes as they require the customer to ask for what they want and the sales person gives them to the customer. Another example would be Blast Communications, a phone repair shop which also provides applications for phones. A point of sale at blast would be a customer coming in asking for a charger for a certain type of phone, the sales personnel would go get the charger if in stock and then sell it to the customer.