Sales Management: Products and Services. Dr Jae K Shim

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СКАЧАТЬ satisfaction of the senses, preservation of the species, love, pride, fear, emulation, sociability, acceptance, curiosity, and so on. Examples of rational motives would be those based on factors such as economy, efficiency in operation, durability, dependability, and others.

Difficulties in analyzing motives

      In order to sell effectively, the salesperson usually must be able to determine the motives of her potential customers. Sometimes this is relatively easy to do, but at other times it may be extremely difficult. For example, a person may not be aware of the true reasons why he is interested in purchasing a particular product or service. A buyer may tell himself and the salesperson that he wishes to buy a new car because his old one is costing him too much for repairs. However, the real reason may be that he feels inferior and wishes to impress a certain young lady by buying a new car. The salesperson must realize that stated reasons are not always the real reasons. A person may sometimes believe he knows why he is interested in buying a particular product or service, but actually he is unaware of his true motives; or in some cases he may be aware of his true motives, but is unwilling to disclose them. How many women would admit that they were buying a new dress in order to attract the attention of men? Or how many men would admit that they use a certain product in order to give them more masculinity? Thus, the salesperson must understand human behavior and be careful in interpreting what the buyer says.

      Finally, the salesperson should remember that it is often a combination of motives with varying priorities that motivate people to buy. Two housewives will buy a vacuum cleaner to keep their homes clean. However, in addition to this basic need, one bought the cleaner because it was like the one her mother had, and she also liked the salesperson because he reminded her of her own son. The other woman bought the cleaner because it was easy to handle, and it was also a better one than her neighbor had. Buying motives can vary greatly, and often no two people will buy a particular product or service for identical reasons. The salesperson should be constantly aware of this and should adapt her presentation to the prospect’s particular motives whenever possible.

Theories of motivation

      There are three basic theories of buyer motivations. The first is the “mental-states” theory, which maintains that the buyer’s mind passes through successive stages during the buying process. These stages generally are “attention, interest, desire, action and satisfaction.” The second is the “appeal-response” or “buying-decisions” theory, which maintains that the buyer makes a number of separate decisions in response to the appeals or stimuli presented by the salesperson. The third theory is called the “problem-solution” theory. This theory states that the wants, needs, or problems of the buyer should be the salesperson’s frame of reference; and she gears her presentation to showing how her product or service will fulfill these wants or solve these problems. According to this latter theory, the salesperson does not sell a product or service but rather she sells solutions to problems. Therefore, the more benefits her product can give, the more likely she is to make the sale.

      Regardless of which theory the salesperson may accept, she should recognize that there are different theories for analyzing motivation, and new discoveries are made each year which will help her to better understand the consumer she serves.

      

Indicate whether each of the following statements “is true or false

      1.Psychologists agree that an individual generally responds more favorably to a positive appeal than a negative one.

      2.People have basic wants that are uniform for almost everyone, but they also have acquired wants that vary considerably from individual to individual.

      3.In order to determine why a customer wants a product, the salesperson has only to ask the customer directly.

      4.People always have a major reason for buying a product that is clear in their mind.

       Answer

      1.True. Salespeople are usually more successful when they stress positive benefits, such as the satisfactions received from using a product, than they are when they dwell on negative factors, such as the dangers or problems resulting from not using the product.

      2.True. An individual has certain basic wants such as approval, comfort, food, and mastery over obstacles, safety, and survival. She also has acquired or learned wants. A salesperson must determine how she can satisfy her customers’ acquired wants as well as her basic wants.

      3.False. Salespeople must realize that the reasons given by a customer for wanting a product are not necessarily the real reasons. The salesperson must look for hidden reasons in order to fully satisfy the customer’s needs.

      4.False. It is often a combination of reasons that motivate people to buy. These reasons are complex and difficult to analyze. A salesperson must be flexible and try to plan her presentation to meet the prospects’ different motives.

Perception

      Perception is an important factor affecting the behavior of consumers. It is the process of becoming aware of something through the senses of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling, and internal sensing. In relating to her environment, each person’s needs, cultural background, past experiences, mental readiness, and motives will have an effect in determining how a given stimulus is perceived, even though the stimulus is the same in all cases. For example, a jackknife may be perceived by a youngster as a toy, by her mother as an object for possible injury, and by the minister as an instrument which promotes violence and killing. How it is perceived greatly depends upon who the perceiver is and her particular frame of reference. No two persons are likely to perceive the same stimulus in exactly the same way. Each individual sees what she wants to see, making perception a subjective and individualized process.

      Perception is also selective, for often we are unable to comprehend or interpret all the sensations that converge on the senses at any given time. When a person looks down an aisle in a supermarket, she does not see the hundreds of items that are actually present. This is because the human mind generally is unable to absorb everything at once, and it selects those items which are of immediate importance. In addition, perception is generally of short duration. When we listen to a particular piece of music, we may respond to it very strongly; but when it is ended, our attention is quickly diverted to other things, and the music fades from our minds.

      Finally, perception is a summarizing experience. Consumers receive many varying sensations and put them together into a single, meaningful whole. For example, the brand name, special features, price, and many other factors will all be considered by a consumer in deciding whether she will or will not purchase a particular product. No two persons are identical in what they see or do, and being familiar with some of the basic processes of perception will help the salesperson to relate more effectively with the customer.

Consumer attitudes

      An attitude may be loosely defined as a person’s state of mind, feeling, or disposition toward something. Such terms as belief, feeling, opinion, inclination, and bias are often used synonymously with attitude. Attitudes are also formed by a person’s personal experiences in life, influences exerted by others, and the particular environment in which she lives. Consumers are not born with a given set of attitudes, for they are developed and formed as one lives.

      Attitudes have a tendency to persist because of past experiences, agreement or harmony associations, and relating one factor with another. An illustration of conditioning by past experience would be when a person responds unfavorably to purchasing СКАЧАТЬ