Chapter-7 Questions and answers

7-1 Why has product differentiation become so important in sales and marketing?
Many customers need help discovering the differences between “look-alike” products. With
increased competition, people are finding it more difficult to determine the advantages of one
product over another.

7-2 According to Ted Levitt, what is the definition of a product? What satisfactions do
customers want?

Ted Levitt defines a product as a problem-solving tool. Today’s better-educated and more
demanding customers are seeking a cluster of satisfactions. Satisfaction may come from the
product, the company, and/or the salesperson who sells and services the product.

7-3 Explain what is meant by positioning as a product-selling strategy. What is a value

proposition?

Positioning refers to the decisions and activities that are directed toward trying to create and
maintain a firm’s intended product concept in the customer’s mind. A product’s “position” is
the customer’s concept of the product’s attributes relative to the concept of competing products.
A value-proposition summarizes the mix of key benefits upon which the product is positioned.

7-4 Why have salespeople assumed an important role in positioning products?

Salespeople have assumed an important role in positioning products. In our over-

communicated society, marketers must often use more direct and personalized forms of
communication with customers. Advertising directed toward a mass market will often fail to
position a complex product. The proliferation of products has created a demand for well-
positioned products and informed salespeople.

7-5 List the commonly used discounts and allowances that salespeople use to meet low-price
positioning in transactional selling

7-7 What are the major differences between product-selling strategies for new and mature
products?

7-9 Describe the difference between a generic product and a value-added product.

The four possible products that make up the Value-Added Product Selling Model are: (1) the
generic product, (2) the expected product, (3) the value-added product, and (4) the potential
product.

The generic product is the basic, substantive product you are selling. The value-added product
exists when salespeople offer customers more than they expect.
A value-added sale offers the buyer more than expected. This is very similar to the cluster of
satisfactions idea that suggests it is best to offer a buyer multiple satisfactions. If you can
provide solutions to an entire group of problems, then you are engaged in value-added selling.
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7-10 What is the relationship between value-added selling strategies and the cluster of
product-selling satisfactions?

A value-added sale offers the buyer more than expected. This is very similar to the cluster of
satisfactions idea that suggests it is best to offer a buyer multiple satisfactions. If you can
provide solutions to an entire group of problems, then you are engaged in value-added selling.

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