UNIT-2

Market Analysis

A Market can be local, regional, national and international. A marketing analysis is a study of
the dynamism of the market. It is the attractiveness of a special market in a specific industry.
Marketing analysis is basically a business plan that presents information regarding the market
in which you are operating in. It deals with various factors and should not be confused with
market analysis.

Market analysis is the key to sales analysis and sales forecasting. Market analysis is done in
terms of various dimensions of a market or factors which characterise the market.

Dimensions of Marketing Analysis

There are certain dimensions which help us to perform a marketing analysis. These things
help us understand the market we operate in better. These dimensions include;

i. Market Size
ii. Growth rate of the market
iii. Market trends
iv. Market profitability
v. Key success factors
vi. Distribution channels
vii. Industry cost structure

SELLING SKILLS

All businesses require some type of selling platform. Some companies allow their websites to do all
the selling while others use commercials. But selling in person or over the phone is one of the most
complicated methods. When customers come into or call a business, having someone on hand who
has natural or learned selling skills is important. Successful selling is an art; a successful sales person
is usually a very intuitive and observant professional. Relationship or personal selling is one of the
most common selling techniques. It requires the sales person to develop trust with the customer and
relate to him on a personal level to eventually close a sale.

Some of the successful selling skills are-

Communication skills

The root of sales success is the ability to gather and provide information in a way that makes your
prospect want to do business with you. Your value proposition, your pricing, also your product’s
features — none of that matters unless you’re able to get your prospects to talk to you. While talking
to your prospect ensure that when you’re talking to a prospect, you’re sending the right message.

Pay attention
We’re all busier than ever before, and selling can be an especially pressure-filled career. So it’s
understandable that during a client meeting, your mind could wander over. Just because it’s
understandable doesn’t make it acceptable. Showing up to a call isn’t just about physically being on
the other end of the line. You have to dedicate 100% of your attention to each call, otherwise you’ll
miss details and make your prospect repeat things they’ve already told you. It’ll be obvious when
you’re not paying attention, and that’s no way to treat buyers.

Be empathetic

You don’t necessarily have to agree with everything your prospect is saying, but you should always at
least try to see things from their point of view. And that means more than just saying, “Hmm, I see
where you’re coming from.” The best sales reps are able to connect with their prospects because they
actually understand the things their buyers do at work every day and the challenges they face. Not
only does being empathetic make you more likable, it also increases your chances of closing a deal

Speak in specific

Great communicators aren’t persuasive because they speak in dramatic, sweeping rhetoric. They’re
able to convince people because they can point to specific examples or anecdotes that support the
point they’re trying to make — and in the case of salespeople, because they can demonstrate exactly
how a product or feature will help their buyer.

Be honest

Be aware of the gaps in your knowledge, then ask your prospect to help fill them in. They’ll
appreciate your honesty about what you don’t know, and you’ll avoid losing deals because of false
assumptions

Non-verbal communication skills for selling

When selling to customers, your non-verbal communication skills and non-verbal cues – are just as
important as what you say. Developing these skills will help you understand what your customers
want, so you can offer them the most suitable products and services.

Here are some positive and negative examples of non-verbal cues:

Positive Cues Negative Cues

Facial Smiling, raised eyebrows, relaxed mouth Wrinkling the nose, furrowing
expressions the brow or rolling the eyes

Eye contact Looking back to your customer’s face Avoiding your customer or
and at your products looking outside your sales space

Smile Smiling or relaxed mouth Closed, firm or expressionless

mouth

Hands Hands moving freely, relaxed, touching Hands folded to the chest or near
the product the face

Gestures Open arms, nodding the head Closed arms, dismissive hand
 gestures

Posture Standing upright, inclining the body Slouching, shoulders turned

forward away

Position Observing personal space Moving too close, facing away

accommodating cultural differences.

Conflict management skills

There are many ways to proactively avoid conflicts between your internal sales team and your channel
partners, depending on the kinds of situations you anticipate. Here are a few options to consider:

1) Adjust your pricing structure

If you’re worried about direct sales reps undercutting your channel partners, you might consider a
pricing structure that includes channel-specific discounts and a fixed price point for direct sales.

2) Adjust your compensation

You may choose to compensate your internal sales reps so that it doesn’t make any difference to their
commissions whether the sale goes through the channel or direct. Or you may even take it a step
further and offer them an additional incentive for channel sales.

3) Establish assigned segments and/or territories

Other methods that can help reduce channel conflict include segmenting products by seller type
(direct or channel), or making certain geographical or vertical territories exclusive to certain sellers.

4) Utilize a lead registration system

HubSpot, like many other SaaS companies with channel programs, uses a lead registration system to
help ensure that there is only one sales process for each lead. “Currently, partners can register up to
500 active leads,” explains HubSpot VP Sales Peter Caputa. “Registration lasts for twelve months,
and they can re-register a lead if it’s still active after that period.”

1) Avoid direct sales altogether it may be a little extreme or only work for particular situations,
but the most straight-forward way of avoiding sales team vs. channel partner conflict is to
commit to a channel program 100%

Theories of selling

Definition: The theories of selling suggest the behaviour of the salesperson towards the prospect or
the customer, which ensures the active sale of goods or services. The selling theories gained
importance due to the emerging role of the salesperson in marketing since a seller acts as a marketer
too .Building a strong relationship with the customers is essential for the salesperson to create the
brand image .since they represent the company.
1) STIMULUS RESPONSE THEORY OF SELLING

The salesperson’s use the correct stimulus with the appropriate efforts for acquiring the desired
response from the prospect is defined as the stimulus-response theory.

A sale under this theory is possible under certain conditions-

a) Superior quality of the products under a known brand name needed by many households.

For example: Dell

b) Familiarity or confidence in the sales person.

c) Incentives offered by the firm selling the products etc.

The stimulus response theory states that if the salesperson uses the right stimulus of an appropriate
strength, the prospect will respond the way the salesperson wants him to in this case buy the product.

Following are the four essential actions or stimuli over which the salesperson holds a command and
can modify according to the situation, are as follows:

I. Self: The salesperson can groom oneself to be presentable; in terms of body language,
physical appearance, communication skills, mannerism, voice pitch and tone.

II. Price Concession: The salespeople have limited control over the discount or price concession
provided to the prospects that are considered to be valuable for the organization.

III. Price Change Proclamation: The change in product price can be declared by the salesperson
anytime, according to his/her convenience.

IV. Preferential Treatment to Valuable Customers: The buyers, who usually procure goods in
bulk quantity and make instant payments on their purchase, are offered various price
concessions and other privileges by the salesperson.

Limitations of Stimulus-Response Theory

There are certain limitations due to which this theory was criticized. Some of these are as follows:

I. Passive role of the prospect: This theory presumes a passive role of the prospect in the
entire selling process .Customer has no say in the whole selling process and plays a passive
role, where he/she only needs to follow the salesperson blindly.
 II. Post-purchase dissonance: In a case where the prospect is not fully assured with his/her
purchase, may even face the situation of post-purchase disagreement. That is because the
customer is not convinced
III. Ignored the role of relationship management: At times, a manipulative salesperson cheats
on the prospect, by using the consumer’s weakness as a stimulus for selling a product.
IV. Limited to the selling oriented organizations: The application of this approach is limited to
the selling oriented organizations, which has a primary motive of increasing the sales volume
at all costs.

2) Product Orientation theory of selling

In this theory, it is assumed that the prospect or buyer has no idea about the new product and scientific
or technological advancement. Neither they know about the benefits or impact which the new
products or technology can create for the prospects .A company that follows a production orientation
chooses to ignore their customer’s needs and focus only on efficiently building a quality product. This
type of company believes that if they can make the best ‘mousetrap,’ their customers will come to
them.

Therefore, in such a situation, the product-oriented selling style is adopted, where the salespeople
need to spread awareness about the product by specifying its features, advantages, benefits and usage,
to the prospects.

It is believed that this strategy will not only make the prospect familiar to the new product but may
also motivate or pursue him/her to purchase the product.

Assumptions of a Production-Oriented Company

a. Companies that follow a production orientation make the following assumptions:

b. We can focus all of our efforts on improving the quality of our products, and the products will
sell themselves.

c. We can sell any product if the quality is good enough.

d. We can make a profit if we sell enough of our products.

e. Our customers will buy all that we can produce if our price is fair.

f. Example of a Production-Oriented Company

In the above diagram, the maximum i.e., almost 85% of the time, interaction is carried out by the
salesperson, where he/she explains and presents the product features in front of the prospect.

The only drawback of this theory is that, if the salesperson fails to understand the present need of the
prospect, or is unable to associate this requirement with the benefits of the new product; then the
buyer won’t show any interest in purchasing the product.

Example: Gillette Company focuses on producing the best possible disposable razors at an economic
rate. Thereby, they distinguish their products with high quality razor blade, ease of use and right
pricing strategy. Yet another classic example is the Ford Motor Company, where Henry Ford had
made only model of car in black color irrespective of the perspectives of the consumer.

3) NEED SATISFACTION THEORY OF SELLING:

The need satisfaction theory is based on the interactive approach. The selling process is seen as one
that involves mutual satisfaction, i.e. both the buyer and the seller gets satisfied. This theory is based
on a win-win situation both for Sales Person and the Prospect or Customer.

The theory states that the salesperson should explore and identify the prospects needs and
expectations before he or she presents the product to the prospect and closes the deal. Here the
salesperson should actively listen to the buyer’s objections and then answer them keeping the
customer needs in mind. It is believed that unless the sales people know their prospects needs and
have in depth Product knowledge they can never sell, create and retain a satisfied customer.
Stages of Need Satisfaction Theory-

The process of need satisfaction theory can be identified through the following three steps:

a. Need Development.
b. Need Identification.
c. Need Satisfaction

a. Need Development
The initial phase of this theory emphasizes on generating the need for the product. The
salesperson interacts with the prospects to take feedback about their contentment with the
former products along with proactive enquiry of their present needs and requirements.

This step helps to gather sufficient information on what the consumer wants and past product
performance.

b. Need Identification:

In the next step, the salesperson sums up the information collected in the development stage
and thoroughly analyses the needs of the prospect. Then he/she confirms this requirement
with the buyer, to ensure complete understanding and clarification.

c. Need Satisfaction
The last stage is all about meeting the buyer’s needs appropriately. The salesperson prepares
a complete presentation on the product offering and its features which have the potential of
meeting the identified needs and wants of the prospect.

The salesperson also exhibits his/her interpersonal skills by resolving the queries and doubts
of the buyer. Thus, finally convincing him/her to purchase the product.

It is a customer-oriented approach where the priority is given to building a long-term

relationship with the consumers rather than just selling the products.

DISTINGUISH BETWEEN:

CONSUMER SELLING AND ORGANIZATIONAL SELLING

MEANING

Consumers Selling refers to selling of goods to consumer for direct consumption. Organizations
selling refers to selling of good to organization for further means of production.
QUANTITY AND DECISION MAKING. Consumers are driven both by need and by want. It is
possible to entice a consumer to purchase something he does not need through effective marketing or
peer pressure. Organizations generally purchase goods in larger volumes than individuals and are
driven by customer demand and need for manufacturing materials.

PROMOTIONAL TOOLS Mass media like print, radio, T.V. and internet advertising as well as
sales promotion techniques are used for communication. Promotional tools like personal selling,
direct marking, trade exhibitions are used for communication.

NEGOTIATION Generally there is less scope for negotiation about product specification,
price, term of delivery, etc. High level of negotiation about product specification, price, term of
delivery, etc.

CASH AND CREDIT FLOW It follow “cash and carry” schemes Cash payment is on spot. It
follow “credit and carry” schemes Credit facility can be for 3-6 months. The salesperson should be
well versed with different modes of payment such as cheese, demand draft, letter of credit.

RELATIONSHIP Relationship building is for short term. It is consider sale to sale.

Relationship building is for long term. Maintaining good relationship is necessary.

INTERACTION The interaction between the sales person and buyer is simple The
interaction between the sales person and buyer is complex

Distinguish Between:

National Selling International Selling

MEANING National Selling refers to Selling within the geographical boundaries of the nation.
I.e. In local market. International Selling refers to selling the product globally.

COMPETITION The competition is restricted to national or local or regional level. The

competition is on global level.

AGENTS Agents are normally local companies or individuals or organizations. They can be big
international operator. Agent play an important role, they act as a catalyst for promotion or market
development

CURRENCY The national business is conducted in local currency which is stable The
international business is conducted in foreign currency that implies the exchange rate fluctuation.

MODE OF PAYMENT The method of payment is normally cheque or cash.The mode of payment is
normally by letter of credit or through documentary bills of exchange.

RISK Risk is comparatively less. It is mainly subject to commercial risk. Risk is comparatively
high. It is mainly subject to political and commercial risk.

TRADE BARRIERS There are no trade barriers in domestic selling. Trade barriers like tariffs
quota etc. are present in international selling
TRANSPORT COST As the sales is done within the country, transportation cost is less. It involve
delays and higher cost due to long distance.

PROCEDURES AND FORMALITIES It involves relatively simple procedures and formalities. It

involve complex procedures and formalities.