Management
Q.1: The book majorly talks about relationship selling and sales management. The traditional low-prices selling as a way of winning customer is no longer building long time customers for businesses. Creating value for customers is emphasized in the text as the best way to deal with competitors as opposed to the low-price selling technique. It is important to note the central theme in the text is relationship selling and not just the normal selling. The central goal for relationship selling is obtaining, building, retaining and maintaining long-term relationships with potential customers (Bosworth, n. d). Personal selling skills are another important subject of the text where the focus is to educate sellers on how to behave in the face of their buyers in order to maintain the long term relationship. This aspect goes hand in hand with customer loyalty where relationship selling is thought to work best with creation of customer loyalty. Organizations are advised communicate their value preposition appropriately by describing the bundle of benefits their customers obtain form the products on sale. The idea of a firm being customer-centric is also stressed is the text where sales representatives must think about the customers’ use of commodities to accomplish their goals before designing the product. More importantly, the text has provided elements of managing relationship selling and illustrates components of internal and external environment that govern relationship selling (Bosworth, n. d).
Q. 2: According to Smith and Colgate (2007) customer value creation for best value can be categorized as follows:
Functional Value: This aspect attributes value to the product itself and the degree to which that particular product is helpful and meets the customers’ desires and goals. Customers want to feel that the purpose of buying the product is being met in its usefulness and that it successfully accomplish its designed objectives.
Experimental Value: This element means the extent to which a product creates good experience, feelings and emotions for the customer. This aspect is more of a person’s test and preference and differs immensely amongst consumers (Smith, & Colgate, 2007). The impact of the phenomenon may vary across cultures and regions and because it depends on personal perceptions
Symbolic Value: This is psychological in nature and reflects the extent to which customers attach themselves psychologically to the product. Some customers want to achieve status in the items they purchase and they make sales specifically for achieving status above other people. A product that contains some elements of high status may meet customers of the king.
Cost Value: In cost, value creation is described as the sacrifice and associated with the use of the product Smith, J. B., & Colgate, M. (2007). Customers always want to feel the value for their money and will try to relate the cost of the item with the benefits realized from using the item.
Q. 3: Best Value can utilize service quality dimension to communicate consistently to customers through various skills employed by a business at its selling points and in the products. The sales are supposed to employ persuasive skills while interacting with their customers as a way to win the customers confidence and provide more useful information about the product on sale. Listening skills are also important for the sales persons because relationship skills are strengthened through the ability of the seller to employ effective listening skills (Bosworth, n. d). Good listening draws the buyer’s attention and wins their confidence to seek more information about a product and eventually purchase. Adaptive selling is also encouraged since it alters sales behaviors during interaction with a customer from one situation to another depending on the available information regarding selling situations. Tenacity can also be another effective way of communicating best value to customers. Tenacity aims at making sales and continuing the relationship with the customer for more sales and potential benefits in the long run. Proficiency of interaction with individual customers of all levels and good use of closing skills to ensure a win-win approach and retain the customers is another important way of consistent communication for best value creation (Bosworth, n. d).
Q. 4: Relationship selling makes more sense when a sales person engages in customer expectations management (Bosworth, n. d). At my position as a sales representative I will play a bigger role in communicating my firm’s value preposition to the entire region of Memphis. This shall entail creating value for the company’s product in the value chain. The information about the products shall be fully communicated to the middle men who shall be the instruments of passing the message to the customers. Quality management of the product shall be high-tech to and the products’ physical appearance shall depict uniqueness to avoid possible confusion from those of competitors. Products descriptions and process shall clearly represent what the customers shall experience in the end after using the product. Customer delight shall also be achieved through communication that is not exaggerative but enough to make a sale and customers shall be surprised to realize that the product even satisfies more than what is described at the point of sale. This can be achieved by directing the sales persons to persuade customers to give the product a try and then return the feedback about their experience while using the product (Smith, & Colgate, 2007). By doing so, the customers shall report back and give by themselves more benefits of the product that the sales persons did not reveal at the selling point, and hence, more sales.
References
Bosworth, M. T. (n. d). Expert Advice; Expert Company Business. CustomerCentric Systems,
L.L.C.
Smith, J. B., & Colgate, M. (2007). Customer value creation: a practical framework. Journal of
marketing Theory and Practice, 15(1), 7-23.
