WEEK 3

PHASE ONE: Personal and Professional Strategy

Step # 1: Professional Management

Topic 3: The Marketing Concept & Sales

Input (7/28/99)

Introduction

Hi!

Doctor Mac here.

Welcome to another session of Hospitality Sales Management

This is

PHASE ONE: Personal and Professional Strategy

Step # 1: Professional Management

Topic 3: The Marketing Concept & Sales

Body

In the last topic, you learned about the nature of the hospitality industry, its sub-industries and how each of these sub-industries is involved in selling. Further, you learned about the business buyers of the hospitality product—meeting planners.

In this topic you will learn how marketing principles are increasingly being adopted by professional salespeople. You will learn that salespeople are in essence mini-marketing organzations. In a competitive marketplace, salespeople are becoming more educated and supported with increasing organizational resources. Companies recognize that salespeople are their only effective link to customers that demand high-priced, complex and customized products/services. That’s why I call salespeople, "micro-marketers."

The marketing concept is a term that organizes contemporay marketing principles. It means focusing on the customer and their satisfaction. A "Customer Need/Satisfaction Focus" is the engine that drives revenue. To achieve this, today’s consultative salesperson adopts the marketing concept as well as other marketing principles such as reliance on marketing research and financial accountablity. Additionally, by establishing long-term relationships with their customers, the salesperson looks to the "lifetime value" of each customer account and extends this life through repeat business and referrals. Of course, the success of repeat business and referrals is a direct result of the salesperson’s professionalism and relationship-building and maintenance skills.

The purpose of this topic is to inculcate the essential philosophy in order to become a professional consultative salesperson: (a) be customer focused, (b) adopt a win/win" mindset, and (c) be conversant in basic marketing principles and directly apply them to the sales profession.

When you have completed this topic, you should:

1. Understand basic marketing principles and the marketing concept.
2. Know that lasting relationships depend on trust and integrity shared between salespeople and their customers.
3. Recognize that only honest "win/win" negotiations create these lasting and rewarding relationships.
4. Know that the only reason that a salespeople exists is to add value for the customer—that is, to solve problems that they can’t solve themselves.

Close

Management of your professional development dictates that you adopt a solid and sincere philosophical foundation. You need a foundation of integrity and trust that will allow you to build long-term relationships. This begins with a focus on the customer and your sense of helping them solve problems. This topic has started you on your journey.

The next topic, Sales Management Functions, continues Step # 1, Professional Management. Now that you understand the need for a foundational "Win-Win " selling philosophy, you will learn about how salespeople are managed or assisted by their companies in becoming better salespeople. These insights will help you understand many of the things that are expected of today’s salespeople.

So, let’s get to work!

This is Dr. Mac saying, "Persevere and be of good cheer!"

Reading time: Approximately 3 minutes.