Sales Promotion Objectives and Methods

20 Objectives of Sale Promotion:

Sales promotion helps marketers realize a variety of objectives as a strong method of sales promotion with a capability to complement and supplement the advertising function of marketing. 

These objectives could relate to the promotion of sales in general, or to a specific activity at a particular level i.e. consumer, dealer or sales-force. Some of the commonly attempted objectives are to:

• Increase sales ( in general, and focusing on new uses, increased usage, upgrading unit of purchase, winning sales of fading brand etc.)
• Make the sales of slow-moving products faster.
• Stabilize a fluctuating sales pattern.
• Identify and attract new customers.
• Launch a new product quickly.
• Educate customers regarding product improvements.
• Reduce the perception of risk associated with the purchase of a product.
• Motivate dealers to stock and sell more (including complete product line).
• Attract dealers to participate in manufacturer’s dealer display and sales contests.
• Obtain more and better shelf space and displays.
• Bring more customers to dealer stores.
• Make goods faster through dealers.
• Improve manufacturer-dealer relationship.
• Motivate sales-force to take the achievement higher than targets.
• Attract sales force to give desired emphasis on new accounts, latent accounts, new products, and difficult territories.
• Reward sales force for active market surveillance and for rendering superior customer service.
• Put power into the sales-presentation.
• Counter competitors sales-promotion and marketing efforts.
• Provide punch to the company’s advertising efforts.
• Build goodwill.

You may use anyone or a combination of the above objectives in varying form to suit the product-market needs of your product. What is of significance is that the promotion and marketing objectives pursued by you.

15 Methods of Sales Promotion:

Depending upon the creativity level of their sponsors, many methods of sales promotion are used by marketers, their variety seems very large. I refer here to some of the most commonly used methods of promotion. These ares-

1. Price-off offers- Offering product at lower than the normal price.
2. Quantity-off offers- Offering more quantity of the same product at no extra cost or with a very nominal increase in the price of the larger quantity packs.
3. Premium- Offer of an article of merchandise as an incentive in order to sell product or service. Its forms are:
• Packaged Premium- When the incentive article is packed (inserted) inside the package of the product.
• Banded Premium- Where the premium article is banded to the package of the product say with cello tape etc.
• Over-the-counter (OTC) premium- When the premium article is neither inserted inside nor banded to the product package but is given away to the consumer over the counter along with the product package.
• Container Premium- When the product itself is placed in an attractive and reusable container which serves as a gift?
• Self-liquidating Premiums- Where the consumer usually is asked to pay a specified amount to liquidate or offset a part or full cost of the premium article or the scheme administration costs.
• Personality Premium- Where the consumer is required to redeem a specified proof-of-purchase for the premium article. Proof-of-purchase may be labels, pack tops, bottle tops, corks, etc.
4. Coupons- When the consumer is entitled to redeem a specific standard certificate for a product/article free or in part payment. Coupons are used by both the manufacturer and the dealers for sales promotion. Coupons may be distributed by mail, by media advertisements, door-to-door, inside product package or by dealers on purchase.
5. Refund offers- Offer of a refund of money to consumer for mailing in a proof-of-purchase of a particular product(s).
6. Trading stamps- Organized by Trading Stamp companies or large retailers. Trading stamps are a kind of discount coupons offered to consumers linked with the quantum of their purchase. On enough accumulation these are redeemable for various kinds of merchandise.
7. Trade Allowances- These are temporary price reductions/reimbursement of expenses incurred by dealers-in full or in part, its varied types are as under:

·        Trade or buying allowance- Offer of price reduction on purchase of specified quantity of a product.

·        Buy-back allowance- A secondary incentive which offers a certain sum of money to trade for each additional unit bought over and above the deal.

·        Count and recount allowance- When a specific amount of money is offered after ascertaining the number of units sold during a specified period during a specified period.

·        Merchandise (display) allowance- An allowance to trade for providing desired sales promotion and product displays.

·        Co-operative advertising & promotion allowance- Wherein a manufacture shares at an agreed rate the advertising and promotional cost incurred by the dealer in the promotion of manufacturer’s product.

8. Consumer contests and Lucky draws- Where individuals are invited to compete on the basis of creative skills. The latter is based on the chance or luck factor.
9. Dealer stock Display contests- It is a type of point-of-purchase advertising which uses the show windows of the dealers for providing exposure to the sponsor’s products. Dealers participating enthusiastically and creatively are awarded.
10. Dealer Sales contests- Where participating dealers are invited to compete in terms of the sales performance.
11. Discounts- Other than normal trade and cash discounts.
12. Dealer gifts- Offer of useful articles and attractive gifts to dealers for his personal, family or office use.
13. Point-of-Purchase- Those special displays, racks, banners, exhibits, that are placed in the retail store to support the sale of a brand.
14. Merchandise Deals- Wherein additional quantity of the same or the same manufacturer’s another product is offered to trade. May be offered jointly by non-competing manufacturers.
15. Premium or Push money- When an additional compensation is offered to trade or sales-force for pushing additionally a specific product or product line.

As mentioned above, the accomplishments of the desired promotion and marketing objectives ultimately depend on the extent of the desired response received from consumers, dealers and members of the sales force. In terms of the impact desired, the variety of sales promotion schemes offered are grouped into two categories: One, aimed at producing immediate impact, and the other delayed impact i.e. carrying on the impact over a period of time. Immediate impact schemes are those schemes where the consumer, dealer or salesperson gets the incentive on first contact, purchase or on performing a one-time act. On the other hand, under the delayed impact schemes, the consumer, dealer or sales force is called upon to comply with the scheme over a period of time before receiving the full benefit of the scheme. Price discounts, free samples or large quantity packs are the popular examples of immediate impact schemes, whereas coupons, trading stamps and contests are examples of delayed impact category of sales promotion schemes.

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How To Conduct An Effective Group Meeting

 If the meetings held in your work environment occur often but seem inefficient, you may feel frustrated by the unproductive quality of the time you spend in them. There are a number of preparatory and group management tools that might be of value to you.

1. Prepare a meeting agenda: An agenda defines what you hope to accomplish at the meeting. It should state the meeting’s purpose; that will be in attendance; what, if any, preparation is required of each participant; a detailed list of items to be covered; the specific time and location of the meeting; and a specific finishing time.
2. Distribute the agenda in advance: Participants should have the agenda sufficiently in advance so they can adequately prepare for the meeting.
3. Consult with participants before the meeting: An unprepared participant can’t contribute to his or her full potential. It is your responsibility to ensure that members are prepared, so check with them ahead of time.
4. Get participants to go over the agenda: The first thing to do at the meeting is to have participants review the agenda, make any changes, and then approve the final agenda.
5. Establish specific parameters: Meetings should begin on time and have a specific time for completion. It is your responsibility to specify these time parameters and to hold to them.
6. Maintain focused discussion: It is your responsibility to give direction to the discussion; to keep it focused on the issues, and to minimize interruptions, disruptions, and irrelevant comments.
7. Encourage and support participation of all members: To maximize the effectiveness of problem-oriented meetings, each participant must be encouraged to contribute. Quiet or reserved personalities need to be drawn out so their ideas can be heard.
8. Maintain a balanced style: The effective group leader pushes when necessary and is passive when need be.
9. Encourage the clash of ideas: You need to encourage different points of view, critical thinking, and constructive disagreement.
10. Discourage the clash of personalities: An effective meeting is characterized by the critical assessment of ideas, not attacks on people. When running a meeting, you must quickly intercede to stop personal attacks or other forms of verbal insults.
11. Be an effective listener: You need to listen with intensity, empathy and objectivity, and do whatever is necessary to get full intended meaning from each participant’s comments.
12. Bring proper closure: You should close a meeting by summarizing the group’s accomplishments; clarifying what actions, if any, need to follow the meeting; and allocating follow-up assignments. If any decisions are made, you also need to determine who will be responsible for communicating and implementing them.

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TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM)

QUALITY: “Quality is not an act. It is a habit.”- Aristotle. Gravin (1988) comprised quality to the following six stages:

(1)   Transcendent: Quality cannot be defined, and can be recognized only when the product is used, or the service is expired.

(2)   Product-based: Quality can be judged by the presence or absence of particular characteristics of the product itself. If they are present, quality can be said to be present.

(3)   Manufacturing-based: This concept states that quality exists if the product meets original specifications. A failure to meet the standards completely represents a lack of quality.

(4)   User-based: The next stage recognized customer’s wants, expectations, needs & requirements and that they had to be met. Until the customer was completely satisfied, quality did not exist.

(5)   Value-based: The current thinking is that there is a quality/cost trade-off. The concept extends beyond that, and

(6)   Includes a philosophy and a system approach to QM.

In a word, Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. Quality is perceived as consisting of following eight dimensions:

·        Performance: What a customer expects it to do.

·        Features: Desirable characteristics.

·        Reliability: Not malfunction or break down.

·        Conformance: Meet specified standards.

·        Durability: Have a long life.

·        Serviceability: Easy and cheap to repair.

·        Aesthetics: Look good.

·        Perceived quality: Value in the eyes of the customer.  

      TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM)

TQM is a strategic commitment by top management of an organization for changing its total approach to business and to make quality a guiding factor in everything the organization does. It is not a tool or technique but a philosophy for management that is characterized by 3 principles: Customer focus and satisfaction, Continuous improvement and Teamwork.

TQM tools and techniques

Beyond the strategic context of quality, managers can also rely on several specific tools and techniques for improving quality. Some are introduced here:

(1)   American Society for Quality Control (ASQC) is the organization that officially represents those working in the area of quality management in Canada and US.

(2)   Benchmarking is the process of continually comparing an organization’s processes with other institutions that are deemed to be best-in-class.

(3)   Continuous improvement is an ongoing commitment to improve product and/or service quality by constantly assessing and adjusting the processes and procedures used to make those products or deliver those services.

(4)   Cost of quality is an idea popularized by Philip B. Crosby in his books Quality is Free. The Art of Making Quality Certain (1979) and Quality Without Tears. The Art of Hassle-free Management (1984). Crosby’s idea is that lack of quality costs; quality saves the company money.

(5)   Outsourcing is the process of subcontracting services and operations to other firms that can do them cheaper and /or better. If a business performs each and every one of its own administrative and business services and operations, it is almost certain to be doing at least some of them in an inefficient and/or low-quality manner. If those areas can be identified and outsourced, the firm will save money and realize a higher-quality service or operation. Example- Eastman Kodak handled all its own computing operations.

(6)   Deming Prize is an award given in Japan to organizations that is somewhat equivalent to the Baldrige Awards. A large proportion of winners have produced innovations that combine statistical and engineering methods and improve cost and quality through product and process optimization redesign.

(7)   ISO-9001 refers to a set of quality standards created by the International Organization for Standardization. The technical committee of ISO outlined 20 guidelines (and the subsections that accompany these) that set the foundation for generic ISO 9001 standards.

(8)   Speed is the time needed by the organization to get something accomplished and it can be emphasized in any area, including developing, making and distributing products or services. A good illustration of the power of speed comes from General Electric.

(9)   Employee Involvement is the participation of all employees, usually in teams, as problem solvers and solution implementers, in the improvement of quality within the workplace. The term had its beginning with the Ford Motor Company. Many organizations employ an outside consultant to assist them with the facilitation and training processes.

(10) Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is a set of awards established in 1987 by the US Government to honor Malcolm Baldrige following his death in a plane crash. The award was established to honor ‘companies for their achievements in quality and business performance and to raise awareness about the importance of quality and performance excellence as a competitive edge (National Institute for Standards and Technology, 2003).

(11) Statistical Quality Control is a set of specific statistical techniques that can be used to monitor quality. Acceptance sampling involves sampling finished goods to ensure that quality standards have been met. Acceptance sampling is effective only when the correct percentage of products that should be tested (for example, 2, 5 or 25 percent) is determined.

All today’s managers need to understand & appreciate the importance of Total Quality. Specially, they need to understand the meaning of Quality as well as its importance. The ingredients of Total Quality Management are important in both large and small organizations today. Various TQM tools and Techniques are welcomed by Quality Managers.

                                                                             

      Are you a quality manager? 

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How to improve decision-making?

Let’s know what’s decision-making, first. It’s the process of developing a commitment by management or authority to some course of action. Basically three things which help characterize decision-making: (1) it necessitates making a choice among two or more alternatives; (2) it is a process that typically involves more than just what was decided and (3) the ‘commitment’ which usually necessitates a commitment of resources- economic, human, and time.

Alternatively, we can say it is to view it as a process of problem solving. A problem exists when there is a perceived gap between an existing and desired state.

Step-by-steps for improving decision-making

As the managers, we must consider a lot of thing when making decisions, either individual or group. Managers’ decisions require creativity now, perhaps more than ever, as the rapid pace of change.

Here are five stages of creative thinking, which a good manager usually takes for proper decision-making-

1. Preparation: We must develop some sense of the complexities of our environment, through our daily activities and have to move along a learning curve.
2. Concentration: We should focus the specific problems which we already identified, and must contextualize as much as possible.
3. Incubation: We much approach the problems from different angles and directions as we can. We must meet the creativity in this stage and this is where brainstorming in a group really adds value.
4. Illumination: If we get a very specific idea of the problem(s), potential alternatives sometimes almost jump out at us. Otherwise, they emerge slowly, from further analysis; we really have to putt the pieces of the problem/solution mix together.
5. Verification: Yeah, it is the post problem solving stage where we have to follow up on our analysis and recommendations to ensure that they were appropriate and have indeed met planned objectives.

We as a decision-makers have to foster an environment of creativity by managing judgment heuristics, we must attempt to consider as many options as possible when making decisions, even those that are unattractive to us.

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Logo, Custom Wordpress, Classified Ads Site Design Service

Hey small business owners, let's enhance online channels. We provide a complete Wordpress Design service along with Logo, Onpage SEO.

- Homepage complete with Logo, with search bar, category dropdown (like eBay) with a link to All Categories. This page should list the most popular items, recently viewed items. There should be the option to Call To Action button sign in/sign up. If a user wants to sign up to use the service, then upon pressing the signup button, there should be a simple overlay box appear requesting name and email.
- Upon signing in the user should be presneted with another overlay box with two clear CTA's: one saying "Post an ad?" and the other saying "Browse Items". If a user selects the first, they are directed to the ad-upload page. If the user selects the second, they are directed back to the homepage.

- All Categories page. This lists all the categories that an item can be added to. A prettier version of ebay's All Categories page.

- Ad upload page with the following details:
- Category Dropdown box for the user to put item in the correct category
- Item description box
- Item photo’s
- Item weight
- Item postage costs
- Total Price
- Optional contact details, phone, email, location
- The option to add more items and save their progress
- At the end of the process the user will need to pay a certain amount (undecided as yet exactly how much but say $8) via paypal (thought should be put into scaleability, for example other methods of payment), so would need a box here that enables that. **IMPORTANT** This page must be as attractive and easily navigated as possible. This will be where I expect most people to drop out so it must be simple and easy and not overwhelming.

- Successful ad upload page or error if something went wrong

- A search listing page. So if someone searches for guitars then all the guitar ads appear.
- Individual item page. A page that shows all the relevant details (most of those as described in the Ad upload page)
- Link to buy via Paypal
- Confirmation page. If a user buys something, then once redirected back from Paypal they should see a confirmation page indicating they have purchased the item.
- Blog

Some of this functionality is present in some Wordpress themes such as http://themeforest.net/item/classiads-classified-ads-wordpress-theme/8625840

A lots of further functionality that you would like and this will become part of the ongoing WP development. There will also be various email template designs required etc.  

Let's us know your choice!!

            

Email: pratulton@gmail.com

Skype: pratul.tonchangya

       

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Word Press- Ecommerce Website For Your Business

Hey, are you seeking individual with Word Press, Ecommerce and PayPal expertise to make changes to your existing web site or create a new professional-looking website? 4PsWeb professional team offers cost-effective WP site build service. The features may be (but not limit to), or something more:

(1) Design/Redesign your WP site based on your demand (just send us hand-writing layout).
(2) Fix problems with confirmation emails from an automated email service to the customer. There are 3 emails involved, one from word press/admin to the customer, one from automated email service to the customer and one from the automated email service to the web email address (As per your demand).
(3) Minor changes to an existing customer Sign-Up and Log-In page including copy changes and removal of a couple of items from the existing page (As per your demand).
(4) Install new SSL certificate from one site to my host (As per your demand).
(5) Update pricing on PayPal payment site and test entire Sign-Up/Log-In system to insure all is working as intended, this includes placing process in sandbox mode for testing (As per your demand).
(6) Fix issue with comments for a blog page that is part of a word press plug-in.
(7) Setup Opt-in form to your wordpress site which is shown in a modal pop up, triggered based on the user clicking onto a button.
(8) Ensure design is clean, according to your requirements.
(9) Make sure opt-in form is responsive.    

Let's start...

Email: pratulton@gmail.com

Skype: pratul.tonchangya

       

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Five Steps of Research Process

Normally, the process of research involves the following five steps:

(1) Problem Definition:

There should be clear idea about the problem we are facing. In general, it refers to some difficulty which researcher experiences in the context of either a theoretical or practical situation and wants to obtain a solution for the same. The components of research problem are:

• There must be an individual or a group which has some difficulty or the problem.
• There must be some objectives(s) to be attained at. If one wants nothing, one can not have a problem.
• There must be alternative means for obtaining the objective(s) one wises to attain.
• There must remain some doubt in the mind of a researcher with regard to the selection of alternative.
• There must be some environment(s) to which the difficulty pertains.

(2) Research Design:

Decisions regarding what, where, when, how much, by what means concerning an inquiry or a research study constitute a research design. A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure. This is the blue print for the research. The basic issues addressed in research design are-

·        Should the research environment be internally disturbed by the researcher in specified ways an experimental design?

·        How many observations should be made on each unit in the study? When?

·        Should a single sample be chosen from the total population or should a series of samples be chosen from various subgroup of the population?

·        Should a probability or non-probability sampling procedure be adopted for the study?

(3) Data Collection:

The task of data collection begins after a research problem has been defined and research design plan checked out. While deciding about the method of data collection to be used for the study, the researcher should keep in mind two types of data viz. Primary and Secondary. The primary data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time, and thus happen to be original in character. The secondary data, on the other hand, are those which have already been collected by someone else and which have already been passed through the statistical process. The researcher would have to decide which sort of data he would be using for his study and accordingly he will have to select one or the other method of data collection. The method of collecting primary and secondary data differ since primary data are to be originally collected while in case of secondary data the nature of data collection work is merely that of compilation. Errors associated with data are typically classified into two categories: Sampling and Non-sampling errors, which can be minimize thorough appropriate research plan.

(4) Data Analysis:

The data, after collection, has to be processed and analyzed in accordance with the outline laid down for the purpose at the time of developing the research plan. This is essential for a scientific study and for ensuring that we have all relevant data for making contemplated comparisons and analysis. Processing implies editing, coding, classification and tabulation of collected data so that they are items under investigation. Data analysis can be conveniently classified as under (a) Univariate analysis which deals with a single characteristic of interest. (b) Bivariate analysis which deals with two characteristic of interest & (c) Multivariate analysis deals with more than two characteristics of interest.

(5) Interpretation of results:

Interpretation refers to the task of drawing inferences from the collected facts after an analytical and or experimental study. In fact, it is a search for broader meaning of research findings. The task of interpretation has two major aspects viz. (i) the effort to establish continuity in research through linking the results of a given study with those of another and (ii) the establishment of some explanatory concepts. The usefulness and utility of research findings lie in proper interpretation. It is being considered a basic component of research process because of the following reasons:

(a)   It is through interpretation that the researcher can well understand the abstract principle that works beneath his findings.

(b)   Interpretation leads to the establishment of explanatory concepts that can serve as a guide for future research studies.

(c)   Researcher can better appreciate only though interpretation why his findings are what they are and can make others to understand the real significance of his research findings.

(d)   The interpretation of the findings of exploratory research study often results into hypothesis for experimental research and as such interpretation is involved in the transition from explanatory to experimental research.

Now, let’s try to our research work to make a brilliant decision and enjoy!

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