Personal selling is a marketing strategy that involves one-on-one interaction with prospective customers to sell a product or service. It is also known as face-to-face selling, where a salesperson meets with a potential client for the purpose of transacting a sale. Personal selling can be defined as "the process of person-to-person communication between a salesperson and a prospective customer, in which the former learns about the customers needs and seeks to satisfy those needs by offering the customer the opportunity to buy something of value, such as a good or service". Personal selling is especially effective with high-end products like cars and homes but is just as effective with smaller purchases, especially for repeat sales and sales referrals.
Some key features of personal selling include:
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Interpersonal skills: Personal selling involves person-to-person communication, which requires interpersonal skills and expertise to persuade leads to buy products and services.
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Relationship building: Relationship selling (also known as consultative selling) refers to a sales practice that involves building and maintaining interactions with customers in order to enhance long-term relationships.
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Sales process: Many sales representatives rely on a sequential sales process that typically includes nine steps.
Personal selling is just one of many techniques available to salespeople to warm up a lead and close a deal. It should be part of a wider sales mix, alongside telesales, email marketing, sales promotion, advertising, and public relations. However, personal selling remains an extremely important part of a salesperson’s arsenal and is a skill every good salesperson must master.
