Personal selling

Personal selling is a promotional method in which one party (e.g., salesperson) uses skills and techniques for building personal relationships with another party (e.g., those involved in a purchase decision) that results in both parties obtaining value.

This promotional method often occurs through face-to-face meetings or via a telephone conversation, though newer technologies allow contact to take place over the Internet including using video conferencing or text messaging (e.g., online chat).

Advantages of Personal Selling

• It is a two-way form of communication.
• The interactive nature of personal selling also makes it the most effective promotional method for building relationships with customers, particularly in the business-to-business market.
• Personal selling is the most practical promotional option for reaching customers who are not easily reached through other methods. The best example is in selling to the business market where, compared to the consumer market, advertising, public relations and sales promotions are often not well received.

Disadvantages of Personal Selling

• Possibly the biggest disadvantage of selling is the degree to which this promotional method is misunderstood. Most people have had some bad experiences with salespeople who they perceived were overly aggressive or even downright annoying.
• A second disadvantage of personal selling is the high cost in maintaining this type of promotional effort. Costs incurred in personal selling include training cost etc.