PERSONAL SELLING AS AN EFFECTIVE PROMOTIONAL TOOL IN MARKETING OF INDUSTRIAL GOODS (A CASE STUDY OF NNPC, ILORIN)

CHAPTER ONE

1.0      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

1.1   INTRODUCTION

        Selling is one of the oldest professions in the world. The people who do the selling go by many names. Sales people, sales representatives, account s executives, sales consultants, sales engineers, agents district managers, marketing representatives, and account development reps, to name just a few.

        The term salesperson covers a wide range of positions form the clerk selling in a retail store to the engineering sales person who consult with client companies. The term sales person covers a wide range of steps. At one extreme, a sales person might be largely an order taker, such as the department store sales person standing behind the counter. At the other extreme are order getters, whose position demand the creative selling of products and services ranging from appliances, industrial equipment, or airplanes to insurance, advertising, or consulting services. Other sales person for pharmaceutical company whole calls on doctors to educate them about the company’s drug products and to urge them to prescribe these products to their patients.

        Therefore; personal selling is the interpersonal arm of the promotion mix. Advertising consists of one-way non-personal communication with target consumer groups. In contract, personal selling involves two-way, personal communication between salespeople and individual customers whether face to face, by telephone, through video conferences, or by other means, personal selling can be more effective than advertising in more complex selling situation. Salespeople can probe customers to learn more about their problems. They can adjust the marketing offer to fit the special needs of each customer and negotiate temrs of sales. They can build long term personal relationships with key decision makers.

        The role of personal selling varies form company to company. Some firms have no sales people at all, for example, companies that sell only through mail order catalos or companies that sell through manufacturer’s reps, sales agents, or brokers. In most firms, however, the sales forces plays major role. In companies that sell business products, such good stuffs, the company’s sales people work directly with customers. In fact, to may customers, sales people may be the only contact.

        The sales force serves as a critical link between a company and its customers in many cases, sales person serve both masters the seller and the buyer. First, they represent the company to customers. They find and develop new customers and communicate information about the company products and services. They sell products by approaching customers, presenting their products, answering objections, negotiating prices and terms, and closing sales. In addition sales people provide services to customers, carry out market research and intelligent work, and fill out sales call reports.

        A company’s move toward a stronger market orientation, their sales forces are becoming more market focuses and customer oriented. The old view was that sales people should worry about sales and the company should worry about profit. However, the current view holds that sales people should be concerned with more than just producing sales they also must know how to produce customer satisfaction and company profit.

        Beyond winning new customers and making sales, hey must be able to help the company to create long term, profitable relationships with customers.

1.2   STATEMENT OF PROBLEM OF THE STUDY

        The problem of this research work is to find out the degree of effectiveness of promotional tools particular personal selling in marketing of consumer goods. (a case study of NNPC in Ilorin metropolises]. This problem is concerned with effect of using personal selling as a promotional tool in marketing of consumer goods. That is whether the cost of maintaining the sales forces (promotional variables) justifies the benefits demand by companies.

        This problem involved the evaluation of personal sales in the competitive homogenous marketing of consumer goods. this project will explore  these brotherly questions concerned with the problems.

-              Is personal selling more effective than other promotional tools?

-              What proportion of promotional budget should be allocated to personal selling?

-              Does the cost of personal selling justify its benefits?

-              Is personal selling really the most effective promotional tools and should such effective be related with the appointment of the promotional budget?

1.3              AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This project set out the best procedure on the personal selling process and crystal the concepts of personal selling as a promotional tool in the oil sector.

The aims and objectives of this study was to prove that personal selling is more effective than other promotional tools in the marketing of consumer goods,

This includes the followings:

-              To guarantee flow of products in order to avoid scarcity.

-              To determine the immediate and benefit of personal selling

-              To investigate the appropriate of personal selling in the most other promotional tools.

-              To ensure that transit by drives or through poor storage

-              To improve sales at the particular filling stations by introducing patronage.

-              To achieve proper monitoring and security of distribution equipment e.g. pipeline, pumps and personal.

1.4              SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of this research work is that it will enable the researcher to understand in full, what personal selling is all about and the various ways of improving personal sales services by researching into their problems it will also improve the practical application of personal selling concepts to the industries, which is marketing firms and the research finding and recommendations will enable them to see the real effects of personal selling i.e. its worth spending all the money to maintain the promotional variables and various ways of controlling the sales people manager and best ways of motivating them necessarily.

On the part of sales people manager, it will give them an idea of what is expected of them and the various remuneration they should expected from the company.

1.5              SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The theoretical scope of the research work lover the various principles and concept of personal selling activities.

The geographical scope of this project deals with consumers/ customers of NNPC petrol filling station in Ilorin metropolises.

The industrial scope implies specification of the industry of the study, therefore, this research work deals with oil industries such as total Nigeria Plc, Texaco, Oando etc. this research work focuses on NNPC Nigeria Limited in Ilorin only.

The time scope is the periodic depth of research, therefore the periodic depth of this research, cover five years that is between 2004 to 2009 in which the daturn for five operational year of the case study (NNPC Nigeria Ltd).

1.6   LIMITATION AND CONSTRAINTS

1.          The first limitation factor encountered in this research work is time limitation. As a result of this short semester. Period it has limited, this research work to be able to find more information on the research work. the time which as been scheduled for the project is one day out of five working days and the rest days are for  lectures and weekend for write up with this, it make it difficult for me to gather more information consigning the project.

2.          Financial constraints: This is another hindrance to this project work, it is difficult for the research to visit mere fuel marketing firms which made the researcher to limit the scope to NNPC Nigeria Ltd in Ilorin zone. Also in terms of publication of journals and questionnaire and my parent has been the sources of findings, which make it easier for me to gather the needed data and they give me emotional and physical support.

Respondent constraints: The another hindrance together with the needed information in carryout this research, organization/ company tag their file as top secret but after serious of persuasion to the manager of NNPC at as a Dam in Ilorin Kwara state that all the information will only keep as confidential to me alone and that it is meant for educational purpose to facilitate my project writing, all these help me to select this problem of respondent limitations.

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