SBI (RURAL BUSINESS) OFFICER EXAM,18-04-10

1. FIND THE CORRECT STATEMENT-
    1) MARKETING IS REDUNDANT IN MONOPOLISTIC COMPANIES
    2) THE PERFORMANCE OF A SALESPERSON DEPENDS ON THE AMOUNT OF                INCENTIVES PAID
    3)AN INCREASE IN MARKET SHARE INDICATES FALL IN BUSINESS VOLUME
    4)A MISSION STATEMENT IS PART OF THE COMPANY'S PROSPECTUS.  

2. CRM IS-
    1) A PRE-SALES ACTIVITY
    2) A TOOL FOR LEAD GENERATION
    3) AN ONGOING DAILY ACTIVITY
    4) THE TASK OF DSA
    5) ALL OF THE ABOVE


3.  BANCASSURANCE  CAN BE SOLD TO-
     1) ALL BANKS
     2) ALL INSURANCE COMPANIES
     3) ALL EXISTING & PROSPECTIVE BANK CUSTOMERS
     4) ALL OF THE ABOVE

4. CROSS SELLING IS NOT EFFECTIVE FOR WHICH ONE OF THE FOLLOWING PRODUCT
     1) DEBIT CARDS                   2) SAVING ACCOUNTS
     3) PENSION LOANS             4) PERSONAL LOANS

5. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS NOT INVOLVED IN THE GROWTH STRATEGIES OF A                                    
     COMPANY-
     1) HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION        2) VERTICAL INTEGRATION
     2) DIVERSIFICATION                          4)  INTENSIFICATION
     5) NONE OF THESE

6. CROSS SELLING IS BASIC FUNCTION OF -
     1) ALL EMPLOYERS                 2) PLANNING DEPARTMENT
     3) THE CUSTOMERS                4) PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
     5) SALESPERSON


7.  A SUCCESSFUL' BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY' REQUIRES
      1) EFFECCTIVE COMMUNICATION     2) INNOVATIVE SKILLS
      3) MOTIVATION                                      4) ALL OF THE ABOVE
      5) NONE OF THESE    

8.  SME MEANS
     1) SELLING & MARKETING ESTABLISHMENTS
     2) SELLING & MANAGING EMPLOYEE
     3) SALES & MARKETING ENTITY
    4) SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
    5) NONE OF THESE

9. ONE OF THE FOLLOWING IS NOT INCLUDING IN 7P'S OF MARKETING
    1) PRODUCT                 2) PRICE
    3) PRODUCTION         4) PROMOTION
    5) NONE OF THESE

10. THE TARGET GROUP FOR SME LOAN IS-
     1) ALL BUSINESSMAN      2) ALL PROFESSIONALS
     3) ALL SALESPERSON       4) ALL SSI'S
     5) NONE OF THESE

11. HOME  LOANS CAN BE BEST CANVASSED AMONG
     1) BUILDERS                 2) FLAT OWNERS
     3) LAND DEVELOPERS   4) INDIVIDUALS WANTING TO BUY A FLAT OR HOUSE













       

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS RELATED TO SBI PO PREPARATION

Marketing Knowledge

1. Regulations that arise to ensure that firms take responsibility for the social costs of their products or production processes stem from which reason for government legislation of business?
(a) To protect companies from each other
(b) To protect consumers from unfair business practices
(c) To protect the interests of society
(d) To protect businesses from unfair consumer demands
Ans : C

2. A "three-day cooling off period" in which buyers can cancel a contract after re-thinking it is to protect the consumer from: 
(a) creative selling (b) high pressure selling (c) detail selling (d) hard core selling
Ans : B

3. One of the most promising developments in multivariable segmentation is called _____ where a host of demographic and socioeconomic factors are used
(a) terragraphic segmentation (b) fermagraphic segmentation
(c) geothermy segmentation (d) geodemographic segmentation
Ans : D

4. One of the most common problems with using internal database information is that : 
(a) since it was probably collected for some other purpose, it may be incomplete or wrong.
(b) it is usually expensive to retrieve.
(c) top executives are usually unwilling to relinquish data, therefore, the data has limits.
(d) the data is almost always unsecured and therefore, suspect as to reliability
Ans : A

5. The last stage in the selling process is the _____ stage.
(a) approach (b) handling objections (c) closing (d) follow-up
Ans : D

6. When Coca-Cola and Nestle formed a joint venture to market a ready-to-drink coffee and tea worldwide, the type of marketing system that was formed would best be described as being a(n): 
(a) vertical marketing system (b) parallel marketing system
(c) diversified marketing system (d) horizontal marketing system
Ans : D

7. The major advantage of survey research is its : 
(a) simplicity (b) structure (c) organization (d) flexibility
Ans : D

8. The _____ holds that consumers will favor products that are available and highly affordable (therefore, work on improving production and distribution efficiency)
(a) product concept (b) production concept
(c) production cost expansion concept (d) marketing concept
Ans : B

9. A ____ is any activity or benefit offered for sale that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything
(a) demand (b) basic staple (c) product (d) service
Ans : D

10. _____ is a person's distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to his or her own environment
(a) Psychographics (b) Personality (c) Demographics (d) Lifestyle
Ans : B

11. The place in the business buying behavior model where interpersonal and individual influence might interact is called the
(a) environment (b) response (c) stimuli (d) buying center
Ans : D

12. The course of a product's sales and profits over its lifetime is called
(a) the sales chart (b) the dynamic growth curve
(c) the adoption cycle (d) the product life cycle
Ans : D

13. When companies make marketing decisions by considering consumer's wants and the long-run interests of the company, consumer, and the general population, they are practicing which of the following principles?
(a) Innovative marketing (b) Consumer-oriented marketing
(c) Value marketing (d) Societal marketing
Ans : D

14. All of the following are thought to be sources if new product ideas EXCEPT.
(a) internal sources (b) customers (c) competitors (d) the local library
Ans : D

15. If Honda uses its company name to cover such different products as its automobiles, lawn mowers, and motorcycles, it is practicing which of the following strategies?
(a) new brand strategy (b) line extension strategy
(c) multibrand strategy (d) brand extension strategy
Ans : D

16. If a company (considering its options on the product/market expansion grid) chooses to move into different unrelated fields (from what it has ever done before) with new products as a means to stimulate growth, the company would be following which of the following general strategies?
(a) market penetration (b) market development
(c) product development (d) diversification
Ans : D

17. When a marketing research organization chooses a segment of the population that represents the population as a whole, they have chosen a _____
(a) group (b) bi-variant population (c) sample (d) market target
Ans : C

18. Joining with foreign companies to produce or market products and services is called
(a) direct exporting (b) indirect exporting (c) licensing (d) joint venturing
Ans : D

19. If advertising constantly sends out messages about materialism, sex, power, and status, which of the following categories of social criticism most closely matches this problem?
(a) Too much advertising (b) Too few social goods
(c) Cultural pollution (d) Too much political power
Ans : C

20. A(n) ____ is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of these that identifies the marker or seller of a product or service.
(a) product feature (b) sponsorship (c) brand (d) logo
Ans : C

21. If an advertiser wants flexibility, timeliness, good local market coverage, broad acceptability and high believability, the advertiser will probably choose which of the following mass media types?
(a) Newspapers (b) Television (c) Direct Mail (d) Radio
Ans : A

22. When producers, wholesalers, and retailers as a unified system, they comprise a
(a) conventional marketing system (b) power-based marketing system (c) horizontal marketing system (d) vertical marketing system
Ans : D

23. The type of trade-promotion discount in which manufacturers agree to reduce the price to the retailer in exchange for the retailer's agreement to feature the manufacture's products in some way is called
(a) discount (b) allowance (c) premium (d) rebate
Ans : B

24. The study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupation, and other statistics is called : 
(a) Geothermy (b) Demography (c) Ethnography (d) Hemos-popography
Ans : B

25. Today, advertising captures about ___ percent of total promotion spending
(a) 15 (b) 23 (c) 29 (d) 33
Ans : B

26. The process that turns marketing strategies and plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing objectives is called : 
(a) Marketing strategy (b) Marketing control
(c) Marketing analysis (d) Marketing implementation
Ans : D

27. The goal of the marketing logistics system should be to provide : 
(a) a targeted level of promotional support.
(b) a targeted level of customer service at the least cost.
(c) a targeted level of transportation expense ratio.
(d) a targeted level of field support.
Ans : B

28. The practice of going after a large share of a smaller market or subsets of a few markets is called : 
(a) undifferentiated marketing (b) differentiated marketing
(c) concentrated marketing (d) turbo marketing
Ans : C

29. The shrinking of distances due to technological advance such as computer and fax connections by telephone, are one characteristic of what new challenge to marketing?
(a) Rapid globalization
(b) The changing world economy
(c) The call for more socially responsible marketing
(d) The micro-chip revolution
Ans : A

30. If Mark Mars pays Hershey Foods Corporation for the right to use their name on his line of T-shirts, then Mr. Mars is using which type of branding?
(a) Licensed brand (b) Manufacturer's brand
(c) Private brand (d) Co-brand
Ans : A

31. If your company were to make light bulbs to be used in photocopies, you would most likely be selling to a ______ market.
(a) reseller (b) business (c) government (d) service
Ans : B

32. _____ has the advantage of being high in selectivity; low cost, immediacy, and interactive capabilities
(a) Direct Mail (b) Outdoor (c) Online (d) Radio
Ans : C

33. If your company were to make a product such as a suit of clothes and sold that product to a retailer, your company would have sold to the _______market.
(a) reseller (b) business (c) government (d) service
Ans : A

34. In 1985, the Coca-Cola Company made a classic marketing blunder with its deletion of its popular Coca-Cola product and introduction of what it called New Coke. Analysts now believe that most of the company's problems resulted from poor marketing research. As the public demanded their "old Coke" back, the company relented and reintroduced Coca-Cola Classic (which has regained and surpassed its former position) while New Coke owns only 0.1 percent of the market. Which of the following marketing research mistakes did coca-Cola make?
(a) They did not investigate pricing correctly and priced the product too high.
(b) They defined not investigate dealer reaction and had inadequate distribution.
(c) They defined their marketing research problem too narrowly
(d) They failed to account for the Pepsi challenge taste test in their marketing efforts
Ans : C

35. Marketers are sometimes accused of deceptive practices that lead consumers to believe they will get get more value than they actually do. ____ includes practices such as falsely advertising "factory" or "wholesale" prices or a large price reduction from a phony high retail price.
(a) Deceptive promotion (b) Deceptive packaging
(c) Deceptive pricing (d) Deceptive cost structure
Ans : C

36. The advantages of audience selectivity, no ad competition and personalization apply to which type of media?
(a) Newspapers (b) Television (c) Direct Mail (d) Radio
Ans : C

37. The first modern environmental movement in the United States began in theAns :
(a) 1940s (b) 1950s (c) 1960s and 1970s (d) mid 1980s


Ans : C

38. Costs that do not vary with production or sales levels are called : 
(a) fixed costs (b) variable costs
(c) standard costs (d) independent costs
Ans : A

39. Each salesperson is assigned to an exclusive area in which to sell the company's full line of products or services in which type of sales force structure?
(a) Territorial sales force (b) Product sales force
(c) Customer sales force (d) Hybrid sales force
Ans : A

40. Techonological advances, shifts in consumer tastes, and increased competition, all of which reduce demand for a product are typical of which stage in the PLC?
(a) decline stage (b) introduction stage
(c) growth stage (d) maturity stage
Ans : A

41. Setting the promotion budget so as to match the budgets of the competition is characteristic of which of the following budget methods?
(a) Affordable method (b) Percentage-of-Sales method
(c) Competitive-and-parity method (d) Objective -and-task method
Ans : C

42. ____ is screening new-product ideas in order to spot good ideas and drop poor ones as soon as possible.
(a) Idea generation (b) Concept development and testing
(c) Idea screening (d) Brainstorming
Ans : C

43. The type of sales force structure in which the sales force sells along product lines is called a
(a) territorial sales force (b) product sales force
(c) customer sales force (d) retail sales force
Ans : B

44. A company is in the _____ stage of the new product development process when the company develops the product concept into a physical product in order to assure that the product idea can be turned into a workable product.
(a) product development (b) commercialization
(c) marketing strategy (d) business analysis


Ans : A

45. When personal interviewing involves inviting six to ten people to gather for a few hours with a trained interviewer to talk about a product, service, or organization, the method is called : 
(a) selective sponsorship (b) probing
(c) focus group interviewing (d) the Delphi method
Ans : C

46. All of the following factors can affect the attractiveness of a market segment
EXCEPT : 
(a) the presence of many strong and aggressive competitors
(b) the likelihood of government monitoring
(c) actual or potential substitute products
(d) the power of buyers in the segment
Ans : B

47. If a government uses barriers to foreign products such as biases against a foreign company's bids, or product standards that go against a foreign company's product features, the government is using
(a) protectionism (b) exchange controls
(c) exchange facilitators (d) non-tariff trade barriers
Ans : D

48. The choice between high markups and high volume is part of which of the following retailer marketing decisions?
(a) Target market decisions
(b) Product assortment and services decisions
(c) Pricing decisions
(d) Promotion decisions
Ans : C

49. One common misuse of marketing research findings in contemporary business is the tendency for marketing research to : 
(a) become a vehicle for pitching the sponsor's products
(b) become a vehicle for discriminating in the marketplace
(c) become a means for raising prices
(d) become a means for unfair competition
Ans : A

50. The most logical budget setting method is found in the list below. Which is it?
(a) Affordable method (b) Percentage-of-Sales method
(c) Competitive-parity method (d) Objective-and-task method
Ans : D

IMPORTANT ABBREVIATIONS

CRM           CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

ECRM         ELECTRONIC CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMET

ATM            AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE

SIP              SYSTEMATIC INVESTMENT PLAN

DST             DIRECT SALES TEAM

DSR             DAILY SALES REPORT

DSA             DIRECT SELLING AGENT

SWOT         STRENGTH WEAKNESS OPPORTUNITY THREATS

TQM            TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

ISP               INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER

JIT               JUST IN TIME

POP             POINT OF PURCHASE

B2B             BUSINESS TO BUSINESS

B2C             BUSINESS TO CUSTOMER

C2C            CUSTOMER TO CUSTOMER

FMCG         FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS

IPO              INITIAL PUBLIC OFFER

VCM           VALUE CHAIN MANAGEMENT

SCM           SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

WOM          WORD OF MOUTH

USP             UNIQUE SELLING PREPOSITION

STP             SEGMENTATION TARGETING POSITIONING

SBU             STRATEGIC BUSINESS UNIT

HNI             HIGH NETWORTH INDIVIDUAL

ESOP          EMPLOYEE STOCK OPTION PLAN

ROI             RETURN ON INVESTMENT

ROA            RETURN ON ASSETS

PLC             PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

MIS             MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

MKIS          MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS(SWOT)

                                SWOT Analysis

A scan of the internal and external environment is an important part of the strategic planning process. Environmental factors internal to the firm usually can be classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those external to the firm can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T). Such an analysis of the strategic environment is referred to as a SWOT analysis.

The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firm's resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates. As such, it is instrumental in strategy formulation and selection. The following diagram shows how a SWOT analysis fits into an environmental scan:

SWOT Analysis Framework

Environmental Scan           / \            Internal Analysis       External Analysis / \                  / \ Strengths   Weaknesses       Opportunities   Threats | SWOT Matrix

Strengths

A firm's strengths are its resources and capabilities that can be used as a basis for developing a competitive advantage. Examples of such strengths include:

• patents
• strong brand names
• good reputation among customers
• cost advantages from proprietary know-how
• exclusive access to high grade natural resources
• favorable access to distribution networks

Weaknesses

The absence of certain strengths may be viewed as a weakness. For example, each of the following may be considered weaknesses:

• lack of patent protection
• a weak brand name
• poor reputation among customers
• high cost structure
• lack of access to the best natural resources
• lack of access to key distribution channels

In some cases, a weakness may be the flip side of a strength. Take the case in which a firm has a large amount of manufacturing capacity. While this capacity may be considered a strength that competitors do not share, it also may be a considered a weakness if the large investment in manufacturing capacity prevents the firm from reacting quickly to changes in the strategic environment.

Opportunities

The external environmental analysis may reveal certain new opportunities for profit and growth. Some examples of such opportunities include:

• an unfulfilled customer need
• arrival of new technologies
• loosening of regulations
• removal of international trade barriers

Threats

Changes in the external environmental also may present threats to the firm. Some examples of such threats include:

• shifts in consumer tastes away from the firm's products
• emergence of substitute products
• new regulations
• increased trade barriers

The SWOT Matrix

A firm should not necessarily pursue the more lucrative opportunities. Rather, it may have a better chance at developing a competitive advantage by identifying a fit between the firm's strengths and upcoming opportunities. In some cases, the firm can overcome a weakness in order to prepare itself to pursue a compelling opportunity.

To develop strategies that take into account the SWOT profile, a matrix of these factors can be constructed. The SWOT matrix (also known as a TOWS Matrix) is shown below:

SWOT / TOWS Matrix

	Strengths	Weaknesses
Opportunities	S-O strategies	W-O strategies
Threats	S-T strategies	W-T strategies

• S-O strategies pursue opportunities that are a good fit to the company's strengths.
• W-O strategies overcome weaknesses to pursue opportunities.
• S-T strategies identify ways that the firm can use its strengths to reduce its vulnerability to external threats.
• W-T strategies establish a defensive plan to prevent the firm's weaknesses from making it highly susceptible to external threats.

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT(TQM)

Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach that seeks to improve quality and performance which will meet or exceed customer expectations. This can be achieved by integrating all quality-related functions and processes throughout the company. TQM looks at the overall quality measures used by a company including managing quality design and development, quality control and maintenance, quality improvement, and quality assurance. TQM takes into account all quality measures taken at all levels and involving all company employees.

Origins Of TQM

Total quality management has evolved from the quality assurance methods that were first developed around the time of the First World War. The war effort led to large scale manufacturing efforts that often produced poor quality. To help correct this, quality inspectors were introduced on the production line to ensure that the level of failures due to quality was minimized.
After the First World War, quality inspection became more commonplace in manufacturing environments and this led to the introduction of Statistical Quality Control (SQC), a theory developed by Dr. W. Edwards Deming. This quality method provided a statistical method of quality based on sampling. Where it was not possible to inspect every item, a sample was tested for quality. The theory of SQC was based on the notion that a variation in the production process leads to variation in the end product. If the variation in the process could be removed this would lead to a higher level of quality in the end product.
After World War Two, the industrial manufacturers in Japan produced poor quality items. In a response to this, the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers invited Dr. Deming to train engineers in quality processes. By the 1950’s quality control was an integral part of Japanese manufacturing and was adopted by all levels of workers within an organization.

By the 1970’s the notion of total quality was being discussed. This was seen as company-wide quality control that involves all employees from top management to the workers, in quality control. In the next decade more non-Japanese companies were introducing quality management procedures that based on the results seen in Japan. The new wave of quality control became known as Total Quality Management, which was used to describe the many quality-focused strategies and techniques that became the center of focus for the quality movement.

Principles of TQM

TQM can be defined as the management of initiatives and procedures that are aimed at achieving the delivery of quality products and services. A number of key principles can be identified in defining TQM, including:

• Executive Management – Top management should act as the main driver for TQM and create an environment that ensures its success.
• Training – Employees should receive regular training on the methods and concepts of quality.
• Customer Focus – Improvements in quality should improve customer satisfaction.
• Decision Making – Quality decisions should be made based on measurements.
• Methodology and Tools – Use of appropriate methodology and tools ensures that non-conformances are identified, measured and responded to consistently.
• Continuous Improvement – Companies should continuously work towards improving manufacturing and quality procedures.
• Company Culture – The culture of the company should aim at developing employees ability to work together to improve quality.
• Employee Involvement – Employees should be encouraged to be pro-active in identifying and addressing quality related problems.

The Cost Of TQM

Many companies believe that the costs of the introduction of TQM are far greater than the benefits it will produce. However research across a number of industries has costs involved in doing nothing, i.e. the direct and indirect costs of quality problems, are far greater than the costs of implementing TQM.
The American quality expert, Phil Crosby, wrote that many companies chose to pay for the poor quality in what he referred to as the “Price of Nonconformance”. The costs are identified in the Prevention, Appraisal, Failure (PAF) Model.
Prevention costs are associated with the design, implementation and maintenance of the TQM system. They are planned and incurred before actual operation, and can include:

• Product Requirements – The setting specifications for incoming materials, processes, finished products/services.
• Quality Planning – Creation of plans for quality, reliability, operational, production and inspections.
• Quality Assurance – The creation and maintenance of the quality system.
• Training – The development, preparation and maintenance of processes.

Appraisal costs are associated with the vendors and customers evaluation of purchased materials and services to ensure they are within specification. They can include:

• Verification – Inspection of incoming material against agreed upon specifications.
• Quality Audits – Check that the quality system is functioning correctly.
• Vendor Evaluation – Assessment and approval of vendors.

Failure costs can be split into those resulting from internal and external failure. Internal failure costs occur when results fail to reach quality standards and are detected before they are shipped to the customer. These can include:

• Waste – Unnecessary work or holding stocks as a result of errors, poor organization or communication.
• Scrap – Defective product or material that cannot be repaired, used or sold.
• Rework – Correction of defective material or errors.
• Failure Analysis – This is required to establish the causes of internal product failure.

External failure costs occur when the products or services fail to reach quality standards, but are not detected until after the customer receives the item. These can include:

• Repairs – Servicing of returned products or at the customer site.
• Warranty Claims – Items are replaced or services re-performed under warranty.
• Complaints – All work and costs associated with dealing with customer’s complaints.
• Returns – Transportation, investigation and handling of returned items.

SALES PROMOTION AND ADVERTISING

What is Sales Force Management? What is its Importance? What are the steps of Process of Sales Force Management in modern Marketing? Tell the Winning Tips of Sales Team?

Definition of Sales Force Management 

Sales force management is one work of personnel department. Personnel manager recruits, selects and trains salesmen and sales personnel. Sales force is nothing but the team who are involved in sales related activities. Sales force management means decisions relating to sales team. Right person should be appointed at right place, at right time and he should do right working in sales field of company. In marketing, if sales force will be perfect, relation can be created with others. 

                                 Steps of sales force management process
1st Step
Determination the sales force objectives
Before creating sales force management, it is very important that fix one or all of following objectives
a) Sales Volume : How much will the sale team has to sell in specific time?  - Sales target
b) Market Share:  %  of total share of market for a product.
c) Profit: To increase ROI
2nd Step
Determination of Sales force size
It is affected with need of organisation and cost of per sales man. Over loading and under loading of sales team will be misuse of money. 
3rd Step
Recruitment and Selection 
a) Recruitment is the list of qualified applicants of sales men. 
b) Selection : Choose the best sales team. 
4th Step
Training of Sales Team
a) What to teach? - About the company and its product.
b) Whom to teach? - New Salesmen
c) Where to teach? - On job or off job.
d) How to teach ? By expert.
5th Step
Compensating the Sales persons:
 Basic salary + Incentive + other Commission and allowance and TA
6th Step
Motivating salesmen
By job security + opportunity of promotion + award + reward 
7th Step
Determination the area of salesmen
a) on geographical basis
b) on basis of distance travelled
8th Step
Controlling and evaluation the sale force performance:
Salesman's performance can be evaluated on the following basis
a) average no. of calls per day
b) average sales per customer
c) no. of new customer order
d) average gross profit per customer
Winning Tips for managing sales team
1. Selecting best salesmen
According to object of company, company has to make some minimum standard for clearing the interview by a new fresher who wants to become salesman. Following are best questions for talking or taking interview from new candidate:
a) How do you feel about talking strangers? 
b) What is your opinion of salesman in general?
2. Motivation
If you want to get performance from salesmen, it is your duty to motivate them daily.
3 Stories of successful salesman of the world.
It is good to make Strong salesmen. With telling the story of great and successful salesmen, new salesmen can easily learn that for becoming successful salesman, he or she has to face failure , but he or she will not loose courage. After this, he or she can easily become successful businessman like me.

SALES PROMOTION

Definition of Sales Promotion

Sales promotion is the technique in which salesman gives incentives to consumers for increasing the selling of his products. 

Major Steps in Sales Promotion:

1st Step : 

Setting of Objective

a) Target market - get consumers
b) switch away the market from competitors
c) Free trial for new users.

2nd Step:

Setting of Sales Promotion Tools :

a) Free Sample

b) Gift Coupons

c) Rebate or discount on sale

d) special facility : Free delivery

e) Contest, games and prizes

f) some quantity free with purchasing large scale.

g) Buy back guarantee

3rd Step

Setting Time Period for promotion

 Fix month, week or days of promotion

4th Step

Setting test before large scale sales promotion

 Test promotion incentive in small segment of market. 

5th Step 

Evaluation

Check the effect of promotion on sale

+ point : increase the sales

- point  : decrease the sale

ADVERTISING

Advertising and Strategy which is Used in Advertising 

Simple Definition of Advertising

Advertising is a technique in which company promote his sale without existence of any person. Advertisement is contract between advertiser and advertising companies. Advertiser pays money to advertising company. Advertising company uses his resource for showing the ads to public places. It is impersonal presentation of message of advertisers.

Following is the example of Ads

Come at Shop No. 4201  and  Buy garments at 50% discount

Above ads can be shown in banner for or can be distributed in pamphlet form. 

Big company has its own department and its name is advertising department. This department manages ads of company. 

Strategy which is used in Advertising 

1. Setting the advertising objectives

First of all, fix the objectives of advertising. Following are the three objectives of advertising

a) Information : Provide information of new product 

b) Position of the Brand : Position the brand in the minds of buyers

c) Reminding : Just remind to buy again 

2. Setting the Advertisement Budget 

You also set the advertisement budget . It should not be very high or very low. But it should be optimum. After seeing stage of life of product cycle and competitors policy, we should decide minimum amount for advertisement. 

3. Setting of advertisement message

Advertisement message should be creative, attractive. It must not make false claims.

4. Setting the media

a) Newspaper 

+ point : Flexible, good for local market advertisement 

- point : Short life 

b) TV

+point: High attention, long life

- point :  High cost 

c) Radio 

+ point : flexibility, large coverage, less cost

- point : lower attention

d) Magazines 

+point : Quality reproduction

- point : some waste circulation

e) Brochures 

+ Point : flexibility, full control

- point : over production

f) Telephone 

+ point : Personal touch

- high cost 

5. Evaluation the effect of advertising 

a) Check the effect on sale

Try to check its effect on sale if sale has been increased due to this, it means advertising is successful otherwise change the budget, media or message .

b) Check the effect of communication

We also have to check the effect of advertising on communication.

WHAT ARE THE BRAND & BRANDING? WHAT ARE THE MAIN STRATEGIES OF IT?

Definition of Brand of Company

Brand means name, symbol or design of the product of company. It creates difference of one company's product with other competitor company's product. 

Definition of Branding of Company

Branding is technique in which company provides the name and design to each product for creating a special identity. It is helpful for consumer to identify special quality product or products in market. 

Strategies of Branding of Company

Following are the main branding strategy which can be used for making and developing of new brand.

1. Brand Positioning Strategy

Brand positioning means bring the brand name of company in mind of customer. When a customer goes to market and he or she should demand of specific product. It means company is successful to position the brand in the mind of consumer. Company must be careful while positioning the brand. 

a) It must not be copied from other brand. 

b) Company's brand shows the benefits of products. 

c) It simply convey the idea of belief and values of company. 

2. Brand Name Strategy

You often see that one company's brand name are easily copied due to weakness of brand selection. For example YouTube.com video site's brand name has been copied by many other site like utube.com etc. 
So be careful when you are creating the name of brand.

a) It should tell the quality of product. 

b) It should be easily to pronounce, recognize and remember. 

c) It should easily be  translated.

d) It should be capable for legal protection. 

3. Brand Sponsorship

a) National brand

Sometime, a company can spend money for marketing of company brand as nation or international basis. 

b) Middle men's brand

It is private brand which is created by middlemen. 

c) Licensing

Sometime, company can take the brand of other company on license basis for increasing sale. 

d) Co-brand

Sometime, company can contract with other company and mix other company brand as co-brand with his products brand and sell after this. 

e) Takeover the brand

Google takeover the YouTube, so, its brand is also taken over by google. 

4. Brand Development

a) Main name of brand + one more line which shows the quality of product

b) Use the same famous brand in other products.

c) Multi brand - Two or more name brand of same product. 

5. Brand Management

a) Brand Equity 

For brand management, management calculates the estimated value of brand. It shows as brand equity. It is an asset of company. Suppose, Lux, company creates lux brand equity fund with Rs. 9000000 and utilizes it for advertising, now its brand has becomes famous. Company can calculate its estimated value and try to protect it by opening brand asset management team.