Page 4 - Lesson Note 7

(ii) Employment Opportunities: Personal selling offers greater income and employment

opportunities to the unemployed youth.

(iii) Career Opportunities: Personal selling provides attractive career with greater

opportunities for advancement and job satisfaction as well as security, respect, variety,
interest and independence to young men and women.

(iv) Mobility of Sales People: There is a greater degree of mobility in sales people, which

promote travel and tourism in the country.
(v) Product Standardization: Personal selling increases product standardization and

uniformity in consumption pattern in a diverse society.

SALES PROMOTION

Sales promotion refers to short-term incentives, which are designed to encourage the buyers to

make immediate purchase of a product or service. These include all promotional efforts other than

advertising, personal selling and publicity, used by a company to boost its sales. Sales promotion

activities include offering cash discounts, sales contests, free gift offers, and free sample
distribution. Sales promotion is usually undertaken to supplement other promotional efforts such

as advertising and personal selling.

Companies use sales promotion tools specifically designed to promote to customers (e.g., free

samples, discounts, and contests), tradesmen or middlemen (e.g., cooperative advertising, dealer
discounts and dealer incentives and contests) and to sales person (e.g., bonus, salesmen contests,

and special offers). Sales promotions include only those activities that are used to provide short

term incentives to boost the sales of a firm.

Merits of Sales Promotion

(i) Attention Value: Sales promotion activities attract attention of the people because of

the use of incentives.