Lesson 6 – Sales and Services

GoreIntroduction

Probably, there is no need to introduce topics of this lesson in detail. We meet with marketing, sales and services not only in our business life, but in our private life as well. Therefore before we start to deal seriously with language used in these areas, lets have a little bit of cheer up.

Marketing Joke:

A retailer was dismayed when a competitor selling the same type of product opened next-door to him, displaying a large sign proclaiming “Best Deals.“

Not long after that, he was horrified to find yet another competitor move in next door, on the other side of his store. It's large sign was even more disturbing—“Lowest Prices.“

After his initial panic, and concern that he would be driven out of business, he looked for a way to turn the situation to his marketing advantage. Finally, an idea came to him. Next day, he proudly unveiled a new and huge sign over his front door. It read,

“Main Entrance!“

(If you did not understand some expressions, do not worry, at the end of the lesson you will:-)

1.1. Objectives of the Lesson

- To have the closer look on the topics of sales, services and marketing
- To practice usage of appropriate language and to learn new vocabulary connected with marketing, promotion, services and sales, buyers, sellers, customers, products, brands and branding
- To foster and deepen the knowledge of joining the sentences
- To foster new and already known vocabulary and phrases

GoreWriting

2.1. What is marketing?

These days marketing influences and often even controls every part of company‘s activities. Marketing is the process of planning, designing, pricing, promoting and distributing goods, services and ideas, in order to satisfy customer needs and to make a profit.

Underline all marketing strategies is "the marketing concept“ explained here.

The marketing concept – we have to produce what customers want, not what we want to produce.

The customer first – this means that we organize the company in such order.

Market research – we must find out what customers want.

Supply – we must supply exactly what customers want.

Marketing mix – the activities that you have to combine successfully in order to sell. We can do this by offering "the four Ps“ = the right product at the right price, available through the right place of distribution, and presented in the right way – promotion.

The Four Ps

Product

- the goods or services that you are marketing, in other words deciding what to sell. A product is not just a collection of components. A total product includes image of the product, its design, reliability and quality, as well as its features and benefits.

In marketing terms, political candidates and not-profit-making public services are also considered to be products that people must be persuaded "to buy“.

They have to be "presented an package“ attractively. Products have a lifecycle, and companies are continually developing new products to replace products whose sales are declining and coming to the end of their lives.

Price

- deciding what prices to charge to make it easy for the customer to buy a product. Pricing takes account of he value of a product and its quality, the ability of customers to pay, the volume of sales required, and the prices charged by the competition. If the price is too low it can reduce the number of sales just a significantly as if the price is too high. A low price may increase sales but as profitably as fixing a high, yet still popular price.

As fixed cost stay fixed whatever the volume of sales, there is usually no such thing as profit margin on any single product.

Place

- deciding how the product will be distributed and where will people buy it, or in other words getting the product to costumers. Decisions have to be made about the channels of distribution and deliver arrangements. Retail products may go through various channels of distribution:

producer - end-users (the product is sold directly to end-user by the company‘s sales force, direct response advertising or direct mail order).
producer - retailers - end –users
producer - wholesalers/agents - retailers - end-users
producer - wholesalers - directly to end-users
producer - multiple store groups / department stores / mail order houses - end-users
producer - market - wholesalers - retailers - end-users

Each stage has to add value to the product to justify the costs: the person in the middle is not normally someone who just takes their "cut“ but someone whose own sales force and delivery system can make the product available to the largest number of customers more cost-effectively and easily. One principle behind this is "breaking down the bulk“: the producer may sell in minimum quantities of, let say, 20 000 to the wholesaler, who sells in a minimum quantities of 200 to the retailer, who sells in minimum quantities of one to the end-user a confectionery manufacturer does not deliver individual bars of…