Ch. 17 - Personal Selling and Sales Management

In Chapter 17 we learn the difference between sales promotion and advertising. Sony PlayStation constantly has to give the consumer an incentive to buy there product. They do this in a number of ways. Every year there are 2 huge gamers conventions, E3 and Gamescon where Sony executives come to talk to the people directly, but what there really doing is utilizing personal selling. They talk about there product in a conversational manner not listing price or any gimmicks, instead they just go on about all the great things it can do, and allow media outlets to further induce personal selling by reviewing Sony's expo and convincing there readers to buy it. Also because the PlayStation is usually sold by retailers, the retail employees must learn about the product, and speak one and one with people who come in, effectively selling the product on a personal level. Even though an advertisement gets you interested, it is often personal selling that really gets the sale going. Its important for the customer to feel like they are really being heard by Sony, so that they get the individualized attention they deserve.