Effective Personal Selling in Bank X

The author set the following objectives in the diploma thesis: to define the importance and describe the process of successful personal selling with the steps of the sales conversation, to become familiar with customer objections and obstacles that a salesperson may encounter in a sales conversation, to determine customer satisfaction with advisory services and the factors that influenced the purchase decision. We live in a time when constant change, improvement, and complexity of services and products are the norm. Based on the conducted survey, the author found that for successful personal selling, a company needs professionally trained and highly effective sales staff – sales personnel who are experts not only in knowing the characteristics and features of the product or service they are selling, but also master approaches and various sales techniques that they can adapt to different structures and characteristics of customers.

Problem

The author set the following objectives in the diploma thesis: to define the importance and describe the process of successful personal selling with the steps of the sales conversation, to become familiar with customer objections and obstacles that a salesperson may encounter in a sales conversation, to determine customer satisfaction with advisory services and the factors that influenced the purchase decision. We live in a time when constant change, improvement, and complexity of services and products are the norm. Circumstances where there is fierce and increasingly demanding competition in the market, and in sales situations salespeople encounter increasingly demanding and well-informed customers, require sales-oriented companies to take measures and continuously care for improving sales effectiveness.

The key question for improving the sales effectiveness of the company and salespeople, and consequently their success, is whether they are doing the right things in the right way to the right customers.

Solution and Method

Based on the conducted survey, the author found that for successful personal selling, a company needs professionally trained and highly effective sales staff – sales personnel who are experts not only in knowing the characteristics and features of the product or service they are selling, but also master approaches and various sales techniques that they can adapt to different structures and characteristics of customers. Every conversation with a customer is different because customers themselves are different, unique, and circumstances vary.

Therefore, it is crucial that the salesperson can adapt to the customer, their speech, tone, their needs and wishes. In doing so, they must be aware that they are not in a superior position to the customer. The key to effective communication lies in enthusiasm, as the salesperson's enthusiasm is also adopted by the customer, which in most cases translates into enthusiasm for the services or products.

Customers often decide to make a purchase precisely because of the salesperson's professional attitude, their ethical approach (not making empty promises, not selling products or services that the customer does not need), and good personal contact with the salesperson (accessibility, responsiveness, knowledge of the customer's needs). In the research, the author found that among the factors influencing the purchase decision, the surveyed customers value most the salesperson's expertise, reliability and accuracy, their personal approach and tidiness. This confirmed the established assertion that expertise is one of the essential qualities of a good salesperson, and their mastery of sales skills significantly contributes to and influences the success of the sales conversation, which results in the purchase of a product or service.

This assertion is also supported by the majority response of the respondents to the question about factors influencing purchase, when they gave priority to the expertise and persuasiveness of the personal adviser over the need for the product or service. For successful sales operations, in addition to expertise and quality of sales activities, the goal orientation of the sales staff is also important. Bank X has in its care a large number of individual customers, whom it classifies into different levels of treatment based on its segmentation strategy.

Results

The survey results show that customers use the advisory services of their personal adviser quite frequently, with more than a third of respondents doing so several times a month. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that a personal adviser has in their care such a number of customers that they can treat with quality and expertise, so that they can devote themselves to each one with full care. For the banking environment in general, it is true that it is conservative, which is also reflected in the behaviour and dress of sales staff who are in daily contact with customers, clients.

The author of the diploma thesis put forward the assertion that tidiness is important to customers – clients of Bank X. The stated assertion is confirmed, as in the survey respondents placed tidiness in third place in response to the question about satisfaction with sales staff, from which we can conclude that it plays an important role in the business world, in the mutual relationship between customer and salesperson. Bank X has adopted an act on the tidiness of both sales staff and business premises.

Nevertheless, we encounter daily examples of deviation from compliance with prescribed norms of behaviour and dress. Therefore, I propose that Bank X adopt a decision to introduce control over the fulfilment and respect of prescribed acts on the tidiness of sales staff. The key finding of the diploma thesis can be summarised in the fact that the traditional sales approach, which today faces numerous challenges, ranging from customer demands, product or service complexity, increasing competitiveness, the emergence of the internet and its unlimited possibilities of use, to constant changes, is no longer sufficient.

Therefore, for greater and more successful sales effectiveness, it is necessary to change the attitude and approach to customers, to emphasise the benefits of the service or product in the sales conversation, and to continuously upgrade the sales skills, knowledge and abilities of sales staff. The purpose of the diploma thesis, which was to study personal selling, research influences on its success, highlight its advantages and define the phases of an effective sales conversation, has been achieved. Given the set objectives, I can conclude that they have been fully achieved, as the diploma thesis defined the importance of successful personal selling, described the process of successful personal selling with the steps of the sales conversation, highlighted possible customer objections and obstacles that a salesperson may face in a sales conversation with a customer.

Based on the analysis of the survey questionnaire results, the author confirmed the established assertions that expertise and tidiness of sales staff are important qualities of a good salesperson, and that mastery of sales skills significantly influences sales success. The world in which we live is becoming increasingly subject to changes in all areas of both business and private life. We are witnessing global economic uncertainty, constant pressures of persistent competition, globalisation, and the rise in internet use.

Therefore, it is all the more important to constantly monitor trends and innovations in the field of personal selling, to continuously improve and train sales staff with new methods, knowledge, skills and techniques not only for acquiring new customers, but also for retaining existing ones. Such an approach leads us to success, better sales, creating value for the customer, and brings the company much-needed competitiveness, profitable and stable operations, and the realisation of planned sales and consequently financial goals.

Sales bring money to the company.