| Product wise selling Assignment B Sales TABLE OF CONTENTSPAGE 1. SALES METHOD HUL HAS ADOPTED FOR SELLING PURE IT3 2. THE PROBLEMS AND ISSUES IN THE SALES METHOD5 3. SALES METHOD SUGGESTED FOR HUL FOR GOING FORWARD6 4. REFERENCES7 1. The sales methods HUL has adopted for selling Pure It: HUL is an Indian FMCG company with good market share and brand reputation. They entered the market with enough budgets. HUL launched its ‘Pure It’ water purifier brand in 2007 after a successful test marketing drive.
The product category of water purifier was not growing very fast because of the high cost which was in between Rs 5000 to Rs10, 000. The main competitors of Pure it are Eureka Forbes and Aqua guard. The unique selling point of Pure it was its low cost high quality product which was Rs. 2000 only and did not require any electricity or gas to operate. It was positioned as ‘as safe as boiled water’ which made the customers try it. On the other hand, HUL had to adopt the right strategy for selling their new product.
Apart from different kinds of sales methods such as online sales, telephone sales, direct mail, infomercials (radio /television) HUL uses personal sales method for selling Pure It i. e. direct marketing approach to the customers. They are also using below the line promotions and above the line promotions. BTL is to focus on direct means of communication mostly direct mail and e-mail, often using highly targeted lists of names to maximize response rates. BTL services may include those for which a fee is agreed upon and charged up front.
Since ‘Pure It’ was an unconventional product line introduced by HUL, it was needed to be visible to the target customers to make them aware of its existence. It was also important that the customers get to touch, feel, and understand its features and uses through some explanation and demonstration. HUL set up their kiosks near railway stations, bus stops and malls which had sales personnel to inform people about the new product. They gave live demonstration of the new water purifier that did not require any electricity or gas. It captured the interest of customers who were looking for an economical water purifier.
They showed the customers the company documents and letters that proved the authenticity of the product and gained customer confidence and also transmit the message that Pure It was a genuine product. The direct means of communication helped in building customer relationship as there was greater openness and more communication which created an atmosphere of better understanding of the product. This approach targeted high number of people and maximize the number of response rates. It also made easy for customers to bring other customers and share feedback on what they feel about the product.
One more selling strategy adopted by HUL to sell ‘Pure It’ was through below the line method. The product was displayed in clinics with some brochures and inquiry forms. With the help of medical fraternity they were trying to sell the product. It added lot of genuineness and attracted a lot of potential customers also. They are targeting mainly mothers with small kids. It also helped in establishing one to one relationship with consumers by in shop and shop front activities and display units. Pure it is now being promoted by Medias as there are ads in local prints, newspapers as well as in TVs.
The brand has the tagline ‘As Safe as Boiled water’ for promoting its product. 2. The problems or issues in this sales method would be: The strategy adopted by HUL to sell ‘Pure It’ was the direct selling approach. It has a lot of advantages like one can explain and demonstrate complex products it’s suitable for the customer and easy to bring in other individuals who need to be involved. We can learn more about what the customers want, build personal relationships and use selling skills to convince the customer to buy . But direct selling has some disadvantages too.
The sales person plays a vital role as they have to deal directly with the public. This is a type of selling method having employed many people and has certain problems in the management and control. If an unproductive sales person is involved in direct selling they may bring dissatisfactory results. The sales person has to remain updated about all the product features in-depth. If he lacks knowledge about the product then it may develop negative image to the company and the product. Another problem was that it was launched in the market without the help of media promotions.
If they had created awareness among the public about the product through some media advertisements then it could have brought more customers in the product’s sales demonstration. They could also have convinced the potential customers about the product. Since direct approach require live demonstration and detailed clarification about the features of the product it might not attract customers who have very little time in hand and they could lose a number of potential buyers . Direct approach is expensive as it requires many staffs and even the travel time and costs can be important.
If the sales person is too aggressive or arrogant while approaching to sell the product then it may create problem and the customer would not want to try the product. Therefore one has to be very careful. 3. Sales method suggested to HUL for going forward would be: HUL’s use of direct selling approach is a good sales method but it requires some more unique methods. ‘Pure It’ was a new product introduced by HUL. It was needed to be visible to the target customers to make them aware of its existence. It was also necessary for the customers to view and understand the features and uses of the product along with some explanation and demonstration.
Therefore it is required to use new promotional strategies to sell the product and generate awareness among the customers. They have to advertise the product with the help of media advertisements such as in TV/radio. Instead of direct selling to the customers, it can be sold in supermarkets, departmental stores, chemist shops and pharmacies where there are even more potential buyers found. If they sell it in these areas then there will be more customers and thus generate a higher market share and revenue.
They can also target workers who can be approached near IT companies, banks, industrial areas, schools, colleges and universities who can be persuaded to buy the product for its affordability, portability and ease of use. They can sell the product through teleshopping means (for mass marketing) and provide full demonstration of the product to target huge mass of people. They can also let the product be available on online shopping sites and use online sales techniques where the users will have access to the product and its features easily.
The other promotional techniques that can be used by HUL in future are: 1. Point of sale displays where customers can view the product on display in retail stores and purchase it as the product are attractive, informative and well positioned. 2. Money refunds are where the customer receives a money refund by submitting a proof of purchase to the manufacturer. REFERENCES: 1. Wikipedia. org/below the line promotion 2. Wikipedia. org/direct selling method 3. Wikipedia. org/sales promotion techniques 4. Ewlci. org/pre study on product wise sales 5. Google. com/below the line sales promotion
