glossary

'P'

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Partnering - When the seller work continually to improve the customer’s operations, sales, and profits.

Partnership - A common form of joint ownership of a business.

Patronage Awards - Values in cash or in other forms that are proportional to patronage of a certain vendor or group of vendors.

Patterns of Market Segmentation –

1. Homogeneous preferences - a market where all the consumers have roughly the same preferences.
2. Diffused - consumer preferences may be scattered fairly evenly throughout the space with no concentration.
3. Clustered preferences - a distinct preference clusters

Payee - Person or business that has the right to receive a payment or series of payments and is interested in selling that income stream for cash. (Also called the seller or client.) 

Payor - The person, company, or government responsible for making payments on an income stream. 

Partial - Any part of a payment stream that is less than the full amount due.

People Planning - Planning how many and what type of people to hire.

Perception - The process by which a person selects, organizes, and interprets information.

Performance Criteria - Basis for evaluating a salesperson’s performance.

Performance Evaluation - The formal, structured system of measuring and evaluating a salesperson’s activities and performance.

Performance Review (Buying Phase) – The buyer periodically reviews the performance of the chosen supplies (s).   Three methods are commonly used.  The buyer may contact the end users and ask for their evaluations; the buyer may rate the supplier on several criteria using a weighted score method; or the buyer might aggregate the cost of poor supplier performance to come up with adjusted costs of purchase, including price.  The performance review may lead the buyer to continue, modify, or end the relationship with the supplier.

Permission-Based Failure - A negative result that occurs because one does not fully attempt to achieve an outcome because of a message sent by influential individuals that is perceived as a "permission to fail" or implied acceptance of the reduced attempt... common statements prompting implied acceptance include-- "What happens… happens." or "The important thing is that you tried."

Personal Guaranty - A contractual agreement between a funding source and a seller, whereby the seller assumes personal responsibility and liability for the obligations of the income stream.

Personal Productivity - Technology to help a salesperson increase productivity through more efficient data storage and retrieval, better time management, and enhanced presentations.

Personal Selling -  Oral presentation is a conversation with on or more prospective purchasers for the purpose of making sales.

Personal Space - An area two to four feet from a person; it is the closest zone a stranger or business acquaintance is normally allowed to enter.

Personality - A person’s distinguishing character traits, attitudes, or habits.

Persuasion - Ability to change a person’s belief, position, or course of action.

Perusable - Persons who accept external standards to guide their behavior and who are low in self-confidence are also thought to be more perusable.

Physical Action Close - A close whereby the salesperson takes some physical action indicating to the customer an understanding that the sale has occurred, ie a car salesman shaking hands with a customer who has just bought a car.

Physical Cues - Conveying psychological aspects of the product concept; how consumers react to different colors, sizes, weights, and other physical cues. 

Physical Distribution - Compromises the set of tasks involved in planning and implementing the physical flows of materials and final goods from points of origin to points of use or consumption to meet the needs of customers at a profit 

            Major activities involved in physical distribution:

1.      Order processing

2.      Customer service

3.      Sales forecasting

4.      Distribution planning

5.      Inventory management

6.      Packaging

7.      In-plant warehousing

8.      Shipping

9.      Outboard transportation

10.  Field warehousing

11.  Production planning

12.  Materials procurement

13.  Inbound transportation

14.  Receiving

Physical Place (market) - Is where buyers and sellers gather to exchange goods and services.

Planning - Establishing a broad outline for goals, policies, and procedures that will accomplish the objectives of the organization.

Point of Purchase (POP) Displays and Materials - POP displays and demonstrations take the place at the point-of-purchase or sale.

Population Age Mix - A population can be divided into six age groups: preschool, school-age children, teens, young adults age 25-40, middle-aged adults age 40 to 65, and older adults age 65 and up. National populations vary in their age mix.

Portfolio - A group or package of income streams of the same type.

Postpone the Objection - The option of a salesperson to respond to an objection later during the sale presentation.

Postwar Cohort - — Shaped by the optimism & prosperity of the postwar era: aged 55-72 in 2000. This cohort values stability & expects prosperous time to continue.

Practical Objection - An overt objection based upon real or concrete causes.

Pre-Approach - Planning the sales call on a customer or prospect.

Premium Approach - An approach in which the salesperson offers a prospect something as an inducement to buy.

Premiums (gifts) - Merchandise offered at a relatively low cost or free as an incentive to purchase a particular product.

• A With-Pack Premium - Accompanies a single package sold at a reduced price (such as two for the price of one).

• A Banded Pack - Is two related products banded together such as a toothbrush and toothpaste).

Press Relations - Aim is to place newsworthy info. into the news media to attract attention to a person, product, or service. 

Prestige Pricing - A high price is set on a product item to enhance the quality image of the product line.  

Price - The value or worth of a product.

Price Adaptation - Companies do not set a single price , but rather a pricing structure that reflects variations in geographical demand and costs, market-segment requirements , purchase time, order levels, delivery frequency, guarantees, service contracts, and other factors. Several different price adaptation strategies include geographical pricing, price discounts, and allowances, promotional pricing, discriminatory pricing, and product-mix pricing.

Price Discounts and Allowances -

• Cash Discount—A price reduction to buyers who pay bills promptly.

• Quantity Discount—A price reduction to those who buy large volumes

• Functional Discount: Discount (also called trade discount) offered by a manufacturer to trade-channel members if they will perform certain functions, such as selling, storing, & recordkeeping.

• Seasonal Discount—A price reduction to those who buy merchandise or services out of season.

• Allowance—An extra payment designed to gain reseller participation in special programs.

  • Trade-in allowances are granted for turning in an old item when buying a new one.

  • Promotional allowances Reward dealers for participating in advertising& sales support programs.

Price Discrimination - The act of selling the same quantity of the same product to different buyers at different prices.

Price Lines - The different prices ranges of merchandises available to a customer.

Price Making Market - A market where pricing decisions are difficult to make. 

Price Off (off-invoice or off-list) - A straight discount off the list price on each case purchased during a stated time period.

Price Policy Setting -

1. Selecting the pricing objective.

2. Determining demand.

3. Estimating costs.

4. Analyzing competitors’ costs, prices, and offers.

5. Selecting a pricing method.

6. Selecting the final price.

Price Taking Market - A market where each seller must charge the going price. 

Pricing Procedures - There is a wide spread agreement that actual price setting should be based on the three factors of cost, demand, and competition.

• Cost-Oriented Pricing - Where firms set their prices largely or even wholly on the basis of their costs. Typically, all costs are included, including a usually arbitrary allocation of overhead made on the basis of expected operation levels.

• Demand-Oriented Pricing - Calls for selling a price based on consumer perceptions and demand intensity rather than on cost.

• Competition-Oriented Pricing - When a company sets its prices chiefly on the basis of what its competitors are charging, its pricing policy can be described as competition oriented. The competition oriented pricing firm may want to seek to keep its prices lower or higher than it does not seek to maintain a rigid relationship between its price and its own costs or demand.

Pricing Strategy - The task of defining the price range and price movement through time that would support the sales and profit objectives and marketing positioning of the product in the target market.

Pricing Tactics - That task of setting specific price levels and terms and altering them within the general parameters of the price strategy as conditions change.

Primary Data - Data gathered after no secondary data is left to gather.  Gathered from customers, middlemen, salesmen, competitors or other information sources. 

Principle of Congruity - The Principle of congruity implies that communicators can use their good image to reduce some negative feelings toward a brand but in the process might lose some esteem with the audience.

Privately Held - Owed to a private individual or business rather than to a bank or other financial institution.

Prizes (contests, sweepstakes, games) - Prizes are offers of the chance to win cash, trips, or merchandise as a result of purchasing something. A contest calls for consumers to submit and entry to be examined by a panel of judges who will select the best entries. A sweepstake asks consumer to submit their names in a drawing. A game presents consumers with something every time they buy—bingo numbers, missing letters—which might help them to win a prize.

Probability to Close - A close that permits the prospect to focus on his or her real objections, which a salesperson attempts to reserve with a persuasive sale argument.

Probing - The act of gathering information and uncovering customer needs using one or more questions.

Problem Recognition (Buying Phase) – The buying process begins when someone in the company recognizes a problem or need that can be met by acquiring a good or service.  The recognition can be triggered by internal or external stimuli. 

Problem Solution Presentation - A flexible, customized approach involving an in-depth study of a prospect’s needs, requiring a well-planned presentation.

Procedural-Problem Products (Buying Phase) – A copying machine would be one example, where the three most important attributes are technical service, supplier flexibility, and product reliability.

Producer Market (also called the industrial or business market) – Consists of all individuals and organizations who acquire goods and services that enter into the production of other products and services that are sold, rented, or supplied to others.

Product - Something that is viewed as capable of satisfying a need or want.

Product Approach - An approach in which the salesperson places the product on the counter or hands it to the customer, saying nothing.

Product or Service Alliances – One company licenses another to produce its product, or two companies jointly market their complementary products or a new product. 

Product Characteristics - Include features like styling, quality, price, and backup services that influence the buying decision.

Product Concept - The idea that consumers will favor those product that offer the most quality for the price therefore the organization should devote its energy to improving product quality.   

Production Concept - A management orientation that assumes that consumers will favor those products which are available and affordable, and that therefore the major task of management is to pursue improved production and distribution efficiency.

Product Development - A strategy for company growth by offering modified or new products to current market segments. Developing the product concept into a physical product in order to ensure that the product idea can be turned into a workable product.

Product Development Process - Successive stages of the new product development process. Eight stages are involved.

1. Idea Generation
2. Screening - Create a number of good ideas.
3. Concept Development & Testing - Narrow down choices making sure it achieves a good rate of return, high sales volume, rounding our of product line, utilization of idle capacity.
4. Marketing Strategy
5. Business Analysis - review the future sales, costs and profit estimates as to whether they satisfy the company's objectives.
6. Product Development - Prototype development and testing, branding and packaging.
7. Market Testing - where the product and marketing program are introduced into more authentic consumer settings to learn how well the product will do before making a final decision.
8. Commercialization

Product Differentiation - The introduction of differential features, quality, style, or image in their brands as a basis for commanding a premium.

Product Hierarchy - All products related in a hierarchical fashion to a whole set of other products, seven levels:

1. Need family - the cored need that actualizes the product family. 

2. Product family - all the product classes that can satisfy a core need with more or less effectiveness.

3. Product class - a group of products within the product family that are recognized as having a certain functional coherence.

4. Product line - a group of products within a product class that are closely related, either because they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same types of outlets, or fall within given price ranges.

5. Product type - those items within a product line that share one of several possible forms of the product.

6. Brand - the name associated with one or more items in the product line that is used to identify the source or character of the items.

7. Item - a distinct unit within a brand or product line that is distinguishable by size, price, appearance, or some other attribute.  The item is sometimes called a stock keeping unit, a product variant, or sub-variant.

Product Idea - Is a possible product, described in objective functional terms, that the company is offering to the market.

Product Image - Is the particular subjective picture consumers actually acquire of the product.

Product Innovation - The challenger can purse product innovation by introducing a product improvement or breakthrough.

Product Life Cycle - Is an attempt to recognize distinct stages in the sales history of the product. It is divided into four stages known as:

1. Introduction Stage - is a period of slow growth as the product is introduced in the market.

2. Growth Stage - is a period of rapid market acceptance and substantial profit improvement.

3. Maturity Stage - is a period of a slowdown in sales growth because the product has achieved acceptance by most of the potential buyers.

4. Declining Stage - is a period when sales continue a strong downward drift and profits erode toward the zero point.

Product Management Organization - Companies producing a variety of products and/or brands often establish a product management system (also called brand management system).

Product/Market Grid - A useful approach to segmentation.  Possible products (or customer needs) can be shown in the rows and market segments (or customer groups) in the columns. 

Product Mix - Is the set of all products and items that a particular seller makes available to the buyers.

1. Width of product mix - refers to how many different product lines are found within the co.
2. Depth of product mix - average number of items or length offered by the company within each product line.

Product Objection - An objection relating directly to the product.

Product Publicity - Involves various efforts to publicize through news media and other means specific products and happenings related to products. 

Product Relaunch - Can take on several forms.

• Quality improvement - Aims at increasing the functional performance of the product - such aspects as its durability, reliability, speed, and taste.

• Feature Improvement - Aims at adding new features that expand the product's versatility, safety, or convenience.

• Style Improvement - Aims at increasing the aesthetic appeal of the product in contrast to its functional appeal.

Product Specification - The buyer determines the needed item’s general characteristics and required quantity. For standard items, this is simple. For complex items, the buyer will work with others – engineers, users—to define characteristics like reliability, durability, or price. Business marketers can help by describing how their products meet the buyer’s needs.

Product System - A group of diverse but related items that function in a compatible manner. 

Product Teams - There are three types of product team structures in product management.

1. Vertical Product Team - Consists of a product manager, assistant product manager, and product assistant.

2. Triangular Product Team - Consisting of a product manager and tow specialized product assistants, one who takes care of (say) market research and the other, and marketing communications.

3. Horizontal Product Team - Consisting of a product manager and several specialists from within and outside of marketing.

Product Value Analysis (Buying Phase) – An approach to cost reduction in which components are studied to determine if they can be redesigned or standardized or made by cheaper methods of production.

Product Warranties - Explicit or implicit promises by sellers that the product will perform as specified or that the seller will fix it or refund the customer’s money during a specified period.

Production Concept - The idea that consumers favor products, which are available and affordable, therefore the major task of management is to pursue improved production and distribution efficiency.

Profit and Loss Statement - A financial statement that shows a historical record of a business' income and expenses.

Profitability control - Purpose is to examine where the company is making and losing money; prime responsibility of marketing controller.

Program Formulation and Implementation –Once the marketing programs are formulated, the marketing people must estimate their costs. Activity-based cost (ABC) accounting should be applied to each marketing program to determine whether it is likely to produce sufficient results to justify the cost. A great marketing strategy can be sabotaged by poor implementation.

Programmed Buyers - Buyers who view the product as not very important to their operation.  They buy it as a routine purchase item, usually paying full price and receiving below-average service.  Clearly, this is a highly profitable segment for the vendor.

Promissory Note - A written promise to pay a specified amount to a specified party over a certain period of time.

Promotion - One of the four main elements of the marketing mix, it increases company sales by communicating product information to potential customers.

Promotional Alliances – One company agrees to carry a promotion for another company’s product or service.

Promotion Planning Evaluation - To evaluate the program, manufacturers can use three methods: sales data, consumer surveys, and experiments.

• The first method involves using scanner sales data, which are available from companies such as Information Resources, Inc. and Nielsen Media Research. Marketers can analyze the types of people who took advantage of the promotion, what they bought before the promotion, and how they behaved later toward the brand and other brands.
• Consumer surveys can be conducted to learn how many recall the promotion, what they thought of it, how many took advantage of it, and how the promotion affected subsequent brand-choice behavior.
• Experiments vary such attributes as incentive value, duration, and distribution media. For example, coupons can be sent to half of the households in a consumer panel. Scanner data can be used to track whether the coupons led more people to buy the product immediately and in the future.

Promotional Pricing - When Firms set a price designed to enhance the sales of the entire line rather than to yield a profit on the product by itself.

• Loss-Leader Pricing - In which a popular product is priced low to attract a large number of buyers who can be expected to buy the firm's other product.
• Prestige Pricing - A high price is set on a product item to enhance the quality image of the product line.

Proof Statements - Statements that substantiate claims made by the salesperson.

Prospect - As a noun... an individual or organization with a need for a particular product or service, the potential for or existence of an understanding of that need and the potential to ultimately purchase the product or service... sometimes confused with a suspect. as a verb... to proactively seek out potential buyers of a product or service and approach them through personal contact (in person, over the phone, one-to-one email or fax) with the intent to sell should a need exist.

Prospecting - Searching for additional prospects.

Prospect Pool - A group of names, gathered from various sources, that are prospective buyers.

Psychological Discounting - This strategy involves setting an artificially high price & then offering the product at a substantial savings.

Psychological Objection - A hidden objection based on the prospect’s attitudes.

Psychographic Segmentation - In psychographic segmentation, buyers are divided into different groups on the basis of lifestyle or personality or values. People within the same demographic group can exhibit very different psychographic profiles.

• Lifestyle - People exhibit many more lifestyles than are suggested by the seven social classes. People differ in attitudes, interests, and activities and these affect the goods and services they consume.

• Personality - Marketers have used personality variables to segment markets. They endow their products with a brand personality that corresponds to a target consumer personality. A brand may wish to appear sincere (Gateway Computer), exciting (Nike), competent (Hewlett-Packard), sophisticated (Lexus), or rugged (Timberland). A brand personality may have several attributes: Levi’s suggests a personality that is youthful, rebellious, rugged, authentic and American. The company utilizes product features, services, and image making to transmit the product’s personality.

• Values -  Some marketers segment by core values, the belief systems that underlie consumer attitudes and behaviors. Core values go much deeper than behavior or attitude and determine, at a basic level people’s choices and desires over the ling term. Marketers who segment by values believe that by appealing to people’s inner selves, it is possible to influence their outer selves—their purchase behavior.

Public - Any group that has an actual or potential interest or impact on an organization's ability to achieve its objectives.

Public Space - Distances greater than twelve feet from a person.

Publicity - The activity of securing editorial space, as divorced from paid space, in all media read, viewed, or heard by a company's customers or prospects, for the specific purpose of assisting in the meeting of sales goals.

Pulsing - Continuous advertising at low-weight levels reinforced periodically by waves of heavier activity. Pulsing draws on the strength of continuous advertising and flights to create a compromise scheduling strategy.

Purchase Decision - A buyer’s decision to purchase something.

Purchase Dissonance - Tension on the part of a buyer with respect to whether the right decision was made in purchasing a product.

Purchase Frequency - The number of times during the period that the buyer buys the product; higher the rate, the more continuous advertising should be to keep the brand on the buyer's mind.

Purchase Satisfaction - Gratification based upon a product that supplies expected, or greater than expected, benefits.

Purchasing Agent - Generally have a long-term relationship with buyers and make purchases for them, often receiving, inspecting, warehousing, and shipping merchandise to buyers. 

Purchasing Executives - Are responsible for obtaining satisfactory materials and components at the lowest possible cost and in the right quantities from an inventory cost-control point of view.

Purchase Order - Written authorization for a supplier to ship a specified quantity of products at a specified price, which becomes a legally binding contract once the supplier accepts delivery of products.

Pure Good - Offer consists primarily of a tangible good such as soap, toothpaste, or salt.

Pure Good With Associated Services - A core good along with one or more adjunct services that enhance its utility.

Pure Service - Offer consists of a core service and possibly some adjunct services.

Purpose of Sales Promotion - Sales promotions enable manufacturers to test how high a list price they can charge, because they can always discount it.

Push Content - Companies can offer to push content and ads to targeted audiences who agree to receive them.

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