glossary

'S'

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Sale-Lease Back - Arrangement in which one party sells a property to a buyer and the buyer immediately leases the property back to the seller. This arrangement allows the initial buyer to make full use of the asset while not having capital tied up in the asset. Leasebacks sometimes provide tax benefits.

Sales Budget - A conservative estimate of the expected volume of sales and is used primarily for making current purchasing, production, and cash flow decisions. 

Sales Contests - A sales contest aims at inducing the sales force or dealers to increase their sales results over a stated period, with prizes (money, trips, gifts, or points) going to those who succeed.

Sales Call Objective - The main purpose of a salesperson’s call to a prospect or customer.

Sales Contests - A sales contest aims at inducing the sales force or dealers to increase their sales results over a stated period, with prizes (money, trips, gifts, or points) going to those who succeed.

Sales Force Budget - The amount of money available or assigned for a definite period.

Sales Force Support Personnel - In order for the sales force to get its job done, it requires the support of other personnel such as:

1. Top Management - Increasingly getting involved in the sales process, especially when national accounts or major sales are at stake.

2. Technical sales personnel - Are technical people who work with the sale representatives to supply technical information needed by the customer before, during or after the purchase of the product.

3. Customer Service Representative - They provide installation, maintenance, and other services to the customer.

4. Office Staff - This group consists of sales analysts, order expediters, and secretarial personnel.

Sales Forecasting - One method used to predict a firm’s future revenues when planning the company’s marketing and sales force activities.

Sales Managers - Seek to maximize the level of customer service.

Sales Management - The process of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling the efforts of sales personnel.

Sales Objection - The prospect’s opposition or resistance to the salesperson’s information or request.

Sales Planning - The process of preparing to approach a prospect attempting to make a sale.

Sales Presentation - The actual presentation of the sales pitch to the prospect.

Sales Presentation Mix - The elements the salesperson assembles to sell to prospects.

Sales Process - A sequential series of actions by the salesperson that leads toward the prospect taking a desired action. This should end with a follow-up to ensure purchase satisfaction.

Sales Promotion - Short term incentives to encourage purchase or sale of a product or service. Sales promotion includes tools for consumer promotion (samples, coupons, cash refund offers, prices off, premiums, prizes, patronage reward, free trials, warranties, tie-in-promotions, cross-promotions, point-of-purchase displays, and demonstrations); trade promotion (prices off, advertising and display allowances, and free goods); and business and sales-force promotion (trade shows and conventions, contests for sales reps, and specialty advertising). These tools are used by most organizations, including nonprofit organizations.

Sales Promotion as Brand Builders - Building brand awareness is a long-term process. Sales promotions are short term and temporary. Here are some tips on how to make sales promotion an effective brand-building tool.

• Make sure the promotion is justified - A new store opening, a company anniversary, and other kinds of celebrations are all good reasons for running a promotion. They put the brand name in the forefront.

• Tie the promotion to a brand’s image - Birth dates and anniversaries are good. For example, Haagen-Dazs could run a promotion on or around July 9 for its Dulce de Leche ice cream to coincide with Argentine National Day. (The flavor and name originated in Argentina.)

• Look for every promotion both for the sales job it can do and as a communications tool - A promotion is one of a brand’s many voices; it can help build brand awareness if it says the right things. For example, Bayer aspirin could run a coupon promotion, thus offering a price reduction, and use the promotion to reinforce the name Bayer.

Sales Promotion Objectives - Are derived from basic marketing communication objectives, which in turn are derived from more basic marketing objectives developed for the product. Within the context, the specific objectives set for sales promotion with very with the type of target market:

• For consumers, objectives include encouraging more usage and purchase of larger-sized units by users, building trial among nonusers, attracting trial by other brand users.

• For retailers, objectives include inducing retailer stocking of new items or larger volume, encouraging off-season buying, encouraging stocking of related items, offsetting competitive promotions, building brand loyalty of retailer, gaining entry into new retail outlets.

• For sales force, objectives include encouraging support of new product or model, encouraging more prospecting, stimulating sales in off-season.

Sales Promotion Techniques - Makes three contributions to exchange relationships:

1. Communication - They gain attention and usually provide information that may lead the consumer to the product.

2. Incentive - They incorporate some concession, inducement, or contribution designed to represent value to the receiver.

3. Invitation - They include a distinct invitation to engage in the transaction now.

Sales Territory - The group of customers or a geographical area assigned to a salesperson.

Sales Training - The effort put forward by an employer to provide the opportunity for the salesperson to acquire job-related attitudes, concepts, fundamentals, rules, and skills that result in improved performance in the selling environment.

Sales Quota - The sales goal set for a product line, company division, or sales representative.  It is primarily a managerial device for defining and stimulating sales effort.  

Sales Response Function - Forecasts the likely sales volume during a specified time period associated with different possible levels of marketing-mix element, holding constant the other marketing-mix elements. 

Sales Wave Research - Extension of the ordinary home-use testing in which consumers who initially try the product at no cost are offered the opportunity to obtain more of the product, or any competitor's products, at slightly reduced prices.  They may be reoffered the product 3 to 5 times (sales waves).    

Salespersons/Sales Representatives - Term used to describe the persons in the sales force.

Samples - Offer a free amount of a product or service delivered door to door, sent in the mail, picked up in a store, attached to another product, or featured in an advertising offer.

Satisfaction - The discharge of an obligation by paying a party what is due (i.e., the satisfaction of an IRS lien or the satisfaction of a mortgage).

Saturation - The condition that exists when virtually all the potential adopters of a certain product have adopted it.

Scheduling - The establishment of a fixed time for visiting a customer’s business.

Scrambled Assortment - Representing many unrelated product families

Seasoning - The length of time payments have been made on a note or other debt instrument.

Secondary Market - The marketplace where individuals and businesses can sell privately held income streams to funding sources for cash. 

Securitization - The bundling and resale of debt instruments to investors; permitted only for parties licensed and regulated by the SEC. 

Security Interest - An interest in property, other than real estate, which is given as security for a debt or other obligation. A security interest is created by execution of a security agreement and one or more financing statements under the Uniform Commercial Code.

Segment Marketing - A group of customers who share a similar set of wants.

Segmentation - The act of subdividing a market into distinct and meaningful subsets of customers who might merit separate marketing programming and effort.  Types:

A)    Geographic - the market is divided into different locations - nations, states, counties, cities, or neighborhoods. 

B)     Demographic - the market is subdivided into different parts on the basis of demographic variables - age, sex, family size, income, occupation, education, family life cycle, religion, nationality.

C)    Psychographic - buyers are divided into different groups on the basis of life style or personality differences.

D)    Behavioristic - buyers are divided into different groups on the basis of their knowledge, attitude, use, or response to the actual product or its attributes.  

Selection - The process of selecting the best available person for a sales job.

Selective Distribution - Involves the use of more than one but less than all of the intermediaries who are willing to carry a particular product.

Self Concept - Describes the way we see ourselves and think others see us. 

Self-Image - How a person sees him/her-self.

Sell-In Time (promotion planning) - begins with the promotional launch and ends when approximately 95 percent of the deal merchandise is in the hands of consumers.

SELL Sequence - A sequence of things to do and say to stress the benefits that are important to the customer: Show the feature, Explain the advantage, Lead into the benefit, and Let the customer talk by asking a question about the benefits.

Seller - The person or company that is holding a debt instrument and wants to sell it.

Seller Characteristics - Opinion of the manufacturer, their knowledgeability, friendliness, and service will all influence the buying decision of the buyer.

Seller Financed - A transaction where the seller of real or personal property takes back, in the form of a note, a portion or all of the Buyers purchase price.

Selling - Seller Engages In "Art of Salesmanship" - Approaching, presentation, answering objections, and closing sales. 

Selling Agent - Have contractual authority to sell a manufacturer’s entire output in such product areas as textiles, industrial machinery and equipment, coal, and coke, chemicals, and metals. 

Selling Concept - The idea that consumers will either not buy or not buy enough of the organization's products unless the organization makes a substantial effort to stimulate their interest in its products. 

Selling Expenses – Expenses associated with making sales calls i.e. travel, lodging, telephone, entertainment, office expenses.

Service - Activity that has value to a buyer.

Service Approach - An approach used to indicate a desire to serve the customer.

Service Contracts - A contract with variable lengths and different deductibles to that customers and choose the service level they want beyond the basic service package.

Servicing - Provides various services to the customers - consulting their problems, rendering technical assistance, arranging financing, and expediting delivery.

Services - Activities, benefits, or satisfaction that are offered for sale.

Service Quality - A subjective assessment by customers. They arrive at this by comparing the service level they believe an organization ought to deliver against the service level they perceive as being delivered.

Share of Heart - The percentage of customers who named the competitor in responding to the statement “Name the company from which you would prefer to buy the product.”

Share of Market - The competitor’s share of the target market.

Share of Mind - The percentage of customers who named the competitor in responding to the statement “Name the first company that comes to mind in this industry”

Shopping Goods - Those consumers' goods that the customer, in the process of selection and purchase, characteristically compares on such bases as suitability, quality, price, and style.

Shortcuts - In the context of this glossary, connections between two distant nodes in the networks that link distant clusters of cliques. These shortcuts accelerate the speed at which information flows. Shortcuts happen by chance of as a result of leapfrogging.

Simulated Store Technique - Finding 30 to 40 shoppers and inviting them to a brief screening of some television commercials - old and new products incorporated, shoppers are then given a small amount of money to purchase products, meet together at end to discuss why certain products were purchased over others. 

Situational Characteristics - Time pressure, time of year, weather, chance meetings with friends who have opinions already about the product or service, and the current economic outlook all influence the buying decision.

Six Degrees of Separation - The common belief that any two randomly selected people on this plant can be linked through a maximum of six other people. Named after a play (and later a movie) by that name. See "Small World Phenomenon".

Slowly Evolving Environment - Is when smooth and fairly predictable changes take place.

Slotting Fee - Many supermarkets now charge a fee for accepting a new brand, to cover the cost of listing & stocking it because shelf space is scarce.  Retailers charge for special display space & in-store advertising space. 

Small World Phenomenon - The term used by researchers to describe the "Six Degrees" phenomenon. Sometimes referred to as the "small world problem," which essentially asks how many intermediate acquaintance ties are needed to link any two randomly selected people to each other.

Social Class - Social class ha a strong influence on preference in cars, clothing, home furnishings, leisure activities, reading habits, and retailers. Many companies design products & services for specific social classes. The tastes of social classes can change with the years. The 1990s were about greed & ostentation for the upper classes. Affluent tastes now run more toward the utilitarian.

Social Marketing - The design, implementation, and control of programs seeking to increase the acceptability of a social idea, cause, or practice in a target group(s). It utilizes market segmentation, consumer research, concept development, communications, facilitation, incentives, and exchange theory to maximize target group response.

Social Network - A set of actors and the relations among them. Although this broad definition allows different types of actors (e.g., companies).

Social Network Analysis - Mathematical analysis that focuses on relationships between social entities (individuals, companies, countries, etc.).

Social Network Threshold - The proportion of adopters in an individual's personal network necessary for an individual to adopt.

Social Responsibility - The responsibility to profitably serve employees and customers in an ethical and lawful manner.

Social Space - A zone that is 4 to 12 feet from a person and is the area normally used for sales presentations.

Societal Marketing Concept - The idea stating that the key task of the organization is to determine the needs and wants of target markets and to adapt the organization to delivering the desired satisfactions better than competition in a way that preserves or enhances the consumers' and society's well being.

Sole Proprietorship - A business owned and operated by an individual.

Source - The origin of a communication.

Source Credibility - Marketers know that the messages delivered by highly credible sources will add to the persuasiveness of a message. Three factors most often identified are expertise, trustworthiness, and likeability.

• Expertise - Is the degree to which the communicator is perceived to possess the necessary authority of what is being claimed. (i.e. Doctors).

• Trustworthiness - Is related to how objective and honest the source is perceived to be. (i.e. friends over salespeople).

• Likeability - Is related to how attractive the source is related to the audience. (i.e. qualities like humor).

Source Incongruity - If a person has a positive attitude toward a source and a message - or negative attitude toward both - a state of congruity is said to exist. Attitude change will take place in the direction of increasing the amount of congruity between the two evaluations.

Source Objection - A loyalty-related objection by which the prospect states a preference for another company or salesperson, and may specify a dislike for the salesperson’s company or self.

Space Invasion - A situation in which one person enters another person’s personal or intimate space.

Space Threat - A situation in which a person threatens to invade another person’s spatial territory.

Special Event Pricing - Sellers will establish special prices in certain seasons to draw in more customers.

Special Incentives – Incentives developed to promote increased productivity like, contests, service awards, sales awards, etc.

Specialized Forecasting Firms – Are hired to produce long-range forecasts of particular macro-environmental components, such as the economy, the population, natural resources, or technology.

Specialty Advertising - Specialty advertising consists of useful, low-cost items bearing the company’s name and address, and sometimes an advertising message that salespeople give to prospects and customers. Common items are ballpoint pens, calendars, key chains, flashlights, tote bags, and memo pads.

Specialty Goods - Those consumers' goods with unique characteristics and/or brand identification for which a significant group of buyers are habitually willing to make a special purchasing effort.

Speculative Business - Is high in both major opportunities and threats.

Stable Environment - The major forces of economics, technology, law and culture remain stable from year to year.

Staff Back-up Costs - Cost of technical and customer service people, computer line, sales training people

Staffing - Activities undertaken to attract, hire, and retain effective sales force personnel within an organization.

Stakeholder - Any group within or outside the organization that has an interest in the organization’s performance.

Stalling Objection - An objection that delays the presentation or sale.

Standing-Room-Only Close - A close whereby a salesperson suggests that if a prospect does not act now he or she may not be able to buy in the future, thus motivating the prospect to act immediately.

Stimulational Marketing - The task of transforming no demand into positive demand. 

Stimulus Response - A model of behavior that describes the process of applying a stimulus (sales presentation) that results in a response (purchase decision).

Store Service - Consists of inventory control, training store employees on feature and benefits of different products, proper placement of POP, down-stocking, suggested orders and establishing customer relationships.

Strategic - Programs, goals, and projects of great importance.

Strategic Customer Relationship - A formal relationship between the seller and customer with the purpose of having joint pursuit of mutual goals.

Strategic Business Units - Can be one or more company divisions, a product line within a division, or sometimes a single product.  Used in refreshing company's portfolio of businesses.  Ideally, an SBU will have the following characteristics:

1. A single business or collection of related businesses.
2. A distinct mission.
3. Its own competitors.
4. A responsible manager.
5. Consists of one or more program units and functional units.
6. Can benefit from strategic planning.
7. Can be planned independently or other businesses.

Strategic Marketing Process - A managerial process of analyzing market opportunities and choosing marketing positions, programs, and controls that create and support viable businesses that serve the company's purpose and objectives.

Strategic Thinking - Porter’s generic strategies – Michael Porter has proposed three generic strategies that provide a good starting point for strategic thinking:

• Overall cost leadership: The business works hard to achieve the lowest production and distribution costs so that it can price lower than its competitors and win a large market share. Firms pursuing this strategy must be good at engineering, purchasing, manufacturing, and physical distribution. They need less skill in marketing. The problem with this strategy is that other firms will usually compete with still lower costs and hurt the firm that rested its whole future on cost.

• Differentiation - The business concentrates on achieving superior performance in an important customer benefit area valued by a large part of the market. The firm cultivates those strengths that will contribute to the intended differentiation. Thus the firm seeking quality leadership, for example, must make products with the best components, put them together expertly, inspect them carefully, and effectively communicate their quality.

• Focus -  The business focuses on one or more narrow market segments. The firm gets to know these segments intimately and pursues either cost leadership or differentiation within the target segment.

Strategic Control - Purpose is to examine whether the company is pursuing its best opportunities with respect to markets, products and channels; prime responsibility of top management and marketing auditor

 

Strategies for Market Coverage- (E.g.: Boating Industry)

1. Product/market concentration - a company niches itself in one part of the market. Usually smaller companies choose this pattern of market coverage.

2. Product specialization - a company decides to produce a full line of speedboats for all customer groups.

3. Market specialization - a company decides to produce a full line of boats that serve the sundry needs of boaters on small lakes.

4. Selective specialization - a company enters multiple niches that have no relation to each other except that each provides an individually attractive opportunity.  This pattern is usually the end result of an opportunistic acquisition program.

5. Full coverage - typically undertaken by larger companies that seek market leadership. A company might initially enter the most attractive market segment and spread out systematically as opportunities arise.

"Strength of Weak Ties" - The idea that weak ties are more likely to bring new information into a clique of cluster. Conceived by Mark Granovetter of Stanford University.

Strength and Weaknesses - A company needs to gather information on each competitor’s strengths and weaknesses.  According to the Arthur D. Little consulting firm, a company will occupy one six competitive positions in the target market;

1. Dominant - This firm controls the behavior of other competitors and has a wide choice of strategic options.

2. Strong - This firm can take independent action without endangering its long-term position and can maintain its long-term position regardless of competitors’ actions.

3. Favorable - This firm has an exploitable strength and a more-than-average opportunity to improve its position.

4. Tenable - This firm is performing at a sufficiently satisfactory level to warrant continuing in business, but it exists at the sufferance of the dominant company and has a less-than-average opportunity to improve its position.

5. Weak - This firm has unsatisfactory performance, but an opportunity exists for improvement.  The firm must change or else exit. Nonviable:  This firm ha unsatisfactory performance has no opportunity for improvement.

Strivers - Those firms who are seeking to become insiders but have not yet arrived. 

Structural Hole - A separation between nonredundant contacts. In the context of this glossary, the gap between clusters or cliques that can be closed b human bridges.

Structured Settlement - A lawsuit settlement involving specific payments made over a period of time.

Subordination - The act of a creditor acknowledging in writing that a debt due him or her by a debtor shall be inferior to the debt due another creditor by the same debtor.

Substitution - A situation in which a salesperson offers another product that has performance or functional capabilities equal to or excelling the item which the customer requested.

Substantiality - The degree to which the resulting segments are large and/or profitable enough to be worth considering for separate marketing attention. 

Suggestion Selling - A technique whereby a salesperson suggests complimentary or related products to a customer before the original transaction is complete.

Suggestive Propositions - A proposition that implies that the prospect should act now.

Summary of Benefits Close - A close wherein the salesperson summarizes the benefits of the product in a positive manner so that prospect agrees with what the salesperson says.

Surfing the Internet - Exploring the different sites found within the World Wide Web.

Synchromarketing - Trying to resolve irregular demand.

Syndicated Information Selling Firms - Specialize in gathering continuous trade or consumer data, which they sell to clients on a fee-subscription basis.

Systems Contracting - A variant of systems selling where a single supplier provides the buyer with his or her entire requirement of MRO (maintenance, repair, operating) supplies. The supplier takes full responsibility during the contract period to manage the customer’s inventory.

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