Sales Pitches Research Articles

Consumers as targets: Autonomy, accountability, and anticipation of the influence process

Given their limited financial resources, shoppers generally appreciate the practical necessities of resisting sales pitches and other promotional activities destined to entice them into inopportune purchases. At the same time, ventures into the marketplace represent practical necessities for nearly everyone as well as significant forms of entertainment (Prus and Dawson, 1991; Prus, 1993) for a great many people. This generates a series of interactional dilemmas for almost everyone in western society as they attempt to pursue their interests in conjunction with the salespeople they encounter. Building on data from a larger study of consumer practices, this paper considers the ways in which buyers attempt to maintain control over the lines of action they develop in potential purchasing contexts. In particular, attention is given to the ways in which people manage intimacy and distancing in shopping contexts by focusing on (a) people’s preferences for self-serve versus service settings and (b) shoppers anticipations as targets of the influence process.

The ethics of sales: Finding an appropriate balance

I Salespeople can be ethically correct and successful at ’ the same time. N othing is of greater importance to any business than the selling of its products or services. However, it is difficult to find a more ambiguous area of contemporary life. Without sales, a company loses its reason for existing. Yet many people are unsure what to think about the practice of selling. Should they strive toward it or despise it? Should they accept selling as a necessary evil, a marginal good, or a praiseworthy activity requiring a high level of skill? Willy Loman in Death of a Saleman, who must make a living in a rough and tumble world where no quarter is given, is deeply pitied. The proverbial seller of used cars is distrusted, while “sales engineers” for large corporations are seen as belonging to a corporate elite who help strengthen the American economy. A century ago the seller of horses was distrusted, while employees of Great Britain’s East India Company, engaged in foreign trade on a grand scale, were admired. Some people joke about the “traveling salesman.” Many people look for ways to develop resistance to various sorts of sales pitches, while books such as The At-t of the Deul become best sellers. Especially within their own companies, successful sales people may be heroes, but they are just as often mistrusted. Employees may advise one another not to be taken in by their ‘sophisticated” sales colleagues, whose skills are equated with manipulative, self-serving strategies to achieve goals. When it comes to sales practices, people are fascinated, repulsed, envious, grateful, embarrassed, annoyed, indifferent. These attitudes should not be wholly unexpected: “selling,” in a

Used Words

On stage and off, performance and signification are the two inextricable functions of words. The re-discovery of the generally performative functions of language gave rise to Speech Act Theory just a few decades ago but, on different terms, verbal performativeness has been known to poetics from antiquity. Since then, literature has usually been supposed to be a social practice that privileges the performative use of words in ways somewhat different from such non-literary performatives as contracts, threats, sales pitches, greetings, and so on. In non-literary usages, performances are the effects of words in their real world contexts. But in theatre, literature and other such “hollow” instances – as J.L. Austin calls them (Austin 1975, 22) – there is a secondary context in which words make things happen in a virtual world. But (pace Austin) the primary context is not thereby dissolved, and in it the more or less adept use of the verbal medium itself is a focus of attention and a potential source of pleasure. And when – as in the recital of poetry or the telling of jokes – the acoustic channel is used, the pleasure is twofold: not only in the linguistic play but also in its vocalization; and most acutely in the relation between these two aspects of utterance, as poor Eliza Doolittle is so harshly compelled to acknowledge – though scarcely to good effect. In plays in performance, not only are words supposed to make things happen in the fictive worlds they construct but they are also what we have come to hear: “a certain number of lines recited with just gesture and elegant modulation”, said Dr Johnson.

Water—What a Dry Subject!

Many people lack the barest understanding of their water supply and this apathy about drinking water comes from people's long held assumption that it is always there and always safe. Lacking solid information, the public can easily be persuaded by alarmists or unscrupulous sales pitches for bottled water and home water treatment devices. Mr. Mannion asks water professionals to intensify their commitment to deliver the best quality water than can be reasonably achieved and to educate customers with information that enables them to put what they hear from alarmist sources into perspective.

Informal risk capital investors: Investment patterns on the East Coast of the U.S.A.

In this study we profile a group of informal investors, their investment criteria and the nature of their referral network. The study supports the findings of several earlier studies. It indicates the existence of an extensive informal investment community on the East Coast of the U.S.A., which can provide substantial financial resources to startup and young firms. A full 58% of the sample investments were in startups; a huge proportion compared with formal venture capital sources. The study further supports earlier findings that this group is difficult to locate, for entrepreneurs and researchers alike. This opaque market consists primarily of friends and business colleagues who individually provide modest sums of money ($20,000–$50,000), but are often able to use their network to assemble a group of investors who will sponsor the entire funding requirement. 130 informal investors report that in three years they and their networks raised 38 million dollars to support 286 new venture proposals. There are also encouraging indications that these angels are both enthusiastic and persistent. Many of them claim that they have achieved higher returns via angel activity than any other investment options that they have tried. Of the angels who did better with alternative investment options, more than 80% are still prepared to make further investments. Even those who reported failed investments in the informal risk capital market remain supportive: over 65% indicate a willingness to invest again. The criteria by which the angels screen the proposals differ markedly from those of the venture capital community. In particular, the angels do not appear to be interested in a thorough business plan, a sine qua non for venture capitalists. Unlike the capital firms, angels are not interested in competitive insulation. They do not limit their investments to industries that are appealing, or with which they are familiar, nor do they care very much about the degree to which the entrepreneur has identified competition. However, they are in close agreement with the venture capital community in their concern with the management ability of the venture team and a requirement that there be a clear, demonstrated need for the product or service, preferably in a market with large potential. The study has shed some light on the structure of the referral networks of angels. Though we do not know from this study how the respondents themselves first heard of the ventures that were described in this survey, we do know that their referral network is composed primarily of friends and business colleagues; to whom they refer as much as 60% of the proposals that they receive and in which they themselves eventually invest. Thus they pass on serious opportunities to their network. Their referees are inclined to be very supportive; in our sample almost 75% of them also invested in the venture. The current strategy for informal investors is to approach mainly close contacts. These are inclined to be supportive (85% also invested in the venture) and to follow a trusting investment behavior pattern, relying mainly on the recommendation of the angel. This strategem ensures that the total capital requirements are met via the network. However, given the results of this study; the angels might be well-advised not to stop here, they might also approach at least one professional. Only a small proportion of professionals were approached by our sample of angels (less than 30%). As the study shows, professionals are more effective at selecting successful ventures. Thus a mixed strategy may be called for; use mainly trusting referees to ensure full capitalization and a limited number of professional referees to screen the proposals. This will help ensure that those proposals that do get supported by the more trusting members of the network have been competently screened, thus increasing to the probability of venture success. A discriminant analysis revealed some useful pointers in helping the informal investor select successful ventures. First it is critical to select only ventures in which the entrepeneur can be relied on to evaluate the risks of the ventures and manage these risks well; Angels do not need entrepreneurs that will gamble with their money. Equally important is to avoid placing too much credence on highly articulate sales pitches by the venture team, or too much reliance on ventures in which the main emphasis is on product and proprietary protection. Rather insist on being shown clear evidence that the product or service has channel and/or market acceptance. It is also important for Angels to stick to investments where they know the industry well, and to back venture teams with a solid reputation and a propensity to get involved in the details rather than gloss them over. As in the case of studies of venture capital investments, competitive insulation in the early stages of the venture is also important.

Self-Esteem Advertising

Abstract Self-esteem advertising is a type of advertising which attempts to alter consumers' attitudes and behavior toward products by stimulating positive feelings toward themselves. For example, one of the oldest sales pitches in the world begins with, “You look lovely today, madame.” This paper draws on psychiatry, sociology and social psychology to describe “self-esteem” and how consumers' feelings of self-esteem might be leveraged to effect buying behavior. Ideas are cast as hypotheses, and implications for research are suggested. The main hypothesis is that advertising which has positive effects on consumers' attitudes toward themselves has positive effects on their attitudes toward brands.