Direct Sales Vs. Promotion

Direct sales and sales promotions are two major components of the promotional element of marketing. The marketing mix outlines four critical strategic marketing elements -- product, place, price and promotion. When marketing a product, sold through specific distribution channels and at certain prices, various strategies such as advertising, direct sales and promotions are common.

Direct Sales Basics

  1. Direct sales involves person-to-person selling in which a company salesperson communicates the benefits of products and services to prospective customers. This can happen in business-to-business, trade channel or consumer markets. Direct sales is a more assertive marketing approach in which companies use salespeople to personally present persuasive messages to customers, listen to their feedback and concerns, and attempt to close the deal by responding effectively to those concerns.

Pros and Cons

  1. Direct selling is more personalized and engaging than other types of marketing. Salespeople personally interact with customers face-to-face, whereas with traditional advertising, messages are delivered through media with the hope of a consumer response. Direct selling also allows the company, through its salespeople, to build effective long-term relationships with key customers. Costs of employing salespeople and the potential alienation of customers driven away by high pressure selling tactics are drawbacks.

Promotion Basics

  1. A sales promotion is a form of advertising that focuses on short-term sales inducements. Sales promotions entice customers with price discounts or other price-oriented benefits. This separates promotions from brand-building advertising that focuses on the long term. Sales promotions center on the price side of the value equation, which means consumers perceive value as a comparison of price and product benefits. Sales promotions suggest a good value because of a reduced price point, but constant benefits.

Tactics and Goals

  1. Coupons, off-price discounts, rebates and percent-off sales are among common sales promotion techniques. Companies use sales promotions for a variety of reasons. New companies use them to drive instant traffic. Clearing out excess inventory is another common intention. Additionally, companies use sales promotions to attract customers in hopes of also selling higher margin products. Generating immediate cash flow to cover short-term debt and expense obligations is another common and important purpose of sales promotions.