Personal selling involves the two-way flow of communication between a buyer and seller, often in a face-to-face encounter, designed to influence a person’s or group’s purchase decision. Sales management involves planning the selling program and implementing and controlling the personal selling effort of the firm.

The scope of selling and sales management is apparent in three ways. First, virtually every occupation that involves customer contact has an element of personal selling. Second, selling plays a significant role in a company’s overall marketing effort. Salespeople occupy a boundary position between buyers and sellers;

they are the company to many buyers and account for a major cost of marketing in a variety of industries; and they can create value for customers. Finally, through relationship selling, salespeople play a central role in tailoring solutions to customer problems as a means to customer value creation.