Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This unique Advanced Introduction offers an insight into how sales leaders seek and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage for both organizations and customers. Lawrence B. Chonko explores how sales leaders take professional selling to the next level by focusing on serving the customer. Discussing the key skills of sales leaders - technological proficiency, managing change, and harnessing and using knowledge - Chonko analyzes how sales leaders are distinguished from other sales professionals. Key features include: analysis of how sales leaders anticipate future events focus on sales leaders emphasizing long-term customer relationships rather than transactions discussion of how sales leaders have adopted the servant leadership philosophy in order to enhance the overall customer experience. This Advanced Introduction will be a useful resource for scholars and advanced students studying marketing. Its focus on the qualities of sales leaders will also be beneficial for sales professionals interested in enhancing their customer relations skills.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This unique Advanced Introduction offers an insight into how sales leaders seek and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage for both organizations and customers. Lawrence B. Chonko explores how sales leaders take professional selling to the next level by focusing on serving the customer. Discussing the key skills of sales leaders - technological proficiency, managing change, and harnessing and using knowledge - Chonko analyzes how sales leaders are distinguished from other sales professionals. Key features include: analysis of how sales leaders anticipate future events focus on sales leaders emphasizing long-term customer relationships rather than transactions discussion of how sales leaders have adopted the servant leadership philosophy in order to enhance the overall customer experience. This Advanced Introduction will be a useful resource for scholars and advanced students studying marketing. Its focus on the qualities of sales leaders will also be beneficial for sales professionals interested in enhancing their customer relations skills.

This book reports and interprets the results of a major research study that investigated the shopping behavior of the mature consumer with regard to the principal types of direct response marketing: catalog shopping, direct mail, media ads, telephone solicitation, direct selling, party-plan selling, and in-home demonstrations. Sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the Andrus Foundation, the project represents the most thorough treatment of the older consumer published to date. Marketing managers, direct marketing specialists, and retailers will find here the data they need to make informed decisions and develop appropriate marketing strategies for reaching a growing, and often relatively affluent, segment of the U.S. consumer population.

The study was based on an 8-page questionnaire to which more than 2500 subjects nationwide responded and which yielded information on respondents' willingness to purchase from various direct sources, actual purchase behavior, preferences for purchasing from direct sources, likes and dislikes about in-home shopping, and the characteristics that influence purchasing decisions. The authors also compared shopping behaviors and attitudes of older consumers with younger groups and analyzed differences on the basis of demographic and psychological variables. A wide range of practical findings issued from the study, including the fact that many mature consumers associate high pressure sales tactics with in-home shopping and evince a high degree of distrust of direct selling techniques. In the final chapter, the authors present practical recommendations for formulating and maintaining a marketplace offering that is satisfying to the mature shopper. Numerous tables and figures illustrate the statistical conclusions drawn from the study.