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TERM PAPER ON
Consumer Perception towards Personal Selling Strategy

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Term Paper on
Consumer Perception towards Personal Selling Strategy
Prepared for
Mahmud Zubayer
Assistant Professor
Department of Business Administration
East West University
Prepared By
Jubaer Hossain 2010-2-10-007
Mahamuda Islam Luipa 2008-3-10-081
Maliha Shafiq 2007-3-10-069
Israt Azim 2007-3-10-052
MKT 201: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Section: 2
East West University
Date of Submission: December 5, 2010

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Letter of Submission
December 1, 2010
Md. Mahmud Zubayer
Asst. Professor
Department of Business Administration
East West University
43, Mohakhali C/A, Dhaka
Subject: Submission of the report titled “Consumer Perceptions toward Personal Selling
Strategy for Citycellzoom.”
Dear Sir
It is an honor and immense pleasure for us to submit our Term paper on consumer
Perception towards Personal selling in City cell Zoom Internet. This report was assigned
to us as compulsory requirement of the course Marketing Management (MKT 201)
During the process of preparing this report, we had the chance of experiencing and
rediscovering our potential. This assignment gave us an opportunity to apply our
theoretical knowledge, ideas and communication skills, which will help us in our future
professional career.
Thank you for giving us this opportunity and we look forward to receive your cordial
approval of our submission.
Sincerely yours,
------------------------------- ……………………………..
Jubaer Hossain Mahamuda Islam Luipa
………………………… ……………………..
Maliha Shafiq Israt Azim

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Acknowledgement
At first, we would like to thank Almighty Allah for giving me the abilities to prepare this
term paper. We would like to thank our course instructor Mahmud Zubayer for assigning
us to prepare this term paper on consumer Perception towards Personal selling of Citycell
Zoom. We would also like to give thank Muhammad Anowar Hussain patwary T.A of
Mahmud Zubayer for his friendly assistant. We are extremely inspired to see our
instructor having faith on us. We would like to thank our group members whose
contribution made this term paper complete. Besides, we would again like to thank our
group members for performing their task accurately and for exhibiting team working
ability.
We would like to convey our special gratitude to the respondents who had given us their
valuable time and helped us to conduct the survey.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Executive Summery ...................................................................................................................................... 6
.
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 7
METHODOLOGY: ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Primary sources ........................................................................................................................................ 9
.
Secondary sources: ................................................................................................................................... 9
LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................................................... 10
Consumer perception towards General Personal Selling: .......................................................................... 11
Consumer perceptions Towards Company’s P.S strategies: ....................................................................... 15
Future Growth of the P.S. strategy of the company ................................................................................... 18
RECOMMENDATION ................................................................................................................................... 20
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................... 21
Sources: ....................................................................................................................................................... 22

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Executive Summery
Personal selling refers to the presentation of goods and services before the customers and
convincing or persuading them to buy the products or services. Personal Selling is
extremely important as it helps in increasing sales. It creates demand for products both
new as well as existing ones. It creates new customers and, thus helps in expanding the
market for the product. It leads to product improvement. While selling personally the
seller gets acquainted with the Choice and demands of customers and makes suggestions
accordingly to the manufacturer. As a pioneer internet provider of Bangladesh,
CitycellZoom gives high emphasize on personal selling as an important part of their
promotion mix. In our term paper you are going to focus on personal selling strategy of
Citycellzoom and how Citycellzoom consider its personal selling strategy.

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INTRODUCTION
CityCell was first introduced in 1994 as a brand name under Pacific Bangladesh Telecom
Limited (PBTL). CityCell provides wireless telecom or mobile phone products/services to public
and corporations and is the only Code Division Multiple Access operator in Bangladesh.
CityCell’s aim is to satisfy customers by providing their needs developing innovative and
creative ideas for communicating. They are a customer-driven organization who wants to build
and maintain a strong customer relationship with customers and ensure brand loyalty to survive
in the competitive telecommunication market.
The key objectives of Citycell include increasing market share, improving customer service, and
using high standards of technology to offer services, packages and deals at affordable rates.
Currently, CityCell has the least subscribers of 1.67 million with a market share of 4%
approximately.
Citycell is consolidating its position in wireless data by launching their Zoom EV-DO
(evaluation data optimize) for the broadband wireless internet service. Citycell Zoom Ultra is the
new and upgraded package from Citycell Zoom™ high-speed wireless internet service that runs
on state-of-the-art EV-DO technology, the evolution from CDMA 1X technology. It provides
download speeds of up to 512 kbps, and the Zoom™ Ultra connection enables to access this
high-speed internet by simply connecting to the laptop or desktop computer. Citycell Zoom™
Ultra provides never-before internet speeds on the move, and plug-and-play service through a
versatile USB interface. The high speeds facilitate a superior internet browsing experience with
video streaming, video surveillance, and rich media content.
Citycell Zoom™ Ultra data plans are designed to suit people’s specific needs. Products and
devices are available at all divisional Citycell Customer Care Centers and all sadar thana Citycell
Customer Care Points and retail outlets.
Personal selling is the direct two-way communication between customer and salesperson
representing the company via face to face meeting, telephone or video or web-conferencing with

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the intention to make a sale The most important thing in personal selling is to build up a strong
customer- company relationship.
The main purpose of this term paper is to understand the personal selling that are being carried
out by CityCell to reach out to their customers. From this report, it can be evaluated that personal
selling is the most efficient promotional tool for CityCell Zoom Ultra. Thus, it can be said that
the report has the combination of both primary and secondary research.

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METHODOLOGY:
We tried to make our report authentic so we focused on primary and secondary resources. We
prepared questioners and made survey. We took help from some secondary sources like website,
journal, report etc.
Primary sources
⇒ Personal Interview of a branch employee
⇒ Personal Interview of a sales team member
⇒ Phone conversation with customer care employee
⇒ Personal Interview of an account holder(who receives facility of personal
selling)
Secondary sources:
The secondary data were collected from the following sources.
Internal newsletter of the company.
Various research journals of different research organizations.
Web pages.
Annual reports of the company.
Various books and other internal publications of the company.

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LIMITATIONS
We tried our best to make our term paper informative and effective but we had some
limitation.
P.S. strategy of every company is very so they were not willing to share many things
with us.
We were not used to do this type of survey so we had some inexperience and lack of
communication with the company.
As we dependent on the secondary sources, so there might be some inaccuracy with
those collected information.
For survey we faced different problems regarding collecting data. People are so busy
that they didn’t provide us such time as we needed.
Collecting information from their website was so difficult because it is complexly
arranged.
we had not enough time & money to make this type of cortical report.

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Consumer perception towards General Personal Selling:
When we want to buy something we usually go to a concerned shop and purchase it from
there. But, sometimes we find people bring certain goods or products and make them
available to you at your place. For example, we find persons selling vegetables or rice by
carrying the same in a cart and moving from door to door to sell. We must have noticed
persons selling sarees, carpets, electronic items, etc. in a similar fashion. While traveling
in buses or local trains you must also have seen people selling pens, toys, books, combs,
etc. inside the bus or train. In cities also persons move from door to door to sell different
products like water purifiers, air purifiers, detergents, mosquito repellents, etc.
The person who sells goods to us in this way is called a ‘salesman’ and the technique of
selling is known as ‘Personal selling’ or ‘salesmanship’. Thus, Personal selling refers to
the presentation of goods before the potential buyers and persuading them to purchase it.
It involves face-to-face interaction and physical verification of the goods to be purchased.
The objective is not only just to sell the product to a person but also to make him/her a
permanent customer.
In a defined way: “Personal selling refers to the presentation of goods and services
before the customers and convincing or persuading them to buy the products or
services.”
So we can understand the term “Personal Selling” is totally related with product’s
buying and selling. Personal selling is basically one important element of product’s
promotion. The term “Personal selling” has a direct relation with Consumer. So
Consumer has many view and perception about it. In general Consumer think

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Personal selling means:
1. The presentation of products and associated persuasive communication to potential
clients.
2. Involves in persuasive communication.
3. The aim is to match customer needs with the goods/services on offer.
4. Ultimate objective: To make sale.
From Consumer’s point of view:
1. Personal selling provides an opportunity to the consumers to know about new
products introduced in the market. Thus, it informs and educates the consumers about
new products.
2. It is because of Personal selling that customers come to know about the use of new
products in the market. The sellers demonstrate the product before the prospective buyers
and explain the use and utility of the products.
3. Personal selling also guides customers in selecting goods best suited to their
requirements and tastes as it involves face-to-face communication.
4. Personal selling gives an opportunity to the customers to put forward their complaints
and difficulties in using the product and get the solution immediately.
In general consumer also thinks there are some skills are needed for Personal selling like
Interpersonal qualities, adaptability, self motivation, problem solving capabilities,
product knowledge, customer knowledge, presentation skill, physical quality, mental
quality, integrity of character, knowledge of the product and the company, good behavior,
ability to persuade.

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We have also done a small survey through 6 questions over 40 people about some basic
issues of Personal selling. The survey is given below:
Consumer Perception towards Personal Selling
1. Are you familiar with “Personal selling”?
a. Yes b. No
Out of 40 people 26 people (65%) said “YES” and 14 people (35%) said “NO”
2. Do you believe Personal selling is important for marketing promotion?
a. Yes b. No (78%, 22%)
Out of 40 people 31 people (77.5%) said “YES” and 9 people (22.5%) said “NO”
3. If you believe, why do you think it’s effective?
Because………………
a. Product (Practical experience) Out of 40 people 22 people (55%)
b. Information. Out of 40 people 10 people (25%)
c. Simple. Out of 40 people 3 people (7.5%)
d. Relationship. Out of 40 people 5 people (12.5%)
4. Mainly which kinds of company use Personal selling strategy?

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a. Service based. Out of 40 people 4 people (10%)
b. Product based. Out of 40 people 12 people (30%)
c. Both. Out of 40 people 24 people (60%)
5. As a consumer what do you think, which channel is most common for Personal
selling?
a. Person to person, Out of 40 people 22 people (55%)
b. Online, Out of 40 people 14 people (35%)
c. Phone call. Out of 40 people 4 people (10%)
6. Which way do you prefer most for Personal selling?
a. Person to person, Out of 40 people 28 people (70%)
b. Online, Out of 40 people 10 people (25%0
c. Phone call. Out of 40 people 2 people (5%)

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Consumer perceptions Towards Company’s P.S strategies:
Citycell Zoom is a “Pioneer of internet service provider” in Bangladesh. Most of the
people are familiar with Citycell Zoom. In case of Citycell Zoom their Personal selling
is creating awareness and increasing selling among the consumers.
Now we are going to focus what consumer think about P.S strategies of Citycell
Zoom:
1. Consumer thinks Citycell Zoom do their Personal selling through Person to Person,
campaign, SMS, internet and phone calls.
2. Consumer thinks their target segments are student, service holder, and business
man.
3. Their salesman is not skilled enough to pursue consumer to buy their product
4. Their P.S strategies can not provide enough information about Citycell Zoom.
5. Urban people of Bangladesh are just getting some information through
Advertisement of Citycell Zoom. They are not getting Personal selling service about
it.
6. In personal selling they are giving practical experience through using Citycell
Zoom.

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We have also done a small survey through 7 questions over 40 people. The survey is
given below:
Consumer Perception Towards Company’s P.S Strategies
Citycellzoom Internet
1. City cell Zoom gives high emphasize on personal selling as a part of selling
promotion, what do you think, they are doing it successfully, do you agree?
a. Yes b. No
2. To what extent do you think personal selling influences Zoom Ultra’s success?
a. Highly b. Working c. Useless
3. Do you think people, who involved with PS of city cell zoom are enough skilled?
a. Yes b. No,
4. To what extent personal selling is important to Citycell zoom Ultra?
a. High b. Moderate c. Less
5. Which type of marker get priority in Zoom Ultra’s personal selling?
a. Student b. Service holder c. Business man d. others
6. Which channels Zoom Ultra prefer most in their personal selling?
e. Campaign b. person to person c. SMS d. online
7. Where Zoom Ultra is vulnerable?

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City cell Zoom gives high emphasize on personal
selling as a part of selling promotion, what do you
Yes 47.5%
think, they are doing it successfully, do you agree?
No 52.5%
To what extent do you think personal selling Highly 35%
influences Zoom Ultra’s success?
Working 55%
c. Useless 10%
Do you think people, who involved with PS of city Yes 40%
cell zoom are enough skilled?
No 60%
To what extent personal selling is important to High 37.5%
Citycell zoom Ultra?
Moderate, 50%
Less 12.5%
Student
50%
Which type of marker get priority in Zoom Ultra’s
personal selling? Service holder 12.5%
Business man 12.5%
Others 10%
Which channels Zoom Ultra prefer most in their Campaign 10%
personal selling?
Face to face 20%

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SMS 6%
Phone 2%
Online 2%
Future Growth of the P.S. strategy of the company
Year Salesman used Sales growth
2006 500 5.7%
2007 1200 8%
2008 1500 16.5%
2009 2270 22%
As we watch In 2006 Citycell zoom used 500 salesmen for selling their modem. As we
see growth through the years of salesman is increasing. And their sales growth is also
increasing. So their future growth is positive. They should keep it continue

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SWOT ANALYSIS
Strength Weakness
Customer comfortless time
waste Privacy
Increased customer loyalty Lack of job security
INTERNAL Higher overall profitability culture
Communication Less product knowledge
Bridging the cultural gap
Creation of new jobs
Opportunity Threat
EXTERNAL ♣ Market Developments
Many competitors in the
♣ Product Developments
market
♣ Market Developments
Lower paid, commission
♣ Product Developments
Employee wants to switch job
frequently
♣ Technological booming
♣ Customer training Can hamper the brand image
♣ Technological booming
♣ Customer training

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RECOMMENDATION
The main purpose of this term paper was to analyze to what extent the theory of
personal selling relates to the actual use of promotion for CityCell Zoom Ultra.
CityCell relies on promotion to a great extent to be successful.
Citycell needs to focus on identifying target audience, establishing personal selling
strategies and then implementing the strategies successfully.
Promotion is one of the major ways they try to attract and retain customers to gain
a greater market share. In order to ensure successful promotional activity, CityCell
should start investing more on personal selling and make it one of their most
important tools for carrying out promotional activities.
CityCell should also start adopting the proper ways of creating an effective
promotional strategy for personal selling to ensure success.
In this competitive telecommunication industry, it is necessary that CityCell has a
sound marketing plan otherwise considering its current situation; it may soon be
out of business if it does not start regaining its market share and accomplish all
their key objectives and goals.
Thus, CityCell needs to become innovative not only in terms of product and
services by also in terms of a reliable and good promotional tactics.
In order to make sales through personal selling, Citycell should improve the
behavioral influences of their salespersons.
At the end, Citycell should measure the effectiveness of the personal selling which
is evaluated against the standards that have been set. If there are some
discrepancies then the company should control it and take necessary steps for
amendments.

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CONCLUSION
Promotion through personal selling is an essential component to determine organizational
success. It helps companies make people aware of their product and provides the
necessary information to customers to purchase. Promotion allows companies to retain
and attract customers. It builds customer loyalty by giving companies opportunities to
build strong customer-relationships. It helps earn more profits through increase sales and
provides improved customer service.
Citycell (Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited) is Bangladesh’s and South Asia’s
pioneering mobile communications company and the only CDMA mobile operator in the
country. Citycell is a customer-driven organization whose mission is to deliver the latest
in advanced telecommunication services to Bangladesh. The company offers a full array
of mobile services for consumers and businesses that are focused on the unique needs of
the Bangladeshi community. Citycell’s growth strategy is to integrate superior customer
service, highest standards of technology, a choice of packages at affordable rates and
some effective promotional activities such as personal selling. Personal selling help
CityCell connect with their customers leading to an increase in their market share
because it shows people that CityCell is always there for the people of Bangladesh
The telecommunication industry of Bangladesh day by day is becoming highly
competitive due to the entrance of new companies as well as the rising demands of
customers. In this time of rising competition, companies need to come up with new
strategies to hold onto their current market share. And CityCell is trying their level best to
do the same by connecting with their valued customers by the means of extensive
promotional activities such as personal selling.

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Sources:
http://www.citycell.com
http://tutor2u.net/business/presentations/marketing/personalselling/default.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/personal‐selling
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/0140/marketing_i_
promotion_strategy_and_personal_selling_part_12_of_learnin_s_from_my_mba_series
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Disadvantages_of_personal_selling&src=ansTT