What Is Selling Concept According To Marketing?

Many organizations follow the selling concept, which holds that consumers will not buy enough of the organization's products unless it undertakes a large scale selling and promotion effort. The concept is typically practiced with unsought goods, those that buyers do not normally think of buying such as encyclopedias or insurance. These industries must excel at tracking down prospects and selling them on product benefits.

Most firms practice the selling concept when they have overcapacity. Their aim is to sell what they make rather than make what the market wants. Such marketing carriers high risks. It focuses on creating sales transactions rather than on building long-term, profitable relationships with customers. It assumes that customers who are coaxed into buying the product will like it. Or if they don't like it, they will possibly forget disappointment and buy it again later.

These are usually poor assumptions to make about buyers. Most studies show that dissatisfied customers do not buy again. Worse yet, while the average satisfied customer tells three others about good experiences, the average dissatisfied customer tells ten others about his or her bad experience.

The selling concept in marketing considers how the product is going to reach the customer.

The first decision regarding this is that of the distribution channel that is going to be used. The company can either do direct selling or sell the product through retailers, wholesalers or specialized sellers.
Whichever distribution channel is used depends on the kind of product and the target market. It is also determined how the product is going to reach the distribution outlet and how much the transportation is going to cost.

The sales territories are also determined under this concept. Organizations sometimes have separate managers for each sales territory to handle the transportation and sales outlets of that particular area.

Selling Concept                                                  Marketing Concept

Starting point Factory                                                                       Market
Focus             Existing products                                                 Customer needs
Means            Selling and promotion                                              Integrated marketing
Ends   Profits through sales volume                         Profits through customer satisfaction

Selling is set up selling