Ch. 18 - Personal Selling and Sales Management

 1. Generating leads 

Since VANS has been around for over 50 years, they have many traditional buyers and a cult following around their shoes. Along with this VANS still markets towards the young generation gaining new buyers year after year.

2. Qualifying leads 

Since VANS has such a large following they have many qualified leads. After purchasing VANS shoes online you can sign up to be part of the newsletter email which will send you new deals or information on new VANS shoes.

3. Approaching the customer and probing needs 

Like any other company you can leave your review of their product online and through their website. VANS does their best to acknowledge these complaints and try to change what they can for the better.

4. Developing and proposing solutions

An example of VANS listening to their customer base is when they developed their new shoe "AVE SHOE". Many customers had been complaining about the comfortability and low technology within the shoes for years. So recently VANS put out this new shoe with the slogan "Don’t Ask for the Perfect Combination of Boardfeel and Support. Demand It."- "the most uncompromising, technically advanced skate shoe we’ve ever made."

5. Handling objections

VANS is one of the highest shoes in the world but with this comes objection from many. VANS very strong following and knows it customer base very well. Because of this they can focus on the customers they have and allow those who object to go elsewhere.

 6. Closing the sale 

Since VANS is such a large company they can be pretty hands-off when it comes to the face-to-face selling of their merchandise. The history and legacy speak for themselves. For people often will buy these shoes without needing a person to sell to them in person. Furthermore VANS shoes are fairly inexpensive and the company also adds many discounts to their shoes year round which persuades the buyer even more into trying a pair.

7. Following up

After buying VANS shoes online VANS will send out a follow up email asking for any complaints, recommendations, or reviews on their product. By doing so they learn and grow their product.