THE EFFECT OF PERSONAL SELLING IN THE MARKETING PERFORMANCE PRODUCT (A CASE STUDY OF FIRST ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION COMPANY PLC RIVERS STATE).

ABSTRACT
In our locality where the patronage of industrial product is not common on high, firm involve must devise means to keep their head above water in terms of sales and cost of making sales. The marketing performance of industrial product in our locality must be buttressed by the use of effective tools to increase sales. To this, the firms involved have to use the appropriate tool or means that will pay for the cost of using it. Hence, firms consider the use of personal selling in marketing their products. When all the theorist and planners have had their moment and the production, finance and labour problems have been solved, then someone somewhere has to go out and knock on someone’s door. This treatise is hence looking at the effect of personal selling on the marketing performance of industrial product. Though firm may complain that game does not always worth the candle, personal selling has been considered to be the most effective in attracting customers especially where the sales is not high. As this work progresses, the good and the bad side of the personal selling as a promotional tools to boost the sales of industrial product will be divulge.

INTRODUCTION
This chapter covers the introductory aspect of this project work. It discuses the effect of personal selling in the marketing performance of industrial product, the problems needed to be solved in the chapter to follow, the objectives of the study was also look into be able to solve the problem.
Every organization has an objective to achieve its objective, organization has to formulate and implement a policy from time to time on personal selling. Adherence to such policies will promote the interest of customers.
Personal selling has been tested and proved to be effective but very costly for a firm to adopt. In an ear where relationship marketing has become increasing understood and accepted as the contemporary approach to marketing theory and practice, so personal selling characterises the importance of strong relationship between vender and buyer.
Effectiveness of personal selling activities can be observed at various stages in the buying process of both the consumer and business-to-business markets.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
This research work deals with the effect of personal selling in the marketing performance of industrial product. Personal selling form part of the component of promotion. Other part of the promotion mix are advertising, packaging, public relation, and sales promotion. All the component of promotion help in their individual ways to communicate the vital attributes of the organizations offering with their prospects or customer or given reason why the potential buyer need to choose the firm’s product among completing brands.
No matter how well advertised a product may be no matter the amount of publicity that has been carried out on a particular product, and no matter the amount of money that has been pumped into the sales promotion, they only to inform the prospective buyers of the availability of the product. More (expect personal selling) can convert the firm’s product into cash. We should remember that exchange is a centre of marketing and that aspect of marketing that makes exchange to be possible is personal selling.

The role which personal selling play in an economy can be seen with the number of personnel engaged in one selling activities or the other of the approximately 33 percent of a nation’s work force that are involved in marketing as a gainful employment, 10 percent of a nation’s workforce is in sales job.
Any activity that employs as much as 10 percent of a nation’s workforce becomes very important and need to be studied. So far, it does not mean the personal selling is the most important of the promo tools.
The other aspect of the promo tools are as well important. But what the reader should know is that there is no other promo tool that brings the firm and prospective buyers into direct contact. The only promo tool that makes this possible is personal selling. It is only during the physical contact that prospects are made to be convined to accept value offer by the organization in exchange for a price sought by the firms. The important role which personal selling plays in the communication process cannot be over looked.

No amount of investment done any of the promo tools can go to replace this important role of personal selling in really actualizing he exchange transaction needed to keep the whole of industry on a continuous movement.
Apart from the above mentioned roles of personal selling, one should not also forget that, sales people also get themselves involved in other none selling activities such as carrying out repairs on broken down bought items, passing necessary information down to consumer, and also receiving vital information from the customers which are passed upwards to marketing managers towards the provision of better qualify customer service in the market.
Personal selling role can be summarized, this personal contract for non selling tasks.