Personal selling is person-to-person communication between a company representative and a
prospective buyer. The seller’s communication effort is focused on informing and persuading the
prospect, with the short-term goal of making a sale and a longer-term goal of building a relationship
with that buyer. The salesperson’s job is to correctly understand the buyer’s needs, match those
needs to the company’s product(s), and then persuade the customer to buy. Because selling
provides a two-way communication channel, it is especially important in marketing industrial products
that may be expensive and technologically complex. Sales personnel can often provide headquarters
with important customer feedback that can be used in design and engineering decisions.