Nevertheless, it should be noticed that Internet research is likely to become the most preferable source of information since more and more people gain access to the Internet who surf Internet for the information on brands, products and services, so that traditional research may slightly lose its strength in the near future. It is projected that $488.9 million will be spent on online research in 2002, according to Inside Research, what is about four times more than was spent in 1999. (Promo staff, Promotion Research: Good Measures) There are companies that have already begun input research into their own promotions where “sweeps entrants are asked for household information, prize preferences, shopping behavior, and other insights easily aggregated and analyzed online.” (Promo staff, Research: Reaching Beyond Scanners) The companies entering into BtoB (business-to-business) or BtoC (business-to-consumer) online commerce receive an instant access to communicate with its customers directly. “Pete Blackshaw, CEO of Planetfeedback.com says that the Internet is one of the world’s most powerful focus group.” (Promo staff, Research: Reaching Beyond Scanners) He also points out that “marketers will end up spending far less on market research because the cost per transaction is much lower”. Best Practices LLC, a firm specializing in research and consulting, has recently made a statement in Broker magazine that online research is an excellent way to learn deeper about the customers if the companies are aimed at successful market research. “In the areas of gathering information, using e-marketing allows companies to track, capture and internally distribute customer information, as well as share information across service and marketing functions.” (Broker Magazine, Net Research Allows for Target Marketing) The leading companies as a result are interested to build own databases for instant access and analysis of the data allowing the marketers to be prepared for a change and make more accurate strategic decisions than ever before.

The most expensive and the last component of the promotion mix is personal selling, which involves face-to-face sales presentations between middlemen, existing and potential customers. The ability to sell products and services is important to all companies. Frank Pacetta, hero of Xerox, developed own style for sales that “boils down to three simple steps: identify the customer, make sure your product fits the customer’s requirements and ask for the sale.” (Fierman, The Death and Rebirth of the Salesman) It is well known that a salesperson is the most productive when he or she works directly with the client, handles objections, and successfully builds lasting relationships with its customers. For this reason, the sales person is also known as “relationship manager” and “problem solver.” Alyssa Dver, the author of “CRM – May the Sales Force be with You” article says that “salespeople are key to having an effective CRM process and will be the biggest winners when it works.” The goal of salespeople is being able to meet and exceed both customer needs and company objectives by means of “developing new business, selling, serving, information gathering, and protecting the territory against inroads from competition.” (Sandhusen, p. 467) Salespeople help customers make good buying decisions by meeting their needs and matching them with the products or services represented. The role of a salesperson is to make sales. Although, the salespeople must not forget that they are a face of the company which they represent, so that the way the representative behaves strongly affects the image and reputation of that company. The first impression is always important. Nowadays, the perspective salespeople make strategy decisions about integration of marketing and promotion mix elements into their daily presentations to fit the needs of their customers and in turn, provide feedback to its

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