The Handbook of Field Marketing: A Complete Guide to Understanding and Outsourcing Face-To-Face Direct Marketing »

Alison Williams is Chairwoman of the FDS Group of Companies, which she founded in 1981, and is also the first Chairwoman of the British Field Marketing Council for the Direct Marketing Association.

Roddy Mullin has been a consultant for marketing and sales for two decades. He has written or co-authored several other books for Kogan Page including "The Handbook of Field Marketing".

Field marketing can be differentiated from all other marketing activities because it is face-to-face direct marketing. Field marketing includes direct selling promotions, exhibitions, merchandising, auditing, demonstrations, and mystery shopping.

The Handbook of Field Marketing explains both the principles and practices involved in field marketing.  The authors reveal the most successful field marketing techniques to ensure profitable brand maximization, whether measured by brand visibility, product availability, positioning, performance against competitors, or overall sales record.

List of Case Studies x

Foreword xi

Preface xiii

Introduction 1

What FM is, the FM disciplines and what FM does 1

Who uses FM? 7

How to use this book 11

What is not in this book 13

Part 1 Principles 15

1 Starting with the customer 17

Customers and their behaviour 17

The new marketing mix - the offer - the six Cs 21

It's all in the mind of the customer 23

Managing the brand - influencing the mind of the customer 25

FM and ethics 27

Summary 28

Self-study questions 28

2 The business and marketing purpose behind FM 29

Introduction to the business process 29

How marketing fits into a business 30

Business and marketing objectives 33

The promotional mix 35

The process of planning 37

The marketing plan - the outcome of the planning process 39

Case studies 40

Summary 41

Self-study questions 41

3 What FM is and what it can do 43

The overriding FM benefits 43

The FM toolbox 44

Tackling typical FM objectives 47

FM for B2B, B2C and non-retail 49

FM - the user perspective 51

FM staff - a key ingredient 53

FM - the ancillaries 54

Summary 56

Self-study questions 56

4 The FM sales discipline - outsourcing to highly trained sales staff 57

The FM sales discipline - direct selling 57

Outsourcing 59

Selling for B2B and B2C clients 59

Direct sales: strategic and tactical outsourcing 60

Door-to-door strategically outsourced sales 64

Other sales solutions 66

Summary 72

Self-study questions 72

5 The FM merchandising discipline 73

The merchandising discipline 73

The merchandising task 75

Category management 76

Dealing with merchandising crises 83

Tips for merchandising 83

Summary 85

Self-study questions85

6 The FM auditing discipline 86

Tips for planning an audit 91

Summary 93

Self-study questions 93

7 The FM sampling and demonstrating discipline 94

Sampling 95

Demonstrating 97

Indoors and outdoors 98

Important points 100

Summary 102

Self-study questions 102

8 The FM experiential marketing, roadshows and events discipline 103

Purpose 105

Location, location - the venue 106

Guerrilla activity 108

Booking 108

Assessing the results 110

Summary 111

Self-study questions 111

9 The FM mystery calling and shopping discipline 112

Purpose of mystery shopping 113

The mystery shopper's audit 116

Tips for a successful mystery audit 118

Summary 119

Self-study questions 119

10 Ancillaries 1 - training, personnel systems, uniforms, and equipment in the field 120

Training 120

Personal development 122

Personnel systems 123

Recruitment 124

Management 125

Appearance matters 125

Equipment 126

Summary 128

Self-study questions 128

11 Ancillaries 2 - IT and data management, mapping software, warehousing and telephone marketing 129

IT and data management 129

Warehouse and despatch 138

Telephone marketing 138

Summary 140

Self-study questions 140

Part 2 Practice 141

12 How and when to use FM 143

Striking a chord 144

What needs solving? 145

Further thinking 150

Summary 152

Self-study questions 152

13 FM in operation 153

Understanding the FM agency 153

In the beginning 153

Starting with the plan 154

Project management 158

Operational project management 160

Choosing venues 163

The project starts 163

Summary 168

Self-study questions 168

14 Measuring FM's success - ROI 169

FM's truly powerful monetary position 169

ROI 170

ROI on sampling 175

Examples of ROI 176

Value for money 178

Summary 179

Self-study questions 179

15 How to select an FM agency as a partner - procurement and what to look for 181

In the beginning 181

An overview of procurement 182

The brief 184

Tips for commissioning an FM agency 185

Action procurement and FM 189

Higher standards 191

Summary 192

Self-study questions 192

16 Maximizing the FM budget 193

Obtaining the best bang for your back 193

Motivating the FM agency 194

SLAs 196

KPIs 197

Creativity 198

Examples of maximizing a campaign 200

Summary 202

Self-study questions 202

17 The law, staff pay, health and safety 203

Codes of practice and best practice guidelines 203

Employment law 204

Staff pay 205

Insurance 207

Health and safety 208

Summary 208

Self-study questions 208

18 FM practice in the international arena 209

Doing international FM business 210

Summary 213

Self-study questions 214

19 Face-to-face sales - in - house 215

Sales in-house - a non-FM world 215

Improving selling in-house 217

Improving selling to B2B and B2P customers 220

Face-to-face at exhibitions and trade fairs 223

Summary 227

Self-study questions 227

Further information 228

Glossary of abbreviations 235

References and further reading 237

Index 238