Companies today have more distribution options available to them than ever before. Deciding how to better reach, sell, and distribute products to customers has therefore become a more complex task. For any company, however, the crucial issue is to select the channels that align the kind of products it sells with the needs of its customers most efficiently and effectively. This chapter has made the following major points:

1. Distribution relates to the way companies sell to customers and deliver products to them. A distribution channel is the specific method a company uses to accomplish this.
2. Sales are the activities a company needs to engage in to locate customers, provide them with information about its products, and persuade them to buy them.
3. The four main distribution channels companies use are (1) wholly owned or licensed distributors, (2) independent wholesalers, (3) retailers, and (4) direct distribution to the customer.
4. A company's distribution mix is the combination of channels it selects to sell and distribute its products. For any company, the crucial issue is to tailor its distribution mix so that the nature of its products is aligned with the needs of its customers.
5. Three factors that affect a company's choice of distribution mix are (1) the complexity of a product; (2) the importance of the purchase to the buyer, (3) and the degree to which a product must be customized to meet the needs of customers.
6. Companies selling complex, expensive, or customized products use either wholly owned or licensed distributors or employ a national sales force. Companies selling standardized, inexpensive products use intermediaries, like wholesalers and retailers, or sell directly to their customers. Advertising is usually the most effective way of promoting these kinds of products.
7. Today, the emergence of new distribution channels, large national retail chains with buying power, and the Internet are changing the way companies distribute and sell their products.
8. Personal selling is vital for companies that sell complex, customized, or expensive products.
9. Three approaches to personal selling are technical, missionary, and creative selling. These sales approaches are time intensive and result in higher sales and distribution costs.
10. Three approaches to selling standardized products are trade selling, retail selling, and telemarketing.
11. The personal selling process is made up of a series of six stages:(1) prospecting for customers, (2) making the initial contact, (3) presenting the product, (4) handling customers' objections, (5) closing the sale, (6) and providing after-sales service.
12. A customer relationship management system (CRM) is an IT-based knowledge management system designed to track a company's customers—what they are buying, how satisfied they are, and how their demands are changing. CRM monitors the selling efforts of the firm's salespeople, the delivery of products via the firm's distribution channels, and its after-sales service.
13. CRM systems have three main components, sales and selling, after-sales service and support, and marketing. These components are linked together so that all of the company's sales and marketing employees have real-time access to information about the company's downstream activities.