Marketing, Sales, and Customer Contact 2025-2026 Western
Governors University
D077/Concepts in Marketing, Sales, and Customer
Contact Study Questions
Module 1
1. Define "marketing". Business function that identifies, satisfies, and retains
customers through a set of activities related to creating, communicating, delivering
and exchanging offerings that have value for the customer.
2. Identify 3 functions of Marketing? Bring value to customers, whom the business
seeks to identify, satisfy and retain. Also finding out the needs and wants of potential
buyers and then providing the goods and services that meet or exceed the
expectations of those buyers.
3. What is the marketing concept? Identify 3 important characteristics of this
concept. The business philosophy that holds that long-term profitability is best
achieved by focusing on the coordinated activities of the organization toward
satisfying the needs of a particular target customer or market segment.
1. Focusing on the needs and wants of the customers so the organization can
distinguish its product(s) from competitors’ offerings. Products can be goods,
services, or ideas.
2. Integrating all the organization’s activities, including production and promotion, to
satisfy these wants and needs.
3. Achieving long-term goals for the organization by satisfying customer wants and
needs legally and responsibly.
4. Identify the four elements in the Marketing mix. Identify at least three
,important characteristics of each of the elements of the marketing mix.
1. Product
1. Refers to goods, services or even ideas.
2. A product is something offered in exchange.
3. First step of Marketing Mix development.
2. Price
1. Something given in exchange for a product.
2. May be monetary or nonmonetary (like waiting in long lines for a restaurant or
giving blood at a local food bank).
3. Price has many names like rent, fees, charges, etc.
4. Determines a company’s profit.
, 3. Promotion
1. Often mistaken for marketing, however marketing encompasses more than just
promotion.
2. Promotion refers to methods for informing and influencing customers to buy the
product.
3. Includes several components – traditional advertising, sales promotion, public
relations, personal selling, social media, and digital marketing.
4. Place
1. Involves some method of getting the product from the creator of the product to
the customer.
2. Includes a myriad of important tasks: transportation, location, supply chain
management, online presence, inventory, and atmospherics (how the office,
store, or even the website looks).
3. Emphasizes placing products in the place in which they are ultimately sold.
(Fast food restaurants in high-traffic areas, beer in bars and restaurants, sports
wear in sporting good stores).
5. What are the four stages of the product life cycle?
Identify each stage of the product life cycle stage based on profit, sales,
competitive pressures?
1. Introductory Stage
1. Low sales
2. Little or no profit
3. Often little to no competition
2. Growth Stage
1. Increasing sales
2. Rapidly increasing profits
3. The market has accepted the product, and competitors are beginning to enter
the market
3. Maturity Stage
1. High Sales
2. High but then declining profits
3. High level of competition may be difficult for the original company to compete
with.
, 4. Decline Stage
1. Declining Sales
2. Declining Profits
3. Competitive pressure remains high and demand falls
6. What are the variables companies considering while creating a product
strategy? Creating a product strategy involves choosing a brand name, packaging,
colors, a warranty, accessories, and a service program.
7. Define product mix, product lines, and product depth?
1. Product Mix – The complete range of products offered for sale by a company
throughout its product lines, also known as the product assortment.
2. Product Lines – Series of similar products focused on a sector that a company
creates under a single brand.
3. Product Depth – Number of versions offered for each product in the product line.
8. Identify 5 characteristics of price skimming strategy.
1. Intentionally pricing a new product offering high with the intention of lowering over
time as the competition grows, particularly in the case of a unique offering with
little or no competition at the outset.
2. First, a high initial price can be a way to find out what buyers are willing to pay
3. Second, if consumers find the introductory price too high it can be lowered.
4. Third, a high introductory price can create an image of quality and prestige.
5. Fourth, when the price is lowered later, consumers may think they are getting a
bargain.
9. Identify 3 characteristics of Penetration pricing strategy?
1. Initially pricing a product lower than the market price to gain market share in a new
market.
2. Requires more extensive planning than skimming because the company must gear
up for mass production and marketing.
3. First, the initial low price may induce consumers to switch brands or companies.
4. Second, penetration pricing may discourage competitors from entering the market.
10. Identify 2 characteristics of Prestige pricing strategy?
1. Common where high prices indicate high status.
2. Raising the price of a product to increase the perception of its value.