Sales Force Management

Chapter 17 Managing the  Sales Force

Objectives  Review the types of decisions firms face in designing a sales force.  Learn how companies recruit, select, train, supervise, motivate, and evaluate a sales force.  Understand how salespeople improve their selling, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.

Designing the Sales Force Types of Sales Representatives  Deliverer

 Technician

 Order taker

 Demand creator

 Missionary

 Solution vendor

Designing the Sales Force Steps in Process  Objectives and strategy  Structure  Sales force size  Compensation

 Objectives – Sales volume and profitability – Customer satisfaction

 Strategy – Account manager

 Type of sales force – Direct (company) or contractual

Designing the Sales Force Steps in Process  Objectives and strategy  Structure  Sales force size  Compensation

 Types of sales force structures: – Territorial – Product – Market – Complex

 Key accounts

Designing the Sales Force Steps in Process  Objectives and strategy  Structure  Sales force size  Compensation

 Workload approach: – Group customers by volume – Establish call frequencies – Calculate total yearly sales call workload – Calculate average number of calls/year – Calculate number of sales representatives

Designing the Sales Force Steps in Process  Objectives and strategy  Structure  Sales force size  Compensation

 Four components of compensation: – – – –

Fixed amount Variable amount Expense allowances Benefits

 Compensation plans – Straight salary – Straight commission – Combination

Managing the Sales Force Steps in Sales Force Management  Recruitment and selection  Training

 Supervising  Motivating  Evaluating

Managing the Sales Force  Recruiting begins with the development of selection criteria – Customer desired traits – Traits common to successful sales representatives

 Selection criteria are publicized  Various selection procedures are used to evaluate candidates

Managing the Sales Force  Training topics include: – Company background, products – Customer characteristics – Competitors’ products – Sales presentation techniques – Procedures and responsibilities

 Training time needed and training method used vary with task complexity

Managing the Sales Force  Successful firms have procedures to aid in evaluating the sales force: – Norms for customer calls – Norms for prospect calls – Using sales time efficiently Tools

include configurator software, time-and-duty analysis, greater emphasis on phone and Internet usage, greater reliance on inside sales force

Managing the Sales Force  Motivating the Sales Force – Most valued rewards Pay,

promotion, personal growth, sense of accomplishment

– Least valued rewards Liking

and respect, security, recognition

– Sales quotas as motivation tools – Supplementary motivators

Managing the Sales Force  Evaluating the Sales Force – Sources of information Sales

or call reports, personal observation, customer letters and complaints, customer surveys, other representatives

– Formal evaluation Performance

comparisons Knowledge assessments

Personal Selling Principles Major Aspects  Sales professionalism  Negotiation  Relationship marketing

 Sales-oriented approach – Stresses high pressure techniques

 Customer-oriented approach – Stresses customer problem solving

 Steps in industrial selling process

Personal Selling Principles Steps in Industrial Selling Process  Prospecting and qualifying  Preapproach

 Overcoming objections

 Approach  Presentation and demonstration

 Follow-up and maintenance (servicing)

 Closing

Personal Selling Principles Major Aspects

 Reps need skills for effective negotiation

 Sales professionalism

 Negotiation is useful when certain factors characterize the sale

 Negotiation

 Negotiation strategy

 Relationship marketing

– Principled – BATNA

Personal Selling Principles Major Aspects  Sales professionalism  Negotiation  Relationship marketing

 Building long-term suppler-customer relationships has grown in importance  Companies are shifting focus away from transaction marketing to relationship marketing