National Diploma in Sales Management (NDSM)

Individual Integrated Assignment (IIA)-Stage I

Programme National Diploma in Sales Management (NDSM)
Stage I (One)
Nature of the Assignment Integrated Assignment (Individual) with
Presentation
Examination 04th of October 2015
Assignment Submission Period 06th September 2015 to 13th September 2015
Late Submission Date 14th September 2015 & 15th September 2015
Assignment Acceptance time period Weekday and Weekend – 8.30am to 3.00pm
Presentation Date 17th & 18th October 2015
Email address to send soft copy ndsm@slim.lk

IMPORTANT
• The Assignment should be submitted to SLIM within the submission period indicated
above.

• Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances.

• The Assignment should conform to the assignment guidelines presented as per the
NDSM Student Handbook (please refer Section 6 (Six) of the Student Handbook).

• Do not insert any pictures on the cover page of the assignment

• The Assignment Marking Sheet should be attached after the cover page followed by the
Assignment checklist and declaration form.

• Submit the assignment as a spiral bound hard copy.

• The soft copy of your assignment should be sent to the above mentioned email address
where you will receive an automated reply of receipt. If you have not received the
automated reply, please verify with course coordinator. The soft copy is only a
reference document that will not be considered as an assignment submission.
 • SLIM will issue an acknowledgement slip upon the submission of your assignment and it
must be retained by the student as proof of submitting the assignment.
• It is compulsory to submit the Assignment to sit for the Examination.
• If any student failed the Assignment with presentation He or She needs to repeat both
components.

Assignments with Presentations

• Presentation date and time will be published in SLIM website after the submission of
the assignment.

• Presentation time will be 10 mins and additional 10 mins will be given for question
and answers.

• The Presentation should be compatible in MS Office 2007 version in a Pen Drive which
does not contain viruses.
(Only the relevant presentation should be saved in the pen drive)

• Students should bring two copies of the presentations printed with one slide per
page.
 Assignment Topic: Alfa

Assignment Content:

Situation
Alfa is an industrial tool distribution company, experiencing de growth in last financial year. Presently the
company operates from their main office and sales team operates from the same location. The
company’s retail sales is centralised from the showroom at its head office a through direct sales team.
Individual sales representatives are responsible for building their own base of business and their
compensation fluctuates with the growth of their performance. 10 field sales representatives and the
showroom manager reports to the Sales Manager.
With the new sales strategy the organization is planning for an extensive distribution model with multiple
channels to overcome declining trend of business.

Challenge:
The company is aware that their sales structure is ineffective, and the need to restructure the
organisation. They wanted to determine how their reps could increase sales effectively and what would
be the best distribution mix to improve sales productivity to have a positive revenue impact and growth
on sales volumes.

You have been recruited as the new National Sales Manager to fulfil the task with a free hand to develop
a sales and distribution plan considering ROI.

Task 1

You have noticed that that the direct sales approach to the target segment is an advantage to the
business but that the Reps spend about 40% less time prospecting than other benchmark Reps. On
average, Reps spend 80% of their time with existing customers and acquiring new customers is difficult
with their current unstructured work pattern. You have observed that in order to overcome this
situation, the team has to boost to the next step of the ‘end to end sales processes’.

(A) Justify by elaborating the impact of personal selling in “Alfa” tool selling company and the objectives
of developing a direct sales team.
(Content weightage 20%)

(B) 1. Briefly discuss the steps of the selling process of the company to maximise its performance.

2. You have noticed that the knowledge of sales reps is not up to standard and lacks the criteria of
the above process. How would you train and groom them to close a sale effectively? Justify your
answer using different tactics if any.
(Content weightage 20%)

(C) Identify (3) three best sales approaches for “Alfa” and justify them with examples.
(Content weightage 10%)
Task 2

The CEO’s main objective is to overcome the decline trend of Alfa, gain 5% market share from competitor
and an annual 10% growth, to begin from this financial year. As National sales manager you are given a
free hand to develop a business plan to achieve the said objectives of the organization with business
potential and product availability (Distribution).

In a new business plan the sales organization and the territory management are key areas to be looked at
since it speeds the process of a sale and match the sales opportunities with the selling effort in a most
productive manner.
The Sales Organisation and Territory management are key areas in a new business plan as it speeds up
the process of a sale while matching sales opportunities with the selling effort in a productive manner.
(A) Discuss how you would develop a corporate strategy for Alfa Tool Company considering key decision
areas and justify your answer.
(Content weightage 20%)

(B) What type of organizational structure would you recommend for this new direction? Justify your
answer with a chart and discuss impact, advantages and disadvantages of this decision.
(Content weightage 20%)

Briefly discuss the most suitable method you will use to decide the above sales territories for Alfa.

(Content weightage 10%)

Note:

Word Count will be based on the content weightage and the minimum words should be 3000-4000
excluding annexure (please refer page no 17 of Student Handbook)

Please refer the given (below) Assignment Marking Scheme for Marks Allocation.
 Assignment Marking Scheme
Program National Diploma in Sales Management (NDSM)
Student Registration Number

Marks
Criteria
Allocated Awarded
Aligning to the purpose of the assignment 20
Some of the answer addresses to the purpose of the question 1-5
This has addressed the purpose of the assignment 6-10
Has addressed the purpose of the assignment coherently 11-15
This has addressed the purpose of assignment comprehensively 16-20
Clarity of expression 20
An attempt to organize in a logical manner 1-5
Satisfactory showing of logical manner and organization 6-10
Shows higher level of Carefully and logically organized 11-15
Shows coherent structure with clearly expressed ideas 16-20
Using examples/evidences 20
Shows a little use of examples 1-5
Some use of examples. Some evaluation attempted 6-10
Some use of examples. Well evaluated 11-15
Shows appropriate examples are fully and reliably evaluated 16-20
Critical analysis of concepts, theories, conclusions 20
Demonstrates limited evidence of critical analysis 1-5
Demonstrates some critical analysis of relevant theory 6-10
Demonstrates application of theory through critical analysis 11-15
Demonstrates application of critical analysis well integrated 16-20
Following assignment guidelines 20
Limited follow-up of assignment guidelines 1-5
Some level of follow-up of assignment guidelines 6-10
Good display of adherence to assignment guidelines 11-15
Excellent adherence to assignment guidelines 16-20

Total
100
Special Remarks

Signature of the Examiner

 Assignment checklist & declaration

This document is intended as a guide to check and improve your assignment. Review your
Assignment together with the specific guidelines and criteria (marking schedule) that are
mentioned in the program handbook given to you.
You are expected to confirm that your assignment fulfills the below requirements, tick (√) in
the cage.

Student Name

Registration No ( As per registration book )

Cover page with relevant color code of the stage

Stage 1 – Blue
Stage 2 – Green
Stage 3 – Pink

Assignment checklist & declaration form ( This sheet)

Assignment marking scheme is attached

Assignment sheet is attached

Table of contents

Body of the assignment

References

Course fee paid in full (coaching/registration/exam and membership)

Exam registration completed

Assignment emailed to relevant email address
( You will be receiving an automated reply of receipt of the assignment, if
you have not received the automated reply, please verify with course
coordinator. Soft copy is only a reference document that will not be
considered as an assignment submission)

I’m fully aware that any misleading information provided in above checklist will lead to
rejection of my assignment.
I, the undersigned, confirm that I have read and understood the statement about
plagiarism which is outlined in the students handbook. I confirm that the work that I have
submitted accompanying this report is wholly my own, and that any quotations or sections
of text taken from the published or unpublished work of any other person is duly and fully
acknowledged therein.

Signature: ________________________________ Date: _________________

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