Sales force management

Objectives
Demonstrate an understanding
of ways in which a sales force is
managed.
Summarize and share
information with the class.
Analyse a case

Sales force Management

Sales force management involves:
Strategic level - Designing the
sales force.
Operational level Managing the
day to day activities of the
sales team.

Designing the
Salesforce
1.

Setting the sales objectives and

strategy
Prospecting
o Targeting
o Communicating
o Selling
o Servicing
o Information gathering
o Allocating
o

Sales Strategy
Sales representatives work with customers in
several ways:

Sales representative to buyer

Sales representative to buyer group

Sales team to buyer group

Conference selling

Seminar selling educational seminar for

customers

Employment type
Direct sales force
Full time or part time
Inside sales personnel or field sales personnel
Contractual sales force (usually paid on commission
basis)
manufacturers reps
sales agents
brokers

Sales force structure

Territorial - based on geography e.g. parish, region

Advantages: shorter travel, strong
relationships, equalization of work load
Product lines used where a variety of products
Market based on an industry
Complex: wide variety of products, many types of
customers, broad geographical area.

Sales force size and compensation

The Workload approach to determining the size of the sales force size
involves:
1. Grouping of customers according to annual sales volumes.
2. Establishing for each class the desirable call frequencies
(no of calls on an account per year)
3. Calculating the total workload for the country in sales calls per year
= no of accounts in each class x corresponding call
frequency
4. Determine average calls a sales representative can make per
year.
5. No of sales reps = total annual calls / average
annual calls per sales rep.

Four components of sales force compensation

Fixed amount salary provided for stability

Variable amount commissions, bonus or profit
sharing provided to encourage or reward greater
effort.
Expense allowance provided to cover expenses
e.g. travel, accommodation, dining
Benefits e.g. paid vacations, sickness or accident
benefits, pensions, life insurance provided for
security and job satisfaction.

Compensation plans

Straight salary: provides secure income, more

willing to perform non-selling activities, less
incentive to overstock customers, administratively
simpler.
Straight commission higher sales
performance, more motivation, less supervision,
control selling costs.
Combination - of both straight salary and
commission.

Operational Management of the

Sales force

Recruiting and selecting

Training
Supervising
Motivating
Evaluating

Recruiting and Selecting Staff

The
cost of recruitment is high.
An experienced sales team is more
productive

Qualities of an effective sales

person

Empathy
Articulate
Confidence
Passion/Drive

Training

Recruiting and
selecting
Training
Supervising
Motivating
Evaluating

Training is required to provide

sales representatives with the
skills they require.
Training programmes usually
include the following:
Company knowledge and pride

Product knowledge

Competitor and their product

knowledge

Presentation skills

Policies and administrative

Supervising of sales team

includes:

Recruiting and
selecting
Training
Supervising
Motivating
Evaluating

Assigning sales representatives

Setting norms or standards
such as:
-How many calls to make?
-Who to call?
-How much time to spend with
prospects?
Establishing targets
Developing work plans
Monitoring staff performance

Motivating sales staff includes:

Recruiting and
selecting
Training
Supervising

Sales can be frustrating and

tedious.
Higher motivation leads to
higher effort, higher
productivity and higher
rewards.
Sales managers have to
convince their sales team to
make greater efforts in order to
get greater rewards.
Strategies: bonus, commission,
rewards, recognition,

Motivating
Evaluating

Evaluating the sales staff

Recruiting and
selecting
Training
Supervising

Sources of information
sales reports
personal observation
customer letters
complaints
customer surveys
conversations with other sales
representatives
Methods of evaluating
Reporting
Performance analysis using sales
statistics
Performance appraisals against

Motivating
Evaluating

What is a case?

A description of a scenario involving

a business. It usually explain the
activities undertaken by the
organization and the level of success
of these activities in relations to the
desired goals.

What is case analysis?

Examining all the information relating to

the course and performing the following:
- Summarizing and synthesizing the
information.
- Analysing the situation
- Identifying the problem and evaluating
the options
- Recommending a solution

Steps in analysing a
case

Situational analysis
Identification of the problem
Analysis of alternatives
Making recommendations and justifying
your course of action