Multiple Roles of Salespeople

Producing
Sales
Revenue

Contributions
of Personal
Selling to
Marketing
Providing Meeting
Marketplace Buyer
Information Expectations
Multiple Roles of Salespeople
 An order taker processes routine orders or
reorders for products that were already sold by
the company
 An order getter sells in a conventional sense
and identifies prospective customers, provides
customers with information, persuades
customers to buy, closes sales, and follows up
on customers’ use of a product or service
Multiple Roles of Salespeople
• Missionary salespeople are sales support personnel
who do not directly solicit orders but rather
concentrate on performing promotional activities
and introducing new products.
• A sales engineer is a salesperson who specializes
in identifying, analyzing, and solving customer
problems and brings know-how and technical
expertise to the selling situation but often does not
actually sell products and services.
Multiple Roles of Salespeople
 Deliverer:A sales person whose major tasks is
the deliverery of a product.
 Solution Vendor: a salesperson
whose expertise is in the solving of
the customer problem .
 Sales management

Sales Management is the marketing

management activity dealing with planning,
organizing, directing, and controlling the
personal selling effort. This includes recruiting,
training, supervision, motivation, evaluation,
and compensation of sales personnel
Sales Management Activities
Sales Management Activities

 The starting point for sales management is

developing a sales strategy to execute the firm’s
marketing strategy, which emphasizes the
development of a marketing mix to appeal to
defined target markets.
 A sales strategy focuses on how to sell to specific
customers within those target markets. Two key
elements of a sales strategy are a relationship
strategy and a sales channel strategy.
Sales Management Activities

 Should salesforce be generalists or specialists?

 If specialists, should they be product, market,
customer, or functional specialists?
 Should centralized or decentralized control be used?
 How large should the salesforce be?
 How should customers and geographic areas be
assigned to form sales territories?
 How should salesforce turnover be factored into
sales organization design decisions?
Sales Management Activities

The main activities are:

 Recruiting is the process of finding prospective job
candidates
 Selecting involves choosing the candidates to be hired
 Initial training, which typically focuses on product
knowledge and sales techniques
 Continual training for all salespeople is becoming more
standard as firms attempt to stay current and
competitive in an ever-changing environment.
Sales Management Activities

 Directing salespeople to meet goals and

objectives consumes much of the typical
sales manager’s time. These activities
include:
 Motivation
 Supervision
 Leadership of the sales force.
Sales Management Activities

 Sales managers must establish standards by which

performance and effectiveness are measured,
evaluate performance and effectiveness against these
standards, and then take appropriate follow-up action.
 Salesperson performance refers to how well
individual sales people meet job expectations.
 An evaluation of sales force effectiveness is in fact
an assessment of the entire sales organization.
 Transaction-Focused vs.
Relationship Focused
Transaction-Focused Relationship-Focused
• Short term thinking • Long term thinking
• Making the sale has • Developing the
priority over most relationship takes
other considerations priority over getting
• Interaction between the sale
buyer and seller is • Interaction between
competitive buyer and seller is
• Salesperson is self- collaborative.
interest oriented • Salesperson is
customer-oriented
 The Changing World
of Sales Management
Sales Management Trends

Transactions Relationships

Individuals Teams

Sales Volume Sales Productivity

Management Leadership

Local Global
 Relationship Marketing:
Four key issues
 Open communication
 Empowering employees
 Customers and the planning process
 Working in teams
Total quality management
Sales Teamwork Approaches

Core Selling Team Selling Team

Membership Membership
relatively stable very fluid

Characteristics of team Characteristics of team

depend on depend on
characteristics of buying characteristics of sales
organization opportunity
Mission is strategic Mission is tactical with
with respect to the respect to the sales
buying organization opportunity
 Leadership Trends

Yesterday Today
designation Knowledge
defined power is power

Leaders commanded Leaders empower

and controlled and coach

Leaders Leaders
were warriors are facilitators

Managers Managers
directed delegate
 Sales Force Management in
the 21st Century
 Customer orientation
 Customer relationship management (CRM)
 Sales force diversity
 Electronic communication systems and web-based
technology
 Selling teams
 Complex channels of distribution
 An international perspective ,global legislations
 Ethical behavior and social responsibility
 TQM
 Shared sales force
Effective Sales Managers:

1. Utilize a Strategic Perspective

Focused on Customers

2. Attract, Keep, and Develop Sales

Talent

3. Leverage Technology
Sales Force
Organization

Listen to the customer and act

on what they tell you.
Pat Nathan,
Vice President
Dell Computer Corp
 Sales Organization
(def…)
Organization of individual ,either
working together for the marketing
of product and services
manufactured by an enterprise or for
product that are produced by the
firm for the purpose of reselling..
 Learning Objectives

1. Define the concepts of organisation structure,, span of

control versus management levels, and line versus staff
positions.
2. Describe the different sales organization structures.
3. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of sales
organization structures.
4. Explain how to determine the appropriate sales
organization structure for a given selling situation
Building blocks of organizational
structure
Differentiation
in the allocation of
people and resources to create value.
Vertical differentiation: Focus is on the
distribution of decision-making
authority.
Horizontal differentiation : Focus is on
division and grouping of tasks into functions
and divisions to meet business objectives .
Integration
The means used in coordinating people and
functions to accomplish organizational tasks.
Building blocks of organizational
structure
 Bureaucratic costs:
 Vertical Differentiation
 Span of control (division of authority)
The number of subordinates that a
single manager directly manages.
 Organizational hierarchy choices
Flat structures
Few organizational levels
Wide spans of control
Tall structures
Many organizational levels
Narrow spans of control
Tall and Flat Structures
 Centralization or
Decentralization
 Authority patterns in organizations:
Centralized
Decision making retained in the
hands of upper-level managers.
Decentralized
Decisions delegated to lower
levels in the organization.
 Centralization (Structural)
Choice?
Advantages of Advantages of
decentralization centralization
 Reduced information  Easier coordination of
overload on upper organizational activities.
managers.
 Decisions fitted to broad
 Increased motivation and
organizational
accountability throughout
organization. objectives.
 Exercise of strong
 Fewer managers; lower
bureaucratic costs. leadership in crisis.
 Faster decision making
and response.
Principles of Organization Design
 Organizational structure should reflect a
marketing orientation
 Organization should be built around activities, not
around people
 Responsibility and authority should be related
properly
 Span of executive control should be reasonable
 Organization should be stable but not flexible
 Activities should be balanced and coordinated
How Organizational
Design Increases
Profitability

Enhances a
company’s
 Line-and-Staff Sales
Organization
Chief Marketing Executive

Advertising Marketing General Sales Sales

Manager Research Sales Promotion Analysis
Manager Manager Manager Manager

Salespeople

Line authority
Staff advisory authority
 Functional Sales Organization

Chief Marketing Executive

Advertising Marketing General Credit Sales

Manager Research Sales Manager Promotion
Manager Manager Manager

Salespeople

Line authority
Staff advisory authority
 Geographical Sales
Organization
Chief Marketing Executive

Advertising Marketing General Sales Sales

Manager Research Sales Promotion Analyst
Manager Manager Manager

Western Regional Eastern Regional

Sales Manager Sales Manager

4 District 4 District
Sales Managers Sales Managers

Salespeople each Salespeople each

with own territory with own territory
 Sales Organization with
Product-Specialized Sales Force
Chief Marketing Executive

Advertising Marketing General Sales Customer

Manager Research Sales Promotion Relations
Manager Manager Manager Manager

Sales Manager Sales Manager Sales Manager

Product A Product B Product C

Salespeople Salespeople Salespeople

Product A Product B Product C
 Sales Organization with
Product-Managers as Staff
Specialists
Chief Marketing Executive

Advertising Marketing General

Manager Research Manager Manager Manager
Sales
Manager Manager Product Product Product
A B C

Assistant
Sales
Manager

Salespeople
 Sales Organization Specialized
by Type of Customer
Chief Marketing Executive

Advertising Marketing General Sales Customer

Manager Research Sales Promotion Relations
Manager Manager Manager Manager

Sales Manager Sales Manager Sales Manager

Transportation Steel Industry Petroleum Industry
Industry

Salespeople Salespeople Salespeople

Organizational Options for the
2000s
Strategic account
management

Independent Organizational
E-commerce and
reps Options for the telemarketing
2000s

Team selling
 Span of Control vs.
Management Levels
Flat Sales Organization
National

Management Levels
Sales
Manager

District District District District District

Sales Sales Sales Sales Sales
Manager Manager Manager Manager Manager

Span of Control
 Span of Control vs.
Management Levels
Tall Sales Organization

National Sales
Manager

Management Levels
Regional Sales Regional Sales
Manager Manager

District District District District District District

Sales Sales Sales Sales Sales Sales
Manager Manager Manager Manager Manager Manager

Span of Control
 Comparison of
Sales Organization Structures

Organizational
Structure Advantages Disadvantages
• Low Cost
• Limited specialization
• No geographic duplication
• Lack of management
Geographic • No customer duplication
control over product or
• Fewer management levels
customer emphasis

• Salespeople become experts

• High cost
in product attr. & applications
Product • Geographic duplication
• Management control over
• Customer duplication
selling effort
 Comparison of
Sales Organization Structures

Organizational
Structure Advantages Disadvantages
• Salespeople develop
better understanding of
unique customer needs • High cost
Market • Management control over • Geographic duplication
selling allocated to different
markets

• Geographic duplication
• Efficiency in performing
Functional selling activities
• Customer duplication
• Need for coordination
 Hybrid Sales Organization
Structure
National Sales Manager

Commercial Accounts Government Accounts

Sales Manager Sales Manager

Major Accounts Regular Accounts Office Equipment Office Supplies

Sales Manager Sales Manager Sales Manager Sales Manager

Field Sales Telemarketing

Manager Sales Manager

Western Eastern
Sales Manager Sales Manager