SALES FORCE

MANAGEMENT
MKT 205
Main references
Joseph F. Hair (Jr.), Rolph E. Anderson, Rajiv Mehta, Barry J. Babin (2020) Sales Force
Management, Wiley.
Johnston, Mark W. and Marshall, Greg W. (2016) Sales Force Management, 11th ed,
McGraw-Hill

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 CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION TO SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT AND ITS EVOLVING
ROLES & MANAGING ETHICS IN A SALES ENVIRONMENT

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Introduction
• What exactly does a sales manager’s job entail?

• What are the responsibilities and duties of sales managers?

• How is the role of sales managers expanding?

• What are the types, titles, and hierarchical levels of sales managers?

• What qualities are needed to be a successful sales manager in the new millennium?

• What role does a sales manager play in the management of a firm’s sales department?

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 What is Sales Force Management?

• Sales managers oversee the sales force—the direct income producers

of their organizations.

• Unless the sales force is successful, the entire company is in jeopardy.

• Taken together, Sales Force Management focuses on the

administration of all the ancillary tasks and attendant functions
overseeing the critically important role of generating sales
revenues—widely recognized as the life blood of organizations.

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Types, Titles, and Hierarchical Levels of Sales Managers

V.P.
Sales
Sales managers are also known to As subordinates, these individuals
have other titles, such as: who report to sales managers
1. National Account Manager
National
include, but are not limited to:
(NAM), Sales Manager 1. Marketing
2. Key Account Manager (KAM), Representatives
3. Senior Account Executive, 2. Sales Representatives
4. Account Manager, and
Zone, Division, Or
3. Account Managers, and
5. Assistant Sales ManagerRegional Sales Manager 4. Sales Engineers

District, Branch or
Field Sales Manager

Sales Supervisor
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Responsibilities and Duties of Sales Managers: A Conceptual Framework

• The ‘building blocks” or tasks and • Sales managers organize, manage, and
functions sales managers perform can be control the selling activities of their firm.
categorized into:

• In making decisions, sales managers also

1. Organizing and Developing the Sales consider the interests of the firm’s
Force stakeholders, which include:
1. Employees,
2. Managing and Directing Sales Force
Efforts, and 2. Suppliers,
3. Financial community,
3. Controlling and Evaluating Sales Force 4. Media,
Performance
5. Stockholders,
4. Knowledgeable about 21st Century Sales 6. Special interest groups, and
Force Management Issues 7. Governments.

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Expanding Roles Of Sales Managers

1.
Manage Customer
Relationships

Sales Managers
Must:

3. 2.
Manage the Hybrid Serve as Customer
Sales Force Consultants

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What Qualities Are Needed To Be A Sales Manager?
Successful sales managers today need to have some important qualities, such as:

1.
Effective leaders and
7.
motivators of people
Improving sales force 2.
productivity and Good decision makers
profitability
Qualities of Sales
6. Managers: 3.
Monitoring competitive Creative
offerings problem solvers
5. 4.
Work with other Outstanding
functional areas communicators
of business

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Megatrends Affecting Sales Force Management

Sales-related megatrends fall

into three major categories.

These include: 1. Behavioral forces

1. Behavioral forces,
2. Technological forces, and 2. Technological forces
3. Managerial forces.
3. Managerial forces

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Behavioral Megatrends Affecting Sales Force Management
Some behavioral forces that impact sales force
management are:

1. Rising customer expectations for greater service and

quality of products and services.
2. Micro-segmentation of domestic markets due to
multicultural and multilingual buyers.
3. Giant retailers have gained power. They now dictate
terms including lower prices from their suppliers in the
value chain.
4. The globalization of markets has led to
intensification of competition, so new ways to
attaining a competitive advantage needed.

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Technological Megatrends :Affecting Sales Force Management

1. 2.
Mobile Virtual 3.
Electronic
Sales Offices Sales Force
Commerce
Technological forces include, but are Automation
not limited to: • Internet • Portable
-- Blogs Computers
-- Podcasting (notebook, handheld,
-- Screen Technological and pocket PCs)
1. Virtual sales offices (home, Sharing
Megatrends • Electronic Data
-- WebEx Interchange
automobile, or virtually -- Zoom Affecting •Videoconferencing
anywhere) Sales • Multi-function Cell
• Extranets Management Phones
2. Electronic commerce • Intranets •Voice Mail, E-mail,
and Instant
3. Sales force automation Messaging

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Managerial Megatrends :Affecting Sales Force Management
Some of these managerial forces 1.
are: Selling Cost 2.
Reduction Efforts
5. Shift to Direct
Developments in Marketing
1. Efforts to reduce selling Information Alternatives
costs Management • Direct Mail
(catalogs,
• Database Managerial
2. Shift to direct marketing Megatrends
brochures, and
Marketing sales letters)
methods • Data Affecting • Telemarketing
Warehousing Sales • Teleselling
3. Certification of • Data Mining Management • Personalized E-
salespeople • Push mail
Technology • Kiosks
4. Shortage of business-to- • Facsimile
business salespeople, and
5. Developments in
3.
information management 4.
Professional
Few B2B
Certification
Salespeople
of Salespeople
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Information Management Tools
The four key trends in
the management of Push Data
information are: technology mining

Information
Management
Trends

Database Data
marketing warehousing

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Sales Management Hierarchy: Skill and Ability Requirements
ADMINISTRATIVE
AND LEADERSHIP
ABILITY

Skill-set required of a sales

manager is quite different Vice
President

than that of a salesperson. MANAGERIAL

of Sales

ABILITY National
Sales
Manager
Sales managers require: Regional

1. Supervisory ability at lower Sales

Manager

levels SUPERVISORY
District
ABILITY
2. Managerial ability at Sales
Manager

intermediate levels, and SELLING

Sales
administrative and ABILITY
Supervisor

3. Leadership ability at the helm

of the sales department
Salesperson

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Developing Sales Managers For The New Millennium

Sales managers will need to focus on:

1. Developing closer relationships with customers

2. Treating salespeople as newly empowered equals
3. Learning marketing and financial skills in order to
recommend competitive strategies

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Ethics in Sales Environment
• What is ethics?

• What is business ethics?

• What exactly is sales management ethics?

• What are the tenets of sales management ethics?

• Are personal ethical value systems so divergent that what is considered ethical to one individual
may constitute be an unethical situation to another?

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 Salespeople Are Boundary Spanners

• A boundary spanner is someone who performs his or her job in the “boundary” or the
“space” between a company and a customer.

• Frequent interactions with various with customers, may present salespeople with many
opportunities to take undue advantage of them by employing questionable practices.

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Sources of Customer Vulnerability
When dealing customers, salespeople inherently have many added advantages over
buyers.
This makes buyers vulnerable due to: Ignorance, Naiveté, and Powerlessness.

1. Sources of 2.
Customer Vulnerability
Vulnerability Ignorance

3.
Powerlessness

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Types of Codes of Ethics
Firms can implement four basic types of ethical codes that include:
4.
Advisory 1.
Group Company
Codes Codes

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Business Association Codes:
Unethical Sales Practices and Prohibited Actions
Unethical sales practices established by the Direct Selling Association of America ( check for
Malaysia if any) —such as those shown below—are prohibited in sales-related codes of ethics.

1. Bribes, gifts, and kickbacks 5. Falsification of sales accounts

2. Illegal political payments 6. Violation of antitrust laws
3. Use of insider information 7. Fraud and deception
4. Violations of secrecy agreements 8. Illegal payments made overseas

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Bases of Moral Philosophy
Moral philosophy deals with the systematic ways that individuals recognize and
resolve decisions having moral content.

1. Bases of 2.
Moral Philosophy
Idealism Relativism

3.
Teleology

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Bases of Moral Judgments
An ethical dilemma refers to a situation that has alternate courses of action, each
having different moral implications.
• Hiring, firing, and performance evaluations have moral content.

1. Bases of 2.
Moral Equity Moral Judgments Acceptability

3.
Contractualism

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Creating An Ethical Work Climate

4.
Bottom-Line
Sales Emphasis

1.
3. Creating an
Policies and
Peer Behavior Ethical Climate
Rules

2.
Trust and
Responsibility

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Managing the Ethical Climate

Sales managers can do a lot to manage an ethical work

climate by ensuring:

1. Salespersons are aware of rules and policies.

2. Reward and reprimand salespersons with no
favoritism or bias, and
3. Promote an ethical climate at all levels of the sales
organization.

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Federal and State Legislative Considerations In The Sales
Environment

Laws and regulations exist at both the:

1. Federal level, and
2. State or local level.

Laws at both the Federal and State levels are designed to:
1. Protect companies from unfair business practices against each other, and
2. Protect consumers and society from unfair business practices by firms.

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Federal Regulations Protecting Companies From Each Other

• Need to aware laws & regulations in a country

• Sales managers should specifically be aware of those

sales practices are considered discriminatory, thus illegal

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Federal Regulation Protecting Companies From Each
Other ( in country like the USA)

1. Laws Protect Firms

From Each Other 2.
Price
Discrimination Against: Collusion

3.
Price Fixing

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Federal Regulation Protecting Companies From Each
Other ( in country like the USA)
4.
Tie-in Sales

Laws Protect Firms 5.

7.
From Each Other Exclusive
Reciprocity
Against: Dealing

6.
Restraint of
Trade

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Federal Regulation Protecting Companies
From Each Other ( in country like the USA)
8.
Unordered Goods

11. Laws Protect Firms 9.

Product From Each Other Orders and
Descriptions Against: Terms of Sale

10.
Business
Descriptions

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Federal Regulation Protecting Companies From
Each Other ( in country like the USA)
12.
Customer
Coercion

Laws
Protect Firms
From Each Other
Against:

13.
Business
Defamation

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Federal Regulations Protecting Companies
From Each Other in the Sales Environment
1.
Business
Slander

4. 2.
Business
Unfair Business
Defamation
Competition Libel

3.
Product
Disparagement

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Federal Regulations Protecting Companies From Each Other in
the Sales Environment in the USA

All Federal laws are important, the significant

regulations that aim to protect consumers from
unfair business practices by firms include:

1. Fair Packaging and Labeling Act

2. Consumer Goods Pricing Act, and

3. Consumer Credit Protection Act

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Federal Regulations Protecting Companies From Each
Other in the Sales Environment

• Federal laws are also instituted to ensure that a non-coercive marketplace exist where firms
don’t take advantage of consumers.

• Sales managers should be aware of Federal laws that protects consumers from unfair
business practices by firms, to ensure the sales force acts ethically and in compliance with
Federal laws.

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Ethics and International Regulation of Sales

• In international sales, salespeople must not confuse varying ethical standards

with the U.S., which diverge from nation to nation.

• Each country will have a unique culture and different business practices.

• Violation of regulations can be grounds for prosecuting international sales

practices and behaviors that are considered illegal.

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Model Good Ethical Behavior Among The Sales Force:
Maintaining A Positive Ethical Climate
Developing a positive ethical climate:

1. Knowing and understanding ethics:

• Defining what ethics means for your firm.
• Provide training on ethics.

Salespeople reach ethical maturity when they place the moral treatment of others
ahead of short-term personal gain.

2. Leading by example means adopting a moral ethical work climate that begins with
top sales management brass.

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Read Developing Sales Managers for the New Millennium pg 20 ( Hair
et al 2020)
Read Org culture : Organizational Ethics, Sales, and Sales Force
Management pg 31 Hair et al (2020)

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