Personnel Management in Sales

Difficulties
 Appraisal (Sales persons work in field and
Close supervision not possible like factory
workers)
 Stay away from home (psychological
factors)
 Success in sales always need not be due to
sales persons, it is due to many other
factors.

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Activities in Sales force management

JOB ANALYSIS

JOB DESCRIPTION
JOB SPECIFICATION
JOB EVALUATION

RECRUITMENT

SELECTION

TRAINING&
SUPERVISION

PERFORMANCE
EVALUATION
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 Issues
 Economies of effective sales force
Eg. If Co X has 10 sales persons, each making 5 calls per
day. 4 calls materialize in average sale of Rs. 2500.
If by better management, sales persons can make 6 calls
per day, then extra sales =
 Rate of sales persons turnover
Various costs associated in replacement?
Causes of turnover
A. Controllable by company
 Poor recruiting
 Improper Selection and assignments
 Training deficiencies
 Inadequate supervision and motivation
 Breakdown in communications
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 Unsatisfactory performance – customer
complaints etc
 Discharged for cause – alcoholism, dishonesty etc
 Cutbacks in personnel
 Transfer to another department
 Promotion to a higher position

B. Not controllable by company

 Retirement
 Death
 Illness or Physical disability
 Personal/family difficulties
 Dislike for job – travel, working conditions etc
 Better position elsewhere
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 Job Analysis
Job analysis is assembling and analyzing factual information
on specific job. Job analysis helps in preparing written job
description, which in turn is used to derive job specification
(qualifications and characteristics individuals need to perform
given jobs).
Job analysis involves determining jobs objectives and what
the person holding the job should do to reach them.
Job analysis answers questions such as
-To whom does this person report?

-To whom does this person sell?

-What products should this person sell?

-What information this person should gather?

-What reports need to be done by him and to whom?

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 Sales Job Description
It is a factual statement covering
 The reporting relationship of a particular job to
other jobs
 The Job objectives

 Duties and responsibilities

 Job performance criteria

ie., it tells to whom the sales person reports, what

has to be done, how it is done and why, standards
against which performance is measured.

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 Job Specification
Determining the qualifications that an individual
needs to perform the job satisfactorily.
Sales job specification need to set forth the required
personality skills required for the sales person.
-Empathy
-Ability to get along with others
-Integrity and character
-Maturity

Job specification stipulate minimum requirements wrt.

Education and product or technical knowledge.
Job specifications provide recruiters with set of
minimum requirements to use in weeding out
unqualified applicants. SDM KRR 2010 7
Recruiting Sales personnel
Recruitment: Act of seeking prospective new
employees or members for an organization .
 Organisation for recruiting and selection
 Prerecruiting reservoir (Selected-Data of
prospective candidates) – from walk in
candidates, through centers of influence
(people having good contact with prospective
candidates eg, Placement officer of a college),
Employment exchanges. Prerecruiting reservoir
should be periodically updated and reviewed.
Sources of Sales force recruits
A. Sources within the company
- Company Sales personnel
- Company executive’s recommendations
- internal transfer SDM KRR 2010 8
B. Sources outside the company
- Employment agencies

- Sales people making calls on the company (Purchase

manager will know good people calling on the company)
- Employees of customers

- Sales executive’s clubs

- Sales force of other companies (non competing and

competing companies)
- Educational institutions

- Retired people, especially VRS people.

Evaluation of sources (ratio of success to total)

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