BUS 350

Sales Force Management

Course Book by:
Mark W. Johnston
Greg W. Marshall
11th Edition
 Students Perspective
• Think of yourself as a sales manager
• Sales Department is a revenue generating
Department
• All companies have strategic mission i.e. earn
profit
• Sales is a strategic tool for company’s success
• Sales is not about selling 100 products to 100
customers but selling 100 products to 10
customers
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What is sales?
• Sales is a transaction between two parties
where one party receives goods or service
(tangible or intangible) in exchange for money
or value from second party.
• There are countless sales transactions across
the globe, creating a constant flow of value
from one party to another creating economies
Think of a example influencing multiple sales
transactions that contribute to the economy

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 Ever growing changes in Sales
Management
• Changing customer needs –product
diversification, product line extension
• Changing sales management agendas-
globalization, decentralization, localization

Change creates opportunities and more demand

for more qualified sales persons

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 Sales Management in the Twenty-first Century

• Long-term relationships with customers

• Nimble and adaptable sales organizational structures
• Fewer functional barriers within the organization
• Sales management integrated with other
departments
• Leverage technology
• Incorporate all activities and outcomes in
performance evaluations

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 Key Themes
• Innovation – thinking outside the box
• Technology – broad spectrum of tools available to
salespersons
• Leadership – capability to make things happen, situational
leadership (Paul Hersey)
• Globalization- There will be need to look for alternate market,
market saturation, new opportunity
• Ethics- Play ethical for long term sustainability

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 De-marketing
Efforts aimed at discouraging but not destroying
the demand for a product
• cannot supply in large-enough quantities,
• does not want to supply in a certain region
where the high costs of distribution/promotion
• Common de-marketing strategies include higher
prices, scaled-down advertising, and product
redesign.
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 Technology
• Accessibility and Interactive web presences
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
• Efficient Customer Response (ECR)
• Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM)
• Supply chain Management (SCM)

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 Leading vs. Managing
Managing
• Control
• Supervisor/boss
• Direct

Leading (Mentoring)
• Communicate
• Cheerleader/coach
• Empower to make decisions
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 Servant Leadership
• Take subordinates’ work seriously
• Take lead from subordinates
• Build trust
• Allocate rewards and glory
• View self as steward

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 A Global Firm
• Drivers
– Customers can easily communicate world-wide
– Significant growth opportunities lie outside
domestic markets
– Customers are global
• Diversity of sales force creates challenges

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 Bridging the Culture Gap
• Understand and embrace ethnic customs
• Adapt selling approaches
• Portray genuine interest in cultural differences

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 Ethics
• Trust is necessary to maintain customer
loyalty
• Long-term relationships require higher ethical
standards
• Federal Sentencing Guidelines designed to
punish unethical firms

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End

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 Sales Management Process
• The formulation of a sales program
• The implementation of the sales program
• The evaluation and control of the sales
program

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Sales Management Overview

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 Internal & External Environment
• Internal Environment
can be controlled
• Internal Forces shape
the working capability
of a firm
• One and only rule is
you change internal
environment to
succeed
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• External Environment
cannot be controlled
• External Forces shape
the overall market and
economy
• One and only rule is
you adapt to external
environment to
succeed
Components of the External
Environment

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 Economic Environment
• Buyer-seller interactions take place within the
context of current economic conditions
• The economy impacts real potential demand
• Global economic conditions are important
• Competitive structure affects selling success

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 Legal-Political Environment
• Increased number of laws regulate conduct of
business
• Three broad categories of relevant laws:
– Antitrust
– Consumer Protection
– Equal Employment Opportunity

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 Antitrust and Customer Protection
Laws
• Antitrust Provisions
– Robinson-Patman Act
• Tying agreements
• Reciprocal dealing arrangements
– Federal Trade Commission Act
• Unfair methods of competition

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 Antitrust and Customer Protection
Laws
• Consumer Protection Laws
– Fair Packaging and Labeling Act
– Truth-in-Lending Act
– Cooling-off laws

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 Technological Environment
• Changes how salespeople/sales managers do their
jobs
• Influences sales strategies
• Provides opportunities for product development
• Transportation, communications, and data
processing technologies change:
– sales territories
– sales rep deployment
– sales performance evaluation

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 Social and Cultural Environment

• Ethics – development of moral standards by which

actions and situations can be judged
• Sales managers:
– Relationships with salespeople
– Interactions between salespeople and customers
• Managers must influence ethical performance by
example
• Ethical standards reflect integrity of firm

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 Natural Environment
• Nature influences demand for products
– Weather
– Natural disasters
– Availability of raw materials
– Energy resources
• Shortages may cause demarketing
• Social concern about possible negative
environmental impact of product and production

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Internal Environment Components

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 Goal- Vision & Mission
• The Vision Statement focuses on the future
and is a long term objective; it tells you what
the organization wants to achieve in long run
• The Mission Statement concentrates on the
present and is a short term objective. It tells
you which path to take to achieve the vision

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 Human Resources
• Sales organizations are highly complex and
dynamic
• Often difficult to expand in response to
growing markets
• Outside specialists can help meet need to
expand

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 Financial Resources
• Lack of financial resources can:
– constrain ability to develop new products
– limit promotional budget
– limit size of sales force
• Mergers are sometimes sought to obtain
financial resources

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 Production and Supply Chain Capability

• Production capacity
• Technology equipment
• Location of production facilities
• Transportation costs
• Ability to ensure seamless distribution and
service after the sale

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 Strong Service Capabilities
• Competitive advantage opportunity
• Difficult for other firms to compete for same
customers
• Customers reluctant to switch regardless of
price

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 R&D and Technological Capabilities

• Excellent design and engineering provide

promotional appeal
• Communicating technological sophistication
as value-add helps prevents over-reliance on
price for sales

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