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Sales Force Management

Sales Force Management . Fall 1999. Outline. Role of the sales force in corporate strategy Trends in personal selling and sales management Functions of the salesperson and sales manager Course overview. Strategic Leverage of the Sales Force. Customer focus Enhances customer loyalty

Samuel
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Sales Force Management

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  1. Sales Force Management Fall 1999

  2. Outline • Role of the sales force in corporate strategy • Trends in personal selling and sales management • Functions of the salesperson and sales manager • Course overview

  3. Strategic Leverage of the Sales Force • Customer focus • Enhances customer loyalty • Source of competitive advantage

  4. Enhances Customer Focus • Allows a targeted market segment approach • one customer at a time • customize sales calls and presentations by needs • important source of market knowledge and customer needs assessment

  5. Develops Customer Loyalty • Creates high switching costs • salesperson (knowledge, expertise, relationship) creates product/service differentiation, particularly when competitors’ products deliver the same basic benefits • Loyalty reduces the customers’ price sensitivity

  6. Source of Competitive Advantage • Creates a barrier to entry • costs of creating a sales force • market access • Creates a medium-to-long term competitive advantage • unlike advertising (medium-term) or pricing (short-term)

  7. Trends in Personal Selling • Nature of the sales job: • Informed consultant: • knowledge of customers, industries and applications • Process (rather than event) driven • Team player • Customer advocate/Market feedback • Integration of promotional mechanisms (e.g. DTC)

  8. Trends in Personal Selling • Nature of the sales manager’s job: • Decentralized management; greater span of control • Automation • Database targeting/customer data • Evaluated on team performance (rather than individual performance) • Reward in many ways (not just $$)

  9. Importance of Effective Sales Management • Expensive part of marketing strategy • Cost of call: • Overall average: $157 • ($239 for a value-added selling environment)

  10. Functions of the Salesperson • Prospecting • Communicating: two-way • Allocating & coordinating: company resources, time • Servicing • Helping define marketing strategy

  11. Functions of the Sales Manager • Communicate expectations: tell salespeople what you expect them to do • Make the work doable: an important component o the SM role here is removing obstacles to performance • Evaluate and give feedback: reward successful behavior, apply corrective actions for behavior that is not acceptable

  12. Course Overview • Effective Personal Selling • Strategic Issues • Tactical Issues • Industrial Settings • informed buyers • discipline of repeat purchase • often genuine differentiation is possible

  13. Course Overview (continued) • Effective Personal Selling • What is effective personal selling? • Business to business selling and the Buyclass Framework (Case: Lawford Electric)

  14. Course Overview (continued) • Strategic Issues • Vertical Integration (Case: Jamestown) • Control Systems • Structuring the Sales Force(Cases: Wright Line & Siebel Systems • Sales Force Allocation: Deployment & Organization (Case: Syntex) • Territory Assignment & Design • Strategy for Optimal Sales Productivity

  15. Course Overview (continued) • Tactical Issues • Sales Analysis (Case: Milford A) • Performance Evaluation (Case: Milford B) • Compensation (Case:Mary Kay Cosmetics) & Motivation (Case: IMAGE) • Selection (Case: IDS) & Training • Information Systems/Sales Force Automation (Case: Profiling at National Mutual) • Sales Force Automation

  16. Course Overview (continued) • Putting it all together (Case: DigitalThink & Group Projects)

  17. Course Requirements • Class Participation 20% • Group Projects 35% • DigitalThink Case • Group Presentation • Mid-term Exam 20% • Final Exam 25%

  18. Class Participation • Show up, on time. • Prepare cases and reading • Quality vs. quantity • Contribute articles/reading/examples • http://www.salesandmarketing.com/ • http://www.sellingpower.com/ • http://www.decalibrary.org/

  19. Group Projects • DigitalThink Case • Due November 17th on or before class. 5 page limit on text w/ 3 page limit on exhibits • Group Presentation • Only presentation needs to be submitted-- no paper/write-up

  20. Mid-term & Final Exams • Case oriented • Mid-term will focus on personal selling & strategic issues • Final will be more heavily weighted on tactical issues

  21. Policies • Projects are due on or before class • You may challenge a grade-- but only in writing

  22. Communicating with the Professor • E-mail is great (cain@haas.berkeley.edu) • The syllabus is on the web • Office hours: Wednesday 11:00am-2:00pm • By appointment

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