Q1.

How to manage a companys sales force?

Ans.- The key resource of a successful organization is its human capital. The other

principal resources required for an organization to function are money and machine, which can be sourced equally well by two competing organizations. However, it is their human resource which could make a critical difference and enable one organization to be much ahead of its peers even when all other inputs are similar. How does human resource become the competitive difference? The answer to this lies in primarily ensuring that the right man is at the right job. Thus, matching the job requirements to the person handling the job is of paramount importance. There are some of the important points to manage the companys sales force.
Job Analysis: - In the organizational context, jobs are the building blocks of the structure of the organization and link the individual/employee with the organization/employer. Essentially, it specifies what is expected out of the employees and is independent of the person who may currently be doing the job. The core duties that are required to be performed in a given job and their relative importance is studied and decided upon by the process of job analysis. The most important concept of job analysis is that it is a study of the job and not of the person performing the job currently, even though the process of analysis would include interviewing current incumbents on the job. Consequently, the output of a job analysis does not provide adscription and specification of the job in question. Job Description:- Evolving out of the analysis of a job, the job description (JD) primarily spells out why a specific role exists in an organization, where does it fit in the context of the overall organization and how is it related to other roles/jobs. In addition, the 'JD' spells out:
What is to be achieved by the job/role and how it affects the organization? What skills (general, specialist) are required for successful completion of the job and to what intensity are these skills required. What is the extent of planning, organizing, innovating and evaluating in the job and what do these add up to in terms of managerial skills requirement.

Selection and Recruitment and Training: - Recruitment is the process of identifying that the organization needs to employ someone up to the point at which application forms for the post have arrived at the organization. Selection then consists of the processes involved in choosing from applicants a suitable candidate to fill a post. Training consists of a range of processes involved in making sure that job holders have the right skills, knowledge and attitudes required to help the organization to achieve its objectives. Recruiting individuals to fill particular posts within a business can be done either internally by recruitment within the firm, or externally by recruiting some other people. . Supervising and Evaluating:- Supervising and evaluating are the key activities which are vital for nurturing and developing of the sales force. Supervising and evaluating processes and

Methodology differs across organizations but the successful organizations have a well-laid written procedure for carrying out these important functions within the organization.

2. Explain Gap analysis with SERVQUAL model. Ans :- There are five major gaps in the service quality concept. Gap1: Customers expectations versus management perceptions: as a result of the lack of a marketing research orientation, inadequate upward communication and too many layers of management. Gap2: Management perceptions versus service specifications: as a result of inadequate commitment to service quality, a perception of unfeasibility, inadequate task standardization and an absence of goal setting. Gap3: Service specifications versus service delivery: as a result of role ambiguity and conflict, poor employee-job fit and poor technology-job fit, inappropriate supervisory control systems, lack of perceived control and lack of teamwork. Gap4: Service delivery versus external communication: as a result of inadequate horizontal communications and propensity to over-promise. Gap5: The discrepancy between customer expectations and their perceptions of the service delivered: as a result of the influences exerted from the customer side and the shortfalls (gaps) on the part of the service provider. In this case, customer expectations are influenced by the extent of personal needs, word of mouth recommendation and past service experiences. The Gap analysis with SERVQUAL model. The concept of measuring the difference between expectations and perceptions in the form of the SERVQUAL gap score proved very useful for assessing levels of service quality. Parasuraman et al.,argue that, with minor modification, SERVQUAL can be adapted to any service organization. They further argue that information on service quality gaps can help managers diagnose where performance improvement can best be targeted. The largest negative gaps, combined with assessment of where expectations are highest, facilitate prioritization of performance improvement. Equally, if gap scores in some aspects of service do turn out to be positive, implying expectations are actually not just being met but exceeded, then this allows managers to review whether they may be "over-supplying" this particular feature of the service and whether there is potential for re-deployment of resources into features which are underperforming. It seems that in almost all the existing resources, the SERVQUAL approach has been used only for closing Gap 5. However, its application could also be extended to the analysis of other gaps. It is important to note that SERVQUAL is only one of the instruments used in service quality analysis and there are different approaches which might be stronger in closing gaps. SERVQUAL has been extensively criticized on both theoretical and operational grounds (see Buttle, 1996 and Asubonteng et al., 1996), although Asubonteng et al. (1996) conclude that: "Until a better but equally simple model emerges, SERVQUAL will predominate as a service quality measure". It is also evident that SERVQUAL by itself, useful though it may be to a service manager, will not give a complete picture of needs, expectations and perceptions in a service organization context. As Gaster (1995) comments, "because service provision is complex, it is not simply a matter of meeting expressed needs, but of finding out unexpressed needs, setting priorities, allocating resources and publicly justifying and accounting for what has been done". Service organizations are

responsible and accountable to citizens and communities as well as to customers and service users. There are wider service organization agendas than simply service quality: improving access to existing services; equity and equality of service provision; providing efficient and effective services within political as well as resource constraints. The definition of service quality therefore takes on a wider meaning and accordingly its measurement becomes both more complex and more difficult. Q3. Write short notes on: A) Elements of Physical Distribution: In the world of selling, distribution is termed as the second half of marketing. The reason is that the expenses incurred and efforts involved in distribution and supplying nearly accounts close to fifty percent of the total marketing budget. Physical Distribution is the set of activities aiming to provide intermediaries and customers with the right quality goods, in right time and at right locations. Sound system of physical distribution does not result in cost cutting, but leads to high level of quality service. There are four elements of Physical Distribution: (i) Continuous rising costs: Due to the rising prices of petrol, diesel and other associated reasons like costly automobile vehicles, costly parts and their maintenance, the distribution costs are increasing day by day. Further, the elements of distribution costs such as labour, tools, and storage facilities like warehouses, transportation cost, inventory holding cost etc are becoming costlier year after year. Therefore that it has attracted the attention of sales executives to plan and make policies to control rising costs. (ii) Cost cutting: If distribution is handled properly, there is immense scope for controlling distribution costs to a major extent. Experience has always shown that logistics, compared to others, always has the possibility to reduce cost. It can be done by effective inventory control, suitable site location, warehouse control, optimizing the modes of transport and effective supervision over elements of distribution costs. (iii) Sales promotion: Sales promotion can be successful only if it is backed by efficient delivery channels. The main objective of physical distribution is to make the goods available to the customer. If distribution is properly managed, it can result in prompt deliveries, resulting in efficient customer service levels. (IV) Transportation: Transportation is that activity through which products are moved

from one place to another place. By making the products reach a desirable place can increase the importance and value of those products.

B) Patterns of Distribution: Patterns of distribution are determined on the basis of intensity of distribution. It is referred to as the extent to which a company wants to saturate existing stores with the products. It is usually measured by the percentage of all potential outlets that a firm carry its products. There are three broad patterns of distribution - intensive, selective and exclusive distribution: (a) Intensive distribution provides the scope of covering the market to the maximum level. By adopting this method, a marketer sells its products in the market on all possible stores where a customer is likely to look for the product and purchase it.

(b) Selective distribution is a sort of distribution channel where a manufacturer sells its product through multiple, but not all possible outlets. By adopting this method, a manufacturer selects the best retail stores in a particular geographical area to sells his products. (c) Exclusive distribution one of the extreme form of selective distribution where a manufacturer sells its goods and services through only very few middlemen like one wholesaler, retailer or distributor is used in a specific geographical area. This type of distribution pattern is frequently used in Sales, Distribution and Supply Chain Management the marketing of consumer specialty products. Exclusive distribution is also attractive to intermediaries. The manufacturers promotion effort benefits intermediaries exclusively in their market area.

Q4. Explain three components of Supply chain management. Ans:- The success of multinational companies can be attributed to their ability to deliver not only quality products but also delivering them on time, all over the world. Therefore, focus has moved from competition between firms at the same level in the production process to competition between supply chains, from raw materials to end customers. A companys ability to create trust based and long term business relationships with customers, suppliers and other strategic partners becomes a crucial competitive parameter. The tendency towards increased integration and cooperation between the enterprises in the supply chain results in greater complexity in the management and control technology, which requires increased coordination of resources and activities. Supply Chain Management can be divided into three components, which are tightly interconnected. Network Structure: The Network Structure comprises the most important collaboration partners in a supply chain, as well as the relationships between these players. It is neither possible nor desirable to establish a SCM cooperative network that includes all participants in a business network. It would demand entirely too many resources and be quite complex. Moreover, it is important to focus available resources on the relations that are of strategic importance for the competitiveness of the business. For many businesses, it is a novel challenge to choose and work in a structured manner with business relationships. A good way to start is to describe the roles the business fills today and the roles the business wishes to fill in the future in terms of the supply chain. In this way, it becomes possible to create a dialogue concerning which relationships must be developed in the future. Working towards creating and maintaining the right relationships becomes part of the business strategy. Business Processes: Supply Chain Managements Business Processes components are the second element in the SCM reference framework. Business processes in SCM helps in the most important business processes such as process of planning, implementation and controlling operations of the supply chain while satisfying customer requirements as efficiently as possible. The process includes all internal functions, logistics, and distributions, sourcing customer service, sales, manufacturing

and finance departments in the organization. However, it also involves external suppliers that provide finished products, components, parts and assemblies and their delivery.

Management Components: Supply Chain Managements management components are a third element in the SCM reference framework. There are a number of management components, which span business processes and the roles of participants in the supply chain. It is of key importance to be aware of these common components in order to secure the successful completion of a supply chain project, because they determine how the individual processes are managed and how they are integrated. The physical and technical management components can be divided into subcategories. Planning and control systems Process structure Organizational structure Information distribution Production flow

Q5.

Define Aggregate Planning and its strategies to meet demand and supply.

Ans:- Aggregate operations planning involves translating annual and quarterly business plans
into broad labor and output plans for the intermediate term of 6 to 18 months. Its objective is to minimize the cost of resources required to meet demand over that period. The aggregate operations plan is necessary to translate long-term strategy plans down to the operational level. It takes a broad view of the organization and attempts to match the demand for the firm's products with its ability to supply these products at a minimum cost. Long-range planning is done once a year, focusing on a multi-year horizon while medium-range planning covers 6 to 18 months into the future. Short-range plans cover one day to six months in weekly increments. The master production schedule generates the amounts and dates for the production of end products and is fixed in the short run. Rough-cut capacity planning verifies that the scheduled production is possible given capacity constraints of facilities, equipment, and labor. Materials requirements planning take the end product requirements from the MPS and break them down into their component parts and subassemblies to create a material plan. The final assembly schedule provides the operations required to put the product in its final form. Production activity control focuses on scheduling and shop floor control activities. Aggregate production planning varies from company to company. Strategies of production planning include maintaining a stable work force working at a constant rate, using a stable work force with variable work hours, or using a chase strategy where workers are hired or laid off as the demand varies. In addition, managers may choose to subcontract some portion of production. Costs relevant to aggregate production planning include basic production costs to costs associated with changes in the production rate, inventory holding costs, and backordering costs. To receive funding, operations managers are generally required to submit annual and sometimes quarterly budget requests.

Aggregate operations planning link the corporate strategic plan and the capacity plans into broad categories of work-force size, inventory quantity, and production levels. It does not do detailed planning. Once decision rules for production planning have been selected, it is important for management to maintain them. Historical data and simulations should be used prior to implementation of aggregate planning to select an optimal decision rule. Yield management allocates the right type of capacity to the right type of customer at the right price and time to maximize revenue or yield and it can make demand more predictable which is important to aggregate planning.

Demand Planning Strategies for Demand Management

Planning demand, as mentioned earlier, involves understanding of the markets and customers expectations, as well as the companys ability to execute marketing and sales tactics. A common strategy in planning demand is to develop an aggregate plan (by product type or category) over at least an eighteen month planning horizon for consensus planning. The demand plan represents products and services that customers are expected to purchase. It should not be restricted by perceived or expected supply constraints and this type of plan is commonly called an unconstrained demand plan.

Total Market Potential

Ability to generate sales unconstraint by supply capability.

Demand Plan Plan

The demand plan is basically a request for products and services and represents what the organization believes customers are going to buy. It is the plan that the organization is committed to execute and it has to ensure that customers do buy these products and services. Depending on the size of the company and its structure, the planning horizon should be sufficiently long to allow enough time to the firm to respond to both problems and opportunities. The demand plan generally covers an eighteen month planning horizon. This means that the demand plan has to be kept current through the incorporation of a re-planning process. Replanning is generally a monthly exercise and involves continuous monitoring of demand.

Q6. Explain the challenges faced by International Sales Managers Ans: - Challenges faced by International sales managers Sales managers are facing a set of challenges that theyve never experienced before. They think their team is focused on generating sales, but they are completely distracted. As a sales manager, for years, youve had Human Resources preaching to you about the importance of work-life balance for your sales team. They reminded you that studies showed that productivity increased when employees had

balance between their work life and their personal one. They told you that the team needed time to recharge their batteries so they could sell more for the company. Some still talk about worklife balance, but the truth of the matter is that this is a yesterday issue. Work-life implies that "work" is a stressful world and "life" is a place of solace. Those days are gone with the way our economy has evolved. Your sales team is getting it from both sides now. They have unprecedented, high levels of stress at work and at home. The former life of solace is now filled with concerns of mounting debt, drastic drops in home values, a real fear of job loss, and disgust over their investment portfolio. When your sales team arrives to start the day at 8am, the reality is that their day is already over. They began their day by watching the morning news. "Unemployment is at a record high! Housing values continues to fall! Consumer confidence is non-existent!"

Since this is a relatively new issue, most sales managers have not been trained how to help their team regain their focus to drive productivity (a.k.a. sales). As a sales manager, what can you do to regain the reigns of the team and lead them to sales success? Communicate, evenover communicate. Open and honest discussion about the present state of affairs helps to relieve the angst that the team is experiencing. As a manager, you may be in a leadership chain, but the team looks to their direct leader for guidance and support.

"Managers need to shift away from fear based management and develop more of a collaborative coaching culture. You cannot inspire others when you are afraid and you cant be inspired when youre full of fear and worry. Conduct more frequent one-to-one meetings, build greater accountability by relinquishing your role as Chief Problem Solver and have less tolerance for mediocrity. Ultimately, management needs to adapt, innovate and evolve or suffer from corporate inefficiency, rigidity and declining profits. (Keith Rosen, Executive Sales Coach and author of the award winning, "Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions") "In tough times, sellers must be at the top of their game. As a sales manager, your job is to infuse your team with fresh thinking - to make sure they have the knowledge and skills to deal with todays challenges. Start a "book of the month" club. Register for webinars or teleseminarsput on by sales experts. Encourage sign up for sales e-newsletters. Sells: How To Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again by Marketing Your GenuineStory) "Many sales teams are not only going through a big wake up call on the economic front, but are going through an earth moving generational shift...from Baby Boomers and Generation X running the show to men and women under the age of 30 making critical business decisions forour organizations. At the end of the day, they want to know "How are my ideas being incorporated and actually applied to our sales processes to make us better at what we do?" (BeaFields, Leadership and Generation Y Consultant and co-author of the book "Millennial Leaders: Success Stories from Todays Most Brilliant Generation Y Leaders") "To create momentum, keep your sales team focused on what they need to do today, or this week, by implementing a 20 point system. On this system, they earn points for doing the right types of sales activities: conversations, appointments booked, face-to-face meetings, referrals, closed files and closed business.

"There has never been a more critical time for sales leaders to work overtime to ensure that their teams remain focused and fully motivated: Attitude is, after all, that small thing that makes such a big difference. Strong leadership from the front, and by example, is the only way to reverse the downward spiral that comes with self-limiting beliefs and fears." (JonathanFarrington, Chairman of the Sales Corporation) "In order to re-energize your team you need to help them become more successful. The fastest way you can do that is by establishing

a killer sales strategy that focuses on moderate amount of ideal clients. An effective strategy posting you as industry expert, educate the client/prospect on how to run their business better, set the buying criteria and establish doing business with you as a foregone conclusion.