Chapter 1

Introduction to Sales
Management
 FACING A SALES CHALLENGE

Romila Dutta majored in English Literature, at University of Calcutta, West Bengal.

After graduation she began work as a secretary in the marketing department at Kotak
Mahindra Bank, Mumbai.

“I had never considered a sales job while in school and sales didn’t appeal to me when I
began work at the bank. I always felt you would have to be an extrovert. I’m more the
shy, intellectual type. I don’t see myself in the role of a salesperson.

“Someday I do want a more challenging job. I’m a very hard worker; long hours don’t
bother me. I’ve always had a need to achieve success. One of the things I like about
being a secretary is helping customers when they call the bank. It is important to
carefully listen to their problems or what they want in order to provide good customer
service.

Maybe one day I’ll find a job that has more challenge, professionalism, and reward.”

If you were in Romila’s position, what would you do? What types of
jobs would you recommend she consider?
EVERYBODY SELLS

“You use personal

communication
skills to persuade
someone to act.”
 Importance of ‘Sales’

Parade magazine, once said, “Nothing happens until somebody

sells something.”
The efforts of salespeople have a direct impact on such diverse
areas as these:
■ The success of new products.
■ Keeping existing products on the retailer’s shelf.
■ Constructing manufacturing facilities.
■ Opening businesses and keeping them open.
■ Generating sales orders that result in the loading of trucks,
trains, ships, airplanes, and pipelines that carry goods to
customers all over the world.

So, a salesperson is engaged in a highly honorable,

challenging, rewarding, and professional career.
 Learning Objectives

 To understand evolution, nature and importance of

sales management.
 To know role and skills of modern sales managers.
 To understand types of sales managers.
 Define the characteristics that salespeople believe are
needed for success in building relationships with customers.
 To learn objectives, strategies and tactics of sales
management.
 To know emerging trends in sales management.
 Discuss the reasons people might choose a sales career.

 Evolution, Nature and Importance of
Sales Management

Evolution of Sales Management

 Situation before industrial revolution in U.K.

(1760AD)
 Situation after industrial revolutions in U.K., and
U.S.A.
 Marketing function splits into sales and other
functions like market research, advertising,
physical distribution
 What is Sales Management?

 One definition: “The management of the

personal selling part of a company’s marketing
function.”
 Another definition: “The process of planning,
directing, and controlling of personal selling,
including recruiting, selecting, equipping,
assigning, supervising, paying, and motivating the
personal sales force.
 Nature of Sales Management

 The Nature or Charactertics of sales management

can be explained by:

a. Its integration with marketing management,

b. Relationship selling,
c. Varying sales responsibilities.
 Its integration with marketing management

A company’s marketing team typically consists of two groups:

a. Field selling (or personal selling) team, and
b. Head-quarter marketing team

Head-
Marketing

Manager- Manager – Manager – Manager – Manager –

Promotion Market Sales Market Customer
Research Logistics Service
 • Relationship Selling

• Buyers and salespeople, who do business together have some type of business
(or working) relationships.
• Their relationships have a range or spectrum.

Transactional Value – added Collaborative/ Partnering

Relationship / Relationship / Selling Relationship / Selling
Selling
 Relationship Selling

 Salespeople concentrate their team selling efforts on

building trust and service on a few carefully selected
customers over a long period with a aim of becoming
a preferred or sole supplier
 Types of Relationship Selling
 Transactional Relationship / Selling:- one type of
relationship marketing in which salespeople make one-
time sales to price-oriented customers ,who are not
contacted again
 Value – added Relationship / Selling:-
understanding current and future needs of customers and
meeting those needs better than competitors with value –
added solution to their problems
 Collaborative relationship :- a type of relationship
marketing in which a selling organization works
continuously with its large customers to improve the
customer performance in terms of operations , sales and
profit
  Varying Sales Responsibilities / Positions / Jobs

Sales Position Brief Description Examples

• Delivery salesperson • Delivery of products to business • Milk, newspapers to households
customers or households.
• Also takes orders. • Soft drinks, bread to retail stores.

• Order taker (Response selling)
• Inside order taker • Behind counter in a garment
shop
• Telemarketing salesperson takes • Pharma products’ orders from
orders over telephone nursing homes
• Outside order taker. Also • Food, clothing products’ orders
performs other tasks from retailers

• Sales support • Provide information, build • Medical reps. in pharma industry

• Missionary selling goodwill, introduce new products
• Technical selling • Technical information, assistance • Steel, Chemical industries

• Order-getter (Creative, Problem- • Getting orders from existing and • Automobiles, refrigerators,
solving, Consultative selling) new household consumers insurance policies
• Getting orders from business • Software and business solutions
customers, by solving their
business and technology problems
Importance of Personal Selling and
Sales Management
 The only function / department in a company that
generates revenue / income
 The financial results of a firm depend on the
performance of the sales department /
management
 Many salespeople are among the best paid people
in business
 It is one of the fastest and surest routes to the top
management
Roles and Skills of a Modern Sales
Manager

Roles of a Modern Sales Manager

 MEMBER OF THE STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT TEAM

 Involved in sales forecasting, salesforce

management, sales budget preparation
MEMBER OF THE CORPORATE TEAM

 Aim to achieve objectives (customer satisfaction,

sales growth and market share)
 A TEAM LEADER

 Working with salespeople

MANAGING MULTIPLE SALES CHANNELS
 ADOPT LATEST TECHNOLOGY

 Using latest technologies (like CRM) to build

superior buyer-seller relationships.
Skills of a Successful Sales Manager
 People skills

 Include abilities to motivate, lead, communicate,

coordinate, team-oriented relationship, and
mentoring.

NOT ‘X’
 Managing skills
 Consist of planning, organizing, controlling and
decision making.
 Technical skills

 Include training, selling, negotiating, problem-solving, and

use of computers
Characteristics necessary to be successful in
sales
Charactertics Description
S—Success Begins Love of selling is clearly number one. Love is at the center
with Love of success. It has been said that if you find a job you love,
you will never work again.
S—Service to Others Sell solutions to people’s needs that make their dreams
come true.
U—Use the Golden People like to buy, not be sold. today’s salesperson needs
Rule of Selling to treat others as he or she would like to be treated.
C—Communication Good salespeople are good communicators. Great
Ability salespeople are great communicators.
C—Characteristics If you possess the personal characteristics needed for a
for the Job sales career.
E—Excels at Strategic High-performing salespeople tend to be strategic
Thinking problem solvers for their customers.
S—Sales Knowledge at Remember, however, that knowledge is power, but
the M.D. Level enthusiasm pulls the switch.
S—Stamina for the Today’s salesperson needs to be physically, mentally, and
Challenge spiritually prepared to meet the daily challenges of a sales
career.
Types of Sales Managers / Levels of
Sales Management Positions
CEO /
President

V. P. Sales / Top-Level Sales Managers /

V. P. Marketing Leaders

National Sales Manager

Regional / Zonal / Divisional

Middle-Level Sales Managers
Sales Managers

District / Branch / Area Sales Managers First / Lower Level Sales Managers

Sales Trainee / Sales Person / Sales Representative

Sales Objectives, Strategies and Tactics

The main components of planning in a company are

objectives, strategies and tactics. Their relationship
is shown below

Decide / Set Evolve Tactics /

Develop Strategies Action Plans
Objectives

E.G. A company wants to increase sales of electric

motors by 15 percent, as one of the sales
objectives.
Strategies include ways to achieve the objectives, and tactics (or action plans)
are the activities that should be carried out in order to implement the strategy.
 To illustrate the relationship between sales
objectives, strategies and tactics, consider:

Sales Goals / Marketing Sales and Distribution Tactics /

Objectives Strategy Strategy Action plans

 Increase  Enter export  Identify the countries  Marketing / sales head to get
sales volume markets relevant information
by 15  Decide distribution channels  Negotiate and sign
percent agreements in 3-5 months
with intermediaries

 Penetrate  Review and improve  Add channels and members

existing salesforce training, motivation  Train salespeople in
domestic and compensation deficient areas
markets  Use effective and efficient  Train field sales managers in
channels effective supervision
 Utilize existing sales force  Link sales volume quotas to
optimally, the incentive scheme of the
 Use effective and efficient compensation plan
channels
Emerging Trends in Sales Management

 Vendor Management

 Enterprise Resource Management

 Sales force automation

 Revolution in technology

 Customer relationship management (CRM)

 Vendor Management

“A vendor can be any person or a company that is providing services or products

on behalf of a covered entity.”

 Vendor Management is the management and control, by an entity, of those

third parties that supply goods and/ or services to that entity.

 A Vendor Management System (VMS) is an Internet-enabled, often Web-

based application that acts as a mechanism for business to manage and
procure staffing services - temporary, and, in some cases, permanent
placement services - as well as outside contract or contingent labor.

 Typical features of a VMS application include order distribution, consolidated

billing and significant enhancements in reporting capability that outperforms
manual systems and processes.
 Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

"Software solution that addresses the enterprise needs taking the process
view of an organization to meet the organizational goals tightly integrating
all functions of an enterprise.“

 Enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrates internal and external

management information across an entire organization, embracing
finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer
relationship management, etc.

 ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software

application.

 Its purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business

functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the
connections to outside stakeholders.
 ERP systems can run on a variety of hardware and network
configurations, typically employing a database as a repository
for information.

• ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:

• An integrated system that operates in real time (or next to real

time), without relying on periodic updates.

• A common database, which supports all applications.

• A consistent look and feel throughout each module.

• Installation of the system without elaborate application/data

integration by the Information Technology (IT) department
 Sales Force Automation (SFA)

 Abbreviated SFA, sales force automation is a technique of

using software to automate the business tasks of sales,
including order processing, contact management,
information sharing, inventory monitoring and control,
order tracking, customer management, sales forecast
analysis and employee performance evaluation.

 SFA is often used interchangeably with CRM; however, CRM

does not necessarily imply automation of sales tasks.

 SFA tool is often an integral part of an Enterprise Resources

Planning (ERP) system
 WHY CHOOSE A SALES CAREER?

Six major reasons for choosing a sales career are:

The opportunity to
provide service to others

Rewards from a sales

career Variety of sales jobs

Opportunity for
advancement in a Freedom of being
company on your own

Challenge of selling
Sales personnel career path
 IS A SALES CAREER RIGHT FOR YOU?

In considering a sales career, be honest and

realistic. Ask yourself questions such as these:

■ What are my past accomplishments?

■ What are my future goals?
■ Do I want to have the responsibility of a sales job?
■ Do I mind travel? How much travel is acceptable?
■ How much freedom do I want in the job?
■ Do I have the personality characteristics for the job?
■ Am I willing to transfer to another city? Another
state?
Thank You !!