Sales Strategy

BLIL

1
 Organizational Strategy Levels

Strategy Level Key Decision Areas Key Decision Makers

Corporate Strategy Corporate Mission Corporate Management
SBU Definition
SBU Objectives
Corporate Growth Orientation

Business Strategy Strategy Types SBU Management

Strategy Execution

Marketing Strategy Target Market Selection Marketing Management

Marketing Mix Development
Integrated Mkt Communications

Sales Strategy Account Targeting Strategy Sales Management

Relationship Strategy
Sales Channel Strategy

2
 SBU Objectives and the Sales Organization
Recommended
Market Share Sales Organization Compensation
Objectives Objectives Primary Sales Tasks System

Build Build sales volume Call on prospective Salary plus incentive

Secure distribution and new accounts
Product/market
feedback
Hold Maintain sales Call on targeted Salary plus
volume current accounts commission or
 Consolidate Increase service bonus
market position levels to current
accounts
Harvest Reduce selling Call on and service Salary plus bonus
costs most profitable
Target profitable accounts only and
accounts eliminate
unprofitable
accounts
Reduce inventories

3
 Developing Growth Strategies

Product/ Market Expansion Grid

Existing New
Products Products
Existing 1. Market 3. Product
Markets Penetration Development

New 2. Market
4. Diversification
Markets Development

4
Product/ Market Expansion Grid
Market Penetration: making more sales to current customers
without changing our products
Market Development: develop new markets for our current
products
◦ Identify new demographic or geographic markets.
Product Development: offering modified or new products to
current markets
◦ New Features, flavors, or modified products.

Diversification: new products for new markets

◦ Start up or buy new businesses.

5
 Business Strategy and the Sales Function
Business Strategy Types

Porter’s Generic Business Strategies(Competitive Advantage)

◦ Low Cost - focus on low cost
◦ Differentiation - focus on uniqueness
◦ Niche - focus on a particular target market and use a low cost or
differentiation approach

Role of the Salesforce

◦ Low Cost - sell to large customers; minimize costs; focus on price;
order taking role
◦ Differentiation - sell non-price benefits; high customer service and
responsiveness; target low price sensitive customers; order generator
◦ Niche - low cost or differentiation approach
6
 Personal Selling-Driven vs. Advertising-Driven
Personal Selling
When Message Flexibility is Important
When Message Timing is Important
When Reaction Speed is Important
When Message Credibility is Important
When Trying to Close the Sale

When Low Cost per Contact is Important

When Repetitive Contact is Important
When Control of Message is Important
When Audience is Large

7
Advertising
 Sales Management Planning

a) Involves setting objectives and determining ways to achieve

them.
b) Sales planning is very crucial when introducing new products.
Close cooperation between sales and production management is
crucial to the successful launching of innovative products.
c) Strategic plan outlines how resources will be allocated to market
opportunities.

8
 Planning Hierarchy

Corporate mission

Strategic business plan (long-term plan for the overall resource

allocation to market, which includes marketing, finance, HR,
operations, production).

Strategic marketing plan (long term plan for specific products and
markets).

Strategic sales plan (long range plan for sales activities).

Tactical Sales Plans (short run plan for implementing sales

strategy).
9
Information for Sales Planning

Primary Data – new data gathered specifically for the project in

hand

Secondary Data – available data also gathered for some other

purpose

Other sources of information (e.g. MIS(marketing info sys),DSS(Decision support sys))

Sales Intelligence

10
 Sales Intelligence

Sales people are expected to provide information for sales planning and
management and there is growing need for better sales intelligence
from the field.

Sales people possess vital information about the market that can be
used to develop sales forecasts and quotas, to assess new products,
and to formulate marketing strategies.

Salespeople should be encouraged/motivated by the management;

they should be provided with incentives, training, and proper
supervision to encourage them to provide relevant information.

11
 Contd..

Sales managers must also make sure that the marketing intelligence
process is a two-way communication. Once the data has been analyzed,
it is essential that relevant facts are communicated back to the field
force in order to improve their selling efficiency.

Although the sales person has thorough knowledge about the market,
his opinion may be biased or incomplete knowledge.

For this reason sales manager must work with other staff specialists to
develop a procedure for incorporating information from the field into
the marketing planning process. For such reasons other sources are
also used, like:

12
1. Secondary data (which provides insight about the market
conditions and competitors)
2. Internal sales data (which allows managers to trace the
histories of individual accounts, products, territories, and
seasons)
3. Product life cycle patterns
4. Fluctuations, growth and decline of specific customers or
customer groups (This information can be used to detect
changes into different areas and at different times
throughout the year)
5. marketing research team

13
 Sales Management Planning Process
1. Analysis – examines what happens in the past, look at the
present situation, SWOT analysis, trend analysis.
2. Goal setting phase – set the direction for the sales force
3. Sales strategies – translate the goals into action
4. Tactical plans – more specific action plans, specific detailed
outlines, assignment of responsibilities /deadlines
5. Implementation stage – plan is executed here
6. Control stage – serves to compare actual outcomes with
planned results, in order to examine any plan revisions for the
future.

14
Any Inputs?

15
Thank You

16