Sales Management Exam 1

mission statement

• inspire organizations members

• give purpose to actions

• guide decision-making

• serve as standard for decision making

corporate strategy

• plans and goals for organization

  • addresses markets and sourcing options

  • business units create plan to support corporate

marketing strategy

• markets: who do we serve w/ what products

• relationships

• investment

• objectives

  • sustainable competitive advantage

product market growth strategies

1. market penetration: current products, current market

2. product development: current markets, new products

3. market development: new markets, current products

4. diversification: new products, new markets

sales and relationship strategy

• strategic plan considers network of relationships

• relationships with customers varies in importance

selling approaches

1. transactional

2. affiliative

3. consultative

4. enterprise

objectives: sales executive

1. plan

   • devise a sales plan to meet strategic objectives

   • develop general strategies that specify sales approach

2. organize

   • determine the type of salesforce

   • create hiring and training policies and strategies

3. implement

   • communicate and roll out plan

   • create the right culture

   • choose compensation model

4. monitor

   • sales and customer satisfaction

   • salesperson recruitment

   • corrective action

b2b decision making

1. problem recognition

2. information search

3. evaluation of alternatives

4. purchase decisions

5. postpurchase evaluations

streamline

shift non-selling activities to lower cost alternatives

outsource

hire another company to carry out a task or set of tasks

advantages of company employed

• exert greater control over salesforce

• focus on our products

outsourced

• share selling cost with others

• benefit from established customer relationships

• leverage when entering new markets

types of outsourced salespeople

1. manufacturer rep/agent

   • no ownership or maintenance

2. broker

   • represents buyer or seller, caries inventory but does not take ownership

3. distributor

   • take product ownership, maintains inventory

4. call centers

bow-tie seller model

diamond seller model

team selling

advantages

• quicker response to questions

• same thought world

• offers multidisciplinary solutions to complex buyer problems

challenges

• coordination, communication, compensation

• more expensive

trait leadership approach

• 1900-1940; 2000

• traits you need to be a leader

behavioral leadership approach

• 1950-1960

• how leaders behave

  • leaders should engage in behavior addressing both social needs of individuals and task accomplishment

  • more consideration = more group satisfaction

situational leadership approach

• 1960-1970

• assess situation and adjust behavior

  • must diagnose groups level of commitment and competency

  • adjust based on directive and supportive behaviors

• directing, supporting, coaching, delegating

contemporary leadership approach

• 1980s-1990s

• motivate followers through leadership

emerging leadership approach

• 1990s-2000s

• develop your followers

leadership-membership exchange

• unique relationship between each member and group leader

• “in-group” and “out-group”

• every leader should work towards “in-group” relationships

transformational leadership

• charisma to inspire

• followers trust and want to emulate leader

• positively correlates with job satisfaction and better performance

principle-center leadership

• focused on values and principles

servant leadership

• leaders should serve their followers

• listening, collaboration, empathy, healing

level 5 leadership

• based on study of great leaders

  • modest and willful

  • humble and fearless

  • set up successors

  • diligent

• skills build on skills and abilities of previous levels

formal power

1. legitimate

2. reward

3. coercive

4. political

5. informational

informal power

1. expert

2. referent

3. charismatic

4. connection

5. moral

4 political terrains

1. Highground: formal authority and organizational systems win

2. Rocks: formal authority and individuals interactions are most powerful

3. Weeds: personal influences and informal networks yield most power

4. Woods: implicit norms, hidden assumptions and unspoken routines rule

Coaching Principles

1. prepare and observe

2. give feedback

3. be a role model

4. follow-up

5. trust

activity management

focus salespeople on right numbers

training and development

ensure salespeople have the right capabilities

outcome control

control outcomes via compensation/rewards/motivation

capability control

development via training programs

compensation, motivation, rewards

designed to support sales and non-sales outcomes

cultural/network perspective

• leaders must indirectly influence employees by “architecting” networks

• well-connected salespeople who are marginally committed

  • can dampen peers commitment

  • decrease effectiveness of transformational leader

hiring process

1. identify numbers needed

2. determine who

3. attract many

4. select best

turnover rate

= (number of sales people that left during the year)/(average sales force size during that year)

controllable reasons for turnover

• retirement

• termination

• transfer

• promotion

uncontrollable reasons for turnover

• death

• quitting

• relocation

• career change

• disability

aspects of job description

1. nature of role

2. customer type

3. reps tasks and responsibilities

4. relationship between rep and sales organization

5. intellectual and physical demands of job

6. compensation methods

ideal candidate profile

• varies for sales role

• higher performance units = richer profile

tension in ideal candiate profile

1. operational focus

2. strategic focus

3. backwards looking

4. forward looking

formula number of applicants needed

= (number of open positions)/ (% of applicants selected x % accepted)

pros/cons internal recruiting

• pros: great deal of known info

• cons: sales experience, open position to fill

methods of external recruiting

1. referrals

2. advertising

3. third-party

4. educational institutions

5. job/career fair

6. online posting

cross validation

ideal candidate profile characteristics assessed by 2+ tools

goal directed selection process: high performance

1. screen applicants

2. determine fit interview

3. ability interview

4. screen, reference check

5. select candidates

4 dimensions of candidate

1. industry

2. current unit

3. company

4. future unit

types of interviews

1. structured interview

2. semi-structured interview

3. stress interview

4. group interview

5. panel interview