INITIAL STEPS OF SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT

SALES JOB ANALYSIS Assembling and analyzing factual information on specific jobs. Listing of activities to be performed SALES JOB DESCRIPTION It is the output of sales job analysis covering job objectives component duties & responsibilities performance criteria reporting relationships.

PREPARATION OF SALES JOB SPECIFICATIONS

Focus on the duties & responsibilities portion of the job description Determine qualifications needed to perform the job satisfactorily: which ones all new recruits should possess personality characteristics & qualifications and which ones will be provided through training.

RECRUITING & SELECTING SALES PERSONNEL

Evaluate the sources from which sales personnel with good potentials are available. Tap the identified resources and build a supply of prospective sales personnel. Select those who have the highest probability of success.

ORGANIZATION FOR RECRUITING & SELECTION

Can be handled by the following departments in a company: Sales department (if it has a personnel staff function under the Sales Manager) Company Personnel Manager (if sales force size is small)

Personnel Dept handles some aspects of recruitment & screening activities and the Sales Dept to handle other aspects and to make the hiring decision

RECRUITING & SELECTION Contd

THE PRE-RECRUITING RESERVOIR
This is a file of individuals who can be recruited when needed. Names are collected from volunteer walk-ins, references etc. and may have gone through a pre-interview evaluation. File should be regularly updated.

SOURCES OF SALES FORCE RECRUITS

RECRUITING SOURCE EVALUATION Analysis of each source should be done to reveal how many were recruited and ratio of success to failures.

SOURCES WITHIN THE COMPANY

Individuals recommended by Company Sales Personnel Recommendation of Company Executives Internal Transfers from Non-selling section of sales department Other departments

RECRUITING & SELECTION

SOURCES OUTSIDE THE COMPANY

Contd

Direct Unsolicited Applications Walk-in or Write-in Employment Agencies Salespeople making calls on the Company Purchase Director Employees of Customers with prior approval

Sales Executives Clubs placement Services

Sales Force of non-competing Companies Sales Force of competing Companies require minimal training Educational Institutions specially where educational qualification is required Older persons

RECRUITING & SELECTION

THE RECRUITING EFFORT

Contd

Differs mainly in respect of the source of recruits and the recruiting method. Determined by selling style appropriate for the companies products & customers.

PERSONAL RECRUITING
College Recruiting Company-wide campus interviewing. Recruiting Direct-to-Consumer sales personnel Recruiting Consultants INDIRECT RECRUITING Newspaper advertisements Classified Ads (Situations wanted & Situations Vacant) Display Ads RECRUITING BROCHURES

Outlining sales career opportunities to applicants Prospective candidates contacted through centers of influence i.e. people occupying positions where they regularly meet people who have high potential as possible sales people and who are often seeking jobs.

RECRUITING & SELECTION

Contd

SELECTING SALES PERSONNEL Simple one-step informal personal interview.

Complex multi-step systems - incorporating diverse mechanisms.

PRE-INTERVIEW SCREENING & PRELIMINARY INTERVIEW

It is the lowest cost step for eliminating obviously unqualified applicants.

FORMAL APPLICATION FORM

Serves as a central record for all pertinent information collected during the selection process. Can also be considered as a standard written interview.
Objective Scoring of Personal History Items. The total profile rather than any single item determines the predictive value.

RECRUITING & SELECTION

THE INTERVIEW

Contd

Most widely used and sometimes the only step in the selection system. Who should do the interviewing? How many interviews? Interviewing the Spouse mainly to find acceptance of frequent over-night travel and being away for long periods. Interviewing Techniques Patterned interview Non-directive interview Interaction (Stress) interview Rating Scales to bring in objectivity.

REFERENCES Present or former employers Former customers Reputable citizens Mutual Acquaintances

RECRUITING & SELECTION

CREDIT CHECKS PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS

Contd

Validation of Tests it measures what it purports to measure. Basis for evaluation of Tests reliability, objectivity, cost, etc. Types of Tests Tests of ability intelligence; aptitude. Tests of habitual characteristics attitude; personal. Interest Tests basically assumes related to motivation. Achievement Tests how much one knows about subject.

PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS

SALES TRAINING PROGRAMS

SALES TRAINING PROGRAMS Building a sales training program requires 5 major decisions: A AIM C CONTENT M METHODS E EXECUTION E EVALUATION

DEFINING TRAINING AIMS Defining specific training aims training needs to e identified. IDENTIFYING INITIAL TRAINING NEEDS Requires analysis of 3 main factors: Job Specifications. Trainees background and experience. Sales-related marketing policies of the company.

RECRUITING & SELECTION

IDENTIFYING CONTINUING TRAINING NEEDS

Contd

Identification of specific training needs of experienced personnel. Mainly arise due to: Basic changes in products & markets. Sales-related marketing policies, procedures & organization. Changes in sales personnel specially their productivity.

DEFINING TRAINING AIMS Defining specific training aims training needs to e identified. IDENTIFYING INITIAL TRAINING NEEDS Requires analysis of 3 main factors: Job Specifications. Trainees background and experience. Sales-related marketing policies of the company.

RECRUITING & SELECTION

IDENTIFYING CONTINUING TRAINING NEEDS

Contd

Identification of specific training needs of experienced personnel. Mainly arise due to: Basic changes in products & markets. Sales-related marketing policies, procedures & organization. Changes in sales personnel specially their productivity.

Training
ORGANIZING THE SALES TRAINING (EXECUTION) PHILOSOPHIES OF SALES TRAINING Conditioned-Response Insight-Response Who will be the Trainees? Who will do the Training? Initial Sales Training Continuing Sales Training Sales Training Staff Training the Sales Trainers Outside Experts When will the Training take place? Timing group versus Individual Training Timing Initial Sales Training Programs Timing Continuous Sales Training Programs Where will the Training site be? Instructional Materials & Training Aids: Manuals Other Printed Materials Training Aids Advance Assignments

SALES TERRITORY CONCEPT

A Sales Territory is operationally defined as a grouping of customers and prospects assigned to an individual salesperson. The main criteria being that they can be called upon conveniently & economically by the individual salesperson concerned. Many refer to sales territories as geographic areas. In some companies and in some peculiar selling situations geographically defined territories are meaningless: E.g. where technical selling style is predominant salespersons because of their specializations are assigned entire classes of customers regardless of their location; Small companies and companies introducing new products; Salespeople selling to personal acquaintances; Localized markets such as when selling real estate & property insurance, investment securities & even automobiles.

Contd
In most marketing situations it is advantageous to assign sales personnel to territories in consideration of customers service requirements and costs of providing service.
Establishing of Sales Territories: Facilitates matching selling efforts with sales opportunities Lends direction to planning & control of sales operations Allows accumulation of knowledge on companys strengths & weaknesses in serving different markets HOUSE ACCOUNTS An account not assigned to any individual salesperson but handled by sales executives or home office personnel. They are: Extremely large customers who demand to deal with H.O. Responsible for significant shares of companys total business

Contd
REASONS FOR ESTABLISHING OR REVISING SALES TERRITORIES PROVIDING PROPER MARKET COVERAGE CONTROLLING SELLING EXPENSES ASSISTING IN EVALUATING SALES PERSONNEL CONTRIBUTING TO SALES FORCE MORALE AIDING IN COORDINATING PERSONNEL SELLING & ADVERTISING

PROCEDURES FOR SETTING UP OR REVISING SALES TERRITORIES

SELECTING A BASIC GEOGRAPHICAL CONTROL UNIT Counties (Districts) Zip Code Areas Cities Metropolitan Statistical Areas (Metropolitan Regions) Trading Areas States DETERMINING SALES POTENTIAL IN EACH CONTROL UNIT COMBINING CONTROL UNITS INTO TENTATIVE TERRITORIES by combining contiguous control areas each resulting territory containing approximately the same sales potential. Based on how much % of the total sales potential the average sales person should realize number of sales personnel units & therefore number of territories is decided.

TERRITORY SHAPES
The shape of the territory affects selling expenses & ease of sales coverage.

3 shapes are generally used: Wedge Appropriate for territories containing both urban & non-urban areas. It radiates out from a densely populated urban center. Circle Appropriate when accounts & prospects are evenly distributed throughout the area. Sales person assigned is based near the center.

Clover Leaf Desirable when accounts are located randomly. Each cloverleaf area is best designed if it can be covered in a week. Home base is near the center.