Role of Sales Person,Organisation Structure

Multiple Roles of Salespeople Producing Sales Revenue

Contributions of Personal Selling to Marketing Providing Marketplace Information

Meeting Buyer  Expectations

Multiple Roles of Salespeople 

An order taker processes routine orders or  reorders for products that were already sold by the company

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An order getter getter sells in a conventional sense and identifies prospective customers, provides customers with information, persuades customers to buy, closes sales, and follows up on customers’ use of a product or service

Multiple Roles of Salespeople •

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Missionary salespeople are sales support personnel who do not directly solicit orders but rather  concentrate on performing promotional activities and introducing new products.

A sales engineer engineer is a salesperson who specializes in identifying, analyzing, and solving customer   problems and brings know-how and technical expertise to the selling situation but often does not actually sell products and services.

Multiple Roles of Salespeople 

Deliverer:A sales person whose major tasks is the deliverery of a product.

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Solution Vendor: a salesperson whose expertise is in the solving of  the customer problem .

Sales management Sales Management is the marketing management activity dealing with planning, organizing, directing, and controlling the personal selling effort. This includes recruiting, training, supervision, motivation, evaluation, and compensation of sales personnel

Sales Management Activities

Sales Management Activities

 The starting point for sales management is developing a sales strategy to execute the firm’s marketing strategy, which emphasizes the development of a marketing mix to appeal to defined target markets.  A sales strategy focuses on how to sell to specific customers within those target markets. Two key elements of a sales strategy are a relationship strategy and a sales channel strategy. 

Sales Management Activities

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Should salesforce be generalists or specialists?  If specialists, should they be product, market, customer, or functional specialists?  Should centralized or decentralized control be used  ?  How large should the salesforce be?  How should customers and geographic areas be assigned to form sales territories?  How should salesforce turnover be factored into sales organization design decisions?

Sales Management Activities

 The main activities are:  Recruiting is the process of finding prospective job candidates  Selecting involves choosing the candidates to be hired  Initial training, which typically focuses on product knowledge and sales techniques  Continual training for all salespeople is becoming more standard as firms attempt to stay current and competitive in an ever-changing environment.

Sales Management Activities

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Directing salespeople to meet goals and objectives consumes much of the typical sales manager’s time. These activities include:  Motivation  Supervision  Leadership of the sales force.

Sales Management Activities

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Sales managers must establish standards by which performance and effectiveness are measured, evaluate performance and effectiveness against these standards, and then take appropriate follow-up action.  Salesperson performance refers to how well individual sales people meet job expectations.  An evaluation of sales of sales force effectiveness is in fact an assessment of the entire sales organization.

 Transaction-Focused vs. Relationship Focused Transaction-Focused

Relationship-Focused

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Short term thinking

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Long term thinking

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Making the sale has priority over most other considerations

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Interaction between buyer and seller is competitive

Developing the relationship takes priority over getting the sale

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Interaction between buyer and seller is collaborative.

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Salesperson is customer-oriented

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Salesperson is selfinterest oriented

 The Changing World of Sales Management

Sales Management Trends Transactions

Relationships

Individuals

Teams

Sales Volume

Sales Productivity

Management

Leadership

Local

Global

Relationship Marketing: Four key issues 

Open communication

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Empowering employees

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Customers and the planning process

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Working in teams  Total quality management

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Sales Teamwork Approaches Core Selling Team Membership relatively stable

Selling Team Membership very fluid

Characteristics of team depend on characteristics of buying organization

Characteristics of team depend on characteristics of sales opportunity

Mission is strategic with respect to the buying organization

Mission is tactical with respect to the sales opportunity

Leadership Trends  

Yesterday

designation defined power

Knowledge is power

Leaders commanded and controlled

Leaders empower and coach

Leaders were warriors

Leaders are facilitators

Managers directed

Managers delegate

Sales Force Management in the 21st Century Customer orientation  Customer relationship management (CRM)  Sales force diversity  Electronic communication systems and web-based technology  Selling teams  Complex channels of distribution  An international perspective ,global legislations  Ethical behavior and social responsibility   TQM  Shared sales force 

Effective Sales Managers: 1.

Utilize a Strategic Perspective Focused on Customers

2.

Attract, Keep, and Develop Sales Talent

3.

Leverage Technology

Sales Force Organization

Listen to the customer and act  on what they tell you. Pat Nathan, Vice President Dell Computer Corp

Sales Organization (def…) Organization of individual ,either working together for the marketing of product and services manufactured by an enterprise or for product that are produced by the firm for the purpose of reselling..

Learning Objectives 1.

2. 3. 4.

Define the concepts of organisation structure,, span span of  of  control versus management levels, and line versus versus staff  staff  positions. Describe the different sales organization structures. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of sales organization structures. Explain how to determine the appropriate sales organization structure for a given selling situation

Building blocks of organizational structure Differentiation in the allocation of  people and resources to create value.

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Vertical differentiation: Focus is on the distribution of decision-making authority. Horizontal differentiation : Focus is on division and grouping of tasks into functions and divisions to meet business objectives . 

Integration

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 The means used in coordinating people and functions to accomplish organizational tasks.

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Building blocks of organizational structure 

Bureaucratic costs:

Vertical Differentiation 

Span of control (division of authority)  The number of subordinates that a single manager directly manages.

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Organizational hierarchy choices Flat structures

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Few organizational levels Wide spans of control 

 Tall structures

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Many organizational levels Narrow spans of control 

 Tall and Flat Structures

Centralization or Decentralization 

Authority patterns in organizations: Centralized

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Decision making retained in the hands of upper-level managers.

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Decentralized

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Decisions delegated to lower levels in the organization.

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Centralization (Structural) Choice? Advantages of  decentralization 

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Reduced information overload on upper managers. Increased motivation and accountability throughout organization. Fewer managers; lower bureaucratic costs.

Advantages of  centralization 

Easier coordination of  organizational activities.  Decisions fitted to broad organizational objectives.  Exercise of strong leadership in crisis.  Faster decision making and response. 

Principles of Organization Design 

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Organizational structure should reflect a marketing orientation Organization should be built around activities, not around people Responsibility and authority should be related properly Span of executive control should be reasonable Organization should be stable but not flexible Activities should be balanced and coordinated

How Organizational Design Increases Profitability

Enhances a company’s

Line-and-Staff Sales Organization Chief Marketing Executive

Advertising Manager 

Marketing Research Manager 

General Sales Manager 

Sales Promotion Manager 

Sales Analysis Manager 

Salespeople Line authority Staff advisory authority

Functional Sales Organization Chief Marketing Executive

Advertising Manager 

Marketing Research Manager 

General Sales Manager 

Credit Manager 

Sales Promotion Manager 

Salespeople Line authority Staff advisory authority

Geographical Sales Organization Chief Marketing Executive

Advertising Manager 

Marketing Research Manager 

General Sales Manager 

Sales Promotion Manager 

Western Regional Sales Manager 

Eastern Regional Sales Manager 

4 District Sales Managers

4 District Sales Managers

Salespeople each with own territory

Salespeople each with own territory

Sales Analyst

Sales Organization with Product-Specialized Sales Force Chief Marketing Executive

Advertising Manager 

Marketing Research Manager 

General Sales Manager 

Sales Promotion Manager 

Sales Manager  Product A

Sales Manager  Product B

Sales Manager  Product C

Salespeople Product A

Salespeople Product B

Salespeople Product C

Customer  Relations Manager 

Sales Organization with Product-Managers as Staff  Specialists Chief Marketing Executive

Advertising Manager 

Marketing Research Manager 

General Sales Manager 

Assistant Sales Manager  Salespeople

Manager 

Manager 

Manager 

Product

Product

Product

A

B

C

Sales Organization Specialized by Type of Customer Chief Marketing Executive

Advertising Manager 

Marketing Research Manager 

General Sales Manager 

Sales Promotion Manager 

Customer  Relations Manager 

Sales Manager  Transportation Industry

Sales Manager  Steel Industry

Sales Manager  Petroleum Industry

Salespeople

Salespeople

Salespeople

Organizational Options for the 2000s Strategic account management

Independent reps

Organizational Options for the 2000s

Team selling

E-commerce and telemarketing

Span of Control vs. Management Levels Flat Sales Organization M a n a g

National Sales Manager 

District Sales Manager 

District Sales Manager 

District Sales Manager 

District Sales Manager 

Span of Control

District Sales Manager 

e m e n t

L e v e ls

Span of Control vs. Management Levels Tall Sales Organization National Sales Manager 

Regional Sales Manager 

Regional Sales Manager 

District District District Sales Sales Sales Manager  Manager  Manager 

District District District Sales Sales Sales Manager  Manager  Manager 

Span of Control

M a n a g

e m e n t L e v e

ls

Comparison of  Sales Organization Structures Organizational Structure

Geographic

Product

Advantages • Low Cost • No geographic duplication • No customer duplication • Fewer management levels

Disadvantages • Limited specialization • Lack of management control over product or  customer emphasis

• Salespeople become experts • High cost in product attr. & applications • Geographic duplication • Management control over  • Customer duplication selling effort

Comparison of  Sales Organization Structures Organizational Structure

Advantages

Disadvantages

Market

• Salespeople develop better understanding of  unique customer needs • Management control over  selling allocated to different markets

• High cost • Geographic duplication

Functional

• Efficiency in performing selling activities

• Geographic duplication • Customer duplication • Need for coordination

Hybrid Sales Organization Structure National Sales Manager 

Commercial Accounts Sales Manager 

Major Accounts Sales Manager 

Regular Accounts Sales Manager 

Field Sales Manager 

Western Sales Manager 

Government Accounts Sales Manager 

Office Equipment Sales Manager 

Telemarketing Sales Manager 

Eastern Sales Manager 

Office Supplies Sales Manager