evaluating sales force performance & controlling sales activities

Evaluating Sales force performance &

Controlling Sales activities

• Four steps that control the sales force activities are

• 1.Esatablishing Performance Standards.

• 2.Recording Performances

• 3.Evaluating Performance Standards

• 4.Taking Action

Standards of Performance

• Setting standards of performance requires consideration of the nature of the Selling job.

• Setting performance Standards for a new business sales personnel requires different measures .

• Setting sales performance standards requires considerable market knowledge.

• Performance Standards are designed to measure the performance of activities that the company considers most important.

• For e.g. Evaluating the job performance of a computer sales person requires standards that measure not only skill in new business selling but even more basically ,effectiveness as a management consultant & skill as a system analyst.

• .

• Sales Management puts together a combination of sales performance standards to fit the company’s needs, its marketing situation, its selling strategy & its sales organization

Recording Actual Performance

• Sales management next task is to measure actual performance. There are two basic sources of performance information:

• Sales & expense records & reports of various sorts.

System of field sales reports

• The fundamental purpose of field sales reports is to provide control information.

• Field sales report provides Sales Management with a basis for discussion with sales personnel.

• Sales reports assist in determining how to secure more & larger orders.

• A good field sales reporting system assists sales personnel in their self improvement programs.

Purpose of field sales report.

• 1.To provide data for evaluating performance:

• 2.To help the salesperson plan the work:

• 3.To record customers suggestions & complaints .

• 4.To gather information on competitors activities.

• 5. To report changes in local business & economic conditions.

• 6.To keep the mailing list updated for promotional & catalogue materials.

• 7.To provide information requested by Marketing research.

Types of sales force Reports

• 1.Progress or call report:

• 2.Expense Report

• 3.Sales work plan

• 4.New business or potential new business report

• 5.Lost sales report.

• 6.Report of complaint.

Evaluating

• Comparing actual performance with standards:• The most difficult step in sales force control is

evaluation step- The comparing of actual performances with standards.

• The same standards cannot be applied to all Sales personnel.

• It is possible to take Territorial differences into account by setting individual performance standards for each territory.

• Evaluating performance of sales personnel requires judgment & deep understanding of market factors & conditions.

Controlling sales personnel

• Management also controls sales personnel through supervision.

• Who should supervise?

• Companies having decentralized sales organization sometimes assign the supervision responsibility to branch or district managers.