INTRODUCTION TO SALES MANAGEMENT

Sales management

• Planning, direction and control of personal selling including recruiting, selecting, training, equipping, assigning, supervising, compensating and motivating as these tasks apply to the personal sales force.

Objectives

• a. Sales volume• b. Contribution to profit• c. Continuing growth

• The prime responsibility of the sales department is to build up higher volume of sales. This higher volume of sales leads to greater production in the factory and the company achieves the economies of scale.

• This helps in reducing the costs and making the products of the company more competitive in the market.

• This leads to the automatic achievement of the other two objectives that is increase profits and continued growth of the company.

Sales Management Functions

• Measurement of results: reporting, analytics & sales data

• Compensation, sales quotas, policies• Technology & tools, including CRM• Training & sales communication• Sales territory design & its optimization• Customer segmentation• To improve employee morale

Evolution Of Sales Management• Prior to industrial revolution, not much emphasis was given on sales. Small scale enterprises

dominated the scene• With the beginning of industrial revolution, need to establish functional departments was

identified. Still no separate sales department was created• Middlemen like whole sellers and retailers came into picture• With the complications in the channel of distribution, there was a realization of separate

sales department• To advent of specialized sales departments helped the organizational problem of market

expansion• The grate leap from, What produced creates it own demand to Produce which has demand• Leap from door to door sales man to call center calls

Nature and role of Sales Manager

Manages sales of the company’s products and services within a defined geographic area,province or country. Ensures consistent, profitable growth in sales revenues through positive planning, deployment and management of sales personnel.

Sales Manager Job Duties:

• analyzing trends and results.•Establishes sales objectives by forecasting and developing annual sales quotas for regions and territories.•Implements national sales programs by developing field sales action plans.•Maintains sales volume, product mix, and selling price by keeping current with supply and demand.•Establishes and adjusts selling prices by monitoring costs, competition, and supply and demand.

Skills/Qualifications

•A university degree in marketing or business studies is preferred; or a minimum of seven years of related experience or training•Problem-solving and analytical skills to interpret sales performance and market trend information. Proven ability to motivate and lead the sales team. Experience in developing marketing and sales strategies.• Excellent oral and written communication skills. good working knowledge of Microsoft Office is required.

Sales management as a career.

You have earned the respect of upper management and have been offered a promotion into the wonderful world of sales management. Along with the

promotion comes an increase in base salary, the ability to pick and mold your own sales team, added stress and responsibility and, as a final bonus, higher

expectations and a few sleepless nights! Congratulations!

Before you accept the promotion, there are a number of things you need to consider and to be aware of. While sales management positions vary wildly from company to company, there are several commonalities, each of which

will effect you to some degree.

It's No Longer Just You

Sales managers are judged by the overall performance of their entire team. If the team does well, your senior leaders will feel that you are

effectively completing your job. If your team is not doing well, the opposite is often true.

This creates an obvious and universal problem for sales managers: No matter how hard a manager works and no matter how talented of a manager she may be, if the team is weak, uninspired or simply are

struggling, the sales manager takes the heat. Once a sales professional accepts a promotion to sales management, she is no

longer fully in control of their level of success.

It's Hard to Find Good Talent

One of the most challenging and important jobs that most sales managers are responsible for is recruiting. Since most sales

organizations have upwards of 15% turnover rates, recruiting is something that should occur all the time. A manager knows when a sales professional of his team is not going to make it and can begin looking for a replacement as soon as a rep begins to fall below the minimum expectation levels. However, that same manager usually

has no warning when an average or high performing rep may turn in their notice. Surprise job openings are the enemy of a sales teams

results.

The Rewards Most sales managers earn a higher base salary and an override on their teams performance.The better your team does, the more you will earn. Train, manage, lead and coach your team so that they are all high achievers and your bank account will bring a smile to your

face every morning.While there are several other rewards besides the income, the

most commonly appreciated reward that sales managers receive is when they see their efforts pay off for someone else. Helping a

struggling rep close a big deal, overcome a fear or build self-confidence is a tremendous feeling. Doing so is not only rewarding

in the moment, but it pays dividends that last a career

Emerging Trends in Sales Management

Global Perspective

Global competition is intensifying. Domestic companies who never thought about foreign competitors are suddenly finding them in

their backyard. This is a challenge which sales managers and salesperson must take on, they have to improve their personal

selling efforts not only in their countries but also in foreign countries. Selling goods and services in global markets presents a

challenge due to differences in culture, language, needs and requirements.

Technological Revolution

Digital revolution and management information system have greatly increased the capabilities of consumers and marketing

organizations. Consumer today can get information about products, compare it with other brand, place an order and place an order

instantly over the internet. This has led to a different kind of sales force who collects information about internet users, markets and prospects of internet buyers. It is mandatory for all companies to

have their website now.

Sales Force Diversity

The demographic characteristics of sales force is changing and becoming more varied. For example, more and more women are taking up careers in sales management and

selling. Also the education level of sales people is going up most of them holding a college degree or a post graduate

degree. Sales managers now have to handle a sales force of these varied demographic, expectations of each and every

individual is different and sales manager needs to use different motivational tools against each one of them.

Managing Multi-Channels

Multi-channel marketing system occurs when organization uses two or more marketing channels to target one or more customer segments. Major benefits

of multi-channel marketing system are:Lower channel cost

Increased market coverageCustomized selling

Multi-channel may also lead to conflicts and control problems, as two or more channels may compete for same customer. A successful sales manager will

have to effectively manage conflict between the channels.

Ethical and Social Issues

Sales managers have ethical and social responsibilities. Sales people face ethical issues such as bribery, deception (or

misleading) and high pressure sales tactics. Today’s sales managers have no choice but to ensure ethical standards from sales force otherwise they may be out of business or even land up in legal

problems.