Sales Management?

Everything you need to know about sales management. Sales management is solely concerned
with the direction and control of the sales force. It refers to the management of sales personnel,
though sometimes, in a broader sense, it covers advertising, distribution, pricing and product
designing, all elements of marketing management.

It is related mainly to the management of the sales department which is an important

organizational unit of management.

The sales force may communicate effectively with the other departments of the company if it is a
well-planned organization and has an appropriate distribution network. It refers to the direction
and control of salesmen. The planning, recruiting and selection, training, organizing, supervision,
compensating and coordinating of the sales force, all these come under sales management. It is a
part and parcel of marketing management.

.Sales Management

Contents:

1. Evolution of Sales Management

2. Meaning of Sales Management
3. Definitions of Sales Management
4. Objectives of Sales Management
5. Role of Sales Management
6. Importance of Sales Management
7. Process of Sales Management
8. Implementation of a Strategic Sales Management Programme
9. Emerging Trends in Sales Management
10. Sales Management and Control
What are sales Management?

The history of salesmanship is as old as human civilization. Paul Hermann described Bronze
Age’s travelling salesperson’s sample case. The salespeople used a wooden box, 26 inches long,
containing, in specifically hollowed compartments, axe, sword blades, buttons, etc.

The salespeople in the past were not held in high esteem by the society. The Roman meaning of
the word salesperson is ‘cheater’, and Mercury, the god of cunning and barter, was regarded as
the patron deity of merchants and traders. The business and trade of buying and selling goods
flourished over centuries and centred only on some specific cities of the world. India was a great
destination for traders and resellers in the medieval age for spices, carpets, jewellery, etc.

Many diverse races and religions entered our country with the travelling salespeople. Even the
erstwhile colonial rulers of India, the British, came to India for the purpose of expanding their
business and trade, though subsequently they satisfied their political interest. They ruled this
country to protect their own business interests.

The first salespeople in the US were the yankee peddlers who carried clothing, spices, and
household articles from one part of the country to another part. In India they are called
pheriwallahs. These pheriwallahs move from village to village and sell sarees, dress materials,
and spices mostly in the rural markets of India, because rural housewives have lesser mobility
than urban housewives. These people move from the manufacturing bases of the country to
different consumption centres in India.

The pack peddlers in India traded with the tribal Indians and exchanged knives, beads, and
ornaments for furs, spices, salt, and handicrafts. These people were viewed as shrewd,
unprincipled tricksters who would not think twice before practicing product and price
manipulations for higher benefits. They sold coloured sugar water as medicine and cheated
people for smaller gains. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, these peddlers started using
horse-driven carts and wagons, and started stocking heavier goods.

They started storing goods such as furniture, weapons, ammunitions, food items, and grains.
Some of these wagon peddlers settled down in villages, and opened stores and trading posts. The
community of Baniyas or the trading caste in India has its origin in these settlers and store
owners. The big retailers travelled to the nearest cities to replenish their stocks and bought goods
to resell in their localities.
Wholesalers and manufacturers hired greeters and drummers who would seek out and invite
retailers to visit the display of the owner. The drummers would meet the passengers from
incoming trains and ship with great fanfare to beat their competitors. In the next phase, the
drummers started visiting the customer’s place of business.

There were fewer than 1,000 travelling salespeople before 1860 in the US who were basically
credit investigators and took orders for goods. Their numbers increased as the pace and reach of
industrial .revolution spread across continents.

The techniques of modern sales management and selling techniques were refined by John Henry
Patterson, widely known as the father of modern sales management. He ran the National Cash
Registry. He asked his best salespeople to demonstrate their sales techniques to other
salespeople. The best sales approach was printed in a sales primer and distributed to all the other
salespeople to follow.

This is how the canned sales approach began. In addition to this, Mr Patterson assigned to his
salespeople exclusive territories and sales quotas in order to stretch their efforts. He arranged
frequent sales meetings that served the double purpose of training and socialization.

He also sent regular sales information on techniques of selling. Thomas J. Watson was trained by
Mr Patterson who later founded International Business Machines (IBM). Patterson was the
pathfinder who showed the strategy and skill required to transform a sales force into an effective
workforce for generating sales and profits.

Today, the process of sales management has undergone numerous changes in terms of strategy,
practice, and technological adoption to achieve the desired sales goal. A salesperson is no longer
an order taker or information provider; rather he is viewed as a consultant to the customers.

Due to non-personal form of business and increasing distances between the manufacturers and
customers, sales organizations are now emphasizing more on quality consulting skills to solve
the customers’ problems. The real sales activity now is in retaining customers rather than just
closing the sales. This relational approach has changed the scope of sales management, and
research has found that it costs five times more to register a new customer than to sell a product
or service to an existing customer.

As a pan of sales function, the managerial challenge is to improve the productivity and efficiency
level of the traditional sales force. But modern sales management is confronted with challenges
that affect both productivity and efficiency of its selling approach. In response, newer and better
selling techniques and approaches are being used, such as telemarketing, key account
management, use of independent sales force, team selling, electronic data interchange (EDI), and
application of technology to provide information and services to the customers.

The domain of sales management has become multidisciplinary in which sales managers have to
manage a diverse workforce and complex technologies. Sales managers have to perform duties
such as recruiting, training, selecting, motivating, forecasting, controlling, and administering
salespeople, while performing the primary responsibility of revenue generation for the firms.

They have to manage and satisfy multiple stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers, sales
representatives, and top management with the objective of increasing sales and profitability.
There are guiding principles and concepts in the field of sales and marketing that shape the
destiny of sales managers and the domain of knowledge in sales management.

Meaning:

Sales management is solely concerned with the direction and control of the sales force. Sales
management refers to the management of sales personnel, though sometimes, in a broader sense,
it covers advertising, distribution, pricing and product designing, all elements of marketing
management.

The American Marketing Association has defined “sales management” as “the planning,
direction and control of personal selling, including recruiting, selecting, equipping, assigning,
routing, supervising, paying and motivating as these tasks apply to the personal sales force.”

It may be called sales force management. The management has manifold responsibilities.
Controlling and guiding the sales force is one of the important activities of management.

Sales management is related mainly to the management of the sales department which is an
important organisational unit of management. The sales force may communicate effectively with
the other departments of the company if it is a well-planned organisation and has an appropriate
distribution network.
Sales Management, Marketing & Marketing Management:

Sales management refers to the direction and control of salesmen. The planning, recruiting and
selection, training, organising, supervision, compensating and co-ordinating of the sales force, all
these come under sales management. It is a part and parcel of marketing management.

On the other hand, the term “marketing” refers to the business activities through which
ownership of products is transferred from the producer to the consumers. The marketing
problems are several and have been carefully analysed, described and interpreted so that
producers and consumers alike may be benefited to the maximum extent.

Consumers want to pay the lowest possible price while producers and middlemen or marketing
men strive few the maximum possible profit For this the cost of production is to be reduced
considerably. Marketing includes sales management as well as other important functions.

Marketing management refers to several activities of marketing, viz., pricing, promotion,

physical distribution, product and sales personnel management. Sales management, however, is
mainly concerned with the sales personnel management Marketing management is a broader
term which covers sales management and marketing functions.

The sales manager is a subordinate of the marketing manager. He advises the marketing manager
on the areas of sales force management in particular and on other marketing functions in general
when specifically requested to do so by the marketing manager.

“Sales management effort may be exerted in the direction of securing, maintaining, motivating,
supervising, evaluating and controlling an effective field sales force”. The modern concept of
sales management revolves around the development of human resources.

Definition:

Initially, sales management was equated with the sales force management. As time rolled on,
sales management became broader. Apart from the management of personal selling, it
encompassed other marketing activities like advertising, sales promotion, marketing research,
physical distribution, pricing, merchandising and so on.

However, the comprehensive broad function later got labeled as marketing management.
Sales management came to be defined by AMA (American Marketing Association) as:

‘The planning, direction and control of personal selling, including recruiting, selecting,
equipping, assigning, routing, supervising, paying and motivating as these tasks apply to the
personal sales force.’

Sales management, according to the above definition, is the management of the sales force. This
is a personnel type function.

Sales management also organizes the selling effort. To do so, it creates a suitable organizational
structure, with an appropriate communication system.

Sales management interfaces with the distribution channels and the external public.

Sales management provides critical inputs for the key marketing decisions like budgeting, quotas
and territory management.

Sales management interfaces with other marketing functions while policies of these functions are
being formulated.

Different organisations have different type of needs for selling. Thus, a service organization like
an insurance company needs sales management as much as a manufacturing organization does.
However, both of them handle selling in different contexts.

Similarly, a retailer also needs selling. Event organizations not employing sales force of their
own and depending on ‘outside salespeople’ have sales problems unique to themselves.

Objective:

Normally the top management finalises the qualitative objectives for the organization. Examples-
Long term growth, Industry leadership, new product introduction, excellent customer service,
positive image among customers and public, outstanding technical research.

These objectives are translated in to specific quantifiable objectives and passed on the Sales
department for execution. Sales Management coordinates with other functions within the
organization i.e., distribution, product management, marketing research, advertising and finance
and external customers like distributors, dealers and users for achievement of the sales
objectives.

Major objectives of Sales Management are given below:

1. Achievement of Sales Volumes/Values

2. Contribution to Profits

3. Growth in Sales

4. Growth in Market Share

The Sales Manager is responsible for effective execution of sales plan through the sales
executives. A few of the important activities that contribute towards achievement of sales target,
planned profits, growth in sales and market share are given below-

1. Addition of new distributors and dealers in unrepresented market.

2. Extending field activities to new geographical areas.

3. Increase in sales from existing customers like dealers and direct consumers

4. Increase in sales of profitable products

5. Control of selling expenses

6. Receivable management

7. Improve sales forecasting accuracy and effective management of finished goods

8. Effective use of sales promotion schemes

9. Extend the use of excising products on new market segments

10. Training of sales force

11. Implementation or sales plan for the territory

12. Effective management of sales territory

Role:

The basic function and role of selling is to generate sales and earn revenue for an organization.
Today’s selling approach, of course, also highlights maintaining good customer relationship,
managing the profitability of a firm, managing customer complaints, and building brand value in
the eyes of the customers.

Though the above statements give a simplistic view of sales management’s role in an
organization, there are complex processes, systems involving a whole set of principles,
strategies, techniques, and personal skills to cover different facets of the sales function. Today,
enough books are available, covering various aspects of sales—starting from books on sales
management process to how-to-do-selling books.

In addition, there are books on personal selling and selling techniques too. The reason behind the
growing prominence of sales staff in the organizational context is that sales staff is one of the
most vital contact points with the customers. The other contact points can be ATMs, the Internet,
and other technical sources, but the most visible and important source of customer contact still
remains the sales staff.

Even the best marketing programmes may fail if the sales staff is ineffective or they are
improperly managed. For many customers the sales staff represents the company and the
impression it carries determines its fixture business relations with the customers. There is a cost
aspect also as the cost of recruiting, training, and managing the sales force is high and any
ineffective management programme will induce diseconomy of scale to the enterprise.

The term ‘selling’ involves a variety of functions in different contexts and in different
environments. There are situations where a salesperson may have to perform the function of a
delivery boy for a customer on a periodic basis, while in case of an advertising agency, a
salesperson may have to carry out creative functions as well.

The job of a sales manager is not only to organize sales but also to carry out man-management
functions such as guiding and leading a set of people to achieve sales targets. Therefore, the
functions of a sales manager can be classified into two- personal selling and sales management.
Personal selling entails personal communication between a seller and a buyer for the purpose of
determining and satisfying the buyer’s current and latent needs.
It involves an individual salesperson or a sales team to establish and build a profitable and
symbiotic relationship with customers over time through multiple transaction cycles. In this
process of building a relationship, a salesperson must determine a buyer’s needs and influence or
persuade the buyer to purchase his product with the assurance that the product or service will
satisfy the buyer more than the competitor’s products.

The incidence is on buyer as a transaction is analysed on the basis of economic value. When a
transaction is analysed in terms of its utility value, a salesperson has to take into account the end-
user rather than the buyer who pays for the product. The consumer is the ultimate end-user of the
product. Sales management is more strategic and of long-term consequence, as it involves
planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of all the selling activities of an organization.

Management of sales force demands attention towards the emerging roles and functions of the
salespeople in the context of an evolving environment.

This trend includes the level of integration of technology with sales function, the changes in the
approaches to selling, the evolution of the customers’ needs and expectations, and the
composition of the sales force on the basis of gender and qualifications.

The sales management function is carried out at different levels of a sales organization.
Generally, at the lowest level of the sales force is a sales representative or a sales executive and
the next level is that of a sales manager who handles 10—15 sales executives.

The area manager handles a few sales managers. A state manager handles sales at the state level,
and all the area managers work under him. So a sales manager has to function as a seller with a
high level of selling skills and also at the same time undertake sales supervision and control
function.

As the level of hierarchy increases, more and more management functions get added on to the
primary job of selling. Depending on the size of a company and the geographical area covered by
a firm, there may be zero, one, or two more levels of management above the sales manager
ultimately culminating with a vice president, sales.

Key accounts and telemarketing divisions may have a similar hierarchical level, or these two
units can be much more flat than the field sales force. Salespeople at ground zero and level one
and two are responsible for tactical decision-making, such as planning calls and setting short-
term quotas.
Sales organizations are increasingly becoming dependent on the sales force due to various
reasons. Sales managers at higher levels are responsible for strategic decisions, such as
organizing the sales force, determining the sales force compensation structure, forecasting long-
term sales, and overall controlling of a sales organization.

The role of a sales manager in an organization has become strategic and formidable. He/ she is
looked at as a combination of an accountant, a planner, a personnel manager, and a marketer at
the same time. However, his/her prime responsibility is to augment the sales force by
augmenting the sales closing process.

The specific duties and responsibilities of a sales manager can be summarized as:

1. Determining sales force objectives and goals

2. Finalizing sales force organization, size, territory, and quota

3. Forecasting and budgeting sales

4. Selecting, recruiting, and training the sales force

5. Motivating and leading the sales force

6. Designing compensation plan and control systems

7. Designing career growth plans and building relationship strategies with key customers

Importance:

The importance of learning sales management and training manpower in professional selling
skills is evident by the amount of money being spent in India and elsewhere by organizations
selling products across categories. This change of thrust on learning sales management in a more
scientific manner has occurred due to a number of reasons.

These reasons include the relevance of the sales force in an organization as the primary contact
point, the scope for harnessing and improving the ability of selling through training and
motivation, the potential rewards involved in the sales career, and the probability of reducing the
sales misconceptions through advanced learning in sales management.

Personal selling is a more commonly used promotion method than advertising, public relations,
or sales promotion in business-to-business (B2B) marketing because it offers opportunity to a
seller to match his/her offerings to the customers’ requirements.

When a fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company such as Hindustan Unilever Limited
sells its products in the market, a customer purchases only a small quantity of the goods, but
these individual customers make up a huge market, and the marketer sells to the mass market and
uses advertising as the promotion vehicle.

There is no need to customize the products in case of FMCG and mass marketing too restricts the
scope of customizing the products according to each customer’s needs. On the other hand, when
a salesperson sells a computer, he makes a number of calls to the buyers to understand their
requirements, and then he selects the computer that will best suit their needs. In most industrial
markets, personal selling comprises the majority of the promotional budget and is a significant
part of the overall budget.

One of the primary advantages of personal selling is that customers consider a salesperson as the
company selling the product. The impressions and satisfaction level derived by a customer from
his/her dealings with a salesperson largely decide the fate of the sales call and the size of the
order.

If a salesperson is well prepared, organized in his selling approach, knowledgeable about not
only his own products but also the competitors’ products, and has the ability to be a problem-
solver for the custom, he will be able to build positive impressions in the customers’ minds about
the firm and create an overall positive image of the firm.

A salesperson devoid of proper sales skills and ignorant about market information always creates
a negative image of a firm despite the firm having a superior product in the market. The focus of
sales management should therefore be on identifying, grooming, leading, and motivating a set of
trained salespeople to achieve higher sales and create positive impression about the firm.

With the advent of Internet technology and Web-based platforms for interaction with customers,
personal selling has become a method of marketing communication which fosters personalized
and interactive dialogue with customers. This personal approach provides an organization with
the best opportunity to become a truly customer-oriented company.

Process:

The sales management process in any organization involves three interrelated and dynamic set of
decisions and processes. Sales management is the process of attaining sales force goals in an
effective and efficient manner through planning, staffing, training, leading, and controlling
organizational resources.

Any organization with a substantial sales force needs to plan and manage the sales management
process and accomplish goals through resource utilization and people management.

The sales management process covers three interrelated steps—formulation of a strategic sales
programmes, implementation of the strategic sales programme, and evaluation and control of
sales force performance.

Formulation of a Strategic Sales Management Programme:

This is the beginning of a scientifically designed sales management programme. The sales
planner must take into account the influences and constraints imposed by the external
environment. The demands of the potential customers and the strategic moves of competitors are
two important external environmental factors that a sales manager should take into account.

The other environmental issues taken into account include the legal and political environment,
social and cultural environment, the technological and natural environment, and the prevailing
economic environment. The organizational environmental factors help in determining the nature
of a sales programme.

Human and financial resources, the level of capacity utilization, and the innovation cycles
prevailing in the environments can help and decide a company’s ability to pursue particular types
of strategies such as staying in the same market or expanding the market.
There are five key decisions that a sales manager needs to take at this stage:

1. The sales manager should decide on how the personal selling efforts can best be dovetailed to
the company’s environment and integrated with other elements of the marketing strategy. This
decision is set to explain the firm’s personal selling strategy.

2. The next decision is to find out and decide in what way the potential customers can best be
approached, persuaded, and serviced. This means deciding the kind of account management
policies the firm should adopt. This is essentially the decision related to sales approach.

3. The third decision is the organization of the sales force to call and manage various types of
customers as effectively and efficiently as possible. This is related to the design of sales
organization suitable to the market.

4. The fourth decision is related to the level of performance each member of the sales force is
expected to attain during the planning period under consideration. This involves decisions related
to forecasts, quota, and budget-setting.

5. The fifth decision is related to the deployment of the firm’s sales force in the light of the
account management policy and demand forecasts. The decision involves deciding on the sales
territories and allocation of these territories to the salespeople.

A sales programme must be carefully integrated with other marketing strategies. Personal selling
is only one of the tools of sales promotion strategy, which is a part of the core marketing
strategy.

The sales manager should decide what kind of sales promotion strategy the firm should pursue in
view of the firm’s product offerings, competition in the market, the available distribution
strategy, and the prevailing pricing policy. These decisions will influence the personal selling
objectives and organizational deployment of resources to personal selling efforts.

Implementation:

Implementation of the strategic sales management programme involves motivating people and
directing their efforts and energy towards the achievement of the corporate goals. A sales
manager needs to understand the reasons behind the behaviour of people and their level of
commitment towards the organizational goals. There are five factors that influence the job
performance and behaviour of salespeople.

The ability of the salespeople to achieve the desired level of outcome is always influenced by the
environment in which they operate. On many occasions their job behaviour is influenced and
sometimes constrained by the environmental factors such as the situation in the market, the level
of competition, the market demand for the category, and the condition of the economy in
providing consumption power to the end-users.

In many situations, the condition of the economy influences the organizations so much that their
demand pattern is moderated by the end-user demand. In organizational selling, the demand of
the secondary industry is influenced by the income level and purchase intent of the end
consumers, hence affecting the sales performance level of the sales staff in the primary industry.

Other elements of the marketing mix, such as the perceived quality of the product, the pricing
policy followed in the market, and the level of promotional support, also influence the sales
performance of the people in an organization.

A salesperson should be clear about his job profile and the methods he should follow to execute
the desired role in the organization. Any ambiguity in the job description and expectations and
demands of other people from the salesperson, within or outside the organization, may create
role confusion.

A salesperson’s job is defined by the roles and expectations of the sales manager, the marketing
manager, his family members, and other employees in the organization. The salesperson’s ability
to understand these roles will decide his performance level. This is termed as role perception in
the organization.

He has to face conflicting situations in the organization while executing his job. For example, he
may have to handle a customer who is very price sensitive and enjoys hard bargaining whereas
the company policy may not permit him to close the sale with a bargain. His ability to handle
situations like this will decide his success level.

The performance of a salesperson is also influenced by his ability to perform the job. Personal
characteristics, personality traits, level of intelligence, and analytical ability to comprehend the
selling situations will decide his success level in the sales field. No matter how much a
salesperson tries, he will not succeed unless he has an aptitude for selling.
As different kinds of selling demands different kinds of role expectations, a person successful in
a particular job may fail in another role in the same or a different organization. Even when a
salesperson has the aptitude to sell, he may lack the skill required to carry out the specific job.

The salesperson should have adequate knowledge about the product market conditions,
competitor product information, and should also have the knowledge about and training of
closing a sale through effective presentation.

A mere commitment to the job may not bring a highly motivated sales force to the organization.
The salespeople should be motivated enough to stay committed to the job and contribute
incessancy. A salesperson’s motivation level is related to his expectations of rewards from the
organization at different levels of performance and the practice of rewarding people in the
organization. People stay committed due to the expected rewards in financial terms, job
enrichments, or promotions.

Sales managers use various policies and procedures to influence the ability of a salesperson to
sell more. They can also influence the aptitude, skill levels, role perceptions, and motivation of
the sales force.

Implementation of an effective sales management programme involves designing of policies and

procedures to recruit the right kind of people, training them and helping them acquire adequate
skills to perform better, and motivating them to achieve higher than their normal commitment
levels.

The policies should be the guiding force in deciding what kind of job behaviour and performance
is desired from each salesperson and how they can be shaped and directed towards achieving
organizational goals.

A sales manager should decide what kind of aptitude is required for performing the selling
function and then should go to develop the recruitment and selection criteria to ensure that the
right kind of people with right ability and capabilities are hired for the enterprise. A salesperson
improves his skills and ability to sell by practice and through experience.

But it is not prudent to leave him on the field to learn by trial and error as it may affect the
company’s reputation. Good companies develop training modules to train the new sales force
before they go on the field. In many companies, the salespeople are trained regularly to increase
their knowledge regarding the emerging global competition and the application of technology in
the selling function.

Therefore, training is an ongoing process to upgrade the knowledge and skill level of the sales
force. A sales manager should decide what kind of selling skills and knowledge are required for
selling the products, and then design sales training programmes and introduce them for
enhancing the efficiency level of the sales force.

After the training programmes are over, the sales staff needs to go and work in the field. In many
instances they face conflicting situations and need guidance in executing their duties. So in
situations like these the sales managers need to develop effective supervision policies and
procedures so that the salespeople can obtain advice and guidance from the management. A
supervision policy should give enough freedom to the sale force to apply creative selling skills in
realizing a sale.

A salesperson’s level of motivation is a function of his intrinsic desire to be successful and the
extrinsic desire to obtain rewards from the organization for a given level of job performance. A
sales manager should determine what rewards are important and desirable by the sales force and
develop motivational plans and compensation mechanism to reward the successful salesperson.

A compensation programme involves financial and non-financial rewards. The non-financial

rewards programme includes recognition programmes, promotions to better territories or man-
agement positions, or opportunities for personal development.

Emerging Trends:

The field of sales management is changing according to the changes in the area of personal
selling. These emerging trends are affecting the business practices and orientations in the
organizations.

The most important is the customer orientation in Indian organizations. Structures, systems, and
processes are designed around customers to give them high value products and services, deliver
more satisfaction to the customers, and retain customers for a longer period.

This proposition is completely different from the concept of transaction relationships in

traditional sales management. The traditional sales management was more product-driven,
whereas modern sales management is more oriented towards mapping customers’ needs and
delivering products to satisfy customers’ needs. Service, quality, and low cost have become cust-
omer expectations.

Buyers change suppliers more often if they are dissatisfied with the quality of support and
service provided. Brand loyalty is no longer assumed and salespeople must work hard to keep a
hold on their customer base. If an organization wants to remain in business for a long time, it
must practice it while providing high quality goods or services.

Customer orientation requires a higher level of commitment from sales resources to ensure that
customer needs and wants are met satisfactorily. This added commitment means that resources
must be stretched or new methods of sales effort and services be found.

This kind of customer orientation demands exploring newer methods and techniques of selling.
The traditional selling process of individual salesperson calling on an individual buyer is fast
disappearing in many industries. It is observed that in the late 1980s and 1990s, many
organizations started using non-traditional methods of selling such as telemarketing, key ac-
counts management, part-time sales force, team selling, and Web-based e-selling techniques.

A company such as Bazee(dot)com started selling through Web-based platforms whereas com-
panies such as Videocon used sales teams to make sales presentations.

In the industrial sector, software companies have turned to cross-functional selling for the sale of
enterprise-wide solutions. A cross-functional sales team comprises people across all the
functions, such as sales, marketing, finance, operations, and human resource, so that a holistic
picture of customers’ problem can be snapped and solutions can be developed for them.

A company such as price line (dot) com in the US uses a Web-based sales model and practices
reverse auctioning as a successful method of selling. In a traditional auction model, people quote
high for a deal, whereas in price line (dot) com, the customers go for the lowest prices and a deal
is struck by matching the offer of sale of the customers.

This non-personal form of intermediation is found in many sectors such as hotel, travel, and
airline industry in the US. Companies such as Cummins Engineering also develop teams with
sales and technical people as members to take note of customers’ requirements and develop
solutions or customize the product offer to match customers’ problems.
The basic objective of reorienting the selling strategies is to build relationship with customers.
This has changed the selling process from transactional selling to relationship selling. It implies
that the selling-buying process is a continuous stream of transactions rather than a single
business of exchange.

The long-term association between buyers and sellers becomes the focus of business with the
customers. It is observed that keeping a satisfied customer is more profitable than gaining a new
customer.

The cost of acquiring a customer is increasing day by day, whereas if one is able to retain the
profitable customer, it has a unique advantage in business. Companies rely more on retaining
customers than acquiring new customers through a process of relationship selling and customer
relationship management programmes.

Data from customer interactions are collected and mined to find out implications for customer
decision-making, and relationship programmes are built around the new found customer intelli-
gence. Companies such as HCL technologies in India appoint full-time employees at the client’s
place for solving any problems relating to computer, hardware.

GE and other leading players have opened back office operations in India to attend to customer
complaints and route them to appropriate channels for faster redressal through call centres and
real-time interaction points on the Web. Most of the Indian software companies also appoint
sales and maintenance staff at clients’ project sites to solve any immediate problem.

All these are part of relationship selling where the existing customer is taken care of in a better
way and profits are generated by retaining the customers. Many firms launch customer loyalty
programmes such as the Jet Airways programme on Extra Miles for the frequency flying
customers. A relationship selling strategy demands the sales staff to develop long-term
relationships with their customers.

These relationships should be built across the enterprise and with a wide range of individuals
within the buying organization. This allows sellers to up-sale the newer and high-value products
and cross-sell the other categories to the same set of customers, thereby increasing the
profitability out of each customer.

As we have observed, there is a need to collect a large amount of customer data and build models
to forecast the likely behaviour of customers. This forecasting has to be ably supported by faster
design of solutions and faster communication with the customers about the new product
offerings.

Today’s enterprises are also undertaking unparalleled cost-cutting steps whereby the demand for
information of vendor’s cost structure is rising. Newer frontiers of emerging technology is not
only solving the problems of the traditional businessmen but also posing newer challenges to the
salespeople.

Organizations are adopting technology and integrating their businesses across the enterprise so
that all the departments are aware about the changing need patterns of the customers and can
gear up resource commitments towards satisfying customers’ evolving needs. Probably no single
variable has made such an immediate impact on the sales world as has the changing world of
technology.

Technology is having an impact in two ways- in terms of the selling function as a whole, and
also in terms of the performance of the selling function by an individual salesperson.

Newer technology has made it possible to automate the sales force. Organizations have
integrated their requirements with vendors and vendors also have adopted systems which are
compatible to the enterprise-wide solutions of their customers. So there is no need of a sales call
to be made with the routine customers.

Technology has made the organizations aware about their customers’ need patterns, and supplies
are fed into the system as and when demand arises. This has reduced the role of the salesperson
as an order taker.

These order cycles are linked to payment cycles also, whereby the cash is automatically
transferred to the seller’s account from the buyer’s account and there is no need for a follow-up
to realize the sales proceeds. This has directly reduced the cost of maintaining a back-up sales
force for these routine activities.

The buyers are benefited as they get fresh shipments and their inventory carrying cost is lowered
due to the supplier’s attention to the needs of the buyers. Tata Motors has integrated around 56
suppliers to its automated supply chain management system. Under this system, the vendors,
with desired quality specifications, supply uninterruptedly to the organizations and the receipts
for them are automatically cash transferred.
Maruti has a sales automation process whereby all the dealer networks are linked to its
production process at the Gurgaon plant and the production of different types of cars are linked
to the demand patterns in the marketplace. This kind of flexible manufacturing system is possible
due to the adoption of integrative technology. Companies such as Archies and Hallmark use data
derived from bar codes scanned at the check-out counters of retailers to supply information to
their salespeople.

This information allows the companies to supply the retailers with tailored displays and
promotions designed for the retailers’ customers based on their buying preferences. Pharma
majors such as Torrent and Pfizer also use technology to augment the job of their salespeople
and manage the demands in the marketplace.

Another aspect of adoption of technology has been the way the salespeople perform their jobs.
Many Indian companies provide hardware support in the form of notebooks to their salespeople
for data recording, transmission, and retrieval for faster access to customer order information,
price data, and bid specifications. More and more salespeople can now work from their homes
through computers, faxes, copiers, voicemails, and cellular phones.

The Web-based technology has improved their virtual presence on the job in the form of faster
reporting and better information feed to the organization. The emerging wireless technology has
brought another world order in which the decisions on quotations, inventory level, supply cycles,
and wait-in periods are taken on a real time basis at the client site also.

The use of various networks such as www(dot) Indian railways(dot)com or www(dot) jet
airways(dot)com and similar websites help the salespeople to speed up the reservation process,
send email to customers from home, workplace, and while traveling, and access banking
information about new products and services of competitors from the websites. All these
technological changes have improved the sales efficiency, and demand a different pattern of
selling professionalism unheard of in the past.

Business world is under a flux due to the emergence of new enterprises including virtual
organizations. Sales organizations are looking for diversity in experiences, background, culture,
and frames of reference for their sales personnel. Organizations must approach diversity in a
serious way due to the diversity in culture, practice, and rituals in India.

Organizations should have counselling programmes on gender awareness, cultural sensitivity,

and disability awareness to promote a harassment-free workplace. As the business is going
global and the virtual organizations have made it possible for the small firms to compete with
large firms, a global, multicultural workforce is emerging. This needs a radical attention to the
way sales management practices including working hours and travelling norms are decided.

The global and ethical issues strongly influence the sales management practices across the world.
Various legislations governing different countries influence the business decisions of enterprises.
Hence, they guide the business practices in different countries, which may pose different
challenges to the salespeople in each of these countries.

The global legislations such as the General Agreement on Trade and Tariff (GATT), the changes
due to World Trade Organization (WTO) pacts, and the emergence of legislations on
environment make it binding for a sales force to look at the emerging issues in the business
world and take corrective actions for business success. The growth in consumption in the
emerging markets, such as China, India, and Malaysia, demands special attention to be given to
the structure, approach, and nature of sales force and selling techniques.

This has given a boost to international travel for the salespeople, and has increased competition
in domestic as well as international markets. As organizations have begun competing globally,
the ethical issues and norms conducting businesses have also emerged.

Maintaining a certain level of ethical norm is a part of responsible commercial success.

According to Mr. Mukesh Ambani, business in the new world is a place where you can earn
profits and also better the living conditions of the people by practicing the role of a responsible
corporate citizen. There are ample cases of bribery and cheating in the world of sales in Indian
market and organizations are being blamed and ridiculed for the misconduct in business.

Modi Xerox as a company was found bribing people for selling its office equipment and
photocopiers in the Indian market. Salespeople are now evaluated on the basis of ethical
practices in realizing a sale. More and more companies are now moving to an ethics-based
corporate/ philosophy.
Control:

Planning and control go hand-in-hand. Sales objectives are reviewed to examine where we stand
today, how we travelled up to this point, where we are headed to, and how to reach there. Sales
plans are examined along with the policies and procedures.

The control process starts by setting up performance standards. The actual performance is then
measured. The results are compared with the standards set. Variations are deeply examined.
Lastly, corrective action is taken to set the matter right. Sales objectives may have to be revised
in the light of the feedback received.

In smaller organizations, the informal control works. As organizations grow in size, formal
control is exercised. The sales policies are put in black and white. Policies provide a permanent
solution to recurrent problems. Sales policies are subject to review in the light of the situation.

Sales volume is controlled by specifying how much we can sell in future. It serves as a standard.
Sales budgets extend control over sales volume to exercise control over margins and expenses. It
takes the individual territories as units for this exercise.

Sales control can be centralized or decentralized in an organization. In a decentralized

organization, control is exercised by an executive down the line. Higher executives are
concerned with the overall policy or control just by exception.