Sales Management: Roles, Responsibilities, and Key Qualities
Lesson 4: Introduction to Sales Management
1. Sales Force Management
The attainment of sales force goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, staffing, training, leading, and controlling organizational resources.
Definition from the American Marketing Association: Sales management means 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.
2. Nature and Role of Sales Management
Specific Duties and Responsibilities of a Sales Manager
- The determination of sales force objectives and goals
- Sales force organization, size, territory, and quota finalization
- Sales forecasting and budgeting
- Sales force selection, recruitment, and training
- Motivating and leading the sales force
- Designing compensation plans and control systems
- Designing career growth plans and building relationship strategies with key customers
- Integration of technology with the sales function
- Augmenting the sales force by augmenting the sales-closing process
Why is Sales Management Viewed as Multi-Disciplinary?
Its integration with marketing management, relationship selling, and varying sales responsibilities.
- Sales managers have to manage a diverse workforce and more complex technology.
- Sales managers have to perform duties such as recruiting, training, selecting, motivating, forecasting, controlling, and administering salespeople.
- Sales managers’ primary responsibility is generating revenue for their firms.
- Sales managers have to manage and satisfy multiple stakeholders like customers, suppliers, sales representatives, and top management with an objective of increasing sales and profitability.
Sales Managers’ Important Qualities:
- The ability to be a team player
- Discipline in work habits like punctual attendance at meetings, customer appointments, etc.
- The ability to manage a team and good communication skills
- Selling skills for products, services, or ideas
- Well-balanced person with controlled self-esteem
From Salesperson to Sales Manager:
- Changes in goals and objectives: Shift to territory’s or organization’s goals, instead of personal goals of sales volume, sales calls, customer satisfaction, etc.
- Change in responsibilities: Focus on sales administration work, including managing salespeople reporting (instead of selling).
- Change in views: Completing activities effectively through the team to achieve goals/objectives.
- Change in skills requirement: Salesperson needs selling, negotiation, and communication skills. Sales manager also needs managerial skills, such as planning, directing, motivating, training, and controlling salespeople.
- Change in relationships: Salesperson needs good relationships with customers, peers, and superiors. Sales manager has to develop new relationships with other managers, subordinates (former peers), and new superiors.
- Value creation for customers: The purpose and role of the sales force are changing, from communicating the value of the selling firm’s offer to adding or creating value for the customer. (Value = Benefit – Cost, i.e., give more benefit or reduce cost)
- Value addition to the organization: The sales force must recognize that their focus is not only to collect orders but to generate a profit for the organization they work for. Profit depends on selling conditions (discounts, terms of payment) but also on the products sold (different products may have different contributions).
3. Top Ten Qualities of a Salesperson
- Willingness to go to bat for the buyer within the supplier firm
- Thoroughness and follow-through
- Knowledge of the salesperson’s product line
- Market knowledge and keeping the buyer posted
- Applying products and services to the buyer’s needs
- Knowledge of the buyer’s product line
- Preparation for sales calls
- Regularity of sales calls
- Diplomacy in dealing with operating departments
- Technical education
Evolution of Personal Selling
Persuasion – Negotiation – Consultative selling – Business management – Partnership strategies