Sales Management: Shaping Future Sales Leaders

The Sales Function and

Multi-Sales Channels
Chapter 2

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The Sales Function
Locating potential buyers
Persuading them
Consummating the transaction

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The Supply Chain
Complete process of
events and people needed
to bring product to the
customer
Key term Sales forecast:
what the salesperson
expects to sell in a
particular period of time

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Managing the Supply Chain:
Active vs. Passive

Passive Active

Example: salesperson turns in Salesperson actively seeks to

sales forecast influence what supply chain does
Sales forecast influences what Example: buyer that needs
happens in supply chain, but special payment terms will need
salesperson is not taking active the salespersons help in securing
role in influencing chains activity those terms from the company
Example: salesperson might need
to arrange expedited delivery in
order to meet a buyers needs

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Multichannel Environment
Using a number of methods, or channels, to accomplish
the selling function

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Global Sales Management:
Why Outsource?
Lower cost
Willing and highly educated workforce availability

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Strategies to Reduce Sales Force
Costs Without Sacrificing Performance
Purifying
Shifting non-selling activities to lower-cost alternatives
Outsourcing
Hiring another company to carry out a task or set of
tasks

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Advantages of Company-Employed
vs. Outsourced Sales Force

Company-Employed Outsourced

Company can exert greater Firms selling costs can be

control over their efforts shared with other
manufacturers, reducing cost
Greater control over who is per sales call
hired
Established relationships with
Focus on only the companys customers from which the
products, whereas an manufacturer can benefit
outsourced representative
might be free to sell many These can yield greater
companies products coverage of the market for the
manufacturer

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Types of Outsourced Salespeople

Mfg Rep Independent contractor who does not take

Mfg Agent ownership of product and does not maintain an
Rep inventory

Sells for many manufacturers and take ownership

Distributor of products, sell them on consignment, or
otherwise maintain an inventory

Represents either buyer or seller and sometimes

Broker both, carries an inventory of products but does
not take ownership of them

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Types of Company-Employed
Salespeople

Inside Sells at a companys facilities, either by

Salesperson telephone or in person

Field Sells at the customers location

Representative

Has responsibility for building sales within

Account
specific accounts or accounts within a specific
Manager area (geographic rep)

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Types of Company-Employed
Salespeople (continued)

Vertical Market
Accounts all operate in the same industry
Rep

Retail Sales Sells to consumers who come into stores

Rep

Sells to organizations in the supply chain,

Trade Rep usually retailers

Missionary
Sells to people who recommend or prescribe a
Salesperson product to others but do not personally use it
(detail rep)

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More on Outsourcing
Can outsource Call Centers
Can outsource parts of the sales cycle
To different sales organizations
Often used to
Enter new markets
Keep costs variable (no overhead)
Leverage market coverage costs (share with others)

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Seamless Integration
Seamless integration: a firms
customers can easily shift
transactions across various
channels
Goal: all areas have all the
customer information they
need so the customer is
treated properly

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Alignment
Getting all of functional areas of a firm to work together
This includes the companys various salespeopleits inside
reps, geographic reps, customer service reps, etc.

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Alignment
Alignment occurs at 3 levels

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Areas to Align

Processes Sales
Technology
and Goals Metrics

CRM system Lead Marketing &

used by management sales have
salespeople same sales
also supports targets for a
marketing new product

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