Term Paper on "Sales Management and Emarketing"

Term Paper 4 pages (1757 words) Sources: 0

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Sales Management and e-Marketing

How can companies best use the Internet as a training tool for their sales

people? Is this a good use of the technology?

Given the advances in rich media presentation technologies including J2EE

programming languages (Java) and support for exception-based browser

updates through the use of AJAX technologies, online training systems for

evaluating salesperson's abilities and also teaching them new sales skills

have become very popular globally. Using the Internet to first test a

salesperson's innate abilities to sell is an excellent use of this

technology, specifically focusing in on role-playing and evaluating the

judgment of potential sales representatives. The basic mathematical and

statistical concepts can also be evaluated using Internet-based

applications. In addition, simulations of actual bidding and pricing

scenarios can greatly enhance the ability of hiring companies to evaluate

potential candidates. There is also the added benefit of seeing how well

candidates express themselves in writing by giving them scenarios to write

a letter back to a customer about a potentially stressful situation.

Seeing online what the salespersons' true knowledge is can greatly

alleviate interviewer bias as well, as Internet-based testing takes the

persons' race, color, creed and gender completely out of the consideration,

which is by far the fairest type of screening there is. In summary, this

is an excellent use of Internet-based technologies, as it provides hiring

companies with the opportunity to evaluate potential prospects without

having to manage the testing process manually, it can be done

electronically, testing potential employees directly over the Internet at

their convenience as well.

A new office supply company, selling B2B, is about to hire its first sales

people. You have been assigned to develop selection procedures to evaluate

applicants for the job as new sales personnel. What will you likely do? How

will your selection procedure differ if you are hiring sales people for

personal selling/outside sales or inside sales?

The key criteria that need to be used in the hiring evaluation process of

B2B sales people are significantly different than those that would be used

for personal selling, outside sales, or inside sales. For B2B salespeople,

there needs to first be a much more of a focus on solution selling, less of

a focus purely on just completing the transaction. In addition, as sales

cycles for B2B products can be over a year in length, it is critical that

B2B salespeople also have previous experience managing more complex sales

engagements. The ability to also create solutions for customers based on

integrating products and systems together unlike they have been done before

also requires a high level of product knowledge on the part of the B2B

sales person. What emerges from these requirements then is a set of

evaluation criteria that specifically looks to quantify how well

prospective employees can manage multiple, often conflicting priorities,

their natural skills at project management, and most important, their

ability to quickly ascertain complex needs and specific solutions for them.

Part project manager, part customer advocate and solution architect, the

B2B sales person must be tested for a unique set of needs if they are going

to succeed.

Personal selling and outside sales representatives on the other hand do not

require such a long-term orientation or as much technical expertise, yet

these salespeople do require a very high level of communications skill and

the ability to quickly ascertain customer problems. Personal selling

representatives also require a very high degree of autonomy and ability to

get work done on their own - they require high levels of intuitive.

Inside sales representatives need to be more adept at building

relationships internally and working on cross-functional teams to

accomplish tasks for their clients. Like the outside sales

representatives, inside sales representative candidates must also have a

very high level of intuitive as well. The attributes of being able to

quickly get solutions in place for customers, build and strengthen key

partnerships through the company to gain cooperation to solve customers'

problems, and the ability to define entirely new solution sets based on

knowledge of the company's products are all critical.

Most sales managers design their compensation and incentive programs to

achieve specific goals. What goals are best achieved with commissions? What

goals are best achieved by using incentives? How will employees from

different demographic groups respond to different compensation and

incentive programs?

The use of commissions and incentives are commonplace in both B2B and B2C

selling professions. For many companies the use of commissions is used to

reward keeping the price as high as possible, and in certain B2B selling

scenarios, commissions are also used to reward salespeople who keep gross

contribution margins high as well. Commissions also can be a relatively

high percentage of the sales price of a product or service, leading some

companies and industries to base compensation for salespeople purely on

commission alone. Typically on big-ticket items where price is relatively

set and the salesperson is incented to get the highest price possible,

commissions are often used.

Incentives on the other hand are often more short-term in nature and

focused on only one specific product or service for just a short length of

time. Incentives can range from cash payments for increasing sales

(sometimes called spiffs in sales jargon) or to point-based contests where

the salespeople can win a trip or some larger, valuable prize. Incentives

almost always have an immediate impact on the salesperson's income or

stature in the company.

Different demographic groups respond significantly differently to

commissions and incentives. Straight commission sales jobs often require

much sales prospecting, much cold calling, and lots of activity to keep a

salespersons' income at a specific level. Typically salespeople just

starting out, younger, and wanting to prove themselves in sales take

commission-only jobs. From an income standpoint this is a sales position

that can be very lucrative and then completely lacking in income, and as a

result many who participate in commission-only sales positions have few

financial responsibilities. The fluctuation in income is too great for

those salespeople who may have many other financial responsibilities. The

demographics of those salespeople who are attracted to incentives spans

across age and income groups, with the specific nature of the incentive

being the most critical aspect of the attractiveness to a given demographic

group.

Every week there are hundreds of ads for non-retail sales jobs on job sites

like Monster.com. Pick a Canadian ad from Monster.com or another site, and

provide a list of advantages and disadvantages of this job as part of a

sales career. (you must include a copy of the ad, or its text, in the

answer)

Link:

http://jobsearch.monster.ca/getjob.asp?JobID=56989981&AVSDM=2007%2D08%2D16+2

2%3A01%3A59&Logo=1&fn=10&lid=229&cy=CA&dcjvlid=229

The position of Agent Account Manager for Xerox Corporation has the

following advantages and disadvantages from the standpoint of helping to be

a stepping stone in a career.

First, the advantages include Xerox's excellent training programs in sales,

which are considered among the best in the industry. There is also

extensive role-playing and assistance with prospecting, sales cycle,

closing, and account maintenance techniques that Xerox provides as part of

its training. Second, the product training that Xerox provides to its

sales staff is also exceptionally good. It would be useful to anyone's'

sales career to see how Xerox manages the product and sales training

function as well. Third, Xerox is considered an excellent company and

would add value to any resume. Fourth, the position is taking over

existing accounts and prospecting for new ones, which means the sales

representative will have the chance to expand their sales network over time

both with customers and prospects.

The disadvantages include the fact that Xerox is by nature very

hierarchical and times can be inflexible in allowing for creativity in

sales and account strategies. The culture of the company could be

difficult to work in if a person likes much freedom in how they do their

work. Second, the job doesn't appear to require much creative thought; it

is a job that requires a person very strong at and motivated for completing

exectuoin-level sales strategies. For anyone who is a conceptual thinker,

this could be a challenge to stay focused. Third, Xerox is known for

having very high quotas and to attain the maximum income possible this job

will most likely require 50 - 60 hour weeks or more to accomplish the total

income potential available. Fourth, small businesses tend to expect high

levels of service for little price; which means this job could easily turn

into being in account maintenance roles with existing clients if the sales

rep allows that to happen. In summary, the job will require much work and

commitment and the sales rep will need to balance support for existing

accounts with the growth of new ones, as existing accounts will take all

their time if the rep is not careful.

Sales people are commonly evaluated using both subjective and objective

methods. For what performance attributes is each method preferable? Which

method is more important? Why?

Both subjective and objective measures of sales performance are critical in

evaluating… READ MORE

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