MANAGEMENT

OF SALES FORCE
Sales Management
Planning

Organizing

Administering

Controlling
SALES FORCE PLANNING

 Vendor’s existing and potential sales must be identified

and evaluated through analysis of its markets or Planning
and Control Units.
 Deployment of sales force must be done by assessing the
current needs and future sales potential of the customers
of the firm
 Planning and Control Units
 A PCU can be defined on the basis of products, accounts,
customer classifications, prospective customers, territories,
sales regions or any combination of such variables.

Developing information on PCU depends on

 Deciding on appropriate basis for describing the units
(customers, products, territories etc.)
 Criteria to evaluate PCU must be established
 It can be according to industry type (paper mill vs chemical
producer) or it can be region wise (north, south, east, west)
 Planning and Control Units
 Economic and environmental variables
 Competitive variables
 Customer-related variables
 Territory-related variables
 Company variables
 Sales Force Deployment
 Sales Force Deployment is to determine the combination of
sales force size, sales territory configuration, and selling
effort allocation that yields the greatest productivity in the
performance of the sales staff.
 Setting the Total Level of Selling Efforts - Understand the
total size of PCU and then decide how much selling effort
is required?
 Organizing the selling effort
 Allocating the selling effort
 Allocating the selling effort
Rating Scores (5 = excellent, 1 = Poor)

Key Factors Account 1 Account 2 Account 3

Competitive
3 5 2
Pressure
Account
2 1 5
Familiarity
Multiple Buying
5 3 5
Influence
Purchase
4 5 3
Assortment
Account
5 2 1
Potential
 Allocating the selling effort
Factor
Key Factors Importance Account 1 Account 2 Account 3
Weight
Competitive
30 90 150 60
Pressure
Account
10 20 10 50
Familiarity
Multiple Buying
10 50 30 50
Influence
Purchase
20 80 100 60
Assortment
Account Potential 30 150 60 30

Total 100 390 350 250

Sales Effort 3.9 3.5 2.5
Allocation Index
 E-Commerce
E-commerce involves “business communications and
transmissions over networks and through computers,
specifically buying and selling of goods and services, and
the transfer of funds through digital communications”

E-commerce means

• Communications perspective - delivery of information,

products/services, payments via telephone lines, networks

• Business perspective - it is application of technology to the

automation of business transactions and work flows

• Service perspective - cutting service costs while increasing

the speed of delivery
 Elements of E-Commerce

• Internet and World Wide Web

• Intranets and extranets

 Benefits of E-Commerce

• Enhanced customer focus, Responsiveness and

Relationships

• Reduced transaction costs

• Integration of supply chain
• Focus on core business
• Access to global markets
 Directory Advertising

• Industrial Directory - several private ones

• Yellow pages
• It is highly credible medium
• For many buyers, a powerful purchasing tool
• Very few disadvantages like the ad gets noticed only when
buyers buy the directory
 Organizing the Sales Force

• Customer-based approach
• Product-based approach
• Territory based approach
• Inside/Outside Sales based approach