Sales Executives & Evolution of Sales Department

Sales Executives

• Sales executives are professionals who plan, build, and maintain effective organizations and design and utilize efficient control procedures.
• They require the ability to install, operate, and use control procedures appropriate to the company's situation and objectives.
• Their responsibilities include organizations, customers, and society.
• Top management holds them accountable to obtain sales volume, profits, and continued business growth.
• Customers expect easily resalable products/services backed by support.
• Society looks to them to ensure goods and services are available at reasonable prices and to minimize environmental damage.
• "Socially responsible" products and services lead to achieved management objectives.
• A business's earnings depend on fulfilling the interests of the firm, final buyers, and society.

Evolution of Sales Department

• Before the Industrial Revolution, small enterprises produced enough for nearby customers.
• A single individual oversaw all business phases, with manufacturing prioritized, so selling was part-time.
• The Industrial Revolution necessitated finding and selling to new markets.
• Newly built factories created huge quantities so sales coverage needed expansions because nearby markets could not absorb it all.
• Hiring workers, acquiring land/buildings/machinery took precedence over selling.
• Businesses adopted the corporate organization while firsthand administration gave way to delegated authority.
• Separate functional departments were established, sales departments were last.
• Specialized sales departments solved market expansion but communicating with customers remained a challenge.
• Manufacturers shifted portions of marketing to middlemen, like retailers.
• Larger retailers bought for resale to other retailers until many evolved into wholesale institutions.
• The manufacturer’s sales department became remote from consumers, it became difficult to control sales conditions.

Sales Management

• Sales management originally directed sales force personnel, but its broader sense involves managing all marketing activities.
• These include advertising, promotions, marketing research, distribution, pricing, and product merchandising.
• The term "marketing management" became used instead of "sales management" for broader concepts
• The American Marketing Association defined sales management as a process which involves all personal selling, including recruiting, selecting, equipping, assigning, routing, supervising, paying, and motivating the sales force".
• Sales managers build formal/informal structures to ensure communication internally but also with other organizational units.
• Sales managers serve as a point of customer contact and manages distribution networks.

Sales Management Objectives

• From the company viewpoint, they include sales volume, contributing to profits, and continuing growth.
• Sales executives contribute majorly to these objectives, and top management is ultimately responsible for the enterprise's success, also for supplying socially responsible products at satisfactory prices.
• Top management delegates sufficient authority to marketing and then to sales management.
• Objectives become translated into specific goals broken down for achievability.
• Sales volume, gross margin, and net profit targets are set on sales management's appraisal of market opportunities, with projected growth benchmarks.
• Reaching targets depends upon sales and marketing personnel's performance.

Sales Management and Financial Results

• Sales management and financial results are closely related and stated from basic accounting formulas.
• Sales management influences formula numbers and is subject to the caliber and performance of management.
• Sales management does not directly affect cost-of-sales, large sales volume must maintain the unit costs of production and distribution.
• Formulas become company statements used by directors and stockholders to appraise management's performance.
• Sales executives sometimes stress sales volume, neglecting gross margin and expenses.
• When sales volume increases but gross margin declines with proportionally increased expenses, net profits decrease.
• Lower sales volume with skilled management can reduce expenses, turning losses into profits.
• Overemphasizing margins and low expenses involves percentage relationships.
• Relationships should involve the relationships among profits, sales etc, net profits not a percentage.
• Optimum relationship must be achieved for profitability, the target is an optimum relationship among sales, gross margin, and expenses.
• Sales management works with others (production/advertising charges) to assure sufficient sales volume so appropriate cost of sales are achieved.

Organizer and Coordinator Role

• Optimum marketing performance needs coordination where sales executives play significant roles.
• Coordination responsibilities involve organization, planning and marketing strategy.
• Higher ranking executives obtaining coordination, but other levels have responsibility for this as well
• Order-getting method coordination (personal selling, advertising) goes through a responsible, top-ranking executive.
• These include marketing VPs, or directors, who are tasked to minimize conflicting departments working without what other departments are doing.
• Inside sales departments, all sales executives coordinate organizational units under control.
• Democratic rules apply to sales departments, subordinates are consulted and are allowed to participate in making decisions (reducing the tendency to resist directives).

Sales Executives and Planning

• Sales executives with knowledge of the market/capabilities of the workforce achieve coordination in marketing objectives and plan how to achieve the best results at an optimum cost.
• Sales executives decide elements for any marketing plan, and what resources to each item in order to equate marginal effectiveness with other items.
• Specific programs lay out growth objectives
• Secure a marketing program for market conditions
• Sales executives related to personal selling can be coordinated with order-getting methods.
• Personal selling efforts must be coordinated with advertising, display, etc to ensure marketing success.
• There also can be a building and maintenance program which requires executives have coordination during the plan
• Synchronizing personal selling is important with advertising because advertising proves uneconomic without a sales force to capitalize on interest.
• Selling efforts are wasted on explaining details that can be replaced with advertising, yet both sales people and the advertising uses the same appeals.
• Executives need to coordinate promotional efforts with one another
• Coordination occurs with sales executives for the marketing efforts of the middle men.
• One of the key objectives involve gaining product distribution
• Gaining a product’s sales executive responsibility, includes the need to establish distribution strategies in sales or business environments.
• Middlemen refuse to stock product since manufacturer can show staff can present a strong argument. Other companies instead “pull” products towards consumers through advertisement and persuasion.

Distribution Channels and New Products

• The lack of distribution channels could make or break a manufacturer of new products, it often faces distributor lethargy indifference, use missionary selling.
• New consumer products selling may be difficult because integrated retailers deny centralized calls.
• Manufacturers of new products may build demand in outlets, prove established market demand, and secure adequate distribution.
• Executives see promotional efforts go to middlemen and stock the product.
• Coordination becomes important for putting distributors between customers
• Ensure the product is available, even with adequate advertisements, the outlets are unknown. This can make the channel difficult.
• Sales workers promote the product through signs, and advertising mats. Local advertising done with local dealer names
• Playing a role to the sales force is important with consumers, especially those who require support before purchasing.
• Location has the power to bridge advertising
• Persuading personnel requires the permission of store workers, and making sure it’s okay with them to obtain rights.

Reconciling Business Goals

• Skillful coordination minimizes friction from conflicts (imaginary or real) between manufacturers/middlemen.
• Information for middlemen goes through trade advertising, sales people and the company’s personnel.
• Sales people present special reports
• Salesmen serve as vehicles for communication.

Maintaining Salespeople

• Sales executives ensure sales personnel are fair and impartial when dealing with middlemen.
• Training is done along with training for policies and processes.
• This falls on the responsibility of sales executives.
• Ensuring that sales personnel make presentations for dealers to participate requires sales efforts. Coordinating is any step an executive takes to facilitate the customer.
• Marketing success when implementing means coordinating showtimes or exhibitions.
• Salespeople are alerted when there’s an implementation.
• It’s the salespeople who oversee promotional programs. An important role in coordinating efforts.

Salespeople Objectives

• Successful market introductions of new products needs to be planned
• The proper timing that reduces the opportunity
• Requires coordination: advertising, personnel and activities

Control

• The sales executives control the workforce to hit objectives.
• Also includes planning, organization, and ordination
• Each step includes the need to understand everything in that stage and make plans based on past events

Quantitative Performance Standards

• Performance is measured when standards are set
• Requires experimentation
• Identify what factors contribute to personal selling efficiency
• Intelligent settings may work by controlling which individuals perform and by what means
• Standard ranges of performance exist to give room for variation
• Once exceeded, danger lies in a difficult situation

Information Gathering

• Controlling sales depends on the selected strategies.
• Should be measured by management and by how much it affects sales personnel
• The best methods should be used to gather information
• Information must be sent in order, and relayed to the unit
• Performance review is important to the success of the project

Performance

• Performance involves a comparison which must involve territorial conditions.
• Some variation is uncontrollable, while others are controllable.
• Changes which have affected the economic changes are from wars, strikes, weather etc.
• Proper coverage is good and includes many actions or tasks.
• People are not to be tried for those efforts, meaning there is no judgement if they are under control.
• It’s important to rule them out.

Action to correct

• Management corrects explained actions or variations.
• It includes actions, support and restraint.
• The unrestraint indicates adjustments.
• Comparison is key to seeing how close objectives are

Controls (General)

• Effective controllers have their fingers ready for changing states of a business
• In order for people to succeed, they need to make sure that the company has a functional form to decide if it is able to be controlled in writing.
• It’s very important that there should be a functional and consistent form.
• Good policies evolve from understanding the business and the product
• Many issues are with an experiment where data is scarce. Scaling back objective reviews from the beginning.

Control over Sales Volume

• Key is to set how many are in each specified sales
• It goes back toward potential, and serves as a method for sales performance.
• This happens periodically, and includes forecasts and factors to increase performance.

Budgetary Controls

• Extends the control for revenue and profit. Sales is able to perform through customers etc.

Effective Control Factors

• Points indicate degree to which control is exercised based on its decentralization
• The top situations are handed over

Conclusion

• The modern objectives of management has the goal of building and training the sales force.
• It must also use skills in planning coordination, to ensure the activity for the marketing effort

Relating Sales Management and Skills

• Sales need a directing component, the management
• Executives need to know about the job and how it all works and how to solve problems
• Skills can be persuasive to allow personnel to tailor the process to each consumer

Personal V. Sales and Marketing

• Advertising is in writing
• Sales is personal, identify differences in patrons
• Executives need what works through practice
• Situations can be known and managed, in order to face day to day

Buyer - Seller Dyads

• Communication between 2 or more is a good idea
• Interaction = example. Motivation needed to make customer behave in the same way
• The seller desires.
• Evans researched buyer dyads.
• Prospects know what their needs are.
• More alike, there is a sale result.

Selling Types

• Selling is from many different experiences through salespeople or advertising

Product vs. Service

• Tangible: sales people have good understanding of product
• Intangible: have a good understanding

Theories of Selling

• Survey: most viewed it as an art, science, and art.
• That is what drove the need from selling

Selling Approaches

• Successful sales, advertising, and application
• Based on what to do
• Rather Than scientific models, so they are unreliable.
• Borrowing approaches.

How to sell

• Strong Pioneer
• Howard of columbia
• The buyer/seller relationship.
• The correct set of rules

AIDAS Theory

• Attension, interest, desire, action, and satisfaction
• Basis for texts and advertising texts and sales programs

Securing Attention

• The goal is to be in receptive mode
• Minutes of crucial times
• Reason to conduct interview
• A point so that they survive

Gaining Interest

• To evolve to strong interest. Develop infectious enthusiasm
• Search most effective method, hints
• Strategems
• Actions, moods and motives

Kindling Desire

• 3rd goal is key point
• Salesperson must have a discussion
• Faces be fond around them
• Satisfy client
• There is a skill that has to do with all of these things

Inducing Actions

• Prospect needs to be ready to act and buy
• Experienced personnel need to help
• Thus that is the moment you have the closer
• Never a definite or yes for the most part

Satisfaction

• In order to satisfy, it is necessary to be in a correct state
• Meaning customer’s satisfaction will depend on that effort in order to be seen
• No anticlimaxes

"Right Set of Circumstances" Theory of Selling

• Situation-response theory
• To use a simplified example, one has to take what is internal
• It seeks appealing to an attitude
• Internal and external to to use to improve what is already available

What influences responses?

• Appeals can go through desired methods
• Those have had difficulties

Buying Theory

• One answer, and needs to solve
• It could solve the problem
• A need is something that can be fixed and taken into account so that it fits appropriately
• The tendency to put them off.

Satisfaction Model

• Model by 1, and shows all the good models that they show
• Whenever a need was felt, conscious of a deficiency
• With respect to the trade name
• Whenever there has to be an established mode where the buying habit comes by:

To purchase a product:

• Appropriate
• Considered well
• Experience

With these types of models:

• Known
• Trade is very good
• Buyers trust them.

Model Equations

Response

• Pre - disposation
• Level
• Internal
• Trade shows with a client

Influencing Buyers

• Can display type and is rewarding, by reinforcing
• Satisfy the need to help or be better able to
• One wants the client to meet all their potential
• A client that is the best that is possible to take in account and follow all models and methods

Key is for the product is explained well.

• Direct actions for the product
• Greatest effects of the salesperson
• Product is for use to learn
• Providing those cues when the product has been well designed
• Sales are easier in all scenarios

Salesperson reduction

• If they were to decide the best product, it can help reduce dissonance

4 Roles of that :

• Buyer trusted salesperson
• Less sales
• With a relation, good.

Product reduction

• Emphasizes the advantages from two ways!
• This was all that were available

Prospecting

• Earmarks above average salesmen.
• Productive
• Travel arrange.
• They do all those that cannot or cannot try
• Eliminating bias

Stretch Sales

• Specialized personnel.
• Prospecting are 4!
• Product for
• Ability
• Salesperson
• Time
• They will be available

Sales executives plan and maintain organizations, using control procedures. They are responsible to organizations, customers, and society. A business's earnings depend on fulfilling the interests of the firm, final buyers, and society.