Sales Force Management: Mission, Vision & Goals

• Sales Force Management (SSFM) aligns a sales team's efforts with a company's overarching goals to drive growth and maximize efficiency.

Mission Statement

• A mission statement defines an organization's core purpose and focus, answering the question "Why does this company exist?"
• Mission statements are brief, clear, and align the organization's efforts, guiding the decision-making processes.
• Google's mission statement example is "To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful".

Vision Statement

• A vision statement outlines an organization's long-term aspirations, answering the question, "Where do we want to go?"
• Vision statements are forward-looking and inspire employees, stakeholders, and customers.
• Mercedes-Benz's vision statement is "To be the world's leading provider of premium products and premium experiences for premium customers."

Corporate Goals

• Corporate goals are high-level objectives set by a company to achieve its mission and vision.
• These goals guide the strategic direction, provide a framework for decision-making, performance measurement, and resource allocation.
• Corporate goals are long-term, measurable, aligned with company values and core competencies.
• An example of a corporate goal is to increase market share by 20% over the next five years.

Strategic Planning

• Objectives are the goals around which a strategic plan is formulated.
• Strategies are plans of action developed to achieve the objectives.
• Tactics are activities performed to carry out the strategy.

Integrating Marketing and Sales Functions

• The sales force is an invaluable source of information, so marketing should draw upon them when designing product/marketing strategies.
• Marketing is charged with providing the sales force with marketing tools like advertising, support services, and sales promotions to help them sell.
• The sales people have the primary responsibility for implementing marketing strategies.

Strategic Planning for the Total Company

• Strategic planning should be integrated and highly coordinated across all levels of the firm,
• Strategic planning determines the orgnaizations missino and vision, it corporate objectives (goals) that will enable the company to fulfill its mission and vision, and the strategies and tactics needed to achieve the objectives.

Strategic Planning for the Total Company: Steps

• Determine the company's mission and vision.
• Management sets broad, company goals consistent with company goals and vision.
• An example goal is to earn 20% ROI the next year, or increase market share from 8% to 20% in 3 years.
• Select the strategy used to reach that goal.

Corporate Goals and Strategies

• To earn 20% ROI in the next year, possible strategies include reducing production/marketing costs, and increasing the rate of capital turnover.
• To increase market share from 8% to 20% in 3 years, strategies include intensifying marketing efforts in domestic markets, expanding into foreign markets, or buying out a competitor.

Strategic Marketing Planning

• Once total company planning is done, the procedure can be repeated for the Marketing Program.
• Goals, Strategies, and Tactics at the Marketing level are closely related to those at the corporate level.

Company goals, strategies and marketing strategies

• If the company goal is to earn 20% ROI, the company strategy is to cut marketing costs by 15% this year, and the marketing strategy is to reduce direct selling efforts by using wholesalers to reach small accounts.
• If the company goal is to increase market share from its present 8% to 20%, the company strategy is to intensify marketing efforts in domestic markets, and the marketing strategy is to enter new markets.

Sales Force Strategy

• Once the strategic planning process is complete for the marketing program, the role of sales been largely established.
• If the corporate goal is to increase market share from 8% to 20% in two years, the corporate strategy is to intensify market efforts in domestic markets to increase sales volume by 3M next year.
• The marketing strategy can be to enter new geographic markets and sell to new types of customers, or cover existing geographic markets more aggressively.

Sales Force Strategy: Marketing Strategy A or B

• Pursuing marketing strategy A or B makes a big difference in the different sales strategies and tactics.
• If the marketing strategy is to enter new markets, the sales force strategy is to build long-term customer relations, stressing missionary selling in sales training and supervision and stressing the salary element in the compensation plan.
• if the marketing strategy is to sell aggressively in existing markets, the sales force strategy is to increase sales force motivation, conduct more sales contests, stress the commission feature in the sales plan, and increase field.

Sales Force as Integral to Marketing Strategy

• In order to achieve marketing objectives, the sales force must be seen as an integral part of the marketing strategy.

Strategic Trends

• There are multiple sales channels used to reach different customer segments or perform selling tasks necessary to efficiently serve one segment.
• Multiple relationship strategies vary from individual transactions to developing a close, long-term relationship or even a partnership with customers.

Selling Strategies

• Transaction selling emphasizes the product, its quality and price.
• Relationship selling develops depth-knowledge of the customer's company and business.
• In partnership, companies form strategic alliances to attain joint goals.
• Systems selling - a strategy adopted by firms in response to customer desires for solutions; involves selling a total package of goods, services, and related expertise.
• Team selling is composed of one or more sales people, as well as functional specialists like design engineers, financial experts, customer service representatives, and quality control engineers.