Name :-Snehal Anand Gawande

Subject:-Sales and Distribution Management

Specialization:-Marketing
Roll no:-122053
Date:-26/08/2020

Q1.Define Sales Management and state and explain the emerging trends in sales
management with examples.
Ans:- Sales management is solely concerned with the direction and control of the sales
force. Sales management refers to the management of sales personnel, though sometimes,
in a broader sense, it covers advertising, distribution, pricing and product designing, all
elements of marketing management.

The American Marketing Association has defined “sales management” as “the planning,
direction and control of personal selling, including recruiting, selecting, equipping,
assigning, routing, supervising, paying and motivating as these tasks apply to the personal
sales force.”
It may be called sales force management. The management has manifold responsibilities.
Controlling and guiding the sales force is one of the important activities of management.
Below are the emerging trends in sales management
To be successful in a changing market environment, it is important that sales
managers understand the importance of emerging trends in the following
areas

Global Perspective

Global competition is intensifying. Domestic companies who never thought

about foreign competitors are suddenly finding them in their backyard. This is
a challenge which sales managers and salesperson must take on, they have to
improve their personal selling efforts not only in their countries but also in
foreign countries. Selling goods and services in global markets presents a
challenge due to differences in culture, language, needs and requirements.

Technical revolution

Digital revolution and management information system have greatly increased

the capabilities of consumers and marketing organizations. Consumer today
can get information about products, compare it with other brand, place an
order and place an order instantly over the internet. This has led to a different
kind of sales force who collects information about internet users, markets and
prospects of internet buyers. It is mandatory for all companies to have their
website now.

To compete effectively, sales person and managers will have to adopt the latest
technology.

Customer Relationship Management [CRM]

Combining information technology with relationship marketing has resulted

in customer relationship management. Interestingly, the concept of
relationship marketing came about earlier by bringing quality, customer
service and marketing together.

Relationship marketing aims in building long term satisfying relations with

key customers distributors and suppliers in order to earn and retain their long
term preference and business. CRM enable companies to provide excellent
real-time service by focusing on meeting the individual needs of each valued
customer, through the use of CRM software packages.

Sales Force Diversity

The demographic characteristics of sales force is changing and becoming more

varied. For example, more and more women are taking up careers in sales
management and selling. Also the education level of sales people is going up
most of them holding a college degree or a post graduate degree. Sales
managers now have to handle a sales force of these varied demographic,
expectations of each and every individual is different and sales manager needs
to use different motivational tools against each one of them.

Team Selling Approach

The practice of team selling is more widely followed by most companies in

recent years. Team selling approach is used when company wants to build a
long term mutually beneficial relationship with major customers, who have
high sales and profitable potential. It is used for selling a technically complex
product or a service to a potential customer. The composition of team may
vary depending upon the customer from top management, technical specialist,
customer service, etc…

Managing Multi-Channels

Multi-channel marketing system occurs when organization uses two or more

marketing channels to target one or more customer segments. Major benefits
of multi-channel marketing system are:

 Lower channel cost

 Increased market coverage
 Customized selling

Multi-channel may also lead to conflicts and control problems, as two or more
channels may compete for same customer. A successful sales manager will
have to effectively manage conflict between the channels.

Ethical and Social Issues

Sales managers have ethical and social responsibilities. Sales people face
ethical issues such as bribery, deception (or misleading) and high pressure
sales tactics. Today’s sales managers have no choice but to ensure ethical
standards from sales force otherwise they may be out of business or even land
up in legal problems.
Q2.Write Short note on
1.Impact of technology on salesmanagement
Ans:- Technology’s Impact on Sales
Technology is transforming businesses and disrupting entire industries.
One of those industries that has been heavily affected is sales. From
prospecting to closing, today’s mobile, social, big data, and cloud
technologies are revamping the sales process in ways that would have
been unthinkable only a few decades ago. As a result, many sales
organizations are embracing new technologies to drive productivity,
profitability, and competitive advantage to revamp the sales process .
1. BigData: In today’s world, competitive advantage for sales organizations
depends largely upon the ability to successfully capture, manage, and
analyze massive volumes of customer data  that contains insights into
customer behaviors and buying habits. Despite this, the average company
only analyzes roughly 12% of the data that they have available.This is
where “big data” technology comes in.

2. Social Platforms: The explosion of social technology has given rise to a

number of social media platforms for attracting and engaging new
customers, a vital step in getting a customer into the sales funnel. Social
media platforms provide opportunities for companies to “shake hands” with
customers, engaging them in conversations about products and services
for valuable insights that could lead to a sale. Unlike conventional sales,
social media makes it possible to shake millions of hands from across the
entire world all at once.  
3.Sales Force Automation Systems: Statistics show that businesses
without automation spend 71 percent of their time and resources planning
and defining business processes. The same holds true for sales
organizations. Selling requires a number of tedious, time-consuming, and
repetitive tasks, such as scheduling sales appointments, sending follow-up
emails, and updating sales opportunities(all of which reduce productivity
and profitability).
Sales Force Automation (SFA) technology solutions automate many tasks,
freeing up sales employees to focus on activities that generate more sales
and revenue. SFA allows sales managers to keep their teams up to date on
current and new products and services. With SFA, managers can also have
instant access to activities of individual sales employees, sales figures,
opportunities, customer complaints, and other data used to determine sales
success. Armed with information provided in real-time, managers can take
action and make adjustments quickly to optimize efforts.  

4.Cloud-based CRM Technology: Customer Relationship

Management systems are powerful tools designed to give organizations a
holistic view of the customer relationship by integrating marketing, sales,
and customer support.
While traditional onsite CRM software has their merits, cloud technology
takes CRM to a whole new level by freeing up employees from onsite
computers and servers. When CRM data is stored in the cloud, it can be
accessed directly from anywhere and at anytime.
5. Mobile technology: The proliferation of mobile devices, such as
smartphones and tablets, has changed many aspects of the selling process
forever. For customers, the ability to research, evaluate and purchase
products and services online using this technology has transformed the
buying experience. Marketers and sales teams should take that into
account, since research shows 93% of consumers who use their mobile
device to research prospective products and services end up making a
purchase.

2.Compensation and evaluation of sales force

Ans:-Sales compensation is the combination of base salary, commission,
and incentives that are used to drive the performance of a sales
organization. .. Sales compensation management is the method of
overseeing plans and ensuring components drive performance aligned with
organizational goals.

Salary
The guaranteed portion of a salesperson's income is called a base salary.
Most sales reps' salaries are between 15 and 40 percent of their total
income, according to Online Business Advisor. The other portion is based
on incentives. Most sales reps have certain quotas to meet. 

Commission Only

Some sales reps' earnings are based on 100 percent commissions. Some may start
out with a training salary for three months, for example, then gradually go to a full
commission basis. Other sales reps start out at 100 percent commission right away.
An advantage of getting paid on commission is that the sales rep's potential earnings
are higher. When on commission, sales reps earn a percent of total sales in their
territory.

Bonuses

Some sales reps earn bonuses on top of salaries, or bonuses in addition to salaries
and commissions. Bonuses are also based on certain sales quotas. For example, an
industrial sales rep may earn a 2 or 3 percent bonus when reaching a certain sales
quota. Bonuses are usually paid in lower percentages than commissions. They are
also paid periodically, such as every quarter or year, unlike commissions, which are
paid regularly.

Sales Incentives

Sales force compensation can also include certain non-monetary sales incentives. For
example, sales reps can earn trips to Europe, the Caribbean or other venues for
meeting certain sales goals. They can also receive big-screen televisions, laptops,
office equipment and other free gifts for attaining sales goals. Sales reps will often
work just as hard to receive non-monetary sales incentives as monetary ones.

Evaluation of sales force

When you're in charge of a sales force, it's easy to skip individual

performance reviews in lieu of allowing sales volume to speak for itself.
But sales force performance can't be determined by productivity alone.
Managers need to look at individual and team performance in a number of
areas to determine how the sales force can best be improved.
Benefits

Evaluating your organization’s sales force can do a lot more than help you
determine how to help individual sales associates improve what they do.
Evaluations can improve your ability to recognize gaps in your sales
force’s abilities and determine your hiring needs. They can even clarify
potential training needs, customer service improvements, or which
employees deserve a raise.

Considerations

Entrepreneur Online notes that not all salespeople perform the same
duties. They recommend making a list of expectations that you have for
each individual and evaluating each member on unique criteria rather than
evaluating the entire sales force using identical criteria. In addition, look at
the big picture: consider the sales goals for your company, and whether
the team is meeting these goal. If not, consider whether certain
individuals are not performing required duties or because you need to hire
extra heads.

Pros And Cons of Measuring Productivity

Productivity can be a great indication of sales performance, but it doesn’t

tell the whole story. Entrepreneur.com recommends determining average
productivity by dividing the sales volume by the number of salespeople
within the organization. Compare each person’s sales volume to the
average to see which employees fall below the average. Entrepreneur
warns against evaluating your sales force on productivity alone. If the
team’s sales volume is high but clients are receiving poor customer
service, less lucrative items are being sold, or some salespeople have high
return rates, changes likely need to be made. It is important to evaluate
your sales force on a range of criteria: determine which employees are
able to sell high-price items and which get the best customer reviews.