By analyzing and monitoring current trends in the marketplace, Contemporary Sales Force Management helps sales managers align resources and strategic efforts to gain an edge over competitors. You will develop an understanding of where current and prospective sales opportunities exist in order to fully utilize automation, how to update crisis management policies to reflect changing industry dynamics, and how to raise your level of sales efficiency through the use of customer advisory groups and sales technological tools, such as video conferencing, database management, and up-to-date industry software. Through the book’s important discussions on lowering mutual costs, building long-term customer relationships, improving sales skills, and developing core process skills, you will also learn to think and act with a strategic perspective that successfully steers the sales process.Grounded in practical applications, Contemporary Sales Force Management unites theoretical principles with applied examples and case studies gathered from research with major firms in dynamic markets such as Beijing and Shanghai in China, the European Union, and the United States. From these case studies demonstrating how top players achieve success, you gain critical information on:
- the role of the sales force manager in organizations
- strategic issues for an international sales effort
- gaining functional expertise in sales and marketing along with industry knowledge
- globalization and its impact on sales management
- strategies for applying Total Quality Management to sales
- electronic commerce and cultivating customers on the Web
- the consequences of having a poorly motivated sales force with low morale
- developing an environment that fosters and rewards the management of crisis
- understanding your biases and stereotypical assumptions about others and how these affect decisionmaking
- dealing with the legal and regulatory environment and ethical issues that arise in the course of managing the sales forceContemporary Sales Force Management is the book managers, entrepreneurs, business people, and faculty and students of executive business education programs have long awaited. Its sample sales plan, specific strategies, and hands-on advice will prove indispensable as you maneuver away from the coattails of your competitors into a leading position in the marketplace.
- Preface
- Section I. Introduction to Contemporary Sales Force Management
- Chapter 1. The Role of the Sales Force Manager in Organizations
- Contemporary Sales Force Management
- Difficulty in Sales
- Motivation and Morale
- Management Efforts to Ensure Good Sales Performance
- Incentive Plans and Motivation
- Leadership
- Effective Organizational Communication
- Informal Networks
- Sales Feedback and Monitoring
- Other Methods
- Summary
- Case Study: Lillian Spirits
- Case Study: Tellco Management, Inc.
- Case Study: Palin Electronics and the ‘Pay at Risk Compensation Program.’
- Section II. Automation and Sales Force Management
- Chapter 2. Sales Force Technology
- Technology and the Sales Force
- The Virtual Mobile Sales Force
- Electronic Commerce
- Virtual Mobile Office
- Sales Force Technology Suggestions
- Practical Applications of Sales Force Technology
- Contact Management
- Multimedia Presentation
- Database Sales
- The Internet
- Selling On-Line
- Cultivating Customers on the Web
- Some Suggestions for Selecting Sales Force Technology Vendors
- Summary
- Case Study: Kontac Information Resources Company (KIRC)
- Section III: Globalization
- Chapter 3. Strategic Issues for an International Sales Effort
- Global Sales Environment
- International Sales Techniques
- How to Select Target Countries
- How to Enter Target Markets
- International Sales Opportunities
- Some Reasons to Select China
- Summary
- Case Study: Monahan’s Candy
- Section IV. Effective Sales Force Management in a Volatile Business Environment
- Chapter 4. Reengineering
- Sales Management and Reengineering
- Shift of Opportunities
- Restructuring the IBM Sales Force
- Hewlett-Packard and Reengineering
- Personal Restructuring
- Outsourcing
- Summary
- Case Study: Copeland Corporation
- Chapter 5. Crisis Management
- Introduction
- The Consequences of Crisis
- Union Carbide
- Sears
- Causes of Crisis
- A Framework for Crisis Solutions for Sales Force Managers
- A Sales Manager’s Preventive Framework for Crisis
- Some Success Stories
- Other Tools Sales Managers Use to Deal with Crisis
- System Checklist
- Summary
- Case Study: Global Optics
- Chapter 6. Legal, Regulatory, and Ethical Matters
- Legal Issues in Sales
- Regulatory Issues in Sales
- Ethics in Sales
- Sales Situations Involving Ethical Issues
- Summary
- Case Study: Krol LTD
- Chapter 7. Sales Force Management and Diversity
- Sales Force Diversity Issues
- Impact of Litigation on Sales Managers
- Attacking the Problem
- Women in Sales Management
- Summary
- Case Study: Boston Trust
- Case Study: Hunter Corporation
- Section V. Current Selling Skills and Tools
- Chapter 8. Sales Planning
- Management Function of Sales Planning
- Market Dynamics
- Competition Analysis
- Financial Condition
- Sample Sales Plan
- Defining the Market
- Price Determination
- Summary
- Case Study: Sales Management of Drug Products
- Chapter 9. Personal Selling
- Importance of Selling
- Selling Skills
- The Mechanics of Selling
- Consultative Selling
- Listening
- Team Selling
- Negotiation
- Summary
- Case Study: Richmond Corporation
- Case Study: (Role Play): Livingston Carpet
- Chapter 10. Customer Relationship Building
- What Is Customer Relationship Building?
- Relationship Selling
- What Should Be Done to Build?
- Team Building
- Repeat Sales
- Customer Advisory Boards as a Sales Tool for the Customer Relationship-Building Process
- Trust Building
- Evaluating Board Members
- Summary
- Case Study: Thames International, Inc.
- Case Study: Global Optics
- Case Study: Hendricks Insurance Company
- Chapter 11. Total Quality Management
- Intro
Biography
William Winston, Tony Carter
