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Managing the sales force successfully is a challenging task because they can make a company profitable and a market leader or a looser. The sales jobs are increasing world wide and many of the successful sales professionals are earning attractive packages and lucrative incentives. Even the president or chief executive officer (CEO) of a company is a salesman because he/she is also indirectly involved in sales.

Companies set sales force objectives, strategy, determine their size, compensation, recruiting and selection policies, training and development policies, and monitoring and evaluation policies. Companies determine the minimum sales target to cover a sales officer’s package and other selling expense in his territory.

HIRING FIELD FORCE
Mostly companies hire sales staff in various territories, such as at district level. Companies evaluate the potential of different territories, identify the work load and reckon the selling cost. If a new insurance company wants to reach 12000 customers in the first years while a sales representative can make two sales calls a day and can reach 300 customers a year, the company needs to hire 40 sales executives. Hiring sales force tends to be a very tough decision because in a competitive industry, sales force turn-over (means switching to other companies) seems higher because the rival firms offer them more attractive packages, while a company incurs a substantial amount in recruiting, selection, training, and development of its sales staff.

SALES FORCE COMPENSATION
Sales force packages are designed keeping in view government regulations and competitors policies. Mostly companies design a fixed amount as gross salary and amount as allowances to cover daily expenses allowance (DA) and traveling allowance (TA); the variable amount vary with the amount of workload (such as more working days in a month or more traveling) and sales including commission, bonuses, incentives, etc; and the fringe benefits include paid vacations, health and life insurance, discounted offer on purchase of the company’s products for self use, etc.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPING SALES REPRESENTATIVES

Before going in the field, sales force must know the company, its history, objectives, organization structure and line of authority, chief officers, facilities and offices, products, sale volume, customers, and competitors. In addition, they should know effective sales presentations, handling customer objections, administrative work procedures like filling the sales reports, customer comments, competitors’ information, reasons for low sales such as recession, etc, and other responsibilities.

DIRECTING AND MOTIVATING SALESFORCE & DEVELOPING NORMS FOR CALLS
Salesforce are directed and motivated through supervisors and sales managers. Normally, customers are categorized as A, B, and C class customers depending on sales volume, profit potential, and growth potential. The 80-20 rule is very famous in sales. It has multiple applications. 1, to make 80% sales from 20% customers (ie big customers); 2, to allocate 80% time to existing customers and 20% time to new customers; 3, to concentrate 80% of time on selling existing products and 20% time on selling new products. Another norm is to develop the salesforce from customers’ point of view, as they believe that the salesmen should be honest, reliable, knowledgeable, and helpful.

A research on measuring the attitude of sales reps about sales rewards explored that the most salient value was pay, followed by promotion, personal growth, and sense of accomplishment.

SALES SUPPORT STAFF
It includes sales assistants, telemarketers, and salesman. Sales assistants make calls to customers, seek appointments, check customers’ credit records, supply sales reps orders to the distribution department and make a follow up to ensure delivery of orders to customers in time, and so on. Telemarketers find new leads (or accounts, or customers), qualify them, and sell them. Salesmen are the lowest rank sales officers who collect orders, deliver to the distribution department, supply the stock to the customers and recover the payment of invoices.

SALES QUOTAS/ TARGET & EVALUATING SALES PERFORMANCE
Sales quotas/ targets are set to accomplish sales goals. Sales targets are set by considering individual territories current sales, sales potential, promotional budgets, and sales officers’ experience and performance level. Sales reps performance is continually monitored by supervisors and sales analysts who check their calls timing, call frequency, average expense per sales call, overall sales, periodic sales data, average sales or business per customers, number of small and large customers, new customers, lost customers, achievement of sales targets, sales revenue and profitability, customers satisfaction, customers’ complaints and so on.

STEPS IN SALES CYCLE/ EFFECTIVE SELLING
Prospecting & Qualifying ---- proach --- Approach ---

Presentation & Demonstration --- Handling Objections ---

Closing Sales--- Follow up & Servicing

Figure 14.1

1. PROSPECTING AND QUALIFYING: The sales reps ask the current customers for the names of prospects. They collect other referrals from suppliers, dealers, non-competing sales reps, bankers, trade associations’ executives, etc.

2. PREAPPROACH: It’s about qualifying a prospect and seeking an appointment through a phone call, letter, or personal meeting.

3. APPROACH: It is meeting the prospect in person.

4. PRESENTATION AND DEMONSTRATION: Sales reps deliver the presentation on the product and the company and may demonstrate the product’s functions. The key to success is to identify customer needs, wants, and problems and then providing a solution package.

5. HANDLING OBJECTIONS: Customers often pose objections about the product features, price, delivery terms, etc. Sales reps need thorough understanding and a lot of knowledge of the product, company policies and the industry to handle the objections successfully.

6. CLOSING SALES: Soon after guessing a customer’s interest, the sales rep should ask for the order and upon receipt of order, he/ she should write the purchase terms, payment, and delivery schedule.

7. FOLLOW UP AND SERVICING: Sales reps make a schedule for follow up visits. The final step is mandatory to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business. This helps in generating even larger business, referrals, and turning customers as loyal customers.

NEGOTIATION
Negotiation is the settlement of a problem or dispute, or settlement of a price along with other terms, such as payment and delivery terms, etc. Bargaining on the other hand is holding discussion to receive maximum discount in price.

RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
The art of selling is building long-run productive relations with customers that go beyond simply friendly relations to business relations.