Sales Management

Developing the Sales Force

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 Developing the sales force
• In most organizations, sales managers have the ultimate
responsibility of sales force recruitment, even if they coordinate
their efforts with human resource personnel and have top
management support.
• recruitment and selection is a very challenging and important
responsibility of sales management.
• "if you do not start with the right individual, no motivation
scheme or measurement system will turn the person into an
outstanding performer"

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Developing the Sales Force
• Sales managers are no better than the sales force
that reports to them!
• Staffing is the first crucial step in building an
effective sales organisation.
• Successful firms depend upon a well-planned and
effectively implemented recruiting effort.
• What problems arise from poor selection?

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PROBLEMS OF POOR SELECTION

• More supervisory problems

• Higher turnover
• Sub-optimal performance
• Thousands of dollars a year spent in training
• Lost productivity
• Lost sales
• Inadequate sales coverage / lack of customer follow-
up

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SCOPE OF SALESFORCE STAFFING

• Sales manager needs to:

• Determine the number and type of people needed
• What should sales managers consider in
determining the number of sales people needed?

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DETERMINING NUMBER OF PEOPLE
NEEDED

• Turnover rate (what are the costs of turnover?)

• Sales forecasts
• Proposed changes in products, markets, and
market coverage

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The Recruitment Process

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DETERMINING TYPE OF PEOPLE
NEEDED
• Job analysis
• Job description
• Job qualifications

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JOB ANALYSIS

• …a systematic way to describe how a job is to be performed,

as well as the tasks that make up a job.
• Sales managers conduct a job analysis to determine what
activities, tasks, responsibilities and environmental influences
are involved
• Current staff should be observed and interviewed to
determine what they actually do.

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JOB DESCRIPTION

• …a written document that spells out the job relationships and

requirements that characterize each sales position.
• What is the importance of a job description?

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USES FOR THE JOB DESCRIPTION

• Selection and hiring

• Sales training
• Compensation plans
• Performance appraisal

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JOB QUALIFICATIONS

• Aptitudes, skills, knowledge, and personality traits

necessary to perform a job successfully
• Develop a statement of job qualifications describing
the personal traits and abilities needed to perform in
the job.

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Determining Job Qualifications and
Selection Criteria
• This is the most difficult part of the recruitment and selection
process
• Sales managers need specific criteria to guide the selection
• Methods deciding on criteria include:
• Examining the job description
• Evaluating personal histories of the current sales force to
identify differentiating characteristics among high
performers

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 TRAIT CATEGORIES
• Mental (intelligence, planning ability)
• Physical (appearance, health, speaking ability)
• Experience (education, sales, other)
• Personality (ambition, interest, tact)
• Environmental (membership)
• What are some of the critical personality traits of successful
salespeople?

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 Top 10 interview questions:
• Collecting clues to make a judgment call:
• Why sales?
• Why do you want to sell this particular product(s)?
• What do you know about our customers?
• Tell me about our competitors?
• Tell me about the last time you were really stressed in a business situation?
How did you handle it?
• Tell me about the last time you took a big risk and it didn’t work out?
• How did you deal with it?
• When was the last time you lost a deal? Why do you think you lost it?
• Tell me about the last time you won a deal? How do you think you won?
• What was the last thing you learnt and applied in sales ( strategy/tactic etc)
• Where do you think you are in the selling process so far ( in selling
yourself)
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Qualities That Every Salesperson Must
Possess.
1. Ability to collect a wide range of facts for use in making a
sale.
2. Ability to make clear, effective presentations.
3. Sensitivity to the feelings of others and how these feelings
are communicated.
4. Ability to establish and maintain strong, positive
relationships with many people.
5. A basic technical knowledge of the business.
PERSONALITY TRAITS
• Some critical personality traits of salespeople:
• intelligence
• decisiveness
• energy and enthusiasm
• results orientation
• maturity
• assertiveness
• sensitivity
• openness
• tough-mindedness

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SOURCES OF RECRUITS
• The present sales force
• Other company employees
• Other companies
• Competitors
• Customers
• Educational institutions
• Advertisements
• Voluntary applications
• Employment agencies
• Internet, etc
• Discuss the pros and cons of each source of recruits?

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 SOURCE OF RECRUITS
• Why should the sales force be consulted?
• Why look elsewhere within the company?
• Should a firm hire salespeople from the competition?
• What are the risks associated with hiring from your
customer’s company?

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 SOURCES OF RECRUITS
• Classified Ads
• Reaches wide audience
• Used if turnover is high
• Tend to over-produce under-qualified candidates
• Internet Resume Sites
• Reaches wide audience
• Employers can post their jobs on-line or search one of the
many resume databases.
• Still relatively new
• Will continue to grow in importance because of ease of access.

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SOURCES OF RECRUITS

• Employment Agencies
• best if company pays
• Universities & Colleges
• Poised & easily trained
• Adaptable
• Lack experience & become bored
• Customers, Suppliers & Competition
• Ability of sales person is known
• Already knows market and customers
• Good if needed without much training
• Legal & ethical issues must be considered
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ADVANTAGES OF RECRUITING
INTERNALLY

• Company employees have established performance

records and present themselves as a known entity
• Recruits from inside require less orientation and
training due to familiarity with current products,
policies and operations
• Recruiting within bolsters company morale because
employees see opportunities for advancement

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FACTORS INFLUENCING CHOICE OF
SOURCES
• Nature of Product & Market
• Policy of Promoting from Within
• Sales training provided
• Sources of past successful recruits
• Money available for recruiting
• Is your company hiring career salespeople

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SELECTION TOOLS

• Graphology
• Application blanks
• Personal interviews
• Psychological tests
• References and credit reports
• Physical examinations
• Assessment centers

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GRAPHOLOGY

• Graphology (Handwriting Analysis) is the art of interpreting

a person's character from his/her personal handwriting.

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APPLICATION BLANKS
• Serve as an initial screen
• Basis for probing in an interview
• Should only ask for information intended for use
• Experience (work)
• Qualifications

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RESUME ANALYSIS
• Account for all dates
• Examine number of jobs
• Examine length of time spent on each job
• Reasons for leaving
• Is there a pattern of growth?

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 PERSONAL INTERVIEWS
• Get to know the candidate (structured/unstructured)
• Determine fitness for job
• verify facts on application
• two way communication device
• induces free discussion on wide ranging topics
• afford the applicant opportunity to talk freely with
minimal direction and may yield unexpected insight
• requires experienced interviewers with
interpretative skills

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PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
• Well designed, validated and administered tests provide a valid
selection tool

1.
Intelligence tests
6. 2.
Personality tests Knowledge tests
Employment
testing
5. 3.
Attitude and Sales
lifestyle tests aptitude tests
4.
Vocational
interest tests

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WHEN TO USE PSYCHOLOGICAL
TESTS
• Large number of sales people being hired
• Hiring inexperienced salespeople
• Cost of hiring failure is high

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REFERENCES
• Reference checking is a screening tool that enables a
company to obtain information on the following
• Previous Employment
• Personal
• Credit records
• from these sources:
• former and current bosses
• co-workers
• clients
• These are important because fraudulent resumes are
often received.

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 PREVIOUS EMPLOYER REFERENCE
CHECK
• Dates of employment?
• What was the job?
• Type of selling involved?
• How did applicant get along with managers/clients/coworkers?
• How did his/her job performance compare others?
• Applicants strongest points/weaknesses?
• Why did she/he leave company?
• Would previous employer rehire? Why?

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PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
• Sales jobs are physically, mentally, and emotionally
demanding
• Does candidate possess required stamina, strength tolerances
needed under hard working conditions?
• Can candidate handle job without delay on health grounds?
• Caution should be exercised in requiring medical
examinations and other specific tests for such things as drug
use or HIV status
• A physical exam can be performed only after extending a
job offer

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 SALES FORCE SOCIALISATION
• Refers to introducing the recruit to the following:
• company practices and procedures
• social aspects of the job
• Makes new salespeople feel they are an integral part of the
company by exposing them to the corporate culture (values,
philosophy, group norms, different work groups)
• Salespeople can be socialized by doing the following:
• reading literature on company’s history, products, job description, and
compensation and benefit packages
• attending introductory training programs before they are exposed to actual
operations of the firm
• What are the benefits of sales force socialisation?

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SALES FORCE SOCIALISATION

• Benefits of socialization include:

• greater job satisfaction
• increased employee commitment
• greater job involvement,
• better understanding role in the company
• lower stress
• lower likelihood of turnover

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