البيع الفعال


Effective Sales Management

By

Dr. Obaid Saad Alabdali

Objectives of Today Lecture

Profiling and recruiting sales people

Selecting applicant

Hiring and Socializing New sales people

Developing and conducting a sales training program

Marketing Mix

Product

Price

Place

Promotion

advertising

Sales promotion

Public relation

Personal selling

Myths About Selling

Sales people are born-not made

Sales people must be good talkers

Selling is a matter of knowing the right techniques or tricks

A good sales person can sell anything

A good sales person can sell ice to an Eskimo

People do not want to buy

What You Think of Sales People?

Cigar-smoking

back-slapping

joke-telling

You can take a way my money and take a way my factories, but leave me my sales staff and I will be back where I was in two years.

Types Of Sales People

Order taker

Order getter

Support sales people

missionary

technical

Profiling and Recruiting Sales People

Select the sales people

Right people is the key to successes

Sales Force Selection and Strategic Planning

Sales group directly bring money

It is directly involve with carrying out the companys strategic marketing plan

Marketing strategy implementation

( considerable services)

Important of a Good Selection Program

It addresses the problem of getting good people

It improves sales force performance

It promotes cost saving

It eases other managerial tasks

Sales managers are no better than their sales force

The Law And Sales Force Selection

Saudiazation

Nondiscrimination and affirmative action

nondiscrimination-requires elimination of all existing discriminatory conditions.

affirmative action-requires the employer to do more than ensure neutrality in regard to race, sex, and national origin. It require additional effort to recruit, qualified members of group formerly excluded.

Plan for recruiting and selection

Establish responsibility for recruiting and selection ( top sales executive, field sales manger, human resource department, or combination)

Determine the number and type of sales people

This involve the analysis of market and job ( write job description)

Establish the qualification for that job.

Recruit Applicants

Identify sources of recruits

Select the source to be used

Contact the recruits

Select applicants

Design a system for measuring applicants

Measure applicants against hiring qualifications

Make decisions

Hire The People

Those people who have been selected (convince people)

Assimilate New People Into Sales Force

Establish Responsibility for Recruiting, Selection, and Assimilation

Management must decide who will be responsible for recruiting and selection decisions and who must be responsible for assimilating the new hires into the organization.

That will depends on size of the company and nature of the job

Determine the Number of People Wanted

Right number

Good faith in their selection system.

Good forecasting

Study your marketing plan (expansion)

Factors affecting size of sales force

promotion

retirements

termination, and resignation

Determine the Type of People Wanted

Three tasks associated with determining the type of people

Job analysis

Job description

Job qualifications

Job Analysis

Is the actual task of determining what constitute a given job

study every aspect of the position (by any member of the sales force, human resource or by an outsider)

requires observation and interviewing with sales rep, customers, other sales reps

Job Description

Once job is analyzed, the resultant description should be put in writing

must be done in great details

It is not enough to say that a sales person is supposed to sell the product, call on customers, or build goodwill toward the company

Scope of Job Description (1)

Title of job

Organizational relationship (to whom do the sales person report)

Types of products and services sold

Types of customers called on

Duties and responsibilities related

Job demand (mental and physical i.e.. Travel)

Scope of Job Description (2)

Use of job description

Job analysis and job description must be used as strategic guidelines for interview, application blanks, psychological test and others selection tools

It can be a foundation for sales force training program

used foe compensation structure

Establish Work load

Determine Hiring Qualifications

The most difficult part of the entire selection process.

Demographic characteristics, Education and experience, do little to explain person performance

Personal history may be better indicator for performance

Desirable Characteristics for Sales People

Mental capacities (planning and problem solving)

Physical (appearance and age)

Experience (sales and other business experience)

Education (no. of years, degree, major)

Personality

Skills communication

Buyers Top Ten Sales Persons Traits

Knowledgeable

Organization

Follow-through

Punctuality

Energy

Promptness

Problem solver

Willing to work hard and Honesty

Methods of Determining Qualifications

There is no satisfactory methods to use

Some methods can be used

study of job description (technical, supervision)

Analysis of personal histories

Recruiting and Its Important

It include all activities involved in securing individuals who will apply for the job.

Recruiting should not be done haphazardly (overlooking good sources/ cost)

Get enough qualified applicants to maximize the chance of getting good one

Find and Maintain Good Recruiting Sources

Many sources

Determine the best sources

Find out from where the best sales people came from

Maintain good relationships with good source

Sources of Sales Representatives

Within the company

Other companies (competitors,customers, noncompetitors)

Educational institutions

Advertisement

Job centers

Voluntary applicants

Part-timer workers

Advertisements

Attract attention and have credibility

Company name

Product

Territory

Hiring qualification

Compensation etc..

How to contact the employer

Evaluation of Recruiting Program

A company should continually evaluate the effectiveness of its recruiting program

Picking Winners is Hard?

In the selection, the number and type of sales people are determined and applicant have been recruited.

Now management should be ready for developing a system for matching the applicants with the predetermined requirements and the actual use of this system to select the sales people.

Selecting Applicants and Strategic Planning

If it handled effectively, it can help ensure successful sales performance

A poor job in processing applicants can hinder implementation

Matching company needs and applicants potential is very important

Legal Considerations

Do not ask: (job relevant)

age

How many children (age, many, who cares)

Applicant height or weight

Citizenship

Was arrested

Marital status

Name and address of any relatives

Application Blanks

personal-history record

Company uses two blanks, a short one and a longer one, more details

Short one used as an initial screening device.

Company asks only for information it intends to use now or later

Personal Interviews (1)

No sales person is ever hired without personal interview

Knowing the applicant personally

Personal fitness for a job

Conversational ability

Speaking voice, social intelligence

Appearance

Personal Interviews (2)

Interpret and get further information about facts stated on the application blank.

Fundamentally, all the questions asked during an interview aimed at learning the:

Is the person qualified for the job

How badly does he want the job

Will the job help him to achieve his goals

Will this applicant work to his fullest ability

Reliability of Personal Interview

Situation/behavioral type of interview for sale position is good.

It heavily dependent on the behavior of the interviewer.

Gut reaction

Interviewers talk too much listen to little

They ask the wrong questions

Improving the Validity of Interviews

Review the applicants resume or application before proceeding further.

Have more than one interview with each candidate

Use standardized rating form that they fill

Review these information to make ranking

Train interviewers

Interview Structure and Focus

Interviews can be differ (extent of Qs)

Totally structure

all interviewers use the same guide sheet containing a series of questions

Ask these questions in order listed

Inflexible

Informal-ask few question to get applicant talking, interview does little talking

Stress Interview

Is a type of unstructured interview in which the interviewer intentionally places the applicant under stress.

Rude, silent, or aggressive in questions

give you a pen and ask you to sell it.

On the Job Interview

Asking the applicant to spend a day observing one of the company current sales rep

Ask the applicant to make a presentation to customer

Behaviorally Based Interviews

New type of interview which focused on the applicants behavior, past or intended.

Timing Of The Interview

Executive valuable time

Initial stages (15-20 minutes)

Later stage, the more time talking with the applicant the better

Psychological Testing

A company uses a battery of these tests rather than one single test.

It is complex and controversy

Types of Tests

Mental intelligence test

intended to measures native intelligence

Aptitude tests

tests a person aptitude for selling

Interest tests

Personality tests

Problem in Testing

Testing may eliminate truly creative person, who might not fall in the average or normal rang in testing

References and Other Outside Sources

The applicant furnishes the leads; a reference

Company get information on its own initiative, credit, insurance report, school record, and motor vehicle.

Reference check made by letter, telephone, or personal visit (advantage, disadvantage of each methods)

Assessment Centers

Assessment center technique is a centralized, comprehensive evaluation procedures involve testing, interviews, and simulation exercises such as business game, discussion group, and individual testing

Very expensive

Takes one to three days to evaluate applicants and their performance

Reaching A decision about an Applicant

A company must decide whether to make a job offer based on the information they get.

Do not leave any applicant dangling

If you decide not to hire him, tell him gently, but clearly

If you decide to hire him, make a formal offer and persuade him to accept it.

Hiring

Selection and hiring is not synonymous

Acceptance rate is low

Generate large number of acceptable recruits

Efficiency in recruiting (fast/slow decision)

Everyone wants to feel important

Pre-offer Planning

Thought should be given to the offer process before actual recruit contact begin.

To do this we need to:

The acceptable recruits should be ranked

How the offer (s) will be extended

Ranking the Recruits

Two lists should be developed

a list of the recruits in the order of the firms preference of them

The second list can be developed by the firms interviewers, based on how interested the recruits seemed in joining the firm.

What about when the person the firm wants most is not interested? (shall we spend time)

What will be included in the Offer

Compensation (type and amount)

Employment package

insurance,

retirement

vacation pay

educational benefit

Profit sharing

Company car

Relocation expenses

How Will the Offer be Extended

Who will make the offer (top manager, Human resource, sale manger)

Most of job offers are initially made over the telephone

how much time will be allowed for acceptance and what concessions will be made if the recruit want to negotiate some of the term of the deal.

A formal letter follows if offer is accepted (this letter needs carefully wording/ contract)

Extending the Offer

Many small, but important, details must be anticipated in making the offer.

Review the job

ask for questions

determine interest (trail close) do you want the job. If we made an offer will you accept it.

If he reject it accept it with grace

Keep good relations, it help

Socialization

Is the process through which the new recruits take on the values and attitudes of the people who are already working for the firm.

Preemployment socialization (publication, visit)

Assimilation- when he accept the offer

familiar with the environment and their job tasks

Orientation Information

Booklet about companys history, the executives, product line, health, recreational.

The paycheck

The expense account

Office practices

Dining facilities

What is going to happen next?

Orientation Experience

Be part of the team

Know the supporting staff

Introduction to business

Familiarization with firms operation

Spend time in each of the firms functional unit.

Need for effective communication

Meeting Social and Psychological Needs

People are social animals

He should be socially integrated into new environment

Social need may be overrule their economic need

Leaving home, family, friend, strange in new city, etc?

Cultural diversity

Mentoring New Employees

A mentor is someone with knowledge, experience, position, or power who provides personal counseling and career guidance for younger employee

Three types of mentoring programs

a senior manager is a assigned for each sales rep

co-worker to be new reps adviser

informal process, a senior executive select a younger sales rep and help him climb the ladder

The Value of Sales Training

The training program is a link in the process of converting the recruit into a productive sales rep

Training was ranked as second important factor in sale person success

Important Factors for Ensuring a Sales Persons Success

Good/positive attitude

Proper training

Good work habits/hard work

Motivation/self-motivation

Knowledge (customer,market, competition, product)

Successful Training Programs Consist of Three Phases

Training Assessment

Program Design

Evaluation

in each of these phases sales executive must make a number of decisions

Training Assessment

In this phase, sale executive must determine:

What are our training need?

What are the objectives of the training?

Who should be trained?

How much training is needed?

Training Need

Start with sophisticated need analysis that include interviewing customers about their needs

Find weaknesses in selling skills and design a training program to eliminate them.

Sources to gather these information are many such as management and training department judgement

Training Objectives

Increasing sales productivity

Lower turnover (good people less to fail)

Better moral

Control

Improved customer relations

Lower selling cost

Better use of time

Who Should be Trained?

Newly hired sales reps

Existing sales reps

who struggling to achieve their objectives

when new products introduced, market shifts, buyer change

Train people who are not the companys employees: distribution, middleman representative, etc.

How Much Training Is Needed?

Depends on the training objectives

half a day training may be enough introducing sales rep to promotional program

2-3 days for introducing him to new feature in the product

Customer relations may needs 3-4 days

Teaching basic selling skills to inexperienced recruits needs 3- 6 months

Program Design

In the program design phase, the following question must be answered:

Who should do the training?

When should the training take place?

Where it should be done?

What should the content of the training be?

What teaching methods should be used?

Who should do the training?

Three basic sources of trainers are:

regular line executive (senior sales representative, field supervisor, territorial manager or sales managers).

Staff trainers-can be hired to conduct training

Outside training specialist

Each one has advantages and disadvantages

When Training Should Take Place

Two basic attitude

no one should be placed in the field who is not fully trained

other attitude is the recruit should sell before investing in training in that person. This philosophy has merits that it is much easier to train people who have some field experience than those who have none.

Where Training Should Take Place

Decentralized Training

Field sales office instruction

use of senior sales people

on-the-job tutoring

local sales schools

local sales seminar

Centralized Training

at central location/ it is very expensive

Content Of Training

Attitude toward selling

Knowledge about the company

Product knowledge and application

Knowledge of competitive products

Knowledge of customers

Time management skills

Legal constraints on selling

Selling skills

Training Techniques

Lectures- ineffective for teaching sales

Discussion

Demonstration

Role playing

Audio cassettes-when sales rep drive

Video-enhanced training

Computer-assisted training

Business TV- broadcast live via satellite

On-the-job training

Training Evaluation

We must assess the effectiveness of our training programs, we must decide on:

what outcomes will be evaluated?

How will these outcomes be measured?

Outcomes and Measures

Reactions-subjective manner

Learning-how much information they get-test before and after

Behavior- whether the trainees behavior has changed in substantial ways.

Result-increased sales and productivity

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