SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT

Course name: SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT
Course code: 3109
Credit Unit: 4 CU
Level of course: III Semester I

Brief course description
This course explores the principles of Sales force management. The course is designed to benefit students across multiple disciplines, especially students planning to pursue a career in sales. Emphasis is placed on the following principles of sales force management: formulating and evaluating sales strategy, recruitment, training, motivation, performance evaluation, and sales force structure.

Course objectives:
1. To explore how a Sales Manager might perform his or her job effectively.
2. To understand the link between the determinants of Sales performance and actions that a sales manager can take to direct, influence, and control that performance on the other
Learning Outcome:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Define and apply key concepts of sales force management.
2. Identify characteristics of successful salespeople.
3. Explain and apply the process of recruiting, training, evaluating, and compensating sales personnel.
4. Explain and compare motivational techniques used in sales force management.
5. Formulate a sales force strategy.
6. Compare approaches to creating and evaluating sales initiatives.



Detailed course description (contents)

Introduction to Sales Management in the 21st Century (5 hours)
• Sales Management
• Environmental Factors in Sales
• External Environment
• Internal Environment

The role of Sales in the Customer Relationship Management Era (5 hours)

• Customer relationship Management
• Market Orientation
• Personal Selling Role in Marketing Strategy
• Personal Selling in the Relations Era
• Improving Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Through Feedback

Organizing the Sales Initiative (6 hours)
• Purpose of Sales Organization
• Horizontal Structure of the Sales Force
• Vertical Structure of the sales Organization
• Servicing National Key Accounts
• Start-up of a New Sales Force

The Strategic Role of Information in Sales Force Management (6 hours)
• Methods of sales Forecasting
• Choosing a Forecasting Method
• Developing Territory Estimates
• Purpose and Characteristics of Sales Quotas
• Determining Sales Force Size
• Designing Sales Territories

Salesperson Performance: Behaviour, Role Perceptions, and Satisfaction (5 hours)
• Salesperson Performance
• Rewards
• Satisfaction
• Salesperson Roles

Salesperson Performance: Motivation of the Sales Force (5 hours)
• Process of Motivation
• The Impact of a Salesperson’s Personal Characteristics on Motivation
• Career Stages and Salesperson Motivation
• The Impact of organizational Variables on Motivation

Personal Characteristics and Sales Aptitude Criteria for Selecting S ales people (5 hours)
• Customer perception
• Determinates of Successful Sales performance
• Characteristics of Successful Salespeople
• Implications for Sales Management

Sales Force Recruitment and Selection (5 hours)
• Recruiting
• Sales Job Analysis
• Recruiting Applicants
• Selection Procedures
Sales Training: Objectives, Techniques, and Evaluation (6 hours)
• Sales Training Objectives
• Sales Training Program Development
• Sales Training Methods
• Measuring the Costs and Benefits of Sales Training

Compensation and Incentives (6 hours)
• Compensation Plans
• Sales Contests
• Non Financial Rewards
• Making Compensation and Incentive Plans work

Performance Evaluation (6 hours)
• Performance vs. Effectiveness
• Objective Measures
• Subjective Measures
• 360-Degree Feedback

Mode of delivery
Class Participation
Project Presentation
In class exercises/quizzes

Mode of assessment
Continuous Assessment 50%
Final exam 50%

References:
Johnson, M. W., and Marshall, G. W. (2011) Sales Force Management. 10th edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Spiro, S. R. T. (2003) Management of Sales Force. 11th edition. McGraw Hill.
Gerald C., and Barry L. Selling Today. 10th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Churchill, F., Walker, T. (2006) Sales Force Management 8th Edition: McGraw Hill Edition