Sales Marketing Test 2 – Flashcards

1. Hard Bargainer = a difficult person to deal with: psychologically oriented sales strategy, negotiation strategy, listening skills and handling objections, competitive product knowledge, 2. Sales Job Facilitator (attempts to make the sale transaction go smoothly)- Importance of quid pro quo, advantages of a satisfied customer base, how customers can assist salespeople 3. Straight shooter (behaves with integrity and propriety)- selling the substance not just the sizzle, straightforward techniques for handling objections 4. Socializer (enjoys personal interaction with salespeople)- communicate company policy information about giving gifts and entertaining and socializing with customers, discuss ethical and legal implications of transacting business, emphasize importance of salespeople maintaining an appropriate balance between socializing and performing job responsibilities 5. Persuader (attempts to market his company)- communicate importance of qualifying prospects, teach techniques for qualifying customers 6. considerate (shows compassion for salesperson)- communicate importance of obtaining market information from customers, teach importance of quid pro quo

sales training manager

information related to customer needs, buying motives, buying procedures, and personalities, be culturally sensitive

=the process by which salespeople are acquire the knowledge, skills, and values essential to perform their jobs importance= trainees who have been properly recruited and trained tend to be more confident on the job and have fewer problems with job conflicts, leading to higher job satisfaction, involvement, commitment, and performance

a systematic, diagnostic, prescriptive tool which can be employed on a periodic basis to identify and address sales department problems and to prevent or reduce the impact of future problems

intended to define customer expectations, helps determine how competitive the salesforce is compared with other salesforces in the industry

an investigation of the task, duties, and responsibilities of the sales job part of the recruitment and selection process expected behaviors used to determine individualized sales training needs

1. aligning customer/supplier strategic objectives 2. listening beyond product needs 3. understanding the financial impact of decisions 4. orchestrating organizational resources 5. consultative problem solving 6. establishing a vision of a committed customer/supplier relationship 7. engaging in self-appraisal and continuous learning

1. inadequate sales coverage and lack of customer follow-up 2. increased training costs to overcome deficiencies 3. more supervisory problems 4. higher turnover rates 5. difficulty in establishing enduring relationships with customers 6. suboptimal total salesforce performance

1. planning for recruitment and selection- job analysis, job qualifications, job description, recruitment and selection objectives, recruitment and selection strategy 2. Recruitment: locating prospective candidates- internal and external sources 3. Selection: evaluation and hiring- screening resumes and applications, initial interview, intensive interview, testing, assessment centers, background investigations, physical examination, selection decision/job offer

written summary of the job based on the job analysis and job qualifications that is completed by the sales manager or hr manager could contain any: job title, duties, administrative relationships, types of products sold, customer types, job related demands -used to clarify duties, set objectives, aid in evaluating performance

1. listening skills- individual interviews with: sales rep, hr personnel, others in sales organization 2. follow-up skills- assessment center exercises or simulations, application form (previous sales or sales support) 3. adaptable communication/social style: panel interviews, selection test on social style 4. organizational skills: application form, reference checks 5. verbal communication skills: individual interview with internal parities, job sampling activities 6. written communication skills: assessment center exercises or simulations, app form 7. proficiency in social connections across levels: panel interview in a social setting, selection tests 8. able to overcome objections: individual interviews with trainer, assessment center simulation, job sampling activities 9. closing skills: individual interviews, assessment center exercises 10. tenacity and persistency: reference checks, job sampling activities, 11. time management/planning: reference checks, job sampling activities

cross references or internal sources (employee referral programs)

brief, on-campus conducted by sales recruiters, clarifies questions about job qualifications makes preliminary judgment about whether a match between applicant and company is present, applicant responds to a series of questions

getting rejecting trauma

intensive= multiple sequential interviews by several executives or several managers at the company facilities, in-depth look at candidate initial= brief, preliminary judgements

do not attempt to construct tests for this purpose, the standards of the APA have to be met

reference checks can help verify the true identity of a person and confirm info on app is true,

referencing race, color, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, arrests, financial disclosure matters, family and medical history, pregnancy

referencing race, color, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, arrests, financial disclosure matters, family and medical history, pregnancy

can: if the applicant is informed of the test before taking it, if the results are kept confidential, the need for drug testing is reasonably related to job functions

1. questions should focus on job-related topics, such as job requirements and applicant qualifications and credentials 2. properly phrase questions. Good questions are based on job description and advertised position requirements; relate to genuine job qualifications; go beyond a yes/no response; are understandable and succinct 3. you do not have to ask every applicant the same questions 4. with regards to religion and disability, reasonable accommodations must be made to the interviewee, even at the pre-employment stage (ex: if employee cannot interview on a certain day due to religious observance)

a method used to determine sales training needs that specifies the evaluation of particular tasks and skills fo the salesforce

Geographic Sales Organization Product Sales Organization Market Sales Organization Functional Sales Organization Hybrid Sales Organization

salespeople are typically assigned a geographic area and are responsible for all selling activities to all accounts within the assigned area. There is no attempt to specialize by product, market, or function. This is the least specialized and more generalized type of salesforce. This type of organization provides no salesforce specialization expect by geographic area. Because of the lack of specialization, there is no duplication of effort. All geographic areas and accounts are served by only one salesperson. Geographic sales organization structure is a rather tall one and thus somewhat centralized. There are four levels of line sales management with relatively small spans on control; training activities tend to be centralized.

Salesforces specializing by product assign salespeople selling responsibility for specific products or product lines. The objective is for the salespeople to become experts in the assigned product categories. Each specialized salesforce performs all selling activities for all types of accounts. The separate salesforces are each organized geographically. Thus, there will be duplication in the coverage of geographic areas; salespeople may call on the same accounts. The structure is flat and decentralized. There are only three line management levels with wide spans of control. This structure has no staff positions and thus no management specialization beyond product specialization.

Salespeople are assigned specific types of customers and are required to satisfy all needs of these customers. The basic objective of market specialization is to ensure that salespeople understand how customers use and purchase their products. Salespeople should then be able to direct their efforts to satisfy customer needs better. This arrangement avoids duplication of sales effort, because only one salesperson will ever call on a given account. Several salespeople may, however, operate in the same geographic area. The market sales organization structure organizes its commercial accounts salesforce differently from its government accounts salesforce. The commercial accounts salesforce has three sales management levels, small spans on control, and a staff position. The government accounts salesforce has two sales management levels, large spans of control, and no staff position.

Most selling situations require a number of selling activities, so there may be efficiencies in having salespeople specialize in performing certain of these required activities. Many firms are using a telemarketing salesforce to generate leads, qualify prospects, and monitor shipments, and so forth, while the outside salesforce concentrates on sales-generating activities. These firms are specializing by function. Although the salesforces will cover the same geographic areas and the same accounts, the use of telemarketing helps to reduce the cost of this duplication of effort. Both salesforces tend to be decentralized. The functional sales organization structure organizes its field salesforce differently from its telemarketing salesforce. The field salesforce has three sales management levels with small spans of control, and the telemarketing salesforce has two sales management levels with large spans of control. Neither salesforce uses staff positions.

many firms use a structure that incorporates several of the basic structural types. The objective of these hybrid structures is to capitalize on the advantages of each types while minimizing the disadvantages. This structure is extremely complex in that it includes elements of geographic, product, market, function, and major account organizations

look on word doc for table

Span of control refers to the number of individuals who report to each sales manager. The larger the span of control, the more subordinates a sales manager must supervise. Management levels define the number of different hierarchical levels of sales management within the organization. Typically, span of control is inversely related to the number of sales management levels. In the flat sales organization structure, there are relatively few sales management levels, with each sales manager having a relatively large span of control. Conversely, in the tall structure, there are more sales management levels and small spans of control. Flat organization structures tend to be used to achieve decentralization, whereas tall structures are more appropriate for centralized organizations. The span of control tends to increase at lower sales management levels; as you move down the organization chart the number of individuals to be supervised increases.

person who whom we answer; managers recruit, select, train, motivate, supervise, evaluate, and control salespeople.

individuals who concentrate on performing some of the required activities to the exclusion of other tasks. Thus, certain salespeople might sell only certain products or call on certain customers. Some sales managers might concentrate on training, other on planning. The basic idea behind specialization is that, by concentrating on a limited number of activities, individuals can become experts on those tasks, leading to better performance for the entire organization.

at one extreme, salespeople act as generalists, performing all selling activities for all the company's products to all types of customers. Moving toward the right of the continuum, salespeople begin to specialize by performing only certain selling tasks, selling only certain types of products, or calling on only specific types of accounts

the important sales management decisions involved in allocating selling effort, determining salesforce size, and designing territories. Salesforce deployment decisions can be viewed as providing answers to three interrelated questions: 1.) How much selling effort is needed to cover accounts and prospects adequately so that sales and profit objectives will be achieved? 2.) How many salespeople are required to provide the desired amount of selling effort? 3.) How should territories be designed to ensure proper coverage of accounts and to provide each salesperson with a reasonable opportunity for success?

A comprehensive analysis of accounts is provided by portfolio models. In a portfolio model, each account served by a firm is considered as part of an overall portfolio of accounts. Thus, accounts within the portfolio represent different situations and receive different levels of selling effort attention. The typical approach is to classify all accounts in the portfolio into categories of similar attractiveness for receiving sales call investment. Then, selling effort is allocated so that the more attractive accounts receive more selling effort. Account attractiveness is a function of account opportunity and competitive position for each account. The higher the account opportunity and the stronger the competitive positions, the more attractive accounts become.

is defined as an account's need for and ability to purchase the firm's products.

is defined as the strength of the relationship between the firm and an account.

-The size of a firm's salesforce determines the total amount of selling effort that is available to call on accounts and prospects. Key considerations in determining salesforce size are productivity, turnover, and organizational strategy. -is defined as a ratio between outputs and inputs. One way the sales productivity of a salesforce is calculated is the ratio of sales generated to selling effort used. Thus, productivity is an important consideration for all deployment decisions.

There may be situations where a company needs salespeople quickly, for short periods of time, for smaller customers, or for other reasons, but does not want to hire additional salespeople. An attractive option is to outsource the salesforce. A growing number of companies can provide salespeople to a firm on a contract basis. These salespeople only represent the firm and customers are typically not aware that these are contracted salespeople. Contracts can vary as to length, customer assignment, and other relevant factors. This gives the client firm a great deal of flexibility.

Territories are assignments of accounts to salespeople. Each becomes the work unit for a salesperson, who is largely responsible for the performance of the assigned territory. Poorly designed territories can have adverse effects on the motivation of salespeople. From the perspective of the firm, territory design decisions should ensure that the firm's market area is adequately covered in a productive manner. The first step in the territory design process is to identify planning and control units. Next, the opportunity available from each planning and control unit is determined, initial territories are forms, and the workloads of each potential territory are accessed. The most often used measure of opportunity is ---. The final territory design represents management's judgement concerning the best balance between opportunity and workload.

is ordinarily used to refer to a prediction for a future period. This is the expected level of firm sales given a specific strategy in a given geographic area for a specific period. A true ___ must include the consideration of a specific strategy. If a firm changes this strategy, the It should change also. are used to predict the expected results from various sales management decisions. These are then used to set sales quotas and selling budgets for specific planning periods. Thus, it is important to develop accurate forecasts. Furthermore, inaccurate forecasts may result in detrimental effects such as increased inventory costs due to over-forecasting or lost sales and profits resulting from under-forecasting.

Top-down approaches, Bottom-up approaches

typically consist of different methods for developing company forecasts at the business unit level. Sales managers then break down these company forecasts into zone, region, district, territory, and account forecasts.

by contrast, consist of different methods for developing sales forecasts for individual accounts. Sales managers then combine the account forecasts into territory, district, region, zone, and company forecasts.

Any procedure that asks individual accounts about their purchasing plans for a future period and translates these responses into account forecasts. The intended purchases by accounts might be obtained through mail surveys, telephone surveys, personal interviews, or other approaches

Involves various procedures by which salespeople provide forecasts for their assigned accounts, typically on specially designed forms, electronically via computer, or through the company's CRM system. Managers then use this data to develop weekly, monthly, and quarterly forecasts.