Transcript
th
Due Date: 15 NOV 2010 th Submission Date: 15 NOV 2010
MARKETING MANAGEMENT-II Case 7
What They Didn¶t Teach in Sales Class at My My Business School Submitted by: Group 4
Name Arpan Senggupta Chetan Sharma Irshad Ali Puneet Jain Sudhir Mishra
Roll No Batch 43013 IMG 4 43017 IMG 4 43027 IMG 4 43039 IMG 4 43055 IMG 4
Phone No 7827196515 9811868332 9560035670 9582408730 9868070988
Foreian id
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Fore School of Management B-18, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi, India
Case MM- II What They Didn¶t Teach in Sales Class at My Business School _______________________________________
SUMMARY:-The case deals mostly with the lifestyle of a person named Rick, who is a sales manager, and his dissatisfaction with his current job. When Rick was in High school he was more into athletics and cheer leading. He was into sales field because he doesn¶t like Algebra.Rick is more or less an average person who is employed as a salesperson with Nabisco after his B.S degree in marketing from University of Alabama at Birmingham Due to his inability to deal with Mathematics he chose marketing as his specialization. Rick expected his job to be on the easier side. This misconception of his deepened during the one month training period which was mostly spent reviewing sales training manuals ,completing employment paperwork and observing his superior Mr. Brown making all the calls. But the same work seemed difficult on his own. Coupled with that is the physically demanding nature of the job and lack of any family time. Furthermore µsalesperson¶ tag was viewed as a low profile job by his wife and few retailers which build on his emotional pressure. He himself began questioning the status of his job. Rick found out that the sales education he received deals mainly with the advantages of selling but the job is teaching him all these disadvantages. He felt helpless by factors such as competiton which is not under his direct control but severely affects his reports. All these factors had driven Rick to think of quitting his present job and searching for new options.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1. Should Rick Lester ³turn in his keys´? Is selling ³for everybody & anybody´ ? What are key success factors that may ensure success in a sales job ? Ans:-© No Rick Lester should not ³turn in his keys´. Reasons: 1. Rick Lester had a habit of running away from problems. He had done it earlier in case of his study. He is going to tha same thing
again. With this kind of attitude even if he find a new job he will again have very hard time there. Rather he should face the problem. 2. Rick had a tendency to take matters lightly. He is someone who runs after easy jobs instead of establishing himself by tackling difficult ones. If he gives up this attitude of his there is no reason that he can¶t succeed. He is smart enough to recognize that a course in Marketing only markets the subject. He had to learn the disadvantages through practical experience and develop measures to counter these. 3. The problems like heavy workload, less time for family, uncontrollable factors like competition are there in every jobs. Everyone is expected to perform with these circumstances. He might discuss the balancing of professional and personal live with other colleagues. Competition factor can be tackled by being more competitive such as reporting this matters to higher management, inducing higher management to pay incentives to retailers or following the same strategy as the competitors. 4. The last problem is the ³problem of recognition´. Rick is obsessed with the idea that µsalesman¶ is a low profile job. His wife and retailers seemed to have deepened this conception. In this regard the biggest example is of Mr. Brown. Since he had trained Rick it can be safely assumed that he was in the same position himself yet he rose to the position of eminence. Rick can draw motivation from Mr. Brown that even salesman can make it big. © Selling is always never for everybody or anybody. Choosing sales person and preparing them for sales requires a variety of criteria: Recruiting and Selecting representatives:- Studies indicates that the top 27% of the sales force brought in 52% of the sales. Conversely it¶s a great waste to hire wrong people as the average annual turnover rate is 20%. However studies indicates that sales performance does not depends on background, experience, current lifestyle, attitude, personality etc. T hus choosing appropriate sales people is a major concern because studies indicates most of the time firms are afraid of quality of sales people of the competitive firm rather than the quality of its products. Training and supervising sales representatives: Consumers of today expects sales people to have product knowledge. Thus different innovative techniques for training the sales force are emerging such as use od CDs, Programmed learning, Distance learning. Studies show that training period
in medical is 28 weeks, in service companies 12 weeks, in consumer companies 4 weeks. Thus only devoted personnel are able to take on selling. Meeting sales objective: Many companies set annual sales quotas. The sales manager distributes his area among his representatives. Sometimes a rep¶s quota are fixed higher , to spur extra effort or may be to build confidence. One general view is that salesperson¶s quota should be at least equal to the person¶s last year sales , plus some fraction of the territory¶s potential to last year sales. Thus a salesperson is under constant pressure and hence only competent persons are suitable for effective selling Evaluation of sales representatives: Sales rep¶s are required to submit report called sales report. These are of two types:- (1)Activity Plans (2)Call reports. Activity plans delas with the planning and scheduling of the activities and their whereabouts. This report is to be submitted before a week or month. The call report is submitted after the sale period. It consists of the following: 1. Average number of calls made per day by salesman 2. Average sell call time per conbtact 3. Average revenue per sales call 4. Average cost per sales call 5. Percentage of orders per hundred calls 6. Number of new customers per selling period 7. Number of lost customers per selling period A salesperson is evaluated on his or her reports. Apart from these factors firms also take into account customer feedbacks. Thus incompetent people cannot become good sales person. © Key success factors that may ensure success in a sales job:o
o
o
o
and Qualifying:- Salesperson needs to qualify leads by contacting them through mails, phone, social networking sites to assess their level of interest and financial capacity. Preapproach:- The saleson person needs to learn as much as possible about the prospects and buyers. Another task is to choose the best contact approach, whether a personal visit, a phone call, or a letter. Presntation and Demonstration: The salesperson need to tell about the product using a features, advantages, benefits and value approach. Overcoming Objections:- Customers pose two type of objections 1. Psychological:- Includes resistance to interference, preference for established supply sources or brands Prospecting
o
o
2. Logical:-might be objections to the price, delivery schedule or product or company characteristics To handle these objections, the salesperson maintains a positive approach, asks the buyer to clarify the objection, questions in such a way that the buyer answer his own objection. Closing:- Closing signs from the buyer include physical actions, statements or comments and questions. Reps can ask for the order,recapitualate the points of agreement, offer help to write up the order or indicate what the buyer will loose by not purchasing the product. Follow up and maintenance: Follow up and maintenance are necessary for customer satisfaction and repeat business.
2.How should Mr. Brown handle this situation? What should he say to R ick? What would you do if you were the boss at Nabisco Sales Div? Ans:- Mr. Brown should do his best to motivate Rick. The probable actions that could be taken by Mr. Brown 1. Highlighting his own carrier and motivating Rick that he can also reach the pinnacle of success. 2. By removing the psychological effect associated with the term salesperson. 3. By giving him some more training time. 4. By keeping Rick under his supervision for a month or so and allowing him to do the selling. 5. By providing him incentives and mental support after sales. 6. By evaluating his performance showing that he can do better. Possible steps taken by the boss:1. Evaluating the performance of Rick 2. Motivating him through incentives, encouragement 3. Making him work under Mr. Brown with whom Rick is comfortable. 4. Showing more confidence in him by giving him one of the better potential area.
2.How can firms reduce high turnover among new sales professionals ? Ans:- Sales executives cannot²and should not²attempt to prevent all turnover. Companies will always need to promote some salespeople and dismiss others. But there are three avenues to pursue in trying to keep your turnover rate down: Firms can reduce turnover by following the given steps:The 70% Solution
Quota levels should be set where salespeople can hit them. Driving off salespeople by setting quotas too high makes consistent hitting of any number difficult² perhaps impossible. Studies show that when quotas are set so that 70% or more of the sales force can achieve them, the ter mination rate is only 18%. But if less than 70% of the sales force can reach quota, one-third of the sales force may be lost through termination. Not coincidentally, 70% sales force attainment is the number IBM uses to set its quotas. High termination rates can make it even tougher for firms to hit next year's numbers. When less than 70% of a firm's salespeople make quota, and substantial numbers quit or are terminated, the remaining sales veterans may feel demoralized. And a greater portion of the sales burden falls on new, less productive salespeople.
Better hiring and training. Although the average cost to hire and train a new salesperson is high, it is considerably less than the cost of losing an established salesperson.
Money spent to more effectively screen and recruit new salespeople can yield higher caliber employees who more closely fit the company's corporate culture and sales success profile. Better training is a solid investment in getting new salespeople up to full productivity sooner, thus reducing turnover. Of course, it's a good idea to hire the right person in the first place. Refer back to Section Two for advice on making sure the person you hire will perform on the job. Competitive comp plans. Reviewing of sales compensation plan. Does it provide earnings that are competitive with other companies and the industry at lar ge?
4.What can firms do to increase salesperson status and self esteem ? Ans:- Possible steps taken by firms:Removing Of the term Salesperson:- The term µsalesperson¶ somehow carries a very negative effect with it. The term somehow shows a low profile job where employees have no respect. Company can coin term like company representatives or product introducer to denote salesperson. This somehow brands the salesperson with new identity that does not carry the negative effect. Providing high salary and incentives: Very often sales job are taken as a low salary job where people have to work like animals. Company can provide high salary to the sales employees leading to a lucrative lifestyle as a result the myth will be broken.
Showing the importance of salesperson: Traditional view about salespersons hols it as an irresponsible post. Companies can allow experience sales person to take part in meeting concerning strategies and product development. Companies can also provide the sales people with awards or incetives or company paid holidays to showcase their importance. This step will also motivate the employees to perform better. Advertising about the effective sales forece team: - A company can advertise about the targets achive by its sales representatives in a given area over a given period of time. This method not only will refurbish the image of the sales person but also make the customers more awar about the product and instill fear among the competitors.
5.What can professors do to better prepare students in sales classes? Ans:-Possible steps that can be taken are given below: 1. Selling is not a theoretical subject. Its an e xtremely practical subject and hence the class should be designed with solving real life problems. 2. In addition to the benefits of selling it is also very important to clearly teach the students about its demerits. This will help the students to better cope with difficult conditions. 3. Students should be given project with deadlines. 4. Students should be given thorough coaching on communication and presentation skills and made aware of the FABV approach. 5. Students should be given instructions to develop their listening skills and patience 6. Students should be made aware of the related IT developments and social networking sites and how to zero in on a prospective customer. 7. Students should be kept under constant evaluation.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
MARKETING CONCEPTS USED Principles of personal selling. THE six steps of personal selling Managing the sales force Turnover issues management Maslow¶s model Consumer realationship management
