Introduction to Sales Management

Evolution of Sales Management

• The history of salesmanship is as old as human civilization. Paul Hermann
described Bronze Age’s traveling salespersons.
• The salespeople used a wooden box, 26 inches long, containing, in specifically
hollowed compartments, axes, sword blades, buttons, etc.
• The salespeople in the past were not held in high esteem by the society.
• The Roman meaning of the word salesperson is ‘cheater’, and Mercury, the god of
cunning and barter.
• The business and trade of buying and selling goods flourished over centuries and
centered only on some specific cities of the world.
• India was a great destination for traders and resellers in the medieval age for
spices, carpets, jewelry, etc.
 Meaning of Sales Management
Meaning:
Sales management is solely concerned with the direction and
control of the sales force. Sales management refers to the
management of sales personnel, though sometimes, in a broader
sense, it covers advertising, distribution, pricing, and product
designing, all elements of marketing management.

Definition:
The American Marketing Association has defined “sales
management” as “the planning, direction and control of personal
selling, including recruiting, selecting, equipping, assigning,
routing, supervising, paying and motivating as these tasks apply
to the personal sales force.”
Importance of Sales Management
 Importance of Sales Management
• Realizes Organizational Objectives: Sales management is practiced to attain the
pre-defined organizational goals or objectives which can be increasing
profitability, customer satisfaction, market acquisition, and so on.
• Manages Sales Force: The sales team includes personnel performing various
sales-related tasks; the activities of the sales force are hence monitored and
regulated through sales management.
• Better Planning: Planning is an essential function of sales management; it
includes the formulation of goals, strategies, programs, and budgets.
• Sales Maximization: It also helps the management in setting sales targets, which
are thought higher than the previous goals but are possibly attainable.
• Builds Strong Relationship: The sales personnel emphasizes on building up
strong interpersonal relations with the customers, as their primary motive. Since it
ultimately drives sales and profit maximization.
 Importance of Sales Management
• Optimizes Distribution: It provides for maximum utilization of the marketing
channels by identifying the key problem areas and finding a solution to these issues.
• Aids Top Management Decision Making: It comprises of the comparison between
the desired and actual result and thus, supports the top-level management or directors
to make crucial decisions (such as business expansion and closure).
• Improves Profitability: The most critical concerns of top-level management is profit
maximization, which is, therefore, passed on as a primary objective of sales
management.
• Develop Personnel: In the process of sales management, the sales personnel is
provided sufficient training, growth opportunities, and support to ensure their overall
development.
• Product Development: The sales team are in constant touch with the clients or
customers, which helps the management to know about their preference and taste.
Nature of Sales Management
 Nature of Sales Management
• Goal-Oriented: Similar to other management activities, sales management also
has a specific purpose and is intended for the achievement of specified goals or
objectives.

• Continuous Process: The sales manager needs to perform sales management

functions regularly, and this process is never-ending.

• Systematic Approach: It is an organized way of handling the sales function of the

company where every problem has a defined and proven solution.

• Relationship Selling: The salespeople make efforts to build a strong customer

relationship to sell the products or services effectively.
 Nature of Sales Management
• Marketing Management Integration: Marketing is a broader concept; marketing
management includes all the activities related to sales management.

• Different Sales or Job Position: It is the combined efforts of the whole sales
team, including the salesperson, sales executive, sales head, sales manager, and
after-sales service personnel.

• Pervasive Function: It is a universally applicable concept that has been adopted

and tested by every kind of business organization.
 Elements of Sales Management
A sales manager needs to concentrate on the three crucial elements of sales
management. Getting these three right can bring optimization of the sales
management.
 Elements of Sales Management
Sales Operations – Team Building
• Building an efficient sales team is the primary focus of a sales manager.
• He/she needs to ensure that team members are handed over the responsibilities, that match their skills and
knowledge.
• Moreover, they have been provided with the required training to execute their duties in the desired manner.
• The sales manager then needs to:

• Determine challenging and realistic sales targets;

• Allot a particular area or territory to each salesperson;
• Set objectives and sales quotas for the sales team.
• The sales manager has to continually motivate his/her team and provide feedback on their performance.
 Elements of Sales Management
• Sales Strategy – Sales Process
• When the team is ready for sales performance, it requires proper guidance and
support.
• The sales manager needs to prepare a sales pipeline that provides a sequential
presentation of the steps involved in the sales process, right from lead generation
to cracking the deal successfully.
• There are varying strategies for different types of sales activities like customer
acquisition, customer retention, personal selling, distribution,
• The sales manager, however, needs to take charge when the salesperson fails to
achieve the desired results.
 Elements of Sales Management
Sales Analysis – Reporting
• Analyzing or reporting the performance of the sales team helps everyone to better
off their tasks and efforts. Thus, it is one of the essential components of sales
management.
• The team becomes aware of where it stands, by going through the sales metrics,
performance index, and other quantifiable indicators. Hence, it can find out the
loopholes and rectify the mistakes made earlier to ensure optimal results next
time.
Using the standard sales pipeline, one can find out the following metrics:
• Number of deals
• The average size of each deal
• The average percentage of deals cracked
• The average time that is taken to close the deals.
 Scope of Sales Management
Sales management is a field that has emerged from marketing management;
however, the latter is a broader concept.
 Scope of Sales Management
• Sales Planning or Forecasting: The sales-related activities need to be planned
well in advance through anticipation of future sales prospects.
• Sales Budgeting: The sales manager needs to determine or estimate the sales
budget, i.e., the expenses that will be incurred in carrying out the sales activities.
• Determining Structure and Size of Sales Organization: The department of a
company that is solely responsible for all the sales-related functions is termed a
sales organization.
• Sales management provides for determining the size, composition, and structure
of a sales organization.
• Human Resource Planning: The sales management ensures a proper estimation
of sales personnel requirements in the organization.
Hiring Sales Personnel: It initiates the recruitment and selection of efficient and
suitable candidates for various vacant sales positions.
 Scope of Sales Management
• Training and Development of Salespeople: It also includes providing training and orientation
to the selected candidates to develop their skills and knowledge to match those required for the
job position.
• Developing Salesperson’s Objectives: The sales manager sets up achievable objectives or
goals for the salespeople appointed under him/her.
• Fixing Sales Quotas: Also, the sales quota (monthly, quarterly, or yearly) is fixed, either in
terms of volume or value of sales to set targets for the sales team.
• Determining Sales Territories: Every sales team or salesperson is given a particular region or
area as a target market, which they need to penetrate to sell products or services.
• Motivating Sales Personnel: It also emphasizes reviewing the work of salespeople and driving
them frequently to perform better.
• Compensation and Remuneration of Salespeople: It ascertains appropriate salary,
remuneration, allowance, commission, and other benefits to the salespeople.
• Controlling Salesforce: Exercising sufficient control by monitoring the performance of the
sales personnel is also a crucial function of sales management.
 Scope of Sales Management
• Branding, Labelling, and Packaging: The sales personnel gathers customer
feedback on the acceptability of the product packaging, presentation, branding,
and labeling.
• Managing Distribution Channel: It also ensures keeping track of the marketing
channels and filling the loopholes if any.
• Sales Promotion: The product advertisements and other promotional tactics are
also determined through sales management functions.
• Organizing and Support Service: It includes handling queries and solving
problems of the sales personnel through proper guidance and support service.
• After-Sale Services: The customer recognizes a company mostly through the
effectiveness and efficiency of the after-sale services it provides, which is the
concern of sales management.
 Types of Selling
• Today, sales reps are expected to be the experts in their market.
• Armed with information and insights about companies and buyers.
• They must be able to diagnose customer pain points and walk customers through
a solution that applies technology to address those needs.
• Salespeople need additional skills – including an understanding of how to sell to
different types of buyers using various channels, as well as how to navigate
complex buying cycles – but still rely on rapport, relationship building, and
emotional leadership techniques for closing deals.
 Types of Selling
1. Transactional Selling: This type of selling is all about completing transactions.
The salesperson's main goal is to get the customer to buy, and they don't care about
anything else. They may be very pushy and use high-pressure tactics to close the
sale.
2. Product-Oriented Selling: In this type of selling, the salesperson focuses on
promoting their product or service. They may know a lot about the product, but they
don't always have a solution for the customer's needs.
They're more interested in making a sale than in building a relationship with the
customer.
3. Solution Selling: In this type of selling, the salesperson takes a more consultative
approach. They focus on understanding the customer's needs and then finding a
solution that meets those needs.
They may not always have the perfect solution, but they're willing to work with the
customer to find one.
 Types of Selling
4. Consultative Selling: This type of selling is very similar to solution selling, but
it's even more focused on building relationships with the customer.
The salesperson takes the time to get to know the customer and understand their
needs. They then work with the customer to find a solution that meets those needs.
5. Insight Selling: This type of selling is all about providing value to the customer.
The salesperson uses their knowledge of the industry to provide insights that will
help the customer do their job better.
6. Social Selling: In this type of selling, a salesperson uses social media and other
online tools to find leads and build relationships with prospective customers. They
often use a lot of technology as part of their sales process.
7. Challenger Selling: This type of selling is all about questioning assumptions and
taking a different approach from what the competition is doing. The salesperson
doesn't just try to "sell" - they also try to educate customers so they're able to make
informed decisions.
 Types of Selling
8. High-Pressure Selling: This type of selling involves using high-pressure tactics
to get someone to buy something right away. The salesperson often ignores the
customer's needs and tries to force them into a sale.
This type of selling is often seen as unethical and can be very damaging to the
customer's relationship with the company.
9. Outbound selling: A sales process where reps reach out to potential customers
who don’t know about the seller’s product or service. Outbound selling requires a
high degree of lead generation and qualification activity, as well as a strong pipeline
to ensure continuous deal flow.
10. Inbound selling: A sales process where the seller waits for potential customers
to reach out to them. Inbound selling is often supported by content marketing and
SEO efforts that drive organic traffic to the company website.
 Difference Between Selling and Marketing
Selling:
According to William J. Stanton, Selling is informing and persuading a market
about a product or service. It is a function of promotion.

Marketing:
According to Philip Kotler, Marketing is defined as the science and art of
exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a
profit.
 Difference Between Selling and Marketing
Basis Selling Marketing

A part of the marketing process An important functional area of

which involves all the personal and management that involves activities
impersonal activities that are undertaken by an organization for
Meaning
involved in finding, securing, and the promotion of buying and
developing a demand for a good or selling of a good or service is known
service is known as Selling. as Marketing.

As marketing also includes selling, it

As selling is only a part of the has a wide scope. All the activities
marketing process, it has a narrow concerned with the identification
Scope
scope and is limited to increasing and satisfaction of the wants of
the sales volume of an organization. consumers are covered in
marketing.

Selling focuses on the transfer of The main focus of marketing is to

Focus title and possession of products to achieve maximum satisfaction of
the users or consumers. the needs and wants of consumers.
 Difference Between Selling and Marketing
Selling aims to maximize the profits Marketing aims at earning profits
Objective of an organization through an with the help of consumer
increase in the volume of sales. satisfaction.

The main emphasis of marketing is

The main emphasis of selling is on
on the development of the product
Emphasis the molding of the consumer
according to the needs of the
according to the product.
consumer.

Integrated marketing efforts are used

Strategies such as promotion and in this area of management and
Strategy persuasion for selling the product are involve strategies relates to
used in it. product, price, promotion, and
physical distribution/place.
 Difference Between Selling and Marketing
The marketing activities start
The selling activities of an way before the product is
organization start after the manufactured and does not
Start and End product is manufactured or end after the sale of the
developed and end after it is product. It continues even after
sold. the sale of the product by way
of after-sales services, etc.

The organization supposes from

Demand is created and
the beginning that there is a
Demand maintained in the marketing
demand for the product in the
process.
market.
Selling Process
 Selling Process
1. Prospecting:
The first step in the sales process is prospecting. In this stage, you find potential
customers and determine whether they need your product or service—and whether
they can afford what you offer. Evaluating whether the customers need your product
or service and can afford it is known as qualifying.
2. Preparation or Pre approach:
The next step is preparing for initial contact with a potential customer, researching
the market, and collecting all relevant information regarding your product or
service. Develop your sales presentation and tailor it to your potential client’s
particular needs. The better you understand your prospect and their needs, the better
you can address their objections and set yourself apart from the competition.
 Selling Process
3. Approach
Next, make first contact with your client. This is called the approach. Sometimes
this is a face-to-face meeting, sometimes it’s over the phone. There are three
common approach methods.
• Premium approach: Presenting your potential client with a gift at the beginning
of your interaction
• Question approach: Asking a question to get the prospect interested
• Product approach: Giving the prospect a sample or a free trial to review and
evaluate your service
4. Presentation
In the presentation phase, you actively demonstrate how your product or service
meets the needs of your potential customer. The word presentation implies using
PowerPoint and giving a sales spiel, but it doesn’t always have to be that way—you
should actively listen to your customer’s needs and then act and respond
 Selling Process
5. Handling Objections
In this step, the salesperson clarifies all the doubts and questions that the customer has
and eliminates all his objections to buying the product.
this is where you listen to your prospect’s concerns and address them. It’s also where
many unsuccessful salespeople drop out of the process—44% of salespeople abandon
pursuit after one rejection, 22% after two rejections, 14% after three, and 12% after
four, even though 80% of sales require at least five follow-ups to convert.
6. Closing
In the closing stage, you get the decision from the client to move forward. Depending
on your business, you might try one of these three closing techniques.
• choice close: Assuming the sale and offering the prospect a choice, where both
options close the sale—for example, “Will you be paying the whole fee upfront or in
installments?” or “Will that be cash or charge?”
• Extra inducement close: Offering something extra to get the prospect to close, such
 Selling Process
• Standing room only close: Creating urgency by expressing that time is of the
essence—for example, “The price will be going up after this month” or “We only
have six spots left”
7. Follow-up
Once you have closed the sale, your job is not done. The follow-up stage keeps you
in contact with customers you have closed, not only for potential repeat business
but for referrals as well. And since retaining current customers is six to seven times
less costly than acquiring new ones, maintaining relationships is key.