Industrial Marketing

Sales Force
Planning, Organizing and
controlling

SF
Selecting & recruiting sales force

1 Primary selection criteria:

1.1 Motivation
1.2 Human resources skills
1.3 Job knowledge
1.4 Individuals with good technical skills are better able to
identify buyers problem & Suggest solutions

SF
Primary methods of selecting
1. Personal Interview
2. Multiple & panel interviews
3. Patterned & Structured interview
4. Realistic Job Interviews
5. Auditioning

SF
Use of learning theory in training of professional sales
force
1 Motivation.
2. Involvement
3. Feedback
4. Experienced versus inexperienced sales people
5. Accelerated learning

SF
Who should train?
1 Sales managers as trainers.
2. Experienced sales people as trainers
3. Training specialists
4. Hybrid
ORGANIZATION
Customer based / Territory based/ Product based/ National
account based

SF
Domains of training

1
2
3

Company knowledge
Product knowledge
Industry and market trend knowledge
Competitive knowledge
Ethics are important too
Sales skill knowledge:
Professional selling skills
Human relations skills
Negotiating skills:

3.1 Preparing for negotiations

3.2 Establishing fundamental attitude
3.3 Conducting the negotiations

SF
Motivating the sales force
Motivational theories
Content theories
Abraham Maslow
Herzberg
Process theories
Attribution theory
Motivated or de motivated depending on who is in
control of the action
Expectancy theory
Pp X Po X valance, where Pp = perceived probability
of performing, Po = perceived probability of obtaining
an outcome, Valance = anticipated value of satisfaction
or dissatisfaction of the outcome

SF
Motivating the sales force

Compensation
Salary related to sales
Fixed component plus a variable component
Hybrid

SF
Importance of Personal selling Own or Manufacturers or
distributors
Actualizing the marketing concept
Need recognition and satisfying the needs , wants and
demands more than Consumer Products
Widia Reducing inserts Inventory by 35% by reducing
the variety being carried by a buyer
SF will recommend , do technical assistance etc

SF

WHAT DOES BUYERS WANT FROM SALES FORCE

Thoroughly informed about COMPANY
About PRODUCTS
Understands BUYERS
Good technical background
Good personality characteristic

SF
SALES FORCE AUTOMATION
Enhances the ability of sales force
SFA includes software to cell phones to voice mail to
AI
Sales person will be more productive because of SFA
He can use data analysis to help buy customer
Smarter
SALES EDGE a software

SF

Industrial selling Environment

Organizational buying and buying behavior
Different communication strategies
Groups and Individuals
Influencers
Center of Gravity
Goal Conflicts ?
USE experience, questioning mind and keen
observation

SF
Selling process
Stages

Examples

Searching for and identifying

organizations

Screen potential prospects

Making the approach

Getting the interview and opening

the sale

Qualifying the prospect

Profile the needs of prospect

Making the sales presentation

High degree of planning
Gaining access

Demonstrate firms ability to satisfy

needs , demonstrate the product
Making cumulative efforts of
many calls

5
6
7

Answering objections

Anticipating unsolved problem areas

Closing the sale

Asking for order in subtlety

Following up

Maintain continuous favorable

relationship

SF

Making sales presentations

Importance of Planning
Identifying Prospects
This is not about current customers
Media Ad
Trade shows
Telemarketing
Gaining access to Buying center
Cumulative efforts of many calls
Learning from the environment about environment
Sales Presentations
Recognize and Respond to the need
Developing & Managing customer rapport
Sales Edge Software

SF

Managing the Industrial sales force- Qualities of salesman

Aggressive
Sensitive to needs
Technical knowledge
Communication skills
Positive attitude

Planning the sales force deployment

Bachelors
Short period visits

SF

Typical SF deployment analysis

Intuitive
approaches

Systematic approaches

Decision model
approaches

Experience

Potential

Empirical models

Adjusting market
potential

Judgment

Rules of
thumbheuristics

Expected value
analysis
Workload analysis

Return on time invested

Judgment based
models
Combination models

Adjusted market potential for prospective groups

TATA steels is looking for Market expansion

Group

Market potential
-Tonnes

Discussions
with SF

Sales
Potential

800,000

50%

400,000

700,000

80%

560,000

600,000

100%

600,000

500,000

30%

150,000

TOT

Expected Value Analysis

TATA steels is looking for Market expansion
GRP

Market
potential

800,000 50%

400,000 0.4

160,000 5

700,000 80%

560,000 0.1

5,600

600,000 100%

600,000 0.2

120,000 5

500,000 30%

150,000 0.8

120,000 10

TOT

Discussions
with SF

Sales
Potential

P of
suc

Expected
Value

Profit

10

Expected Value Analysis

TATA steels why should they do it?
Concept of Heavy Half
70 % from 15 %

Workload Analysis
To estimate # people needed for the PS
Estimate # selling days
Do not forget sales conferences, allowed leave, training
,trade shows
From Past Data estimate Average travel time
Estimate the length/duration of sales call ( Average)
# existing customers, Proposed expansions to be estimated

RoTI Analysis
# AC

Freq
per
AC

Total planned
calls

Ave call
cost
Rs

Cost
Per
Group

Sales pot

Gross RoTI
@ 20%

14

126

205

25880

500,000

100000 3.86

35

175

205

35945

400,000

80000

2.23

13

39

205

8010

250,000

50000

6.24

17

68

205

13967

50,000

10000

0.72

Review Problem
RoTI calculations & Analysis

Sales pot

Cat

2000000 .40

525000
800000

A
B

1750000 .25

437500

Market pot

% to
firm

1500000 .35

Sales pot

Prob

Expected value Cat

525000
800000

.35
.15

183750
120000

A
B

437500

.50

218750

RoTI calculations
3x2
Pot
cust

calls
yr

Total
calls

Call
cost

10

80

225

15

12

180

225

22

16

352

225
Cost 4x5

Firms

20%

7/8

group

SP

margin

ROTI

A-18000

525000

105000

5.83

B-40500

800000

160000

3.95

C-79200

437500

87500

1.10

Sales resource opportunity grid

Opportunity

Sales org

Strength

High

Low

High

Invest in SF resources &

take advantage of
opportunity

Low

Moderate sales force to

maintain current position

Invest in SF to
move to strength
or put those
units else where
Minimum effort

Simple

Complex

sales

Large

Major
A/C

National
A/C

Potential

Small

Dyadic
A/C

Minor
A/C

Complexi
ty of
customer