SURESH A S

A S S O C I AT E P R O F E S S O R , H E A D M A R K E T I N G , I N S T I T U T E O F M A N A G E M E N T , C H R I S T ( D E E M E D T O B E
UNIVERSITY)

T E L : + 9 1 7 0 2 2 6 2 7 7 1 9 S U R E S H . A @ C H R I S T U N I V E R S I T Y. I N

• Marketing &Finance Professional - Operations Generalist with strong moorings in

operational/marketing finance and accounts, commercial , SBU concept, Profit centre concept,
and exposure to sales, Distribution, Retail and marketing across varied Industries and
geographies. Specialize in consumer durables and retail
• Qualified and a Dynamic Management Professional with Over 28 years of extensive experience with
MNCs and strong system driven Indian companies viz. Gestetner, PHI Seeds Ltd, Dunlop, HMV,
BPL, Havells, Whirlpool of India Ltd, TCL India/Subhiksha (retail) and Jain Irrigation in various
Commercial/ Accounting/ Administration/ Supply chain functions/Profit centre/SBU
concept/marketing and strategic roles.
• Roles held: VP, GM, VGM, AGM, CBU-HEAD and others
• Academic Experience: 10 years Handling subjects like Financial Accounting, Financial
Management, Management Accounting, Marketing, Sales, Distribution, retail, Services Marketing,
Strategic Management, Decision Making, Customer centricity, Decision making
• Qualifications :PGDM, K-set, Mphil in (management),Mcom ,LLB, Acs(I), PDFM, DIPINMGMNT
•  Rank Holder in Mcom, LLB and BCom
•  Pursuing PhD in marketing and MBA in Marketing
• Consulting Domains
• Retail, Profit centre and SBU Management, Business Plan and corporate strategy
• Training Domains
• Sales, Distribution, Retail
SALES MANAGEMENT
AND
N E G O T I AT I O N S K I L L S
Welcome to Week 1

A.S.SURESH

2
 WHEN YOU THINK
OF A SALES PERSON
– WHAT IMAGE
COMES TO YOUR
MIND?
 HOW MANY OF
YOU WANT A
SALES CAREER?
LIKELY REASONS FOR YOU NOT TAKING
SALES

• You are afraid that your image will be ruined because you will
be considered a salesperson
• You may be hiding behind your lack of confidence
• You think you are not an extrovert and only extroverts can be
good in sales
• You are afraid that people will say NO and it will hurt your
ego or your emotions
• You are afraid that someone won’t like you because you are
trying to sell them something
• You believe marketing is a higher valued profession than sales
THE REALITY
• You are selling your self all the time
THE REALITY
• I am also selling myself all the time
THE REALITY
• We are all selling our self all the time
• Selling is a skill we all must have – for
success
THE REALITY
• Many salespeople are among the best paid people in business
• The financial results of a firm depend on the performance of
the sales department
• Sales is the only function / department in a company that
generates revenue / income
• It is one of the fastest and surest routes to the top management
• All successful professionals have sold products, services or
ideas in order to become successful - personally and
professionally.
THE REALITY
• If you want to succeed in career and in life, sales is a good and
fairly easy route
• You don’t need to be an extrovert to be a good sales person
• We all have fear of rejection. Sales people too have it.
• It is like swimming or cycling – once you do it a few times, it
becomes easier and comes a bit naturally.
SO LET US TALK
ABOUT SALES AS
A FUNCTION IN A
COMPANY
HOW COMPANIES ARE
ORGANISED:
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
MARKETING AND SALES
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
MARKETING AND SALES
• The broad purpose of marketing is to bring a firm’s
products into contact with markets and to effect profitable
exchanges of products for money.
• The purpose of sales is to bring the right products into
contact with the right customers, and make ownership
transfer.
THREE KINDS OF PERSONAL
SELLING
• Industrial selling (B2B)– Selling to resellers, business
users and govt.
• Retail selling (B2C) – Selling at the retailer
• Services selling – Selling intangibles

If you join HUL and manage sales of a particular product

range in Karnataka, would you be B2B or B2C sales?
SALES MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
 SALES MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS

Sales Management is supported by virtually the whole organization.

.
 SALES MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS

The conscious, systemic process of making decisions about sales goals and sales
activities that a sales person, sales team, or the whole sales organization will pursue in
a defined future and the use of resources needed to attain these goals.
 SALES MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS

Activities undertaken to attract, develop, and maintain effective sales personnel within
the sales organization.
 SALES MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS

The effort put forth by the company to provide the salesperson with job-related skills,
knowledge and cultural appreciation that result in improved sales performance.
 SALES MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS

The ability of the sales managers to influence the sales teams to meet the sales
objectives.
 SALES MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS

Monitoring sales personnel’s activities, determining whether the organization is on

target toward its goals, and making corrections as necessary
 PERCENTAGE OF TIME SPENT

Top Managers

P lan n in g Staffin g T rain - Lead in g C o n tro llin g

in g
35% 10% 5% 30% 20%

Middle Managers
P lan n in g Staffin g Train in g Lead in g C o n tro llin g
28% 10% 10% 30% 22%

First-Line Managers
P lan n in g Staffin g Train in g Lead in g C o n tro llin g
15% 20% 25% 25% 15%
 SALES MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS

Sales Management is the attainment of sales goals in an ethical, efficient,

and effective manner.
.
 SALES MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS

•Efficiency focuses on getting the maximum output with minimum

resources. Efficiency is all about focusing on the process.
•Effectiveness refers to doing the right things. It measures if the actual
output meets the desired output. Effectiveness focuses on achieving the
‘end’ goal
MAJOR CHANGES HAPPENING IN THE
MARKETPLACE THAT AFFECT SALES PROFESSION

• Sales people are more exposed to technology based efficiency

enhancement tools
• Technology is making it easier for customers to compare and buy online –
plus customers are more knowledgeable
• Competitive intensity is high
• Fast changing customer needs
• Sales people’s knowledge level needs to be very high
• Markets are getting globalized
• Markets size in India is growing and Rural markets are emerging
• Product life cycles are getting shorter
• Shift from traditional selling to solutions selling
• From individual role to team role
SALES MANAGEMENT-PERSONAL SELLING

• Sales management is defined as the management of the personal selling

component of an organisation’s marketing plan
OUTSIDE SALES FORCE
• Who :
• Meet Prospective customers
• Operate outside the office
• Differently distinguished geographically
• Hybrid of field force-telemarketers-ecommerce
• Generally do not sell to end customers
• Typical Outside sales position
• Industrial producers/whole sellers
• Business products producers/ whole sellers/retailers/institution
• Customer products Whole sellers/retailers/customers
• PERSONAL SELLING
• Marketing mix- ingredients-(products/price/distribution/promotion)
• Promotion –sub mix-Advertisement/Sales promotion
• Personal selling efforts is the largest in terms of people employed/dollars spent
and sales generated.
RELATIONSHIP MARKETING AND ROLE OF PERSONAL
SELLING

• Expectations of company from suppliers.

• Product based competitive advantage is not sustainable
• Value added Components ( looking for solutions to problems/understanding the
needs of the customer- Information and service)
• Long term close relations- relationship marketing or selling

Transaction selling Relationship selling

Get new accounts Retain existing accounts
Get the order Become the preferred supplier
Cut the Price to sell more Manage each account for longterm
Manage all accounts to maximise profit
sales Concentrate on high-profit potential
Sell to anyone accounts
NATURE OF SALES JOB

• Sales people can be different based on the products they handle. In fact even within
categories, there could be difference and is generally distinct from non sales job
• Wide variety of sales responsibility- Consumer durables/pepsi/IBM
• Classification based on amount of problem solving and selling required(simple to
complex)
• Sales development:
• Order getter-New customers/existing customers-selling new products
• Sales support
• Product specialists/ engineers’ who support/advise pre and post sales
• Sales maintenance
• Driver sales people or order takers(Only execution role. Advise comes from seniors)
• Complex business environments deals with wide range of products/services each
requiring unique sales ability
HOW SALES JOBS DIFFER FROM OTHERS

• Sales job is different from others and vital to the financial well being of a company
• Key differentiating features of a sales job:
• Responsible for implementing firm’s marketing strategy
• Sales people are the few employees who are authorised to spend funds of the
organisation
• Represent the company to customers and society in general
• Represent the customers to the company
• Sales persons operate with little or no direct supervision and require a high degree
of motivation
• Need more tact and social intelligence
• Require considerable amount of travelling and time away from home and family
• Sales people have large role sets both internally and externally
• Sales people face role ambiguity, role conflict and role stress
THE NATURE OF SALES MANAGEMENT-CONTD
• During the evolution of marketing management the scope of Sales management was
narrow.
• Now personal selling and sales management have a broader dimension
• Strategic planning, forecasting, budgeting, sales and cost analysis has become
part of sales management
• Roles and skills of a sales manager
• Sales persons are more empowered force and SM role has graduated to
coordination (Internal) and more of a bridge between sales force and company
• Sales mangers now expected to handle multi channel
• Gone are the days of volume oriented demanding sales manger/boss.
• He is perceived more as a team leader who has to work along with the team
• While he still continues to direct and advise but more through collaboration and
empowerment
 CHANGE IN STYLE EXPECTED FROM SALES
MANAGER

• Detailed understanding of customer business.

• Treating sales force as equals and working with them to achieve profitability and
customer satisfaction
• Use flexible motivational tools and approach to handle hybrid sales force-field
force/direct marketers and telemarketers.
• Technology
• Work as part of corporate team to create internal and external value-to be customer
voice and help in aligning strategies of the company’s various departments
• Exceed customer expectation and keep looking for opportunity to add value to
buyer-seller relationship
• Create a flexible learning and adaptive environment.
 SALES ABILITY IS NOT ENOUGH-ADMINISTRATION
IS A DISTINCT SKILL

• Sometimes promotion to the next level is done on the basis of sales generating
capability. Top sales producers may not be the best next level in Management which
requires administrative skill.
• Sales ability is not enough
• (Aggressive sales person vs people skill)
• Detest reporting and discipline
• Qualities to look for
• Willingness to share information
• Structure and discipline in work habits
• Ability to work well in team or group
• Skill at selling internally
• An ego that is not overinflated
THANK YOU