Sales Organization Concepts
A degree to which important decisions or tasks are performed at higher levels in the management hierarchy.
Centralization
Two of the most important factors in determining the appropriate type of specialization
The similarity of customer needs and the complexity of products offered by the firm.
The territory can be viewed as the _____ _____ for a salesperson.
work unit
There are _______ Sales Training Managers in Figure 4.3 for Line versus Staff Positions
2
The term strategic account is used to refer to what?
Large, important accounts that should receive special attention from the sales organization.
Key considerations in determining salesforce size
productivity, turnover, and organizational strategy.
They are not in the direct chain of command in the sales organization structure. They are responsible for certain functions (e.g., recruiting and selecting, training) and are not directly involved in sales-generating activities.
Staff Sales Management Positions
A strategic account organization represents a type of market specialization based on account size and complexity. Two types of strategic account organizations are of particular importance. Explain each.
National account management (NAM) and Global account management (GAM)
Differentiate the three basic analytical approaches. They can be used as analytical tools to determine appropriate selling effort allocations.
Single Factor Models - Easy to develop and use or Low analytical rigor
Portfolio Models - Each account served by a firm is considered as part of an overall portfolio of accounts.
Decision Models - Allocate sales calls to accounts that promise the highest sales return from the sales calls
Flat organization structures tend to be used to achieve _____________ whereas tall structures are more appropriate for centralized organizations.
Decentralization
All large accounts do not qualify as strategic accounts. Strategic account should be of sufficient size and complexity to warrant special attention from the sales organization. An account can be considered complex under the following circumstances: Give Atleast 2 circumstances.
• There are multiple buying locations.
• Top management heavily influences its purchasing decisions.
• Multiple functions are involved in buying decisions.
• Its purchasing process is complex and diffuse.
• Some purchasing activities are centralized.
• It requires special services.
Describe three methods for calculating salesforce size.
Breakdown Approach - A relatively simple approach for calculating salesforce size, the breakdown approach, assumes that an accurate sales forecast is available.
Workload Approach - To determine how much selling effort is needed to cover the firm’s market adequately. Then the number of salespeople required to provide this amount of selling effort is calculated.
Incremental Approach - The most rigorous approach for calculating salesforce size is the incremental approach. Its basic concept is to compare the marginal profit contribution with the marginal selling costs for each incremental salesperson.
In general, ___ management levels result in ______ spans of control, and ___ staff positions result in ___ sales management specialization.
more, smaller, more, more
4 Sales Organization Structures
- Geographic, Product, Market, and Functional
What is the good rule of thumb in salesforce deployment?
is to make salesforce deployment changes that are likely to have the least disruptive effect on existing relationships.