Page 155 - DMGT205_SALES_MANAGEMENT

Unit 10: Managing Sales Personnel

The objectives of training are to give the following types of information to the salesmen, Notes
namely:
1. Knowledge of the company, its background and history. This will give him a perspective
as to how he fits into the organization structure of the company.
2. Knowledge of the Company's products and more particularly the `selling points' or
advantages that he can emphasize with a view to close the sale.
3. Knowledge of customers, i.e. details about the types of customers and how they should be
handled.

4. Knowledge of sales and other procedure which is prescribed, such as how to get orders,
what forms to fill up, the sales reports required, etc.
5. Training in the art of selling or salesmanship.

Notes The best method of control is naturally Personal Contact. This is however not
possible from, let us say, the sales manager's level right down to the salesman's level. A
supervisor has personal contact over the salesman directly under him. However, as an
organisation grows, some other form of control has to be adopted. Correspondence is one
method where the distance can be obviated. However, the most popular method of
controlling salesmen is through Salesmen's Reports.

Today's customers want solutions, and companies are remaking their sales forces to satisfy
them. Nevertheless, total quality goals and sales quotas still clash. This is the primary theme
related to the new enlightened sales force of the future. In the past, sales people would brag that
their primary purpose in life was to push metal (IBM) or slam boxes (Xerox). Today, the sales
force gauges success as much by customer satisfaction as the units sold. The former is generally
a much more rigorous yardstick than the latter. As companies today are finding that if you
anticipate what your customers need and then deliver it beyond their expectations, order flow
takes care of itself.
As more managers awake to the challenge, old stereotypes are fading faster than Willy Loman's
smile and shoeshine. Forget the mythical lone-wolf salesman; today's trend-setting salespeople
tend to work in teams. The traditional sample case is more likely to hold spreadsheets than
widgets. Today's best salespeople see themselves as problem solvers, not vendors. They gauge
success not just by sales volume but also by customer satisfaction. They do not "sell"; they
"partner" with the customer.
Companies that dismiss the new, more collaborative sales methods as a fad are likely to slip
behind. Today's demanding buyers are running out of patience with mere product pushers,
whether at the new-car showroom, on the floor of a department store, or in the corporate
conference room. They will tell you that do not want to deal with anyone selling anything
unless they can tell the firm exactly how it will help their business.

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