Week 8: Personal Selling & Sales Management

Question 1

Outline salesforce management

Answer 1

• Planning
• Organising the personal selling effort
  eg.
• *Geographical
• > Reduces travel distance and time between customers
• > Usually minimises costs
• > Salesperson may not know about all products or only emphasise certain (high commission) products
• *Product-Oriented
• > Salesperson specialise in relatively narrow components of total product line
• > Appropriate with huge product offerings
• > Enables sales force to develop deeper product-knowledge level, enhances value of firm’s total offering to customers
• > Expensive and sometimes confusing for customers
• *Market-centred
• > Salespeople learn specific requirements of industry or customer type (eg. specilising in the banking industry)
• > Salespeople are better prepared to identity and respond to people influencing buying
• *Key Account Management
• purchase a significant volume as % of sales
• involve several organisational members in purchasing decision
• buys for geographically dispersed organisation
• expects carefully coordinated response and specialised services from suppliers
• Directing
• Controlling the personal selling effort

Question 2

Compare the traditional to key account selling focus

Answer 2

Sales Volume
TS: Varies
KA: Large volume of purchases by the customer often across multiple businesses of the seller

Nature of Product/Service Offering
TS: Core product/service
KA: Core product and service plus customised applications and value-added service

Time Horizon
TS: Short-term
KA: Long-term

Benefits to Customer
TS: Lower prices and higher quality
KA: Lower total costs, broader set of strategic benefits

Information Sharing
TS: Limited: narrow focus on price and product features
KA: Extensive: broad focus as firms share strategic goals

Sales Force Objectives
TS: Maximise revenue, satisfied customers
KA: Become preferred supplier; lower customer’s firms total costs, enhance learning in the relationship

Structure of Selling Centre
TS: Individual salesperson is primary link to customer organisation
KA: Many individuals from multiple functional areas on the selling side interact with counterparts in the customer organisation

Structure of Buying Centre
TS: Purchasing manager and a few other individuals are involved in buying decisions
KA: Many individuals within the customer organisation interact in making decisions and evaluating the relationship

Question 3

What are considerations when selecting key accounts

Answer 3

• Companies must consider:
• Sales potential
• Profit potential
• Long-term resource commitments
• Key accounts:(select based on these factors)
• Possess buying power
• Demand special services
• More costly to serve
• Success happens when
• Senior management support
• Objectives, assignments and implementation procedures well defined
• Staff are experienced and knowledgeable about company’s capabilities

Question 4

Describe the factors that lead to account management success:

Answer 4

• building internal relationships
• aligning resources to client needs
• forging relationships with customer organisation
• managing customer engagement process
• know the customer
• build strong relationships within selling firm and customer organisation