The Sales Function and Multi-Sales Channels Chapter 2 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

The Supply Chain Complete process of events and people needed to bring product to the customer Key term Sales forecast: what the salesperson expects to sell in a particular period of time Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Managing the Supply Chain: Active vs. Passive Example: salesperson turns in sales forecast Sales forecast influences what happens in supply chain, but salesperson is not taking active role in influencing chain’s activity Salesperson actively seeks to influence what supply chain does Example: buyer that needs special payment terms will need the salesperson’s help in securing those terms from the company Example: salesperson might need to arrange expedited delivery in order to meet a buyer’s needs Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Multichannel Environment Using a number of methods, or channels, to accomplish the selling function Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Strategies to Reduce Sales Force Costs Without Sacrificing Performance Purifying Shifting non-selling activities to lower-cost alternatives Ex using web-sites for customers to track their own orders Outsourcing Hiring another company to carry out a task or set of tasks Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Advantages of Company-Employed vs. Outsourced Sales Force Company can exert greater control over their efforts Greater control over who is hired Focus on only the company’s products, whereas an outsourced representative might be free to sell many companies’ products Firm’s selling costs can be shared with other manufacturers, reducing cost per sales call Established relationships with customers from which the manufacturer can benefit These can yield greater coverage of the market for the manufacturer Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

A. Types of Outsourced Salespeople Mfg Rep Mfg Agent Rep Mfg Rep Mfg Agent Rep Independent contractor who does not take ownership of product and does not maintain an inventory Distributor Distributor Sells for many manufacturers and take ownership of products, sell them on consignment, or otherwise maintain an inventory Broker Broker Represents either buyer or seller and sometimes both, carries an inventory of products but does not take ownership of them Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

B. Types of Company-Employed Salespeople Inside Salesperson Sells at a company’s facilities, either by telephone or in person Field Representative Sells at the customer’s location Account Manager Has responsibility for building sales within specific accounts or accounts within a specific area (geographic rep) Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

B. Types of Company-Employed Salespeople (continued) Vertical Market Rep Accounts all operate in the same industry Retail Sales Rep Sells to consumers who come into stores Trade Rep Sells to organizations in the supply chain, usually retailers Missionary Salesperson (detail rep) Sells to people who recommend or prescribe a product to others but do not personally use it Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

C, Other Types of Company-Employed Salespeople Retail Sales representatives – sell to customers who come into the store Trade representatives – sell to organisations in the supply chain Missionary sales people – sell to people who recommend or prescribe a product to others but do not personally use it

The art of mixing A+B+C A company is NOT likely to have missionary, retail and trade salespeople However the company COULD HAVE a mix of inside, outside, outsourced and company salespeople It MIGHT also have account managers of various types as well as specialists Add this complex picture to a multichannel environment!

More on Outsourcing Can outsource Call Centers Can outsource parts of the sales cycle To different sales organizations Often used to Enter new markets Keep costs variable (no overhead) Leverage market coverage costs (share with others) Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Seamless Integration Seamless integration: a firm’s customers can easily shift transactions across various channels Goal: all areas have all the customer information they need so the customer is treated properly Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Alignment Getting all of functional areas of a firm to work together This includes the company’s various salespeople–its inside reps, geographic reps, customer service reps, etc. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Alignment Alignment occurs at 3 levels Executives create Strategic Managers support Tactical Salespeople engage Operational Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Areas to Align CRM system used by salespeople also supports marketing Technology Processes and Goals Sales Metrics CRM system used by salespeople also supports marketing Lead management Marketing & sales have same sales targets for a new product Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.