Welcome To Unit 6 MT455 Sales Force Management Dr. Bea Bourne

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Objectives This unit focuses on recruiting and selecting sales staff and management. Questions

Review Unit 5 Last week we focused on forecasting which can make or break an organization's plans and ability to fulfill orders.

Unit 6 Key Concepts There are three steps to the recruiting and selecting process: planning, recruitment, and selection. Sales management must conduct effective job analysis and qualifications studies to effectively describe their needs. Internal and external sources can be used in combination to search for candidates. Interviews are an integral part of the selection process and can be very structured or unstructured.

Unit 6 Objectives By the end of this unit, you should be able to: Be able to discuss the role of recruitment and hiring in developing and operating a productive sales force Describe how recruitment and selection affect sales force socialization and performance in meeting organizational objectives Identify key aspects of a national search for sales personnel Identify the costs of a staff search

  Why do you think recruitment and selection is important when staffing a sales team?

Recruitment and selection process Lets look at the recruitment and selection process.   There are three steps. Planning for recruitment and selection ... Recruitment and selection.

When we talk about planning for recruitment and selection what are we talking about?

Planning for recruitment & selection The first step involves the various planning activities that need to happen before hiring a sales candidate. Those activities include a job analysis, determining qualification for the position and writing a job description.   To effectively recruit and select salespeople, sales managers must have a complete understanding of the job for which the candidates are sought. To ensure an understanding of the sales job, the sales managers may need to conduct, confirm, or update a job analysis which entails an investigation of the tasks, duties and responsibilities of the job.

Once we have performed our job analysis Once we have performed our job analysis. We need to determine the job qualifications. What are job qualifications?

Job qualifications The job analysis indicates what the salespeople are supposed to do on the job. Job qualifications refer to the aptitude, skills, knowledge, personal traits and willingness to accept occupational conditions necessary to perform the job.   Common sales job qualifications address sales experience, education level, willingness to travel or relocate, interpersonal skills, communication skills, problem-solving skills, relationship management skills, self motivation and the ability to work independently.

What is a job description?

Job description Based on the job analysis and job qualifications, a written summary of the job is created or a job description. What kinds of things are included in a job description? Common elements for a salesperson's job description include ... The job title, duties, tasks, and responsibilities   administrative relationships or who the salesperson will report to types of products to be sold, customer types and significant job-related demands. Job descriptions are used to clarify duties of the position and reduce role ambiguity.

Recruitment Lets look at Step 2, recruitment or locating prospective candidates. Once we have completed our job analysis, determined job qualifications and created a job description the next step is to locate prospective candidates. What are some sources for finding job candidates? They can be either internal or external.

Employee referral programs One of the most popular methods of locating sales recruits is through employee referral programs.   Why do you think that is? Does anyone work with a company that offers a referral program or a finders fee for finding and hiring qualified candidates?

External sources Some external sources include:   advertising, online sources like Monster.com, private employment agencies, colleges and universities, career fairs and professional societies. Are you familiar with or use any of these external sources for finding job candidates?   They are the ones responsible for adding new customers or introducing new products to the marketplace ... bringing the business through the doors. Anyone here a new business sales professional?

Selection Let look at Step 3 ... Selection.   As part of the selection process, various tools are used to evaluate the job candidate in terms of job qualifications and to provide a relative ranking compared with other candidates. Can anyone think of some selection tools? A lot of the time you can scan through the resumes you have received for the position and screen out those who do not meet the minimum job qualifications. What you will find is that this process may be time consuming, but it can cut down the number of candidates by more than half.

Interviews Interviews are designed to get an in-depth look at the candidate.   A lot of the times a job candidate will go through an initial interview. Does anyone know what an initial interview is? This is another process to screen applicants. Generally, initial interviews are brief and the recruiter clarifies questions about job qualifications and makes a preliminary judgment on whether a match exists between the applicant and the company. These initial interviews can be conducted one-on-one over the telephone, through teleconferencing or even through video conferencing. Has anyone been on an initial interview?  Once a candidate has passed the initial interview then they move on to a more intensive interview with multiple sequential interviews by several managers or executives of the company.

Activity: Assume we are interviewing candidates for the following:   Our client finished in the top 5 percent of Deloitte and Touche's fastest growing 500 technology companies in the country. Revenues exceed $80 million and profitability continues to exceed analyst expectations. It offers value chain and collaborative commerce solutions that are recognized as an industry standard in certain verticals (i.e. financial, manufacturing and healthcare). It has engaged us to identify Regional Sales Managers for its central and western regions. The winning candidate will be supervising a staff of 15. The team will include three Strategic Named Account Managers, five Pre-Sales Engineers and seven Traditional Territory Managers. The team quota is $10 million. Both are open because of internal promotions. Desired Requirements: Qualified candidates will be successfully managing a similar organization and possess a stable history along with a verifiable track record of team performance versus quota objectives. Additional requirements include a successful sales career as an individual contributor, and proven forecasting, strategic sales coaching, major account closing skills are a must. This manager must have a desire to stay just as close to the customer as his staff.   Scenario/questions from the Seminar section of Unit 6

Interview questions What kind of questions would you ask a candidate for the position? If you were a candidate, what questions would you ask the interviewer? What questions would you ask the candidate's references?

Assignment Complete Project 1 In this Unit, you read Chapter 9. Now you will apply that knowledge. Go to Chapter 9 pages 294-296 find Minicase: Digital Age Games. Read Minicase: Digital Age Games. Answer the three questions at the end of the case. From the facts given, did Shirley do a proper job analysis? What else could she have done to evaluate the current positions? Explain. Evaluate the job description. Is there anything you would have added, deleted, or changed? Besides those recommended by Shirley, what other source(s) of applicants might Digital Age use for recruiting new salespeople? Why?

Assignment Complete Project 2 You are a sales manager for a growing organization that is expanding into the Northeast market area. Your Internet company helps homeowners find the right remodeling professionals to successfully complete their home improvement projects. The contractor referral service uses a proprietary network of prescreened, reliable professionals, so they can match the best contractors to home improvement projects. Your new salespeople will be contacting contractors in the Northeast to pre-qualify them for your services and to "sell" them on the idea of joining the network. Develop a list of questions you will be asking each candidate. What additional questions will you ask the candidates for the Regional Sales Manager position in the Northeast? Assignment Checklist: Assess the role of recruitment and hiring in developing and operating a productive sales force Decide how recruitment and selection affect sales force socialization and performance in meeting organizational objectives Determine key aspects of a national search for sales personnel and associated costs of a staff search

Assignment Recruiting and Staffing the Sales Force - Project 2 You are a sales manager for a growing organization that is expanding into the Northeast market area. Your Internet company helps homeowners find the right remodeling professionals to successfully complete their home improvement projects. The contractor referral service uses a proprietary network of prescreened, reliable professionals, so they can match the best contractors to home improvement projects. Your new salespeople will be contacting contractors in the Northeast to pre-qualify them for your services and to "sell" them on the idea of joining the network. Develop a list of questions you will be asking each candidate. What additional questions will you ask the candidates for the Regional Sales Manager position in the Northeast?

Questions

Thank you I appreciate your time and attention during our 1 hour seminar today. If you have questions, feel free to contact me: BBourne@kaplan.edu and I’ll be happy to help! See you in Class!