1. ORGANIZING THE SALES FORCE
CHAPTER - 5
ORGANIZING THE SALES FORCE

2. THE PURPOSE OF ORGANIZATION
To facilitate the achievement of marketing and sales objectives and goals by –
Responding to market needs - shorten the time
flexibility
openness to change
Arranging activities efficiently - specialization
routinization
Establishing channels of communication

3. National Sales Manager
TYPES OF ORGANIZATION
LINE ORGANIZATION
VP, Marketing
National Sales Manager
Sales Manager
Sales Manager
District 1
Manager
District 2
Manager
District 1
Manager
District 2
Manager
Branch Manager
Branch Manager
Branch Manager
Branch Manager
Salespeople
Salespeople
Salespeople
Salespeople

4. TYPES OF ORGANIZATION STAFF ORGANIZATION VP, Marketing
Director of Marketing Research
Sales Manager
Director of Sales Training
Technical Manager
District
Manager
Salespeople
Staff
Line

5. TYPES OF ORGANIZATION FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION VP, Marketing
Sales Manager
Director of Sales Training
District
Manager
Technical Service Manager
Sales force

6. TYPES OF ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE SALES DEPARTMENT
GEOGRAPHIC ORGANIZATION
Appropriate when:
Customers are widely dispersed
Customers are located in similar industries near each other
Regional differences in customer behavior are great
Personal relationships are important
Geographic markets are large enough

7. TYPES OF ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE SALES DEPARTMENT
GEOGRAPHIC ORGANIZATION
Advantages
Decentralization
Flexibility
Disadvantages
Overhead costs of management
Problems in coordinating total company sales efforts
Lack of functional specialists

8. TYPES OF ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE SALES DEPARTMENT
PRODUCT-ORIENTED ORGANIZATION
Appropriate when:
Product complexities and differences are great
The marketing programs need to be coordinated at the customers’ level
Product introductions are frequent
There are large differences in locations of products on life cycles
Products are sufficiently important to justify special attention

9. TYPES OF ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE SALES DEPARTMENT
PRODUCT-ORIENTED ORGANIZATION
Variations of product-oriented organizations:
Product divisions
Product marketing groups
Product specialization within certain functions
Product managers

10. TYPES OF ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE SALES DEPARTMENT
PRODUCT-ORIENTED ORGANIZATION
Advantages
Increases sales force knowledge of company products
Provide expertise in helping customer problems
Disadvantages
Additional expense
Possible irritation of customers

11. TYPES OF ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE SALES DEPARTMENT
FUNCTION-ORIENTED ORGANIZATION
Appropriate when:
Activities require special expertise
Products are few in number and similar
Functions are sufficiently important to justify special attention

12. TYPES OF ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE SALES DEPARTMENT
MARKET-ORIENTED ORGANIZATION
Appropriate when:
Customer needs and products purchased vary greatly from one industry to another
It is important to avoid confusion and duplication of effort in serving customers
Customer groups are large enough to justify special attention
There is a substantial need to identify and solve customer problem

13. TYPES OF ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE SALES DEPARTMENT
MARKET-ORIENTED ORGANIZATION
Sales department in many companies are usualyy classified by –
Organization by industry
Organization by channel of distribution
Organization by national or key accounts

14. TYPES OF ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE SALES DEPARTMENT
MARKET-ORIENTED ORGANIZATION
Advantages
Overcome the limitations of product structure in satisfying customer groups
Disadvantages
Expensive overlapping of territorial sales coverage
Added layer of management and increased compensation for salespeople

15. CONSTRUCTING A SOUND SALES ORGANIZATION
A market-oriented approach
An approach designed around sales activities
Defined areas of authority and responsibility
A reasonable span of control
Flexibility
Coordination and balance

16. QUALITY OF THE SALES ORGANIZATION
Be sure that authority equals responsibility
Put salespeople where they fit best
Be willing to delegate
Be more than just an efficiency expert
Hold sales force personnel accountable for what they do
Be flexible
Know what needs to be done
Organize the sales force so that unequal workloads are avoided