1. SALES MANAGEMENT Overview and Introduction
MRS ADWOA YEBOAH

2. What is sales management?
Originally, the term ‘sales management’ referred to the direction of sales force personnel
Now, sales management relates to coordinating of certain marketing activities, including advertising, sales promotion, marketing research, physical distribution, pricing, and product merchandising
Sales management is the process of establishing, directing, and coordinating the sales development activities for the company’s products.
Simply put, it is a socio-scientific process, involving ’group-effort’

3. Objectives of Sales Management from the Company View point
There are three general objectives of Sales Management
Sales Volume
Contribution to Profits
Continuing growth

4. Objectives to customers and society
Customers (most often, wholesalers, retailers or industrial user) expect -easily resalable products, supporting activities (help in doing training dealer salesforce, local advertising, credit) and assurance that products are wise investments.
Society- delivery of goods & services
• that final buyers want good price
• of increasing importance
• to market products whose potential for damaging the environment is minimal.

5. Nature of sales management and the marketing concept
The nature of selling and sales management is a general move towards the marketing orientation. Sales efforts influence, and are influenced by, decisions taken on the ingredients of a company’s marketing mix, which in turn affects its overall marketing efforts.

6. Relationship Between sales and marketing
Marketing is the process of identifying, anticipating and then meeting the needs and requirements of consumers in order to make a profit.
Selling involves persuading customers that your products or services provide the benefits that they are looking for.

7. Sales Management in the 21st Century
Building long-term relationships with customers
Creating sales organizational structures that are more nimble and adaptable
Gaining greater job ownership and commitment from salespeople by removing functional barriers within the organization
Moving sales management style from commanding to coaching
Leveraging available technology for sales success

8. Modern selling
Selling has become more professional, so too has the nature and role of sales management. Increasingly, those involved in management are being called upon to exercise in a professional way the key duties of all managers, namely: planning, organizing and controlling.
A sales manager is expected to play a much more strategic role in the company and is required to make a key input into the formulation of company plans.

9. Characteristics of modern selling
Customer retention : Many companies found out that 80% of their sales came from 20 per cent of their customers and thus are engaging in key account management.
Database and knowledge management: The modern sales force needs to be trained in the use and creation of customer databases, and how to use the internet to aid the sales task.
Problem solving and system selling: This approach is fundamentally different from the traditional view of the salesperson being a smooth fast-talker who breezes in to see a customer, persuades the customer to buy and walks away with an order. Customers are increasingly looking for a systems solution rather than the buying of an individual product

10. Characteristics of modern selling
Satisfying needs and adding value: Modern salesperson must have the ability to identify and satisfy customer needs. Some customers do not recognize they have a need. It is the salesperson’s job in such situations to stimulate need recognition.

11. Sales Manager: Duties and Responsibilities
Determining sales force objectives and goals.
Forecasting and budgeting sales force organization, sales force size, territory design and planning.
Sales force selection, recruitment and training.
Motivating the sales force.
Sales force evaluation and control

12. Functions of sales personnel
Salespeople generate revenue
Salespeople provide market research and customer feedback
Salespeople provide solutions to problems
Salespeople provide expertise and serve as information resources
Salespeople serve as advocates for the customer when dealing with the selling organization

13. Environmental forces that impact sales
Customers: Customer expectations are increasing in relation to salesperson’s knowledge, speed of response, and the breadth and depth of information on product/service offerings. Indeed, customer expectations change, often faster than organizations can effectively respond
Competitors Typical markets today can be described as hypercompetitive. At the same time, the squeeze between revenue and profit targets and the cost to serve customers places great pressure on salespeople to produce under intense competition.

14. Environmental forces that impact sales
Technology: Critical to salespeople in meeting rapidly changing customer expectations. It enables salespeople to store, retrieve, and analyze customer data and make specific recommendations that are customized for long- term business solutions
Ethical and Legal Environment: The ethical and legal environment can constrain the sales organization’s ability to effectively pursue certain marketing activities. As corporate scandals fill the pages of the business press and class-action lawsuits become commonplace, the public demands greater transparency in corporate operations.

15. Managerial forces that impact sales
Communication Flow in Management: To effectively serve customers’ needs with increasingly sophisticated products, services, and applications, salespeople must become capable orchestrators of organizational resources. Thus, a decentralized flow of information and decision making is deemed necessary.
Managerial Synergy: Management must be able to appeal to and coordinate the efforts of technical experts and executives in their organizations to assist in efforts to sell and provide service to customers over long periods of time

16. Managerial forces that impact sales
Internal relations : Salespeople must also deal with a greater number and variety of individuals within the organizations. Understanding influence dynamics and corporate decision-making processes makes the whole sales team and other functional members tighten their relationship ties.

17. Mistakes in sales Not selling the solution
Too dependent on the ‘sales presentation’
Not asking the hard questions
Believing ‘price’ will solve your clients' problem
Presenting without the intention to close
Waiting until the end of the presentation to share the price
Using a free trial to close a deal
Not practicing urgency

18. THANK YOU.
MRS. ADWOA YEBOAH