1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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

11. 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!

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.