Introduction to Sales Management Functions and Career Path

PART I
INTRODUCTION TO
SALES MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 1
SALES MANAGEMENT:
ITS NATURE, REWARDS, AND
RESPONSIBILITIES

 Provide you with an overview of a sales manager’s
job.
 Introduce you to the various types of sales managers
and the skills required of them.
 Discuss what a new manager experiences when
promoted from a sales job.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
A career in sales management is exciting and unique and
provides numerous opportunities. This chapter will do
the following:

WHAT IS SALES MANAGEMENT?
Sales management is the attainment of sales force
goals in an effective and efficient manner through:
• Planning
• Staffing
• Training
• Leading
• Controlling organizational resources

FIGURE 1.1 THE SALES MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Sales Management Functions

PLANNING
The conscious, systemic process of making
decisions about goals and activities that an
individual, group, work unit, or organization will
pursue in the future and the use of resources
needed to attain them.

STAFFING
Activities undertaken to attract, develop, and
maintain effective sales personnel within an
organization.

SALES TRAINING
The effort put forth by an employer to provide the
salesperson job-related culture, skills, knowledge,
and attitudes that result in improved performance
in the selling environment.

LEADING
The ability to influence other people toward
the attainment of objectives.

CONTROLLING
Monitoring sales personnel’s activities,
determining whether the organization is on target
toward its goals, and making corrections as
necessary.

Sales Management is the attainment of
sales goals in an ethical, efficient, and
effective manner.*
* Instructor added word ethical.
SALES PERFORMANCE

FIGURE 1.2 THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF AN ORGANIZATION
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Organization is a social system that is goal
directed and has a deliberated structure.
Social means being made up of two or more
people.
Deliberated structure means the tasks are divided,
and the responsibility for their performance is
assigned to organization members.
Goal directed means an organization is designed
to achieve some outcome.

Organizational effectiveness is the degree to which
the organization achieves a stated objective.
Organizational efficiency refers to the amount of
resources used to achieve an organizational goal.
MAJOR PARTS OF AN
ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEM

Top Sales Leaders
(Strategic)
F
irst-L
in
e
S
alesL
ead
ers
(O
p
eratio
n
al)
Middle Sales
Leaders
(Tactical)
FIGURE 1.3 SALES LEADER LEVELS IN THE ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY
Regional Sales Leader
CEO
President
Vice President of Marketing
National Sales Leader
Zone Sales Leader
District Sales Leader
Assistant District Sales Leader
Nonmanagerial Salespeople
Sales Trainee Salesperson Key Account

Planning
35%
Staffing
10%
Train-
ing
5%
Leading
30%
Controlling
20%
Planning
28%
Training
10%
Leading
30%
Controlling
22%
Staffing
10%
Planning
15%
Training
25%
Leading
25%
Controlling
15%
Staffing
20%
FIGURE 1.4 PERCENTAGE OF TIME SPENT ON FUNCTIONALACTIVITIES
BY ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL
Top Managers
Middle Managers
First-Line Managers

Sales Trainee
Salesperson
Key Account Salesperson
District Sales Manager
Regional Sales Manager
Zone Sales Manager
National Sales Mgr.
Vice President of Marketing
President
FIGURE 1.5 A SALES PERSONNEL CAREER PATH

SALES MANAGEMENT SKILLS
1. CONCEPTUAL AND DECISION SKILLS
Refer to the cognitive ability to see the organization as a
whole and the relationships among its parts.
2. PEOPLE SKILLS
Involve the ability to work with and through other people and
to work effectively as a group member.
3. TECHNICAL SKILLS
The ability to perform a specialized task that involves a certain
method or process.

PROMOTION FROM SALESPERSON
TO SALES MANAGER
Changes that occur when a person becomes a new
manager:
1. Perspectives change
2. Goals change
3. Responsibilities change
4. Satisfaction changes
5. Job skill requirements change
6. Relationships change

FIGURE 1.6 RELATIONSHIP OF CONCEPTUAL AND DECISION, PEOPLE, AND TECHNICAL
SKILLS TO SALES LEADER LEVEL
Top Sales Leaders
Middle Sales Leaders
First-Line Sales Leaders
Nonmanagerial Salespeople
Conceptual and
Decision Skills
People Skills Technical Skills

THE PROMOTION EXPERIENCE
Phase One – Immobilization
Phase Two – Minimization or Denial of Change
Phase Three – Depression
Phase Four – Acceptance of Reality
Phase Five – Testing
Phase Six – Searching for Meanings
Phase Seven – Internalization

PROBLEMS NEW MANAGERS EXPERIENCE
• Lack of preparation for the job.
• Expected to step into the job and
immediately function effectively.
• Often lacks an immediate peer group.

MAKING A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO
MANAGEMENT
• Have a learning attitude – a
willingness to learn, change, adapt,
and seek help when needed.
• Having realistic expectations.
• Leave the old job behind.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Skilled sales managers are the key to a successful organization.
Sales managers have five functions that, when combined, can
allow them to achieve the goals desired by higher levels of
management.
The various types of sales managers can be broken down into the
categories of vertical and horizontal.
Most corporations hire a person who cannot only sell but who
also shows the potential to one day become a sales manager.

Introduction to Sales Management Functions and Career Path

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