Leadership of a salesforce involves influencing salespeople's behavior to accomplish goals. Effective leadership results in well-trained salespeople who trust each other, have better performance, and high morale. Leaders use tools like reports, meetings, and aids to guide salespeople when direct contact is limited. However, leaders may encounter problems like substance abuse, unethical behavior, and harassment that require intervention to correct performance issues and prevent negative impacts on the organization.

1. GROUP 23
LEADERSHIP OF
A SALESFORCE

2. Leadership in a Salesforce Context
“Leadership is a process in which one person influences other people’s behaviour towards the accomplishment of specific goals.”
Central to every effective leadership is keeping the organization’s vision in line with the decision making processes.
Why leadership is important for salesforce management?
01 Salespeople often work in a solitary environment and face continual rejections from customers. This often leaves them feeling
discouraged and dissatisfied.
02 Salespeople are spread across territories and thereby do not have direct contact with sales managers. This often makes it
difficult to manage them from a remote setting.
Leadership Effectiveness
Leadership Style
Personal
Characteristics
Managerial Skills
Situation
Leadership
Effectiveness

3. Leadership Characteristics & Skills
Personal Characteristics
Self Confidence: confidence in one’s own abilities, have a set belief system to motivate salesforce
Initiative: independent self-starters, welcome and create change, eager to take risks associated with change
Energy: high energy levels, industrious and takes the first step forward
Creativity: typically imaginative, also take unique approaches to problem solving and decision making
Maturity: core efforts should focus around the well-being of the organization and the salesforce

4. Managerial Skills
Effective identification of
problems and solution
implementation, must be
good at assessing situations,
anticipate outcomes and
analyze
Problem-Solving Skills
Discover what best
motivates salespeople,
develop good working
relationships with the
stakeholders in the system
Interpersonal Skills
Communication Skills
Effective transmission of
information when it comes
to setting goals, organizing,
forecasting, staffing,
training etc. Information
relayed must be clear,
concise and timely
Persuasive Skills
Persuasion plays more
important role than power.
Persuasion can often lead to
admiration and respect

5. Leadership Styles
“The combination of behaviours that a manager uses is known as that leader’s leadership style.”
Types of Leadership Styles
Transactional
Leadership
Transformational
Leadership
Transactional Leadership
- Deals with supervisory activities of day-to-day operations and control of sales force
- It is a reactive leadership style and focuses on exchange between parties
- Effective leadership here often refers to an emphasis on verbal feedback to designate
rewards and punishments
- It has a focus on task orientation and short-term goal achievements
- It also leads to the formation of a one way communication channel between the sales
manager and the salespeople
- Transactional leaders are good supervisors and excel at monitoring, informing and
clarifying

6. Transformational Leadership
- Deals with leaders who are often attributed to changing the value system and beliefs of an organization and go above and beyond means to perform
- They focus on the future and make contributions that change the performance of stakeholders in the long run
- They also follow a two-way model of communication. Typically depend on a feedback system that occurs both ways
Four Transformational Leadership Behaviour
Articulating a Vision
They create a compelling future vision for the salespeople to follow
through. This is achieved by breaking down long-term objectives into
sales goals that can be attainable
Fostering Group Goals
- Main idea here is to promote cooperation and working towards a common
goal.
-Aims to identify a group goal and promote importance of working in tandem
with other salespeople, engineers, manufacturing specialists etc.
Being a Role Model
-Behave in ways that are in line with the values and goals of the organization
-Often deal with showcasing proper selling techniques and work attitudes to the
salespeople
Provide Individualized Support
-Showcasing individualized support and attention to the salespeople
-They provide scope for individual development, needs and motivation
Managers Leaders
Reactive in nature Proactive in nature
Focuses on short-term
goals
Promote team building
and working towards a
long-term goal
Typically give orders
and feedback
Are role models that
lead by example
Use one-way
communication
Use two-way
communication
Are transactional in
nature
Are transformational in
nature
Managers vs Leaders

7. Situational Leadership
“Ability to tailor leadership style (transformational or transactional) to the needs of current situation and the individual
salesperson.”
Transactional Leadership
For newly hired - inexperienced sales rep, sales manager indulges in
heavy dosage of transactional leadership. Major learnings along the
way, hence need one way communication focused on clarifying
Verbal feedback in the form of praise and constructive criticism.
Transformational Leadership
Sales manager should be a role model by accompanying the rep on
sales calls and demonstrating proper sales techniques
Manager should also provide individualized support to show genuine
care and concern for these reps, who might be overwhelmed by the
challenges of the job

8. Personal Contact
Sales Reports
Printed Ads + Meetings
Telecommunications
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES Of LEADERSHIP
Indirect Supervisory
Aids
Sales Managers face the unique challenge in
providing leadership to their subordinates. While one-
one mentoring is not always feasible, various tools
listed are used to interact the salespeople.

9. Personal Contact
● Salesmanager visits the on the job sales rep and
guides them in evident problems.
● Various objectives and activities include help in
tackling difficult customers, grievances etc
● It should be noted that even if the salesmanager is
present, the salesrep should take the lead in directing
and moving agendas
● While the salesrep is on the call, the salesperson
should take notes while evaluating them and discuss
witht the rep as soon as possible
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES Of LEADERSHIP
Parameters to evaluate the salesrep -
❖ Preparation for call
❖ Understanding of customer business and
needs
❖ Treatment of customers – respect and honesty
❖ Identification of competiton by the
salesperson
❖ Skill of gaining commmitment

10. ● Provide records for monitoring and evaluating sales
rep activity.
● Reports include number of calls made, number of
orders taken, miles travelled, days worked, new
prospects called on and new accounts sold
● Call Plan forces rep to organize their activities
● Call Plan helps in routing themselves properly,
calling various customers in the right ratio,
developing objectives for call.
● Salesreports not only used as supervisory tool but
also as data for company’s marketing information
system
● Recording activity by salesperson should be
incentivised and rewarded
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES Of LEADERSHIP
Salesreports
Call Plan – Reports itinerary for upcoming period

11. Telecommunications
● Better customer and Industry Information :-
Better access to database anywhere and anytime
● Selling Assistance :-
Enhanced capabilities for analyzing customer problems
● Sales Support :-
Easily enter and track orders
● Reporting Responsibilities :-
Can submit call plans and market intelligence using laptops
● Communication :-
Electronic mail enables companies to be in constant
communication with their reps.
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES Of LEADERSHIP
➔ To supplement their personal contact with
sales rep, most sales executives use
telecommunications – telephone, fax machine
➔ Computerized systems assist salesforce
➔ Companies gives their salespeople laptops.
The uses are :

12. Printed Aids + Meetings
● Sales meetings are used to provide leadership
● During sales meetings, managers often explain new
procedures, policies, and programs to the sales reps.
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES Of LEADERSHIP
➔ Sales manuals, bulletins, company newsletter
allow leaders to interact with salesforce
➔ A good sales manual tells salesrep what to do
in various circumstances
➔ Some questions can be answered just as
effectively in a publication as they can
through personal contact

13. Indirect Supervisory Aids
● Compensation Plans
Encourages reps to do things that will maximize earnings
● Territories
Establishment of specific sales territories tells reps what
areas they are responsible for
● Quotas
By setting quotas for various product lines or for certain
classes of customers , sales manager can guide sales force
activities into effective channels
● Expense Account
Policies on expenses automatically guide salesforce
behaviour by limiting smout reps can spend
● Sales Analysis Procedures
Management can evaluate the performance of each
salesperson and guide reps who need help in certain points.
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES Of LEADERSHIP
➔ Indirect supervisory techniques are used to
work automatically towards company goals –
exceptionally effective

14. Well trained salespeople
Trust among salespeople
Better performance
Citizenship behaviours
OUTCOMES OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
Sales force morale
The right combination and amount of leadership can
result in a number of positive leadership outcomes for
the sales organization

15. Well trained
salespeople
● As an effective leader, the sales manager provides a
vision that should clarify what the reps are expected
to do.
● Verbal feedback and role modeling by the sales
manager show reps how to do it.
● The most helpful sales training takes place over a
period of time and is best done in the field while
sales reps are actually facing day-to-day problems.
● Great leaders are great trainers, and the first
important outcome of effective leadership is a highly
trained sales force.
● The right combination of leader behaviors can do
much to develop an inexperienced recruit into a
·productive salesperson.
OUTCOMES OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
Three elements of Leadership to
describe Coaching -
❖ Verbal Feedback
❖ Leading by example
❖ Mutual trust and respect

16. ● Excellent leaders genuinely care about their
subordinates and effectively persuade them to work
together as a team.
● This leads to an environment of trust among
salespeople and managers alike. Such an
environment is critical for the success of any
organization.
● Only when salespeople trust and respect each other
can they successfully work together toward·a
common goal.
OUTCOMES OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
Trust among
salespeople
A renowned leadership expert has written:
"Trust is the lubrication that makes it possible for organizations to work."

17. Citizenship Behaviour
● Salespeople managed by great leaders are
likely to engage in citizenship behaviors,
which are voluntary behaviors that are not
part of a formal job description yet that are
important to the success of the firm.
● These are activities that salespeople are
generally not trained-or even asked to do.
Further, the sales manager would not
punish salespeople for failing to do these
activities. At the same time, citizenship
behaviors have been shown to be related to
overall sales force productivity.
OUTCOMES OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
Key citizenship behaviors
➔ Offering tips and encouragement to a
struggling new rep.
➔ Showing up to work on time and never
missing. a meeting.
➔ Tolerating problems without complaining.
➔ Volunteering to serve on a community service
committee.
➔ Being courteous and respectful of the rights of
others.

18. Better performance
● Some sales managers believe that direct supervision
stimulates salespeople to do better work. However,
there is a limit to how much an employee can be
prodded without becoming resentful.
● For some reps, just knowing that management is
aware of their efforts can be beneficial. Conversely,
performance seems to suffer when sales reps know
that management has no means of knowing what
they are really doing.
● It is important to most sales reps to know that
someone in the organization cares about and
recognizes the work they do.
● If the supervisor is adept, just the fact that he or she
is in personal contact should have a good effect on
performance.
OUTCOMES OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

19. Salesforce morale
● Effective leadership results in a well-trained, higher
performing sales group whose members trust and help each
other as they work together toward a common goal.
● This combination of positive outcomes equates to higher
group morale throughout the sales force.
● Group morale involves a sense of common purpose and a
belief among members that group goals can be attained.
Group attitudes toward work are important due to -
● Economic - productivity is likely to be higher in groups
whose members have relatively good morale.
● Social - productivity is usually higher for employees who
have good mental attitudes towards their jobs.
OUTCOMES OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
Role of Job Satisfaction
➔ In order for group morale to be high, each
individual in the group must first be satisfied
with his or her job.
➔ A salesperson will not be satisfied with his
job if he is unhappy with one or more of these
dimensions.
➔ Effective leadership by the manager can go a
long way toward increasing individual job
satisfaction and ultimately group morale.

20. Poor performance
Substance abuse
Unethical behaviour
Expense accounts
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN LEADERSHIP
Sexual Harassment
Certain leadership and supervisory problems are
commonly encountered when managing salespeople
These problems may hamper the proper functioning of the
team and must be handled with caution

21. Steps to provide effective
feedback
1. State the problem.
2. Get the salesperson's
agreement on the problem.
3. Listen to the salesperson's
assessment of the problem.
4. Consider extenuating
circumstances.
5. Design an action plan for
improvement.
6. Get the salesperson's
agreement on the action plan.
Poor Performance
● Correcting the salespeople not performing up to standards
is less expensive than replacing them.
● Firing them should be a last resort, as it wastes the time and
resources spent on extensive training, as well as due to
possible discrimination suits.
● It is often possible to correct a problem by giving immediate
feedback about the problem behaviour.
● constructive feedback should take place as soon as the
manager notices the problem.
● Managers should be very specific about what the problem is
and what the rep must do to correct it.
● Each step should be well documented and specified time
should be given to the person undergoing improvement
Escalation -
Immediate feedback >> Review problem in formal performance
appraisal >> Plan for improvement >> Setup counselling session
to review previous attempts >> With appropriate
documentation, demote or terminate

22. Some sales job put the reps in social situation where
drinking is expected which puts a lot of pressure on them
and is a risk for people who cannot handle the temptation
of alcohol.
This is a big problem for managers as the performance of
sales reps under the influence always suffers and their
quality of work and work habits are very poor.
Substance Abuse
Detection
➢ Some firms make job offers contingent on
passing drug test.
➢ Difficult when supervisors are not in day to day
contact with Sales rep.
➢ There are warning signs like missed
work/appointment, declining performance,
slurred speech etc.
Dealing with Abuse
➢ Managers should first address the performance deficiency and not the
abuse itself.
➢ Then the manager can explore reasons for such deficiency with the sales
rep.
➢ In case of abuse, managers should recommend rehabilitation centres and
not try to counsel themselves as they are not trained to deal with it.
➢ If no satisfactory progress is made, termination can be explored.

23. ➢ Expense account policies should be clearly
set forth during hiring.
➢ If the system is based on trust then
company must make it clear that cheating is
ground for dismissal and back that policy
with action.
➢ When managers discover discrepancy, they
should allow for explanation to ensure that
it is not just an error or misunderstanding.
➢ Styles differ - Some go over the entire
report with the reps while others just
disallow expenses.
Expense Accounts
➢ Padding expense account is one type of
unethical behaviour.
➢ Examples of others can be - recommending
unnecessarily high inventory level,
providing misleading information etc.
➢ These can lead to serious long term
consequences like lawsuits and negative
publicity.
➢ Hence, Managers must take immediate
action to put an end to unethical behaviour.
Unethical Behaviour

24. A typical Fortune 500 company spends millions
of dollars a year dealing with sexual harassment.
This is due to multiple reasons like
1. Investigation of claims
2. Reduced productivity
3. Increased turnover
4. Payment of monetary compensation
It is imperative for managers to take action to
prevent it from occurring.
Sexual Harassment Definition
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(EEOC)
defines sexual harassment as follows -
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual
favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a
sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when any
of the following criteria are met:
1. submission to such conduct is made either explicitly
or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's
employment;
2. submission to or rejection of such conduct by an
individual is used as a basis for employment decisions
affecting that individual;
3. such conduct has the purpose or effect of
unreasonably interfering with an individual's work
performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or
offensive working environment.

25. Sexual Harassment in Sales Organization
In sales organization, it occurs more commonly in the form of third-party harassment.
Third-party harassment
The harassment is done by someone outside the firm, most often they are the customers.
Responsibility of Managers
1. Reassigning of salesperson to a new customer or territory.
2. Requesting customer to stop inappropriate behaviour.
3. Closure of account if customer does not restrain themselves.
Company should also develop comprehensive policies against sexual harassment. Managers should understand these
policies and ensure that they are followed. These policies should include
1. Behaviors that are prohibited
2. Penalties for misconduct
3. Procedure for making, investigating, and resolving complaints

26. Sales People, Trust,
Performance, Morale
What is leadership? Definition, Characteristics
Leadership Style
Transactional and
Transformational
Outcomes
Tools and Techniques Report, Meeting, Aids
SUMMARY
Problems
Substance Abuse, Unethical
Behavior, Harassment