2. Learning Objectives
At the end of the session you are expected to understand
1. Key Areas of planning of an ABM.
2. Elements of Organizing, associated with key areas of
planning.
3. Management concepts of Control.(Definition and Steps)
4. A method or technique of looking ahead which should take
place before doing
A constructive review of future needs & to present actions,
which can be adjusted in view of the established goal
Most individual and group efforts are made more efficient by
determining before any operative action takes place what shall
be done, where, how and who shall do it and by when?
Principles of Management by George R. Jerry
Planning
5. From the perspective of a supervisor, the typical areas of
planning could include the following:
❖ Manpower and deployment
❖ Establish standards of performance (sales, work activities and
work behavior)
❖ Territory lay out
❖ Territory coverage
❖ Promotional campaign
❖ Marketing programs
❖ Incentives
❖ Time investment
Planning
6. ❖ Potential customer count has gone up so as to consider expansion
❖ Any uncovered geographical locations having desired no. of customers
❖ Work load to be equitably distributed to all reportees
❖ Impact on productivity if expansion is considered
❖ Attrition reduction and plan to fill vacancies within a specified period
and prepare plan to cover vacant territories
Planning - Manpower and deployment
7. ❖ SOP are quantitative objectives assigned to a reportee to
be achieved in a given period of time
❖ Includes
Sales (value, units, brand category)
Work activities (Call average, SVL & Core Customers Cvg.)
Work behavior (Reporting, providing Feedback)
Planning - Establish Standards Of Performance (SOP)
8. ❖ While setting targets, consider past performance in terms of
units & value as well as factor an element of stretch or an
aspiration level (company as well as self)
❖ Examine sales trend and consider Season/Festival index to
consider for sales phasing
❖ Consider
Cause and effect of marketing programs on key customers
Impact of new marketing programs which are likely to create in
terms of increased sale
Planning - Establish Standards Of Performance (SOP)
9. Key Factors:
❖ Consider
Impact of man power expansion or deletion
D - pooling of territories if possible to bring in accountability
Competitors activities and compare them with own activities
❖ Determine what will be definitely achieved, what more could
be achieved
Planning - Establish Standards Of Performance (SOP)
10. ❖ HQ should be located at the point of maximum & potential customer
concentration (preparation of SVL and working patches)
❖ Territory should support a day’s work or in other words facilitate a
reportee to make desired number of calls
❖ The time/days allotted should be important with the potential of
that market so as to derive maximum advantage and facilitate repeat
calls
❖ Territories should be designed to minimize travel time, expenses
(contains the desired customer mix) through proper and convenient
mode of transport and clubbing of markets
❖ Attempt to distribute workload equitably amongst all reportees
(important in pool territories, say amount of morning calls, evening
calls, hospital working etc.).
Planning - Territory lay out
11. Key Factors:
❖ Plan pertains to the manner in which a reportee is expected to
cover the assigned territory, at least once, in a given period of
time (STP)
❖ Plan concerns distribution of selling time by a reportee in
conformity with the sales potential of a market
❖ Better planning can lead to improved control of reportees, better
customer relations, equitable workload assignments, reduced
expenses and improved sales planning because of predictability in
coverage
Planning - Territory Coverage
12. Key Factors:
❖ This consists in determining what each reportee must do
(marketing program implementation) and when he must do it
(MTP)
❖ Should cover
customer definition (potential)
customer classification (visit frequency)
brand emphasis (doctor – brand matrix),
Sales approach (routine v/s special)
customer conversion plan (which brand and how much and by when)
❖ Execute marketing programs by classifying customers into
high/medium/low, depending on ability to give prescriptions
Planning - Marketing Program
13. Key Factors:
❖ Plan for incentives both monetary (company administered or self
created) and non- monetary (recognition and rewards,
development plans)
❖ Plan sales contests, detailing contests, customer conversion
contests, idea generation contests etc
Planning - Incentives
14. Key Factors:
❖ This plan involves planning one’s own time for a given period of
time to both joint field work and non – call activities
❖ To identify the tasks that need to be achieved in that given period
of time
❖ Tasks on “urgency – important” matrix, where first priority need to
be given and the second priority to those tasks which are
“important but yet not urgent)
Planning - Time investment
17. Is the process of assigning responsibilities and
activities to a reportee by a supervisor in accordance
with the plans designed and the objectives
established
Organizing
18. ❖ Each reportee’s responsibilities should be clearly and completely
expressed in black & white (appointment letter, policy intimation,
strategy guide, incentive plans etc.)
❖ Each reportee must fully understand and accept the defined
responsibilities (check for understanding and draw the desired
meaning)
❖ Authority and freedom to act should be well defined and
sufficient for the assigned responsibilities (preparation of daily
work plan, distribution of promotional inputs etc.)
Organizing - Basic Principles
19. ❖ The standards against which a reportee’s performance is to be
measured must be clearly accepted and understood (PCMS, CNIT,
Performance Assessment Form for Trainee/ Probationer, sales
review meetings etc.)
❖ Procedures should be clearly outlined to permit freedom of
action in absence of supervision (say a program of joint input
distribution)
❖ You should be flexible and sensitive to unexpected changes in
condition (sudden strike)
❖ Each reportee must understand the common goals (organization’s
goals, sales unit’s goals, brand goals etc.)
Organizing - Basic Principles
20. “The degree to which any plan is effective depends on the degree to which
it is accepted. Those who must carry out the plan must understand it,
believe in it and know their relation to their part of the whole”
❖ Why to do?
❖ What to do?
❖ When to do?
❖ How to do?
❖ What to expect?
From a supervisors point of view organizing involves not only
telling but more importantly selling.
Organizing - in essence
23. ✔ It consists in verifying whether everything occurs in
conformity with the plans adopted, the instructions issued
and principles established.
✔ It has for object to point out weaknesses and errors in order
to rectify them and prevent recurrence
✔ To maintain the equilibrium between ends and means;
output and efforts
* General and Industrial Management by Henri Fayol, ** Peter Drucker.
Control
25. ❖ Establish and or communicate performance
standards in terms of sales output, work activity
and work behavior
❖ Performance standards could be either
quantitative (targets, call average, SVL coverage,
timely reporting) or qualitative (selling skills,
planning skills)
Step 1
26. ❖ Records of quantitative performance parameters are
available at the end of every month (Performance by
Product Group, WEB based reports)
❖ Qualitative performance parameters can be studied by
observation and subsequently recorded (Performance
Assessment For Trainee/ Probationer)
Step 2
27. ❖ Measure performance against standards and consider
both positive and negative deviations
❖ Try to discover the reasons for both positive and negative
deviations
Step 3
28. ❖ Options available are such as take no action, particularly
if it is a one off incident
❖ Take action aimed at increasing the degree of
attainability (train, coach or counsel)
❖ Provide greater support to facilitate achievement of
objectives
❖ Modify the standards or at least a few of them or the
criteria used for measuring their attainment
Step 4
29. ❖ High attrition in the sales unit.
❖ High customer loss or increased customer complaints.
❖ Low sales compared to high number of customer calls.
❖ Customer calls are either very high or very low.
❖ Low return on investment as compared to other reportees.
❖ Low morale of a reportee fuelled either by low achievement,
fear of failure, feels threatened etc.
Control - Factors influencing
30. “The supervisor establishes working relationships with reportees
for purposes of observing, evaluating and reporting on
performance, correcting variances, clarifying responsibilities and
duties; providing motivation, informing of changes in company
policy, helping to solve business and personal problems and
continuous sales training”
Control - In essence
