Research Proposal for Understanding the Effectiveness of Sales Force in the Organization and Suggesting Ways of Improving their Effectiveness

1. SP JAIN SCHOOL OF GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
Research Proposal for Understanding
the Effectiveness of Sales Force in the
Organization and Suggesting Ways of
Improving their Effectiveness
Marketing Research Assignment
Prajakta Talathi
GSEP13CMM031

2. Executive Summary
Sales is a very crucial part of any organization. But recently it has been observed
that effective returns are not obtained as per the investments.
The research is conducted to identify sales performance of Telecommunications
organization. It identifies the type of sales people, their influencing factors etc.
It also highlights their behaviour and attitudes. This proposal suggests the methods
of research, sampling and data collection. It also gives an estimate of budget and
time lines required.

3. Table of Contents
Executive Summary................................................................................................................... 1
Purpose and Significance of the Research............................................................................... 3
Title.........................................................................................................................................3
Purpose..................................................................................................................................3
Background of the Topic Being Investigated............................................................................. 3
Problem ..................................................................................................................................3
Objective.................................................................................................................................3
Hypothesis.............................................................................................................................. 4
Scope .....................................................................................................................................4
Research Method....................................................................................................................... 4
Research Question(s)................................................................................................................ 5
Questionnaire to Sales Force ................................................................................................ 5
Parameters to be considered............................................................................................. 6
Other Parameters............................................................................................................... 6
Questions............................................................................................................................ 6
Questionnaire to Customers..................................................................................................7
Parameters ......................................................................................................................... 7
Questions............................................................................................................................ 7
Identifying data collection methods ........................................................................................... 7
Questionnaire......................................................................................................................... 7
Sampling.................................................................................................................................8
Resources Required / Budget ...................................................................................................8
Budget ....................................................................................................................................8
Resources Required .............................................................................................................. 8
Human Resources.............................................................................................................. 8
Other Resources................................................................................................................. 8
Timelines....................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................9
Data Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 9
Further Research................................................................................................................... 9
References............................................................................................................................... 12

4. Purpose and Significance of the Research
Title
Research Proposal for Understanding the Effectiveness of Sales Force in the
Organization and Suggesting Ways of Improving their Effectiveness
Purpose
Sales team is the most crucial team in an organization as it is the revenue
generating team. Sales force is the team which involves direct interaction with the
customers.
Sales team in the Business-to-Business market primarily has the below task:
 Customer Attraction
 Conversion of Sales
 Customer Retention
 Face-to-face customer interaction
 Promotion of product/service
 Customer Relationship Management
 Forecasting sales
 Analysis of Customer needs and want or attitude and behaviour
 Consulting the Customers
Sources: (Edwards, Assesment No.1 and No. 2 Guidelines, 2014), (Kokemuller,
2014)
The above factors indicate the importance of sales for an organization. But studies
have revealed that in spiting of investing to improve the sales force, the returns are
not significant (Edwards, Assesment No.1 and No. 2 Guidelines, 2014). As the Sales
and Marketing Director (Assumed my role in the organization) of
Telecommunications (Assumed organization name), Australia, I have decided to
perform a similar study as that of (Ryals & Davies, 2010) on the Sales force in my
organization.
Background of the Topic Being Investigated
Problem
Telecommunications is a large telecommunications company in Australia. Presently
there are 520 B2B Sales people working for Telecommunications. It has been
observed the sales team is giving returns of only 12% (An assumed figure) of the
money invested in it. As a Sales and Marketing Director I have decided to conduct a
research on my organization’s sales team to check if the indicated figures are true
and if so, suggest methods using which the effectiveness of the sales team will be
improved.
Objective
The objective of the study is:

5.  To understand the effectiveness of Sales Force
 To suggest ways of improving the effectiveness of the Sales Force
Hypothesis
The hypothesis to be tested is:
H0: Investing in the Sales Force is giving the expected results
H1: Investing in Sales Force is not giving the expected results
Scope
The scope of the research is to include the sales team comprising of 520 people and
to study and analyse their sales pitch calls while dealing with customers.
Research Method
Applied-Exploratory Research will be performed as a decision has to be made based
on the real-life problem. In this research we need to understand and answer
questions related to the effectiveness of sales force. Exploratory research is done
because once the results of this research are identified the outcomes can be used
for further research and analysis.
Qualitative research needs to be conducted to identify variables, gain in-depth
understanding and insight of sales force behaviour and attitude (Edwards, Marketing
Research Notes, 2014). Post diagnosing the situation, we need to screen the
alternatives and discover new ideas to improve the sales force. Methods are:

6. Quantitative Research needs to be performed for data collection and conversion into
numerical values in order to draw down a conclusion.
Research Question(s)
Sample Questions are as below:
Questionnaire to Sales Force
Questions asked to Sales team will be based on the parameters identified during the
secondary research like (Ryals & Davies, 2010):
Focused
Group
Discussion
•Gain Sales Force Insights
•Free flowing structure, so employees will be able to express their feelings freely
•Minimum 2 FGDs
Environment: Enclosed and confidential; discussion willbe recorded
•Composition ofthe Group: 6-10 sales person
Moderator needs to be present to guide the group through the discussion
Depth
Interviews
•Ask semi-structured questions
•Highly skilled interviewer
•Interviewer sould encourage respondent
•Ask probing questions to gain additional information
Projective
Techniques
•Enable respondent to project beliefs and feelings onto a third party, an inanimateobject or a task situation
•Use Sentence Completion and association techniques to understand respondent's subject knowledge
•Third person and role plays to be conducted to simulte the sales environment and understand the skills ofthe
respondent
Advanced
Technique
•Use Case studies to understand the knowledge andanalytical abilityofthe respondent
•Make use of interactive discussions with customers and get their feedback
•Use software tools for theme identification and connecting text
•Use Text mining techniques and observation techniques
•Using Sampling
•Questionnaire
•Customer Feedback
Data collection
•Collected data needs to be analysed
•Coding andweightage of importance is givento even
identified variables
Converting to Numerical Values

7. Parametersto be considered
These parameters can be generally identified using observation and simulations or
case study.
 Rising to the Challenge
 Meeting Preparation
 Customer Interaction
 Company Presentation
 Presentation and Rapport
 Sales Pitch
 Story telling
Other Parameters
 Motivation
 Work-life Balance
 Knowledge of the product/service
 Availability of resources to be used in sales calls
Questions
General Informative Questions
Name: <<Non-mandatory, Box to be typed / written>>
Age: <<Range>>
18-25 25-35 35-45 45-55 55+
Band: <<Box to be typed / written>>
Department: <<Box to be typed / written>>
Income: <<Range>>
Below $10,000 $10,000 – $25,000 25,000$ - 50,000$
$50,000 above
Analytical Questions
Rate the Telecommunications product/service <<Scale of 1-7, 7 being the
best>>
How many hours per week do you spend with your family? <<Give a
range less than 10 hours, 10-15 hours, 15-30 hours, and 30+ hours>>
Do you have all the resources required to make a sales call? <<Agree
Disagree>>
What brings you to office every day? <<Coded Options>>
o Work Excitement <<Highly Motivated>>
o Salary <<Moderately Motivated>>
o Friends <<Neutral>>
o Nothing but routine <<Not so Motivated>>
o Other reason <<Not Motivated>> <<Provide a box to answer>>

8. Questionnaire to Customers
Parameters
 Regarding the salesman’s ability to cater to the customer needs
 Recommendations
 Rating the performance of the salesperson
 Rating the product/service offered
Questions
General Informative Questions
Name: <<Non-mandatory, Box to be typed / written>>
Age: <<Range>>
18-25 25-35 35-45 45-55 55+
Analytical Questions
 How long did the call last? <<Time range: less than 5 mins, 5-10 mins, 10-
15 mins and 15+ mins>>
 Rate the salesperson <<Scale of 1-7>>
 Were you satisfied with the call? <<Yes No>>
 Did you buy the product or service? << Yes No>>
 If yes, did you get what you were promised to? <<Yes No>>
 If no, what was the reason? <<Option>>
o Product not required
o Did not like the product/service
o Was not convinced
o Other <<Provide a box to answer>>
 Rate the service <<Scale of 1-7>>
Identifying data collection methods
Primarily data will be collected using Sampling, Questionnaire asked to Sales Person
and Customer Feedback using questionnaire.
Questionnaire
Questionnaire Platform for Employees: Face-to-face and online/mail surveys
Questionnaire Platform for Customers: Face-to-face, telephonic and online/mail
surveys
Each Question will be coded based on the identified parameters using which the
scaling can be done. Weightage will be assigned and according to the rating given
weighted total will be considered. Open-ended questions will be avoided.

9. Sampling
Since target population number is 520, it will not be possible to conduct a face to
face interview with all. Hence, based on the Band, Experience, Job Level and
Performance Level sampling group will be decided. Under these parameters,
random employees should be selected. From each of the categories, we can select
10 samples each and the total being 20% of the total strength around 50 samples
should be adequate.
Online Survey can be conducted on all the employees.
Resources Required / Budget
Budget
Since we are using a third-party as our analyst, observer and interviewer to eliminate
biases, we need to pay for their fees. Additionally, surveys will be paid ones which
will be billed to the organization. Assuming recording and stationery supplies
charges will also be added to the budget.
(All numbers are assumed)
Description Amount
Fees for Observer $ 5,000
Fees for Analyst $ 5,000
Fees for Interviewer $ 5,000
Stationery $ 1,000
Simulation
Environment
$ 1,000
Miscellaneous $ 500
Total $ 17,000
Resources Required
Human Resources
 Observer to observe live calls and simulation and case study environment
 Data Analyst to draw down the conclusions
 Interviewer to ask desired questions and encourage responses
Other Resources
 Stationery
 Simulation Environment and setup

10. Timelines
Activities Weeks required
Identify Problem 0.5
Finalize Objectives 1
Secondary Research 0.5
Informal Interview 1
Develop Questionnaire 1.5
Pilot Test And Revise Questionnaire 1
Code and Weigh Variables 0.5
Conduct Survey, FGDs, F2F etc. 4
Data Collection, Assimilation and
Preparation 2
Analysis Of Data 1
Submit Analysis 1
Prepare report and presentation 0.5
Further Analysis 1
Total 15.5
Conclusion
Data Analysis
Data needs to be analysed using SPSS after coding and weighing is done.
Further Research
Depending on the analysis further research methods can be suggested. Additionally
some measures can be identified to improve sales performance.

11. Socialisers
Deal Maker
Narrator

12. Product Focused
Story Teller
Consultant

13. Product Closer
Expert
References
Edwards, J. (2014, February 22). Assesment No.1 and No. 2 Guidelines. Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Edwards, J. (2014). Marketing Research Notes. Sydney.

14. Kokemuller, N. (2014). The Importance of Sales in an Organization. Your Business.
Ryals , L., & Davies, I. (2010, December). Do You Really Know Who Your Best Salespeople Are?
Harvard Business Review.