Chapter

Introduction to Sales and

Distribution Management

SDM-Ch.1 1
 Learning Objectives
• To understand evolution, nature and importance
of sales management
• To know role and skills of modern sales
managers
• To understand types of sales managers
• To learn objectives, strategies and tactics of
sales management
• To know emerging trends in sales management
• To understand linkage between sales and
distribution management

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 Evolution, Nature and Importance of
Sales Management
Evolution of Sales Management
• Situation before industrial revolution in U.K.
(1760AD) – focused in manufacturing
• Situation after industrial revolutions in U.K., and
U.S.A. – manufacturing, finance, and sales
• Marketing function splits into sales and other
functions like market research, advertising,
physical distribution

SDM-Ch.1 3
 What is Sales Management?
• One definition: “The management of the
personal selling part of a company’s marketing
function.”
• Another definition: “The process of planning,
directing, and controlling of personal selling,
including recruiting, selecting, equipping,
assigning, supervising, paying, and motivating
the personal sales force.
• In short: “the management of salesforce”

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Nature and Importance of Sales Management
The nature or characteristics of sales
management can be explained by:
a) Its integration with marketing management,
b) Relationship selling, and
c) Varying sales responsibilities.

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 Integration with Marketing Management
Two Basic Groups of a Marketing Team
a) Field selling (or personal selling) team, and
b) Headquarter marketing team
Field selling teams (or Field Salesforce)
-in their territories (or branches, or regions)
contacting existing and prospective (or new)
customers
Headquarter marketing team
- Performs support and service functions or
activities to assist or help field salespeople in their
jobs
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 Nature of Sales Management
• Its integration with marketing
management Head-
Marketing

Manager- Manager – Manager – Manager – Manager –

Promotion Market Sales Market Customer
Research Logistics Service

• Relationship Selling

Transactional Value – added Collaborative /

Relationship / Relationship / Partnering
Selling Selling Relationship /
Selling

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 Relationship Selling
• Salespeople concentrate their team selling
efforts on building trust and service on a
few carefully selected customers over a
long period with a aim of becoming a
preferred or sole supplier

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  Transactional Relationship / Selling:- one type of
relationship marketing in which salespeople make one-
time sales to price-oriented customers ,who are not
contacted again
 Value – added Relationship / Selling:- understanding
current and future needs of customers and meeting
those needs better than competitors with value – added
solution to their problems
 Collaborative relationship :- a type of relationship
marketing in which a selling organization works
continuously with its large customers to improve the
customer performance in terms of operations , sales and
profit

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 Varying Sales Responsibilities / Positions / Jobs
Sales Position Brief Description Examples
• Delivery salesperson • Delivery of products to business • Milk, newspapers to households
customers or households.
• Also takes orders. • Soft drinks, bread to retail stores.

• Order taker (Response selling) • Inside order taker • Behind counter in a garment
shop
• Telemarketing salesperson takes • Pharma products’ orders from
orders over telephone nursing homes
• Outside order taker. Also • Food, clothing products’ orders
performs other tasks from retailers

• Sales support • Provide information, build • Medical reps. in pharma industry

• Missionary selling goodwill, introduce new products
• Technical selling • Technical information, assistance • Steel, Chemical industries

• Order-getter (Creative, Problem- • Getting orders from existing and • Automobiles, refrigerators,
solving, Consultative selling) new household consumers insurance policies
• Getting orders from business • Software and business solutions
customers, by solving their
business and technology problems
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 Importance of Personal Selling and Sales
Management
• The only function / department in a company that
generates revenue / income
• The financial results of a firm depend on the
performance of the sales department /
management
• Many salespeople are among the best paid
people in business
• It is one of the fastest and surest routes to the top
management

SDM-Ch.1 11
Roles and Skills of a Modern Sales Manager

Some of the important roles of the modern sales

manager are:
• A member of the strategic management team
• A member of the corporate team to achieve
objectives
• A team leader, working with salespeople
• Managing multiple sales / marketing channels
• Using latest technologies (like CRM) to build superior
buyer-seller relationships
• Continually updating information on changes in
marketing environment
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 Skills of a Successful Sales Manager

• People skills include abilities to motivate, lead,

communicate, coordinate, team-oriented
relationship, and mentoring
• Managing skills consist of planning, organizing,
controlling and decision making
• Technical skills include training, selling,
negotiating, problem-solving, and use of
computers

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 Types of Sales Managers / Levels of
Sales Management Positions
CEO /
President

V. P. Sales / Top-Level Sales Managers /

V. P. Marketing Leaders

National Sales Manager

Regional / Zonal / Divisional

Middle-Level Sales Managers
Sales Managers

District / Branch / Area Sales Managers First / Lower Level Sales Managers

Sales Trainee / Sales Person / Sales Representative

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 Sales Objectives, Strategies and
Tactics
The main components of planning in a company are
objectives, strategies and tactics. Their relationship
is shown below

Decide / Set Evolve Tactics /

Develop Strategies Action Plans
Objectives

e.g. A company wants to increase sales of electric

motors by 15 percent, as one of the sales
objectives.

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 To illustrate the relationship between sales objectives,
strategies and tactics, consider:
Sales Goals / Marketing Sales and Distribution Strategy Tactics /
Objectives Strategy Action plans

 Increase  Enter export  Identify the countries  Marketing / sales head to get
sales volume markets relevant information
by 15  Decide distribution channels  Negotiate and sign
percent agreements in 3-5 months
with intermediaries

 Penetrate  Review and improve  Add channels and members

existing salesforce training, motivation  Train salespeople in
domestic and compensation deficient areas
markets  Use effective and efficient  Train field salesmanagers in
channels effective supervision
 Link sales volume quotas to
the incentive scheme of the
compensation plan
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 Emerging Trends in Sales
Management
• Global perspective
• Revolution in technology
• Customer relationship management (CRM)
• Salesforce diversity
• Team selling approach
• Managing multi-channels
• Ethical and social issues
• Sales professionalism

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 Linking Sales and Distribution
Management
• Either sales management or distribution
management cannot exist, operate or
perform without each other
• To achieve the sales goals of sales revenue
and growth, the sales management plans the
strategy and action plans (tactics), and the
distribution management has the role to
execute these plans

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 Role of Distribution Management for some of
the Sales Management Actions / Tasks
Sales Management Actions / Distribution Management Role
Tasks

 Strategy for effective coverage  Follow call plan / beat plan

of markets and outlets  Make customer call productive
 Use multi-channel approach

 Strategy for handling customer  Prompt action at the customer interface level
complaints  If the problem persists, involve senior sales
and service people

 Planning of local advertising  Co-ordination with distribution channels

and sales promotion  Responsibility of execution with distribution
channels
 Expenses are shared between the company and
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 Activity No. 1 – Application Questions
1. Assume you are a regional sales
manager of Bajaj Auto Ltd. And you are
asked by your general manager (sales
and marketing) to submit your salesforce
strategy and tactics to achieve an
increase in sales volume by 20 percent
for the next financial year (make
assumptions, if required)

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 Activity No. 1 – Application Questions
2. Assume you are a sales manager. You
will be opening a new branch for which you
intend to promote one of the existing
salespersons as a branch sales manager.
What criteria or qualities you would look for
in selecting a person for the position of
branch sales manager?

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 Thank you for
pretending that you
are listening…
GOD BLESS US ALL
- Sir Zoren
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