Sales Management Assignment 1
Content
1st Individual Assignment
Name: Sanim Amatya
BBA(VII)
Section: A
Subject: Sales Management
Q: Explain the nature and roles of sales management.
Ans:
Sales management refers to the administration of the personal selling component of an
organization's marketing program. It includes the planning, implementation, and control of sales
programs, as well as recruiting, training, motivating, and evaluating members of the sales force.
The fundamental role of the sales manager is to develop and administer a selling program that
effectively contributes to the achievement of the goals of the overall organization. The term
"sales manager" may be properly applied to several members of an organization, including:
marketing executives, managers of field sales forces, district and division managers, and product
line sales administrators.
The nature and roles of sales management are:
i.
Strategic
The sales manager must develop a strategy to attain the goals. A very basic decision is whether to
hire a sales force or to simply contract with representatives outside of the organization. The latter
strategy eliminates costs associated with hiring, training, and supervising workers, and it takes
advantage of sales channels that have already been established by the independent
representatives. On the other hand, maintaining an internal sales force allows the manager to
exert more control over the salespeople and to ensure that they are trained properly. Furthermore,
establishing an internal sale force provides the opportunity to hire inexperienced representatives
at a very low cost.
ii.
Sales forecasting and budgeting
After determining the composition of the sales force, the sales manager forecasts how much sales
is to be made and creates a budget, or a record of planned expenses that is usually prepared
annually. Sales forecasting is very important to perform other actions of sales manager including
budgeting. It is generally done based on previous year’s sales. The budget helps the manager
decide how much money will be spent on personal selling and how that money will be allocated
within the sales force. Major budgetary items include: sales force salaries, commissions, and
bonuses; travel expenses; sales materials; training; clerical services; and office rent and utilities.
Many budgets are prepared by simply reviewing the previous year's budget and then making
adjustments. A more advanced technique, however, is the percentage of sales method, which
allocates funds based on a percentage of expected revenues. Typical percentages range from
about two percent for heavy industries to as much as eight percent or more for consumer goods
and computers.
iii.
Provides key input into the formulation of strategic plan
Formulation of strategic plan is one of the vital tasks in sales management. For a business to
prosper effective strategic plan is required. A strategic plan is formulated on the basis of various
inputs like sales forecast, budget etc. Sales management provides those key inputs to the
organization so that the organization can formulate an effective strategic plan to increase sales
and attain organizational goals. Without sales management those inputs cannot be attained, so,
providing key input into the formulation of strategic plan is one of the major roles of sales
management.
iv.
Understand the concept of marketing
Even though marketing and sales are two very different functions within a company, one cannot
survive without the other. Both bring different assets to an organization as a whole. The inherent
connection between the two lies in the fact that they share a similar goal: increasing revenue.
Marketers generate leads and sales executives close the deal. Both sales professionals and
marketers, however, need to work in order to nurture their leads. Because they share this mutual
objective, the means in which they accomplish this should complement each other. Thus sales
management and marketing are interrelated to each other.
v.
Analyse and direct activities of sales force towards more profitable business
The sales manager needs to be able to analyse and direct the activities of the sales force towards
more profitable business. An organization has certain qualified sales force that is employed to
increase the sales of the organization. A sales manager need to analyse those sales force on the
basis of their abilities and qualification and direct them to the business that can generate more
profit for the organization as profit generation being primary objective of any business.
Name: Sanim Amatya
BBA(VII)
Section: A
Subject: Sales Management
Q: Explain the nature and roles of sales management.
Ans:
Sales management refers to the administration of the personal selling component of an
organization's marketing program. It includes the planning, implementation, and control of sales
programs, as well as recruiting, training, motivating, and evaluating members of the sales force.
The fundamental role of the sales manager is to develop and administer a selling program that
effectively contributes to the achievement of the goals of the overall organization. The term
"sales manager" may be properly applied to several members of an organization, including:
marketing executives, managers of field sales forces, district and division managers, and product
line sales administrators.
The nature and roles of sales management are:
i.
Strategic
The sales manager must develop a strategy to attain the goals. A very basic decision is whether to
hire a sales force or to simply contract with representatives outside of the organization. The latter
strategy eliminates costs associated with hiring, training, and supervising workers, and it takes
advantage of sales channels that have already been established by the independent
representatives. On the other hand, maintaining an internal sales force allows the manager to
exert more control over the salespeople and to ensure that they are trained properly. Furthermore,
establishing an internal sale force provides the opportunity to hire inexperienced representatives
at a very low cost.
ii.
Sales forecasting and budgeting
After determining the composition of the sales force, the sales manager forecasts how much sales
is to be made and creates a budget, or a record of planned expenses that is usually prepared
annually. Sales forecasting is very important to perform other actions of sales manager including
budgeting. It is generally done based on previous year’s sales. The budget helps the manager
decide how much money will be spent on personal selling and how that money will be allocated
within the sales force. Major budgetary items include: sales force salaries, commissions, and
bonuses; travel expenses; sales materials; training; clerical services; and office rent and utilities.
Many budgets are prepared by simply reviewing the previous year's budget and then making
adjustments. A more advanced technique, however, is the percentage of sales method, which
allocates funds based on a percentage of expected revenues. Typical percentages range from
about two percent for heavy industries to as much as eight percent or more for consumer goods
and computers.
iii.
Provides key input into the formulation of strategic plan
Formulation of strategic plan is one of the vital tasks in sales management. For a business to
prosper effective strategic plan is required. A strategic plan is formulated on the basis of various
inputs like sales forecast, budget etc. Sales management provides those key inputs to the
organization so that the organization can formulate an effective strategic plan to increase sales
and attain organizational goals. Without sales management those inputs cannot be attained, so,
providing key input into the formulation of strategic plan is one of the major roles of sales
management.
iv.
Understand the concept of marketing
Even though marketing and sales are two very different functions within a company, one cannot
survive without the other. Both bring different assets to an organization as a whole. The inherent
connection between the two lies in the fact that they share a similar goal: increasing revenue.
Marketers generate leads and sales executives close the deal. Both sales professionals and
marketers, however, need to work in order to nurture their leads. Because they share this mutual
objective, the means in which they accomplish this should complement each other. Thus sales
management and marketing are interrelated to each other.
v.
Analyse and direct activities of sales force towards more profitable business
The sales manager needs to be able to analyse and direct the activities of the sales force towards
more profitable business. An organization has certain qualified sales force that is employed to
increase the sales of the organization. A sales manager need to analyse those sales force on the
basis of their abilities and qualification and direct them to the business that can generate more
profit for the organization as profit generation being primary objective of any business.
