Managing Sales Force

We know that sales force management is the analysis, planning, implementation and control of sales force activities. To manage the sales force, it has some steps. These are as follows:
• Designing sales force strategy and structure
• Recruiting and selecting sales people
• Training sales people
• Compensating sales people
• Supervising sales people
• Evaluating sales people
These steps are as follows:
• Designig sales force strategy and structure: Marketing managers face several sales force strategy and design question. How should sales people and their tasks be structured? How big should be sales force be? Should sales people sell alone or work in teams with other people in the company? On the basis of above Questions Company design the sales force strategy and structure. Sales force structure is influenced by sales force strategy. The decision is simple if the company sells only one product line to one industry with customers in many locations. In that case the company would use a territorial sales force structure.
• Recruiting and selecting sales people: At the heart of any successful sales force operation is the recruitment and selection of good sales people. For this reason company select the experienced and experts sales force. Company can select the sales force from the internal source or external source of the company.
• Training sales people: Many companies used to send their new sales people into the field almost immediately after hiring them. They would be given samples, order books and general institutions. Although trainings can be expensive, it can also yield dramatic returns on the training investment training program have several goals, sales people need to know and identify with the company. So most training program begin by describing the company's history and objectives its organization, its financial structure and facilities and its chief products and markets.
• Compensating sales people: To attract the sales people company offers attractive package to the sales force. The success of the company depends on the operation of sales people. Again the performance of sales people depends on the quality of sales depends on the attractiveness of the package. So, company should offer huge compensation to the sales people.
• Supervising sales people: Now sales people need more than a territory, compensation and training. They need supervision. Through the supervision the company directs and motivates the sales force to do a better job.
• Evaluating sales people: It is the last step in the sale force management. In this step to evaluate the sales people require good feedback. Good feedback means getting regular information about sales people to evaluate their performance. Management get information about its sales people in several ways. The most important source 's sales reports. The sales manager might begin with a quantitative evaluation, looking at a sales person's knowledge of the company, products, customers, competitor's territory and task.