Donaldson Manufacturing Company: Electrical Products Manufacturer – Selecting a Top Sales Executive

The president of the Donaldson Manufacturing Company of Chicago faced the problem of selecting a new general sales manager. The company had annual sales in excess of $75 million and more than forty years of experi­ence in manufacturing electrical safety switches, circuit breakers, regula­tors, manual and magnetic starters, and related products. These products, which

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Frito-Lay, Inc.: Manufacturer of Corn Chips – Reorganization of Executive Structure

Frito-Lay, Inc., had recently undergone an extensive reorganization of marketing-related activities to provide more effective control in regional and district offices. Arch C. West, the vice-president of marketing, found it neces­sary to reevaluate his role and responsibilities under the new organizational structure, which had redefined his formal relationships with other executives. Frito-Lay, Inc., with

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Monrovia Oil Company: Petroleum Company – Decentralization of the National Account Department

Monrovia Oil Company, with head offices in New York City, was one of the largest producers of petroleum products in the United States. In his monthly meeting with Frank Spriegel, marketing vice-president, Jeff Gasden, vice-president of sales, recommended a reorganization to decen­tralize the national account department and bring its salespeople under the regional sales

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Liberal Software Solutions: Salvaging Jeopardized Deal

Cassandra Anderson works as a sales training manager in Liberal Software Solutions, a renowned provider of accounting softwares. Amber Smith, a new sales representative, is taking support from Cassandra during on-the- job training phase. An important client meeting is scheduled with Judy Investment Company, one of Liberal’s key customers. On stake is a poten-

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Lindsay Sportswear: Manufacturer of Sportswear – Sales Department Reorganization

Although the current sales organization of Lindsay Sportswear had been effective for a number of years, recent changes in the marketing and distribution of sportswear, as well as changes in Lindsay policies and practices, indicated that a revision of the present sales organization was required. Arthur Lindsay, president of Lindsay Sportswear, was con­cerned with

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Allen Specialty Company: Manufacturer of Writing Supplies – Coordination of Advertising, Sales Promotion, and Selling

Allen Specialty Company, located in Detroit, Michigan, manufactured a line of ballpoint pens, and mechanical pencils and, in the past five years, had added a line of stationery. Allen products were sold to stationery and office supply wholesalers and retailers, as well as to department stores, discount houses, drugstores, variety stores, and supermarkets. A

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Morris Machine Works: Manufacturer of Centrifugal Pumps – Relations with Dealers

Morris Machine Works, Baldwinsville, New York, was established in 1864 and was the first American company to manufacture centrifugal pumps. Morris pumps were sold to industrial users throughout the United States by thirty-two manufacturers representatives, each of whom operated in an exclusive territory. Three representatives in Canada handled sales in that country, but all

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Vibpure Water Purifiers: The sales demonstration

Vibpure Private Limited (Vibpure) is a growing organization with a wide range of water purifiers, air purifiers, vacuum cleaners, and water dispensers. The company was facing acute competition and had achieved 91 percent of its sales target for the first 6 months of 2017. July-December is going to be a crucial period for the

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Sales Personnel Management

Sales force management is a specialized type of personnel management. It is not possible to exercise close and constant supervision over sales personnel—at least not in the sense that one can supervise production and office workers. Furthermore, sales personnel work away from their cowork­ers and immediate superiors, so it is difficult to develop a

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Sales Job Analysis

Job analysis—assembling and analyzing factual information on specific jobs—is the basis for professional personnel management. Job analyses provide the data required for preparing written job descriptions, which, in turn, are used to derive job specifications (the qualifications and characteristics individuals need to perform given jobs). The job analysis, then, and its two derivatives, the

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Organization for Recruitment and Selection of Sales Force

The organization for recruiting and selection of sales personnel varies from company to company. Company size, executives’ personalities, and depart­mental structure all influence the organization used. Companies with small sales forces sometimes assign sole responsibility for recruiting and selec­tion of sales personnel to the company personnel manager, but this is unusual. It is more

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The Prerecruiting Reservoir Sources of Sales Force Recruits

1. THE PRERECRUITING RESERVOIR Because of uncertainties as to when new sales personnel will be needed, many companies have a pre-recruiting reservoir. This is a file of individuals who might be recruited when the need arises. The names of individuals added to the reservoir come from diverse sources like resumes submitted online, list of

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Sales Force Recruitment Process

The sales personnel recruiting effort differs from one company to another, mainly as to the sources of recruits and recruiting methods, and stem from management’s sizeup of the appropriate combination of selling styles. Different selling styles call for individuals with varying qualifications as to type and amount of education, other training, and experience. If

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Sales Force Selection Process

Selection systems for sales personnel range from simple one-step systems, consisting of nothing more than an informal personal interview, to com­plex multiple-step systems incorporating diverse mechanisms designed to gather information about applicants for sales jobs. A selection system is a set of successive ‘‘screens,’’ at any of which an applicant may be dropped from

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Pre-interview Screening and Preliminary Interview of Sales Force Recruits

Pre-interview screening is for the purpose of eliminating obviously unqual­ified applicants, thus saving the time of interviewers and applicants. The applicant is provided information about the company and general details about selling positions in it—a well-prepared recruiting brochure does this effectively and does not require an employee’s time for anything other than to hand

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Formal Application of Sales Force Recruits

Most of the companies ask candidates to fill the application form. This can be an online application available on the company’s website. The formal appli­cation form serves as a central record for all pertinent information collected during the selection process. The application forms are usually filled out by the applicant and by an interviewer

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The Interview of Sales Force Recruits

The interview is the most widely used selection step and in some compa­nies it comprises the entire selection system. Some personnel experts criti­cize the interview as an unreliable tool, but it is an effective way to obtain certain information. No other method is quite so satisfactory in judging an individual as to ability in

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Building Sales Training Programs

There are several types of sales training programs. The most comprehensive and longest is the training program for newly recruited sales personnel. More intensive and shorter programs on specialized topics, as well as peri­odic refresher courses (collectively known as continuing sales training), are presented for experienced sales personnel. In addition, many compa­nies offer sales

Defining Sales Training Aims

Regardless of the type of sales training program, defining its specific aims is the first step in its planning. Defining the general aim is not sufficient. Although, for example we may want to increase the sales force’s produc­tivity through training, we must identify what must be done to achieve increased productivity. General aims are

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Deciding Sales Training Content

The content of a sales training program, whether an initial or continuing program, derives from the specific aims that management, after analyzing its training needs, formulates. Initial sales training programs are broader in scope and coverage than are continuing programs. Initial programs pro­vide instruction covering all important aspects of performance of the sales­person’s job;

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