MANAGEMENT OF EFFECTIVE SALES FORCE IN MARKETING ORIENTED COMPANY

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

A sales organization could be defined as any one organization which consists of a group of people brought together to participate in a common effort direct toward accomplishing certain goals still and (unify).

 In overall marketing activities, sales management is a prominent and distinct function. If managed well, it goes for focuses on the profitability of the company. Some number of authors have written and developed several approaches with adequate techniques which cover the entire sales efforts.

 According to Stanton (1974:17), Sales management is described as the management of the marketing programme. In years gone by sales management was viewed narrowly which include only such task as resulting and selecting a sales force and the training, compensating, supervising and motivating these salesmen. As marketing management has evolved however, the concept of sales management has assumed new and significantly broader dimension similarly top sales manager today are involved more in setting sales force goals. The planned a programme to reach these goals and evaluating the results.

 Wilmshwit (1984:171) also states what management of the sales organization entails the vital job of translating general objectives into individual tasks and targets. However, the nature of the sales task will derive from the company’s marketing objectives. The company’s situation will determine the kind of job the sales person needs to do and the type of work efficiency best fitted to do it.

 According to Fubana (1985:12), sales organization is the means of carryout out the sales plans of the enterprises which is usually formulated within the frame work of the existing organizational structure and that the factor which determine the nature of a sale organization include:

COMEPTITION: The volume of sales needed, the market (pricing policy), current trade practices and the type of consumers for whom the goods and services are to be reached.

 Definition by Appleby (1969:209) sees sales management to include or embrace all the above mentioned attributes and may be stated as such:

 Sales management is the achievement of result through other people which is primarily concerned with controlling the activities of the salesmen directly reporting to the manager.

 Sales administration helps the respondent and cooperate with those responsible for making policy and production programmes in order to achieve intelligence forecasting and accurate budgetary control to be applied. The sales force must be used efficiently. This depends on a number of factors which includes initial selection and training in cooperation with the personnel officer, good organization, accurate reporting of results, satisfactory salaries and conditions of employment. All these factors are discussed in the subsequent part of this essay.

 Since sales management is typically an independent component part of the overall marketing policy, the subsequent topic discussed consider salesmanship  and sales management by which sales staff are put as cost effective as possible into sales situation.

2.1    DEFINITION OF SALES FORCE

 There are many definitions of sales forces as there are many author, scholars and practitioners on the subjects, it will be necessary of the point to put down some of the different views expressed by different authors on what personal selling or sales force entails, it is hoped that will make for a better understanding of the subject.

 Demonstration of the product or service and its use by the market is usually the most effective method for convincing the prospect of its merits and desirability.

 Wilmshurt (1985:164) sees it as a group of individuals in an organization striving jointly to reach certain common goals.” He went further to say that the kind of sales force a company needs and the way it organizes it will depend on its marketing objectives. These in turn will be influenced by the kind of markets it is operating and its position in these markets.

 Shapiro (1973:147) Marketing term defined sales force as “the act of oral presentation to prospective customers for the purpose of making sales”. It has the ultimate purpose to induce consumers and industrial buyers to purchase particular products or services for the use.

 From the discussion above, one could see that what is required of sales department is to “perform its function right” so that it can contribute effectively to the achievement of organizational objectives. For the purpose of this work therefore, the researcher has chosen the definition of sales force by Rogers (1987: 172) in his book sales management that “Sales for deals with the whole of the selling process from making initial contract with a customer to closing the deal and taking money. Other firms of promotion surely can”. The person to person situation is from more flexible than other form of promotion. An advertisement can only deliver a standard message to the average customer but a trained salesman can establish customers individual needs and frequently  can help to shape the product or source to fit these needs.

 2.2    MANAGEMENT OF THE SALES TEAM

 According to B Holard Elmy (1972:52), to understand the problem of sales management as distinct from those selling, it helps on the assumption that he will be appointed by and reported to the marketing manager. Among these are the following: