SALES MANAGEMENT

“Good sales management properly applied is the least expensive, most effective, way to increase dollars of revenue and margins, market share, cash flow, return on investment, and net present value, as well as to beat the competition and make yourself a hero. It costs no more to properly hire, train, compensate, motivate, and evaluate salespeople. Effective time and territory management, forecasting, planning, budgeting, and good communication and control are no more expensive than performing these same functions poorly.”

- Robert J. Calvin, Sales Management

Companies use salespeople to find, sign, and service customers, and to build revenue and profits. Sales management is the discipline of maximizing the benefits a company and its customers receive from the efforts of its sales force.

Functions of sales management

• Sales planning
• Recruiting / staffing
• Training
• Controlling / directing
• Evaluating
• Effectiveness / efficiency
• Compensation

The Impact of Effective Sales Management 

While this may seem like a lot to do, effective sales management requires ongoing involvement with the sales force. But effective sales management has numerous positive impacts. It can:

• Increase sales revenue and profitability
• Decrease variability of revenue due to inaccurate forecasting
• Increase sales productivity (revenue per salesperson)
• Increase customer satisfaction and loyalty
• Increase salesperson motivation

Sales Funnel:

The sales funnel is graphical representation of the sales process and the timeline for a future. Sales funnel is universally used in B2B sales - where sales cycles are long (typically several months) and closure of the sale takes some level of executive relationships or executive level selling. Role of marketing in a B2B sales can also be linked to sales funnel.

In the Sales funnel figure shown above, there is a large list of potential customers in the beginning of the sales process - and as the process continues, the number of potential customers decrease. At the end of the sales process i.e., closed deal - a few become actual customers.

Marketing functions in a sales intensive company must therefore be aligned with the sales funnel. The underlying theme of most successful marketing operations is about segmentation, focus and targeting. In most firms there will be more opportunity than what the company can successfully pursue. This makes it imperative for the marketing department to create a strategy or define the rules which will initiate a winnowing process - i.e., narrow down the list of prospective customers which the firm can successfully pursue and close.

One model of the marketing activities in the B2B world starts with branding, and then builds awareness and interest, targeted prospecting, lead management, sales funnel support and, finally, customer life cycle marketing i.e., repeat sales.

The sales funnel is an effective tool to manage and execute a complex sales process. The sales process can be made more effective and successful by aligning marketing activities with the sales process - branding, advertising, targeted seminars, whitepapers, technical pre-sales, account management, closing deals and looking for ways to add incremental value to existing customers.

Bingo in sales management:

Since Bingo doesn’t have a direct selling methodology, the major areas that is covered in the sales marketing of bingo includes logistics, supply chain management etc.

Logistics: Planning, execution, and control of the procurement, movement, and stationing of personnel, material, and other resources to achieve the objectives of a campaign, plan, project, or strategy. It may be defined as the 'management of inventory in motion and at rest.

Supply chain management: Management of material and information flow in a supply chain to provide the highest degree of customer satisfaction at the lowest possible cost.

Supply chain management requires the commitment of supply chain partners to work closely to coordinate order generation, order taking, and order fulfilment. They thereby create an extended enterprise spreading far beyond the producer's location.