General Sales Manager Role - Essay Example

?Sales Management Integrated Interiors Ltd Executive Summary Leaders are often regarded as lifeblood of any organisation. The information and the ideas are generated by the leaders which are followed by the subordinates to attain the organisational goals. Therefore, it can be said that one of the important skills that a leader should possess is to be a good listener. Being a good listener allows the leader to identify the mistakes or issues and develop ways to solve them. Followed by a good listener, effective communication skills should also be possessed by the leader which will ensure smooth flow of information and ideas among the employees. He should be result-oriented rather than goal-oriented. This will reflect in his decision taking ability. Few issues have been recognised prevailing in the Integrated Interiors Limited. The first and foremost issue is concerned with the supply chain. The unavailability and certain difficulties related to supply chain are being an important issue for the organisation. Apart from that, the antagonism and conflicts between the sales and operations departments have created another issue for the Integrated Interiors Limited. Furthermore, the sales team needs focusing and motivational activities by a leader. The absence of two Area Sales Managers (ASMs) has led to unsatisfactory results from the leadership, thus de-motivating the employees. Last but not the least, the old age group has become an issue for the company. Most of the sales people are over 50 years in the sales team. Certain recommendations to resolve the issues such as implementation of Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model in supply chain, inclusion of effective conflict management related system, inclusion of employees in sales target related decision making process and appointment of more youth in sales force have been made. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 1.Personnel Specification for the General Sales Manager Role 4 2.Four Primary Issues Concerning the Sales Operation 6 3.Recommendations for Solving Each Issues 8 3.1 First Issue Analysis and Recommendations 8 3.2 Second Issue Analysis and Recommendations 9 3.3Third Issue Analysis and Recommendations 10 3.4Fourth Issue Analysis and Recommendations 11 4.Timescales for Resolving the Issues 13 5. References 14 6.Bibliography 15 16 16 1. Personnel Specification for the General Sales Manager Role Recently, it has been recognised by the Managing Director of Integrated Interiors Limited Mary Hennasey that over the past year or more due to the ill health of Fred Staples, the Marketing Director of Integrated Interiors Limited, he has not been able to focus on the sales team. The Managing Director has reviewed the annual report that showed a sales dip of ?20m in the year 2009-2010. However, 2010-2011 annual report showed that the sales were ?395m, most of which have come from the general commercial sector, 65% and the rest 35% from the hotel sector. Thus, the decision of appointing an experienced leader for the role of General Sales Manager (GSM) who will be responsible for the activities of the sales team has been acknowledged. The GSM, who will be appointed, should have a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from a reputed university, specialising in sales. Preference would be given to people who have been appointed as Area Sales Manager in the same sector for more than 10 years. Following are the additional requirements that will add to the benefit of the candidate. One of the most important considerations will be given to the person who is a good listener. It is believed that a great leader has a good listening skill. With a great listening skill, the leader will be able to address any type of grievances that may arise among the employees. He should have the image to remain calm and welcome new ideas that in turn will motivate the employee (Kanu & Kanu, 2007). The communication level should be high when asking questions are concerned. It should follow just after listening to any type of queries. He should have the urge of asking question to the employees who have come up with grievances or suggestions. This type of image by a leader is very much accepted by the subordinates. Great leaders suggest that asking questions make them learn more and thus, teach most which is expected from a good leader, by the employees (Kanu & Kanu, 2007). The person should know the difference between the management and leadership. A great leader makes rules that are followed by the managers to attain individual growth. He should be aware of the individual manager’s strengths and weaknesses and motivate them by providing the essential tools that will help them to become leaders in the future (Kanu & Kanu, 2007). The leader should be result oriented rather than goal oriented. Few leaders feel that goals are long-terms whereas results are short-terms. Thus, result-oriented approach will help to judge the leadership qualities of the leader and motivate subordinates to perform better (Kanu & Kanu, 2007). Additionally, the leader should have the abilities to inspire the team members to achieve the desired goals which have been set by them. He should set clear ways to obtain the objectives individually that will result in achieving the organisation’s objectives (Kanu & Kanu, 2007). The candidate should have trust in his team of performers and should pose that attitude towards its subordinates so that the employees feel that important decisions are taken concerning the subordinates (Kanu & Kanu, 2007). The candidate should be a great observer and should be able to recognise efforts that have contributed largely on attaining the organisation’s goal. He should have the rewarding system designed thoroughly so that the non performers do not get depressed rather motivated to perform better the next time (Kanu & Kanu, 2007). Respect should be a two way process, i.e. the candidate should have the personality so that subordinates respect him, whereas even the subordinates’ dignity is not disrespected. He should not follow an autocratic style of leadership, rather a democratic style where the decision is taken after discussing with the actual persons who will perform (Kanu & Kanu, 2007). Apart from all these, the candidate should not have the dictatorship attitude which can destroy the working environment of the organisation (Kanu & Kanu, 2007). The most work done in Integrated Interiors Ltd (IIL) is by the on field sales team. Therefore, they need to travel vast areas and visit many clients regularly in order to achieve their targets. At the end of the day, they get exhausted and do not like to be ordered for small matters. Thus, the candidate should perform small tasks himself and depict a calm outlook and should not show that he is a dictator in the organisation. 2. Four Primary Issues Concerning the Sales Operation The sales team was without a proper leader after Fred Staples was suffering from ill health. He was not being able to guide the sales team actively, thus resulting in deficiency in sales. Therefore, four of the key issues that have been identified which are affecting the sales operations are: First Issue: The organisation i.e. Integrated Interiors Ltd is constantly loosing on market share due to the supply chain difficulties. This had largely affected at a time when the hotel refurbishments are being considered due to the mega event i.e. Olympics. Due to the presence of large crowd in the city for being present in the Olympics, hotels are trying to renovate their rooms to attract boarders. If the supply of raw materials would have been effective, the contracts for renovating hotels could help the company to increase its sales and the clients’ base. Second Issue: Apart from the supply chain difficulties, there is certain antagonism prevailing between the sales and the operations departments. The cross-communication gap between the different teams disrupted the flow of information, thus, resulting in the loss of sales. Additionally, the loss of two long serving Area Sales Managers (ASMs) did not help either, resulting in unavailability of market knowledge among the sales team and losing close relationships with the Decision Making Units (DMUs). Third Issue: Fred Staples did not discuss the sales targets with the ASMs before setting the overall target. These targets were then forwarded to the sales team, operating in different territories. Furthermore, the individual sales people felt that they had no influence over the sales forecasts or targets decided by the company which in turn de-motivated the employees. Fourth Issue: The lesser sales force include majority of the sales people aged over 50 years–12 people, and few under the age of 26– 4 people. There is a generation gap between them and the efficiency level lacked due to their age. There was autocratic style followed by Fred Staples by setting higher targets which were not met by most of the sales staff. This resulted in employees not entertaining the bonuses, which also did not help to improve the general levels of motivation. 3. Recommendations for Solving Each Issues 3.1 First Issue Analysis and Recommendations The recent competition prevailing among the interior designing industry is immense. Therefore, Integrated Interiors Limited is required to have sophisticated technical and design requirements which will give them a competitive edge. In order to meet these requirements, the supply chain needs to be assessed periodically. If needed, the supply chains should be replaced, demanding upon the market changes and needs of the customers. In a highly competitive market the operating costs of the supply chain is under the hammer, such as freight prices and rising labour rates among others which have been adding to the overall raw material costs. Thus, it is very important for the management to identify the suppliers operations cost and make changes if possible (Supply Chain Council Inc, 2012). Being at the right place at the right time is an important role indirectly played the suppliers. The products and the services of the company need to be available at the right place and time whenever the customer demands. Therefore, if the raw materials are not supplied on time, the company can face challenges in meeting the demands of the customer, failing which, would result in losing the clients. This was experienced by the company when difficulties in supply chain resulted in losing contracts for hotel refurbishments largely, just before the Olympics. Therefore, it is an important task for the management to follow certain framework for measuring the performances of the supply chains and provide a foundation for improvement (Supply Chain Council Inc, 2012). The relationship between the suppliers is also considered to be an important role played for improving the sales of the company. A good leader is expected to maintain trust and healthy relationship with the supply chains for delivering efficient services to the company. Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model provides common guidelines to the teams for effective communication and further enhances the evaluation of best practices (Supply Chain Council Inc, 2012). 3.2 Second Issue Analysis and Recommendations Antagonism and conflicts have been prevailing between the sales and operations department within the company. Therefore, the flow of information is being hindered which is resulting in decreased sales. The cross-communication between teams across the departments is not effective, thus, creating conflicts among teams. A manager should have the abilities to manage conflicts and provide solutions to employees so that the bonding among them prevails. The team effort often helps to achieve the organisational goals. Thus, implementation of an effective conflict management system will reduce the antagonism among departments. A conflict management system is a valid measuring instrument that collects data from valuable sources such as self and peer-report on what they feel about the organisation and other team members. These feedbacks are then evaluated and development towards the strategies to solve conflicts is improved (De Dreu & et. al., 2001). Thus, an effective conflict management system may reduce the antagonism between the sales and operations departments which will enable flow of effective information from either side, resulting in increase in sales. Information from the sales team will help the operations department to judge the current customer needs and develop products or strategies accordingly. Therefore, the launch of fresh products according to the customer’s choice will enhance the sales of the company (De Dreu & et. al., 2001). 3.3 Third Issue Analysis and Recommendations Motivating employees is the ultimate method to make them feel better and work to their optimum resources, thus, benefitting the organisational targets. Therefore, motivating can be done through different factors. One of the factors is to involve subordinates while decision making or setting up targets are concerned. This can include staff from the ground level, whose efforts are directly linked to the organisational targets. They feel that their efforts are concerned while deciding or forecasting the targets and thus, get motivated. In the case of Integrated Interiors Limited, it was just the opposite. The targets were decided, without consulting the ASMs as well. It was determined by Fred Staples which was forecasted by each year-on-year growth of sales. Most of the employees felt that a top-down management approach and autocratic leadership is followed by the directors. Thus, their non-involvement in the decision making units for forecasting and setting up targets affected their morale and de- motivated them. They were not happy with the targets and efficiency in achieving them were not involved, which resulted the sales to dip. If the situation continues, it will give an edge to their competitors, thus losing in clients (Vliert, 2006). In order to avoid this situation in the future, the company should hire a leader who believes in democratic style of leadership. He should be calm in nature and should be a good listener. The patience to listen to subordinates is often neglected by top level leaders, thus discouraging the subordinates to come up with new ideas that could prove to be fruitful in future. The new appointed manager should have good communication skills and ensure that people from all levels are included while forecasting or setting up targets. This attitude will help the sales force to feel that their issues are considered before deciding on targets. It will help to motivate them and perform better to get recognised by the leaders (Vliert, 2006). 3.4 Fourth Issue Analysis and Recommendations Age groups are generally considered when determining the sales team that works on-field. Companies are focusing more to appoint youth within the age group of 23-30 for the sales force. They believe that the energy possessed by the youth generation is higher compared to the older age groups. Thus, targets of meeting clients based on large areas are not being achieved, hence, declining the sales of the companies (McCoy & Mitchell, n.d.). Similarly, the IIL has a sales force which is comparatively lower compared to the territories. Each sales person was responsible for all the accounts or customers in their area, irrespective of the size and importance of the accounts. However, larger customers were visited by Fred Staples and other ASMs who got involved with the activities of the sales person. Apart from being a small sales force, majority of them were aged over 50 and others under the age of 26. In addition, 17 of the sales members were women. The management expected to average 35 sales calls per week of which 15 were considered to be prospects. Therefore, it can said that the old age group are assumed to have a decreasing level of energy as years pass by, thus, reducing in meeting the customers. This resulted in achieving lower level of outcomes by the sales team than the set targets, which did not allow them to earn bonuses on a consistent basis. The newly appointed manager could have a definite rewarding proposal in mind that will enable employees to perform better. He should be able to identify the key areas where the old age group can be effective and appoint a handful of more youth in the sales team for achieving the sales targets efficiently. Moreover, he should improve the recognition and rewarding system which is presently decided by the forecast of sales growth year-by-year. The sales team generally finds this forecasting to be unfair as practical achievements are not concerned while deciding the targets. The manager can implement various types of incentives plan, such as group incentives to enhance the efficiency of the sales team (McCoy & Mitchell, n.d.). Additionally, the manager should develop training programmes and introduce modern techniques to improve the performances and behaviour of the employees. Presently, the training and development programmes are based on management style and approach of the ASM for a particular area. This system should be stopped as different ASM’s might possess different styles of training and developing skills which may not be effective in a team bonding working environment. Thus, the new manager should ensure that the training and development programmes are developed by him and practised within all the sales team. It should allow employees to come closer to each other during training programmes, thus, developing bonding among them. Through this strategy team effort will improve and it would benefit the overall target set by the company. 4. Timescales for Resolving the Issues Issues Recommendations Timescale Supply Chain Management Implement of SCORs that shares a regular language between the manager and supply chains 3-4 months Antagonism and conflicts between sales and operations departments Inclusion of effective conflict management system 5-6 months Motivation of the employees Include employees from all levels while deciding sales targets 5-6 months Old age group in sales and huge age difference Appointment of youth generation and finding ways where old age group will be more productive 6-7 months 5. References De Dreu, C. K. W. & et. al., 2001. A Theory-Based Measure of Conflict Management Strategies in the Workplace. Journal of Organisational Behaviour. Vol. 22, pp 645-668. Kanu, A. C., & Kanu, F. D., 2007. Enhance Your Leadership Skills. Genius One Inc. [Online] Available at: http://geniusone.com/pdf/EnhanceYourLeadershipSkills.pdf [Accessed April 30, 2012]. McCoy, D. & Mitchell, B., No Date. Cash or Carry? Does Money Work As An Incentive? Snowfly. [Online] Available at: http://www.snowfly.com/pdf/SF_N_CashCarry.pdf [Accessed April 30, 2012]. Supply Chain Council Inc, 2012. The Five Most Common Supply Chain Challenges. Home. [Online] Available at: http://supply-chain.org/top-supply-chain-challenges [Accessed April 30, 2012]. Vliert, E. V. D., 2006. Autocratic Leadership Around The Globe. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. pp 42-59. 6. Bibliography Singh, A. K. & Antony, D., 2006. Conflict Management In Teams. Delhi Business Review, Vol. 7, No 2, pp 1-12. Thomas, K. W., No Date. Making Conflict Management A Strategic Advantage. Cpp Inc. [Online] Available at: https://www.cpp.com/pdfs/conflict_whitepaper.pdf [Accessed April 30, 2012]. Read More