Role of Sales Staff Operating in International Environment - Report Example

Contents Introduction 2 4 Main Types of Personal Selling 2 Order Creation: 2 Order Getting: 3 Order Taking: 3 3 Revision of Sales Strategies withCorporate Objectives 3 3.2 Devise Appropriate Recruitment and Selection Procedure 4 3.3 Role of Motivation, Remuneration and Training in Enhancing Sales Performance 5 3.4 Two Techniques Used to Coordinate and Control Sales Output 5 3.4.1 Qualitative Techniques 5 3.4.2 Quantitative Techniques 6 3.5 Recommend Appropriate Organization Structures and Procedures 6 4.2 Role of Sales Staff Operating in International Environment 7 4.3 Purpose of Trade Fairs and Evaluate their Contributions 7 References 8 Introduction Sales management is the planning, implementing and controlling the sales program of the company and the personal selling efforts of the company. Sales management involves many different tasks such as setting objectives for the sales staff, organizing them, recruiting the best sales staff, training them and evaluating their performance to get the best results. Sales management is the management of functions of a company’s personal selling. Personal selling is a communication between seller and buyer to influence the decision of buying a product (Personal Selling and Sales Management, 2000). It enables the sales staff to satisfy the customers and sell the product, identify the problems of customers and suggest improvements, building relationship with customers and gaining trust of customers. We-study is currently operating in USA in two market segments that is individuals and businesses but is now interested in moving to UK market therefore it will need a good sales team to capture the market and gain maximum market share in UK as well. 1.4 Main Types of Personal Selling Personal Selling has different types for different selling jobs. Some types of the personal selling that can be used by We-Print in establishing the business in UK are discussed below: Order Creation: We-Print Sales persons will have to keep complete record of information of the client such as contact details (contact number; email address, residential/ official address etc.). They should keep relations with them by inviting them to promotions of the company’s different products. After the initial informal meeting with the person on some event or promotions can be approached for a formal appointment with the sales person. This is how an order can be created by generating new business leads. Order creators will be more useful for We-Print in UK as they are new in the market and this will help them establish customers. Order Getting: Order getting is a type of personal selling which can be used by We-Print to get order by seeking the customers at their workplace or homes. In the meeting the sales person can provide them with complete information of the product by demonstrating the advantages of the product and convincing them to purchase the product. In this meeting the sales person can solve the problems of the customer and analyze the needs of the customer to improve their product. Order getting is also known as creative selling. Order getting is establishing relationship with the existing customers. Order Taking: Order taking is the stage when the customers have decided to buy the product. This is referred to the completion of the transaction relating to the order. It involves only the noting down of the order. Order takers try to provide best order processing. To initiate orders they need to perform door to door campaigns and telemarketing (Cant and Van Heerden, 2004). We-Print will take advantage from this personal selling by enhancing their sales. 3.1 Revision of Sales Strategies with Corporate Objectives For an organization to be successful, it needs to align its sales strategy with its corporate objective. When sales strategies and corporate objectives are not aligned, the sales strategy of the company may be headed in completely different objective than its corporate objective. We-Print needs to develop the sales strategies according to its business objective which is develop its market share, maximize its profit, and minimize its cost and retain its customers and attract new customers. The customers suffer the most from misalignment of sales strategies and corporate objectives. The misalignment results in business destructive, forecasts are unpredictable, marketing messages are ineffective (Carmichael, n.d.). The corporate objective of the We-Print is to exploit the business market in UK therefore the sales strategies should emphasis on the business segments by identifying business customers for its company and persuading them. To have an effective sales strategy, it is important for the sales professionals to completely understand the change in corporate objectives. The sales strategy developed should be incorporated with growth, profit and revenue of the company. If the corporate strategy of the business is to retain customers the sales staff is required to make strategies to retain the customers and maximize their sales from the current customers. The alignment of corporate objectives and sales strategy results in the success of the organization (Revision of Sales Strategies with Corporate Objectives, 2006). 3.2 Devise Appropriate Recruitment and Selection Procedure We-Print has decided to make a sales team for UK with some existing sales staff of USA and some sales professionals from UK. We-Print is new in UK market therefore needs fully equipped sales team to promote sales of the company, who are familiar with the UK market. The sales team requires different types of personalities for different jobs. A sales team will lead to profitability and growth of the company. The recruitment and selection procedure need to be appropriately followed by the Providing a complete job description linked with the requirements of the We-Prints requirements. The job description should include the detailed responsibilities of the sales professionals, the challenges of the position and personal attributes to attract skilled sales professionals for the team to be operating in UK. The application received of the interested candidates should be reviewed carefully to recruit enthusiastic candidates. A telephone interview should be conducted of the candidates who are to be interviewed for the sales team in UK and ensure their eligibility. After telephonic interview a complete assessment should be performed of the candidates for their evaluation and their suitability and skills for the We-Print sales team. (Small Business - Chron.com, 2014) 3.3 Role of Motivation, Remuneration and Training in Enhancing Sales Performance Motivation plays a vital role in enhancing the sales performance. To attain the goal of We-Print it is important to keep its sales team motivated. The sales person is motivated to put efforts in attaining the objective of We-Print. Good remuneration plays a key role in motivating the sales staff and their remuneration should be based on the number of sales. This will motivate the sales persons of We-Print to maximize the sales due to their personal interests. A sales person with high level of motivation will enhance sales, performance and productivity (Icmrindia.org, 2012). Both financial and non-financial incentives motivate the sales staff to perform well. Training the salesforce also enhances the sales performance. We-Print will need to plan trainings for its sales team members to make them more confident, competent and efficient. The training helps the new sales person to become productive and efficient. They can than handle every situation confidently, and they are up to date in their technological, customers, markets, and products trends. Training will help in keeping We-Print Sales Force morale high and work loyally for the successful performance of the sales of the organization (Zoltners and Sinha et al., 2001). 3.4 Two Techniques Used to Coordinate and Control Sales Output 3.4.1 Qualitative Techniques Qualitative Forecast techniques are used in situations where historical data is not available. It helps in determining significant environmental factors that will influence the sales and profitability of the company.. It will help them determine while the sales staff is attaining their targets of not and will let the company establish strategies for enhancing their sales. Different qualitative techniques such as the following will help in determining the sales output so that it can be controlled by the sales force Delphi Techniques Scenario Writing Brainstorming Session 3.4.2 Quantitative Techniques Quantitative forecasting helps in determining sales output with the help of historical data. The past data will be used to determine the future sales of the company. After forecasting the company will evaluate whether the sales department has attained its goal or not (Referenceforbusiness.com, 2014). The time series analysis uses past data to forecast future sales such as last 5 years sales per month and the forecast is based on that data. 3.5 Recommend Appropriate Organization Structures and Procedures Databases help in maintaining different data relating to sales function of We-Print. Databases such as customer database will help in maintaining customers information, marketing database will help in maintaining record of customers purchasing the products. QucikBase is a sales management database. Sales databases help in managing sales team and enhance business growth. The quickbase sales databases will help in managing sales by identifying the risks and opportunities related to the sales, it helps in improving the sales staff accountability as the sales staff is aware of their roles, responsibilities and targets assigned to them as it will notify them related to tasks and different deadlines. It keeps the sales staff updated with supply and demand information which enables them conclude the demand of all products. It helps the sales staff in providing a report which product’s sale needs to be increased and which product’s sales are satisfactory and the production can be managed accordingly. Databases are efficient and more productive which results in saving the time and cost. The chance of error is minimum as the error is automatically detected by the software and the process of sales management is smooth. 4.2 Role of Sales Staff Operating in International Environment The USA sales team of We-Print has to operate in UK with the new sales team and to establish the market for the company. The sales staff will play an important role in the implementation of policies relating to marketing and selling the products of the company in the international market. The USA sales team will need to thoroughly understand the operations of the company in UK context and evaluate the ability of implementation of the basic and advanced sales management of the company. To fully benefit from the opportunity of entering a new international market is to be completely aware of the pitfalls of the foreign market. The sales team will have to attain some information about the foreign market like sources of information available, the effective mode of entry and marketing mix of the foreign market. But the company will need a local staff for UK to sell the products due to cultural and traditional differences (Icmrindia.org, 2012). The USA sales force will be the valuable asset of the company as they will be evaluating the new market at the market entry stage by collecting information regarding the market. They will information such as competitor related information, customer’s needs and their willingness regarding the product, government regulation of the UK and customer’s willingness to try new product. In the growth stage, the salesforce can concentrate on the customer’s needs and compare the sales and requirements of customers in UK and USA. In the maturity stage, We-Print can rely on its USA forces to retain and enhance its marketing share in UK and USA both (Cravens and Le Meunier-Fitzhugh et al., 2011). 4.3 Purpose of Trade Fairs and Evaluate their Contributions Trade fairs are very profitable in medium and long term and they are even less costly than personal visits. To purpose of trade fair is to provide clients opinion, market research, competition evaluation and helps determining market potentials. It can be used as a source of exchange of information between salesforce and customers. It is a face to face meeting point for the sales persons and the clients. It helps in maintaining customer relationship. This scheme will help in introducing the products in the UK market more efficiently with less cost than other marketing strategies. Its goal is to develop trade and contribute in successful operation of an organization (BASICS FOR ORGANIZING TRADE FAIRS, 2012). References Personal Selling and Sales Management. 2000. [e-book] The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,. http://www.utdallas.edu/~nkumar/CHPT21.PDF [Accessed: 24 Mar 2014]. Cant, M. C. and Van Heerden, N. 2004. Personal selling. Lansdowne, South Africa: Juta. Carmichael, E. n.d. Align Your Sales and Corporate Strategies by Russ Lombardo. [online] Available at: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Align-Your-Sales-and-Corporate-Strategies.html [Accessed: 24 Mar 2014]. Small Business - Chron.com. 2014. How Is the Sales Force Recruited & Selected?. [online] Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/sales-force-recruited-selected-2756.html [Accessed: 24 Mar 2014]. Icmrindia.org. 2012. Sales and Distribution Management | Textbooks | Chapters. [online] Available at: http://www.icmrindia.org/courseware/Sales%20and%20Distribution%20Management1/SDMC14.htm [Accessed: 24 Mar 2014]. Zoltners, A. A., Sinha, P. and Zoltners, G. A. 2001. The complete guide to accelerating sales force performance. New York: AMACOM. Cravens, D. W., Le Meunier-Fitzhugh, K. and Piercy, N. 2011. The Oxford handbook of strategic sales and sales management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. BASICS FOR ORGANIZING TRADE FAIRS. 2012. [e-book] file://file-server/WVISB.PK%20Roaming%20Profiles$/Mahrukh%20Arif/Downloads/Basics%20for%20organizing%20trade%20fairs%20for%20web.pdf [Accessed: 24 Mar 2014]. Referenceforbusiness.com. 2014. Forecasting. [online] Available at: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Fa-For/Forecasting.html [Accessed: 24 Mar 2014]. Revision of Sales Strategies with Corporate Objectives. 2006. [e-book] http://www.gilmorelewis.com/storage/aligningsalescomp.pdf [Accessed: 24 Mar 2014]. Read More