Sales Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know

Vishal Desai, Vibrant Publishers

• Publisher: Vibrant Publishers
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9781636510750
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

• Do you want to know about various sales promotion tools to maximize sales revenue in your organization?
• Are you looking for ways to handle conflict situations in sales management?
• Do you want to know why sales force management is so important?

Sales Management Essentials contains everything you need to know about Sales Management! In this book, you will learn why (and how) sales and marketing are different and the wide range of sales channels you can use to sell your products. If you've been focused on only selling your product and not your product concept, this book will teach you how. (Yes, there's a difference!) Or perhaps you want to conduct sales promotions and require effective sales promotion techniques that will help you succeed. Sales Management Essentials is where you will find all your questions answered.

This book will help you to:

? Understand all aspects of sales management functions

? Learn how to manage the sales channels and sales-force

? Discover the relationship between sales and marketing

? Study various selling tools, sales techniques, and sales strategies

? Explore various sales promotion activities to increase sales

? Learn channel conflict management and resolution skills

The book is an ideal pick for young managers, entrepreneurs, and graduate students who wish to acquaint themselves with all the aspects of sales management. It is also an excellent teaching aid for the academic fraternity and industry professionals who teach sales and marketing management courses.

Chapter 1

Introduction to Sales Management

This chapter familiarizes the reader with sales management and the set of activities that form a part of this function. The chapter provides an overview of the relative importance of sales functions in an organization and establishes the specialized role of the sales team in achieving the revenue generation goals of an organization. The chapter states the definitions of selling, marketing, and sales management. It outlines the importance of sales as a provider of utility to the consumers and explains how sales management delivers the value created by the marketing process to the customers. It also makes note of the difference between selling and marketing functions within an organization.

Key learning objectives of this chapter include the reader’s understanding of the following:

• The nature and concerns of sales management in an organization
• How sales management adds value for both the consumers and the organization
• The difference between sales and marketing functions in terms of their focus areas
• How sales management generates utility for the consumers

1.1 Definition of Sale and Sales Management

A ‘Sale’ can be explained as a transaction that involves the transfer of possession and ownership of tangible goods from the seller to the buyer and /or performance of a particular set of activities or services by the seller for the benefit of the buyer in return for a consideration from the buyer. As per Investopedia.com, ‘A sale is a transaction between two or more parties in which the buyer receives tangible or intangible goods, services, or assets in exchange for money or other assets are paid to a seller.’1

Sales management, on the other hand, is defined as planning and executing all tasks concerned with selling, selling techniques, sales force management, and distribution of goods and services.

According to the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB), Sales Management is defined as: “The planning, direction, and control of professional selling including recruiting, selecting, equipping, assigning, routing, supervising, paying and motivating as these tasks apply to the sales force.”2

Sales is the only function in an organization that directly generates revenue or income for a company and hence it needs to be adequately managed. The financial results of a company depend upon the performance of the sales department. Sales operations of an organization depend on the sales strategy adopted by the organization. Optimal sales management is achieved when the sales analysis or desired sales results are aligned with the sales strategy and sales operations (see Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Optimal Sales Management

Source: The Investors Book, Prachi M, July 27, 2019, https://theinvestorsbook.com/sales-management.html

1.2 Selling v/s Marketing

Selling and Marketing are so closely interwoven with each other that one can often not identify the differences between both functions. In fact, in lean organizations, the same team typically performs both sales and marketing tasks. Marketing and Selling are both aimed at increasing revenue. However, marketing is different from selling, and as an organization grows, the roles and responsibilities of sales and marketing teams be...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• About the Author
• What experts say about this book!
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgement
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 Introduction to Sales Management
• 2 Sales Channels and Process
• 3 Ensuring Product Mix in the Channel
• 4 Product Selling to Concept Selling
• 5 Push v/s Pull Strategy
• 6 Cross-Selling, Up-selling, Value-Added Selling
• 7 Channel Conflict: Reasons to Resolution
• 8 Managing Key Accounts
• 9 Sales Promotions
• 10 Sales Force Management
• 11 Sales Management Post-Pandemic
• Glossary