SALES MANAGEMENT 1. Sales Management. Michele Morehouse. University of Phoenix MKT/445. Faith Werner

Transcription

1 SALES MANAGEMENT 1 Sales Management Michele Morehouse University of Phoenix MKT/445 Faith Werner

2 SALES MANAGEMENT 2 Sales Management Overview Different management techniques will be compared that are used to optimize sales personnel performance. Five different management techniques include hiring, training, coaching, motivating, and performance evaluation. An analysis will conducted on different sales management tools, such as quotas, targets, call reports, and sales reports. The individuals and groups who prepare the sales reports will be identified and how they relate to the sales plan. Technology affects sales management in Starbucks. Analyzing the elements of different sales management techniques will allow Starbucks to implement the optimization of sales personnel performance. Hiring Hiring is the second step within the process of optimizing sales personnel performance. Hiring process in sales involves employing an individual as a sales person for full-time, part-time or seasonal. The hiring of an individual occurs usually through three steps, which are qualifying an applicant, interviewing, and the extending the offer (Jensen, 2000). Through improving these three areas of the hiring process the most qualified candidates can be added to the sales personnel to optimize the organization sales performance. Qualifying applicants is the first step of the hiring process. Often managers have piles of applications and resumes to sort through (Jensen, 2000). When a manager has selected specific applications that come across as potential they then decide to begin the communication process with the qualifying applicant. Aside from typical advertising responses of qualifying applicants, recruiting may occur, where colleagues refer qualified prospects for a job. To optimize the

3 SALES MANAGEMENT 3 qualifying of an applicant a manager when making cold calls can earn respect by asking the applicant if it is a good time to talk (Jensen, 2000). If not, most applicants or sales managers will set up an appointment either for a telephone conference or a preliminary interview. The interviewing stage of the hiring process is a key component of success when optimizing the performance of sales personnel. In the interviewing process a sales manager begins the interview by welcoming him or her, following through with an ice breaker to help relieve tension (Jensen, 2000). This is the primary interview in which the appropriate question can be asked to help determine the prospect and qualification of a candidate. When asking question during an interview Brown Shoe sales managers will ask valuable information, such as, Where do you see yourself within the company in three to five years time? This question helps sort out the not possible, from the possible. Once an interview is complete a sales manager of Brown Shoe would extend an offer once all data and references were checked. When extending an offer the candidate and the sales manager will discussion the basics to ensure both parties are mutually satisfied. During this stage the sales manager will discussion the incentives and rewards of being a Brown Shoe sales associate. The position benefits, such as compensation and health packages are discussed. Brown Shoe Group emphasizes the incentives to prospective sales personnel they would receive working for the company. As full-time sales associate the benefits are paid holiday, vacation, and sick days, 30% employee discount, health insurance, and 401K. Part-time sales associate incentives are paid holiday time and a half, 30% employee discounts, and health insurance (Brown Shoe, 2009). Once optimization of the hiring process is complete, training can began for optimizing sale personnel s performance.

4 SALES MANAGEMENT 4 Training Once the hiring process is complete a sales manager will continue the process of training of new sales personnel, which in turn optimizes their performance. Training sales personnel will help optimize performance through ensuring that a sales associate knows how to do his or her job effectively. A training manual is essential in providing the knowledge of his or her job tasks and duties. A training manual helps the sales manager communicate to him or her need to do to ensure high quality service, satisfy customers, and increase revenue (Duprey, 2007). Brown Shoe sales managers use an online employee manual, learning development software, and hands on activities to effectively train the sales personnel. The employee online manual is available in Brown Shoe stores for current and new employees to use for training. Through the computer access the sales associates can access the manual to train and gain knowledge for their position. Aside from the training manual the learning development software is a three step course all sales personnel must complete and pass before handling specific tasks (Brown Shoe, 2009). Each step could have 20 tutorials that have to be read in order for sales personnel to complete their training. Some tutorials involve learning how to handle the register, respect in the workplace, and loss prevention. Hands-on activities are essential in properly showing sales personnel on how to handle equipment, such as a foot measurer, register, and palm pilot (Brown Shoe, 2009). Without proper training a sales manager could not optimize their performance. Proper training with accurate guides enables companies, such as Brown Shoe Group to effectively use sales personnel full potential. Coaching

5 SALES MANAGEMENT 5 Like training, coaching is structured to help sales personnel improving his or her skills, but coaching involves the aim of developing specific skills sales personnel need. Coaching enables a sales manager to provide positive and negative feedback (Clay, 2009). When a sales manager is coaching sales personnel the goal is to help improve his or her performance in a specific skill. If a new policy was in effect at Brown Shoe stores the job of the sales manager would be to direct this new policy to the sales personnel (Brown Shoe, 2009). Some elements of a job can not taught, with policies and workplace conduct coaching helps reinforce any learning development or training that has taken place. Usually, coaching consists of one-on-one sessions, but in some cases coaching can occur in groups. Coaching helps optimize sales personnel performance through redirecting and developing the skills sales personnel need to achieve success. Motivating During training and coaching sessions a sales manager needs to implement the use of motivation to encourage sales personnel to reach his or her fullest potential. Motivating involves encourage employees and providing feedback. Motivating sales personnel is an essential and should be promoted in day to day operations of every business (Carter 2009). A sales manager should not want to just have drive, but both drive and lead to create an atmosphere for the sales personnel. A negative atmosphere can destroy the confidence and pride of sales personnel. Brown Shoe uses motivation continuous to optimize sales personnel performance through instilling a sense of pride and loyalty. Through instilling a sense of pride and loyalty Brown Shoe sales managers recognize the sales personnel as an integral part of the businesses success (Brown

6 SALES MANAGEMENT 6 Shoe, 2009). Constant and direct motivation of simple thanks and great jobs contribute to this fact. Motivating the sales personnel helps reinforce their beliefs in themselves and the business. A positive atmosphere generated through motivation helps optimize sales personnel performance because sales personnel are more willing to work when their work or actions are acknowledged (Clay, 2009). Also, motivation can result from internal competition or weekly performance evaluations. Performance Evaluations Performance evaluations are productivity indicators that a business will use to evaluate sales personnel performances. Some evaluations are solely on data, such as sales. Brown Shoe stores productivity indicators are sales personnel performance evaluations that measure sales, accessories, home deliveries, rewards, and purchase ratio. These five categories are essential to the company, by a store maintaining or surpassing the performance goals helps increase Brown Shoe s revenue and profit margin (Brown Shoe, 2009). Performance evaluations give way to sales personnel motivation because each sale person will have a set performance goal to meet, which generates drive. Performance evaluation help optimize sales personnel performance because with set goals sales associates will be motivated to reach the goal, while increasing their quality of customer service to generate more customer loyalty. Quotas Quotas are a sales goal that is assigned to a specific unit. The sales quotas can be broken down into units, such as region, district, and store (Marketing Power, 2009). Brown Shoe group assigns each branch a sales quota they must meet. The store branches are broken down as Famous Footwear, Factory Brand Shoes, Supermarket of Shoes, and Naturalizer. The sales

7 SALES MANAGEMENT 7 quotas for each of these channels of stores differ. They are further broken down by region, district, and store. The regional operations managers will have regional sales quotas. The regional operation sales managers will assign sales quotas to each district, and each district manager will assign sales quotas to each store within a district. Sales quotas are broken down from fiscal goals to quarterly goals (Brown Shoe, 2009). Sales managers are able to derive sales targets from sales quotas. Targets Sales targets are the level of sales performance for sales personnel over a given period of time (Biz Jobs, 2009). Brown Shoe has monthly sales targets that have to be met for certain things to occur. If a store does not meet their monthly or annual sales targets the store will not get a bonus. Negative results for sales targets can result in pay reviews, and positions changes (Biz Jobs, 2009). To ensure that every store is meeting sales targets financial data and productivity data is gathered every minute of operation. Productivity goals assigned enable the results to be precise (Brown Shoe, 2009). Without sales targets sales forecasting or trend projection can not occur. Call Reports Call reports are reports that have to be filed by a regulated financial institution in the United States quarterly. The Call Report consists of basic information, such as bank s balance sheet and income statement. The report is submitted to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), where the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) analysts audit the financial forms for errors or mistakes (Investopedia, 2009). Call reports are

8 SALES MANAGEMENT 8 complete devoid of any business interactions. Where call reports are financial reports handled by financial institutions, sales reports are handled directly within a business. Sales Reports Sales reports are reports that have detailed results for the sales broken down into categories. Brown Shoe has two sale reports which the stores need to beware of daily and monthly. The D report is a flash report of the previous day sales. Each category is broken down into sales, home deliveries, accessories, purchase ratio, payroll, and rewards. The categories are compared between the actual and plan. The M report is the same break down as the D report except it is a monthly cumulative of a fiscal month comparing actual to plan (Brown Shoe, 2009). For accurate results of the sales reports the reports need to be prepared correctly. Preparation of Sales Reports Brown Shoe Group prepares the sales reports through the Arthur Information Manager database from Arthur Enterprise Suites (Business Wire, 2000). The software is management by account representatives at the corporate office would maintain the network, so that each store has the capabilities to view the sales reports at their stores everyday (Brown Shoe, 2009). The use of Arthur Enterprise Suites allows for quick preparation of sales reports to continue financial to floor retail (Business Wire, 2000). The use of this software and technology will affect the sales plan. The preparation is a part of the sales plan because this software enables Brown Shoe Group to meet the demands of the customers through speedy and flexible planning processes. The cost of preparing the sales report through this software and technologies can affect sales management.

9 SALES MANAGEMENT 9 Technology The use of technology will affect sales management negatively or positively depending on the situations implications. Sales management relies on technology and software to accomplish basic sales functions and management functions. CRM software helps Brown Shoe sales management to accomplish functions, such as planning, information database, product planning, and channel location. Technology improves sales personnel performance through optimizing the management functions, which allow more time to be spent on other important functions (Business Wire, 2000). Brown Shoe stores are able to concentrate on other important functions, such as sales, customer service, and merchandising. Technology, such as palm pilots have created a mobile environment for sales personnel. The palm pilots allow for quick access to check the availability of products from Brown Shoe website, price information, item and store locations, and helping find the availability of a specific size within the store (Brown Shoe, 2009). The result of the technology affects sales management positively because it helps with loss prevention, managing inventory, and basic sales management functions. Final Thoughts Sales personnel performance can be optimized through different management techniques. The implementation of hiring, training, coaching, motivating, and performance evaluations help provide direction of Brown Shoe Group s sales goals and objectives. Brown Shoe Group incorporates sales quotas, sales targets, call reports, and sales reports to help optimize sale personnel performance. The preparations of these reports are important because the data collected through CRM software helps generate sales forecasts and sales trends.

10 SALES MANAGEMENT 10 References Biz Jobs (2009). Targets. Retrieved December 31, 2009 from Brown Shoe Group (2009). Brown Shoe. Retrieved December 31, 2009 from Business Wire (2000). Famous Footwear Selects JDA Software s Arthur Enterprise Suite; Footwear Retailer Influenced by JDA s Vision, Leadership and Reputation. Retrieved January 2, 2010 from Clay, C (2009). Coaching Employees to Improve Performance: Finding the Coachable Moment. Ezine Articles. Retrieved December 31, 2009 from Employees-to-Improve-Performance:-Finding-the-Coachable-Moment&id= Duprey, R (2007). How to Improve Employee Performance and Ensure Consistent Service. Hospitality Trends. Retrieved December 31, 2009 from Investopedia (2009). Call Reports. Retrieved December 31, 2009 from

11 SALES MANAGEMENT 11 Jensen, D (2000). Improving Your Hiring Process. Search Masters International. Retrieved December 30, 2009 from Your-Hiring-Process.pdf Marketing Power (2009). Sales Quotas. Retrieved December 31, 2009 from