MKG360: Personal Selling and Sales Management

Transcription

1 MKG360: Personal Selling and Sales Management Credit Hours: 3 Contact Hours: This is a 3-credit course, offered in accelerated format. This means that 16 weeks of material is covered in 8 weeks. The exact number of hours per week that you can expect to spend on each course will vary based upon the weekly coursework, as well as your study style and preferences. You should plan to spend hours per week in each course reading material, interacting on the discussion boards, writing papers, completing projects, and doing research. Faculty Information Name: Phone: CSU-GC Virtual Office Hours: Course Description and Outcomes This course addresses the complex and demanding responsibilities of sales management and training. Topics include forecasting; territory management; understanding customer expectations and buyer behavior; gathering feedback; communicating; budgeting; relating sales to marketing goals; and developing a CRM (customer relationship management) model. Additionally, the basics of sales from pre-prospecting through the purchase and follow-up steps are reviewed. Course Learning Outcomes: 1. Explain fundamental concepts of sales management and the personal selling process. 2. Describe the effective methods for generating new accounts and building relationships with existing sales accounts. 3. Explain the basic selling models and evolving trends in sales force organization 4. Explain the process for recruiting, selecting and training salespeople. 5. Describe appropriate sales leadership styles that support the moral basis for business ethics 6. Describe how to design sales incentive and recognition programs that support sales force performance evaluation.

2 Participation & Attendance Prompt and consistent attendance in your online courses is essential for your success at CSU-Global Campus. Failure to verify your attendance within the first 7 days of this course may result in your withdrawal. If for some reason you would like to drop a course, please contact your advisor. Online classes have deadlines, assignments, and participation requirements just like on-campus classes. Budget your time carefully and keep an open line of communication with your instructor. If you are having technical problems, problems with your assignments, or other problems that are impeding your progress, let your instructor know as soon as possible. Course Materials Required: Cron, W.L., & DeCarlo, T.E. (2009). Dalrymple s sales management (10th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN-13: Course Schedule Due Dates The Academic Week at CSU-Global begins on Monday and ends the following Sunday. Discussion Boards: The original post must be completed by Thursday at 12 midnight MT and Peer Responses posted by Sunday 12 midnight MT. Late posts may not be awarded points. Mastery Exercises: Students may access and retake mastery exercises through the last day of class until they achieve the scores they desire. Critical Thinking Activities: Assignments are due Sunday at 12 midnight MT. Week # Readings Assignments 1 Chapters 1 & 2 and pages (The Case Method) in Dalrymple s Sales Management Discussion (25 points) Chapters 3 & 4 in Dalrymple s Sales Management Discussion (25 points) Critical Thinking (100 points) Chapters 5 & 6 in Dalrymple s Sales Management Discussion (25 points) Critical Thinking (100 points) Chapters 7 & 8 in Dalrymple s Sales Management Discussion (25 points) Mastery (20 points) Critical Thinking (75 points)

3 5 6 7 Chapters 9 & 10 in Dalrymple s Sales Management Discussion (25 points) Critical Thinking (75 points) Chapters 11 & 12 in Dalrymple s Sales Management Discussion (25 points) Portfolio Project Deliverable (worth 25 points to overall Portfolio score) Chapter 13 in Dalrymple s Sales Management Discussion (25 points) 8 James, G. (n.d.). Train your sales team how to deliver effective presentations. Retrieved from 0 Sales presentation role-play series (from the textbook selling: the profession). [Video File]. Retrieved from Discussion (25 points) Mastery (20 points) Portfolio (350 points) Assignment Details This course includes the following assignments/projects: Module 2 Critical Thinking: Case Study: Shield Financial Management (100 points) Read the following case study and answer the four questions that follow. Your paper should be between 3 and 4 pages in length. Your paper should follow CSU-Global guidelines for APA Style, be clear and concise, and demonstrate knowledge of the concepts presented in the module. Remember that you are partly graded on the quality of your writing, meaning excellent execution is expected. If you need help, take advantage of the CSU-Global Library s Tools for Effective Writing. Case Study: One method by which Shield identified leads on new prospects was through mailing of information to businesses in the area accompanied by a mail-back card and an address for those interested in learning more about the programs Shield could offer. Since this type of lead generation program had not been used for some time in the Des Moines area, Doug, the sales manager at the Des Moines office, decided to run the program after some disappointing first-quarter sales results. To his surprise and thrill, 79 requests for more information were received in the next ten days following the mailing. Doug gave each of the salespeople in the office around ten leads to follow up on. A month later, at the monthly sales meeting, Doug asked for a progress report on the status of those prospect leads. Only two of the reps had followed up on any of the leads. Of those five leads, three sales were made and two prospects were still being developed.

4 Module 3 Doug was now concerned. After all the hard work that went into generating these leads, he wasn t about to see them gather dust on his salespeople s desks. Moreover, he didn t want to lose easy sales from prospects who were ready to buy. Doug voiced his concern to the salespeople and said he would be creating a standard plan that the salespeople would have to use when following up on leads. 1. Should Doug have taken an approach other than saying that he would create a standard plan? 2. If you were the sales manager, what would you do about the reps obvious lack of motivation to follow up on the leads generated by the mailing? 3. What are the possible reactions from the leads not contacted by Shield? 4. What is an ideal course of action given all the issues involved? (Source: Cron & DeCarlo, 2009, p. 109) Critical Thinking: Shield Financial: A Special Assignment (100 points) Read the case study below and answer the following questions in a 2- to 3-page paper. Support your answers with at least one scholarly journal article (the CSU-Global library is a great place to find these resources). Your paper should follow CSU-Global guidelines for APA Style. Your paper should be well written and concise, and demonstrate knowledge of the concepts presented in the module. Remember that you are being graded on the quality of your writing. Excellent grammar and mechanics are expected from CSU-Global students. If you need help, please reach out. Take advantage of the resources at CSU-Global Library, particularly the Tools for Effective Writing, accessed from the Library s homepage. Case Study: It s been 18 months since Doug Bloom took over the Des Moines office of Shield Corporation, and he is feeling like he has the job under control. His office has exceeded its sales quotas for each of the last five quarters and profits are improving. He also feels he has grown as an individual. At dinner, he tells his wife, You know, as you get involved in this job, your personality changes. Some managers become very people-directed and others are more sales-and customer-directed. I doubt that you d find many people who are perfectly balanced on these dimensions. I think I m leaning toward the people side now, which surprises me. I always loved the customer contact so much when I was selling. The next day at work he receives a call from Vinny Raccioppi, Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Shield, informing him that as part of his management development he has been given a special assignment. Vinny would like to meet with him in New York the following week to discuss this assignment. In New York, Doug is informed that his special assignment is to plan for the phasing out of independent insurance brokers in the mountain states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. Shield intends to hire full-time salespeople to cover these areas. Among other reasons for the change, the population in these states is growing and the company feels that it can get better penetration of the market with its own dedicated sales force. Vinny also mentions that he believes the sales agents have grown older and wealthier and are losing the energy and drive they had during their earlier years as sales people. Shield currently has two regional sales managers who supervise the brokers in these states. These regional managers are responsible for recruiting high-quality brokers and producing the sales volumes quotas in these areas. The sales manager will need their help to put together an in-house sales force and undertake damage control when the sales agents are informed of the new organization. Doug s reaction is one of surprise, followed by a realization of the magnitude of the undertaking. One of Doug s immediate concerns is controlling the damage to customer relationships that may arise when the brokers are told

5 Module 4 of the new sales organization. Doug has two months to complete a plan for starting the new sales force. Doug decides to meet immediately with the two regional sales managers. Doug informs them of the impending change in organization and the necessity of developing a thorough and thoughtful plan of action. After expressing their surprise, the regional sales managers mention their concern with agents reactions. They both indicate that there is no way this plan can be kept a secret until it is implemented and that the brokers are likely to be angry about losing the 20 percent commissions they are accustomed to receiving. During this discussion, possible retaliatory actions by the brokers are discussed. At the conclusion of the meeting, the vice president suggests that they all think about how to ease out the 34 agents without suffering undue economic recriminations. They agree to get back together for a meeting the next week to discuss alternative plans. 1. How would you advise Doug to conduct the meeting with the two regional sales managers? 2. How would you attempt to control the potential economic damage that may occur when switching from brokers to your own sales force? 3. What would you suggest doing if one of the brokers asked you whether it was true that Shield was going to release all its brokers and switch to a dedicated sales force? 4. What issues would you have to address in starting your own sales force? (Source: Cron & DeCarlo, 2009, pp ) Critical Thinking: Shield Financial: Training Woes (75 points) Read the case study below and answer the following questions in a 2- to 3-page paper (not counting cover page and references). Support your answers with at least one scholarly journal article. (The CSU-Global library is a great place to find these resources! Make sure you properly cite and reference your source.) Your paper should follow CSU-Global guidelines for APA Style. Your paper must be clearly and well written using excellent grammar and style techniques. Be concise. Be logical. You are being graded in part on the quality of your writing. If you need assistance with your writing style, start with Tools for Effective Writing at the CSU-Global Library, accessible from the Library s homepage. Case Study: It was the first day of Shield Financial s three-day sales training meeting at its Des Moines office. The company s 25 salespeople talked excitedly during breakfast about the upcoming events: a few rounds of golf, some whitewater rafting, and an awards dinner at which the annual incentive contest winners would be announced. They even looked forward to the three 5-hour intensive training sessions that had been billed as unique and transforming. Also attending the meeting were two recently appointed assistant managers and Doug Bloom, all quietly listening to the reps banter. At 7:45 a.m., the salespeople walked down the resort s hallway to its meeting rooms. The reps took their seats, and at 8 a.m. sharp, their instructor, Tom Baker, walked in and began the session. Five hours later the salespeople emerged and reconvened in the cafe for lunch. They were soon joined by the two assistant managers who had attended leadership training conducted by the same company. The moment they sat down, the reps ranting began: This was the worst training I ve ever attended. It was tedious. I could ve learned more in my sleep. The assistant managers were surprised because their session was excellent. The reps, however, were so perturbed that they didn t want to sit through the two remaining sessions. Ten more hours would be pure torture, one salesperson insisted. Bloom suggested to the reps that they focus on enjoying that afternoon s activity, rafting, then excused himself to handle the situation. He said he would have a resolution by the time he rejoined them for dinner. Bloom didn t want this meeting to be a bust; he also didn t want to squander the company s investment in the sales meeting

6 Module 5 Module 6 and training sessions. As he sat in the lobby awaiting the two instructors from the training company, he tried to devise a solution. 1. What steps should Bloom take to resolve the situation? (Canceling the remaining sessions is not an option.) 2. How can Bloom avoid this situation in the future? (Source: Cron & DeCarlo, 2009, pp ) Critical Thinking: Sales and Ethics (75 points) Read the case study below and answer the following questions in a 2- to 3-page paper (not counting cover page and references).you are being graded on your demonstrated knowledge of the concepts presented in the module. Support your answer with at least one scholarly journal article. (The CSU-Global library is a great place to find these resources!). Make sure you properly cite and reference your source. Your paper should follow CSU-Global guidelines for APA style. You are partly graded on your grammar and writing mechanics. Make your points clearly and concisely. Need help with your writing? As a first stop, please visit Tools for Effective Writing on the CSU-Global Library homepage. Case Study: Mike O Brien is a new regional sales manager for a U.S.-based construction equipment company with responsibilities for the Asian and Eastern European markets. Thanks to a multimillion-dollar loan from the World Bank, one of the less developed nations in Africa is able to shop for equipment to improve the country s road system. Mike s company is one of several around the world invited to submit a proposal. Mike is responsible for coordinating the development of the proposal, which is to include a long-term parts-and-service contract. In his first meeting with the government minister responsible for the purchase, Mike was made aware that if his company won the contract, it would be expected to pay the minister $100,000 in U.S. currency as well as provide a 10 percent commission on future parts-and-service revenues. Mike s firm is bound by the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and has a policy forbidding accepting or offering bribes. But he knows plenty of contractors still do this sort of practice in order to win the project. Mike s experience before this current assignment entailed calling on contractors in the U.S. and coordinating military purchases in Europe. He has no experience with the present situation he faces but he knows that getting this contract would be a major deal, both for the company and for his personal commission income. 1. In your paper, address sales ethics at work here. 2. What options does Mike have that will ensure him the award of the contract? How would you, if you were Mike, handle this situation? Portfolio Project Deliverable: Organization and Description (worth 25 Points to final portfolio score) This week you will submit to your instructor the name of the organization (it must be a real firm) you will use for your Portfolio Project, along with a description of: products or services the company sells at least one target market served by the company at least two sales strategies the firm seems to employ

7 Module 8 You can use a company you work for or have worked for or another organization that you can locate information on. Check out the resources available to you at the CSU-Global Library such as Company-Business Profiles. Your submission should be 1 to 2 pages in length. Its brevity, however, does not mean you can forego APA style and good writing mechanics. Though you will not receive points for this submission during Week 6, failure to submit your company selection and the required information will result in a loss of points on your final project grade. Portfolio Project (350 Points): Sales Call Planning Presentation Successful selling is based on planning and preparation before the sales call and sales presentation. One of the most important areas of preparation pertains to understanding a product's features and how those features might solve buyers needs. The link between product features and buyers needs is accomplished by converting a product's features into benefits for the buyer. Benefits are solutions to needs. It is important to realize that specific product features may yield different benefits to different buyers. Thus, preparation includes imagining the variety of buyers needs that a feature might address and how to uncover potential benefits through doing good research on the customer or organization. For the purposes of this assignment, you are a sales person for a selling organization of your choice. You will create a visual presentation that could be used to demonstrate your preparation and planning for a sales call. (Presentation software other than PowerPoint can be used. See below. Also see the recommended reading this week on use of Prezi.) The presentation should comprise the following sections: 1. Identification of the prospective customer (name of customer, industry. and brief description of his or her needs). 2. Identification of your total market offering (what you could potentially sell to the prospective customer). 3. Profile of key competition. 4. The sequence you would use to uncover buyers needs. 5. Anticipated buyer objections or resistance. There are two parts to your presentation submission: visual presentation materials and transcript of the presentation itself (how you might deliver it): Presentation: Prepare a 10- to 15-slide presentation using a presentation tool of your choice. Options include PowerPoint, Google Presentation, Prezi, SlideRocket, etc. If you use PowerPoint, you will be able to upload your presentation directly to the Week 8 Assignments page (bear in mind that Waypoint will convert your presentation to a PDF document and you will lose any animation or transitions). If you use a Web-based tool, copy and paste the URL link to your presentation and upload it to the Week 8 Assignments page for the presentation. Be sure to follow CSU-Global APA guidelines. You are graded in part on your adherence to APA style as well as on good grammar and writing style. You are being graded on the thoroughness of your presentation, its usefulness as a sales tool, your understanding of the concepts presented in this course, and writing style and mechanics.

8 Transcript: Prepare an accompanying transcript of what you would say during the presentation. Type this in MS Word. Be sure to clearly designate which slide the narration accompanies. *Optional: If possible, actually record the narration in the presentation! To learn more about how to make a PowerPoint presentation and using voice narration, see the Week 8 Assignments page. Be sure to follow CSU-Global APA guidelines. You are graded in part on your adherence to APA style as well as on good grammar and writing style. You are being graded on the thoroughness of your presentation, its usefulness as a sales tool, your understanding of the concepts presented in this course, and writing style and mechanics. Course Policies Late Work Students are permitted a 7 day grace period during which they may submit a Critical Thinking assignment after the original due date without penalty. Papers submitted between 8 and 14 days after the original due date will be accepted with a potential 10 percent reduction in grade for late submission. Papers submitted 15 or more days beyond the original due date may not be accepted unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor. No Portfolios will be accepted late and no assignments will be accepted after the last day of class unless a student has requested an incomplete grade in accordance with the Incomplete Policy. Course Grading 20% Discussion Participation 10% Mastery Exercises 35% Critical Thinking Activities 35% Final Portfolio Paper Grading Scale and Policies A A B B B C C D F 59.9 or below FN* Failure for Nonparticipation I** Incomplete * Students who stop attending class and fail the course for nonparticipation will be issued the FN grade. The FN grade may have implications for financial aid and scholarship awards. ** An I grade may be assigned at the Instructor s discretion to students who are in good standing (passing) in the course. Students should have completed a majority of the coursework in order to be eligible for the I grade. Students should request an "I" grade from the Instructor with a written justification, which must include explanation of extenuating circumstances that prevented timely completion of the coursework. If the request is approved, the Instructor will require a written agreement consisting of a) the specific coursework to be completed, b) the plan to complete the coursework, and c) the deadline for completion. The agreement will be kept on file at CSU-Global Campus. An incomplete course must be satisfactorily completed within the time frame stipulated in the agreement, but no later than the end of the following semester from the date the I was given. An incomplete not removed within one year shall convert to an F and be included in the computation of the student s grade point average.

9 Academic Integrity Students must assume responsibility for maintaining honesty in all work submitted for credit and in any other work designated by the instructor of the course. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized possession of academic materials, and falsification. The Student Handbook provides information on how students can avoid plagiarism by understanding what it is and how to use library and internet resources appropriately with proper citation. Please refer to the Academic Catalog for complete policies regarding plagiarism and academic dishonesty. APA Students are expected to follow the CSU-Global APA requirements when citing in APA (based on the APA Style Manual, 6th edition). For details on CSU-Global APA style, please review the APA resources located in the Library. Netiquette All posts and classroom communication must be conducted in a professional and respectful manner in accordance with the student code of conduct. Think before you push the Send button. Did you say just what you meant? How will the person on the other end read the words? Any derogatory or inappropriate comments regarding race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, are unacceptable and subject to disciplinary action. If you have concerns about something that has been said, please let your instructor know. Institutional Policies Refer to the Academic Catalog for comprehensive documentation of CSU-GC institutional policies.