Manage Sales Personnel: A Relationship Management Method

Author: Robert E. Hite (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: Personnel sales and sales management are the fundamental approaches to implementing marketing strategies. It is estimated that an average of 75% of the marketing budget in service and industrial companies is spent on sales personnel. Survey results show that even in consumer goods production companies, sales management is usually the most important factor in the promotional mix. The importance of sales personnel to a company's business stems from multiple factors. Pre-sales and after-sales service are crucial to the marketing of most products. Once the target market is determined, sales personnel must work to meet the needs of the segmented market. The role of sales personnel lies in representing the company, increasing the company's total sales or total service volume while making customers "the company's best friends." Management of Sales Personnel: A Relationship Management Approach is a new textbook co-authored by Robert E. Hite and Wesley J. Johnston. From the perspective of relationship building, they elaborate on the latest sales management concepts, addressing the key issue of how to guide sales personnel in establishing and maintaining good relationships with customers to promote sales success. This specifically includes: salesperson environment analysis; sales plans; salesperson recruitment, training, and development; salesperson motivation, supervision, and evaluation. Additionally, this book features the following:
At the beginning of each chapter, the relationship-building content introduces real-world scenarios of relationship sales management in the industry, including:
— Japan's key to sales success in Asia (Chapter 3)
— Sales function automation (Chapter 5)
— 3M Company's innovation (Chapter 16)
The concept and process of personal selling are detailed in the appendix to provide students with opportunities to apply their knowledge. At the end of each chapter, case studies are included, with longer and broader case studies placed at the end of each part.