Page 379 - Introduction to Business

CHAPTER 10 Developing the Promotion and Distribution Mixes 353

purchased; the reasons given if a sale did not occur; and expenses incurred, such as
travel, food, and lodging. Many firms are trying to reduce the amount of paperwork
for their salespeople by giving them more home-office clerical help and by com-
puterizing the processing and analysis of data so that the salespeople will have
more time for actual selling and better and more timely information.
It is possible to identify key accounts from a salesperson’s records. These key accounts Accounts that represent a
accounts make up that small nucleus of customers that accounts for a large per- large percentage of a company’s
revenues and profits
centage of a company’s revenues and profit, or they are the customers who have
above-average sales volume and profits. A customer may also be considered a key
account if in the future it is likely to experience substantial growth in revenue or
profit. Since key accounts are critical to a firm’s success, they must receive plenty of
attention from the sales force.
Effective management of time is a key variable in separating the successful
salesperson from the mediocre one. Good time management enables the salesper-
son to reduce the amount of time spent on unprofitable activities so that more time
can be devoted to direct contact with customers and prospects. Reducing travel
time and waiting time, better routing, making appointments in advance, and mak- EXHIBIT 10.7
ing use of unproductive times are important aspects of time management. As a
Daily Time Record
starting point in effectively managing their time,
salespeople need to know how they are actually
Waiting Selling Service Paper
spending their time. Exhibit 10.7 provides a con-
Travel time call call Lunch work
venient way for sales personnel to keep track of 8:00
time on a daily basis. :30
The challenge of keeping good records in 9:00
order to more effectively manage the sales force :30
has been made easier with the use of computer- 10:00
assisted sales programs (CASPs). CASPs are used :30
in a wide variety of sales programs. These 11:00
:30
include redesigning sales territories, sales fore-
12:00
casting, analyzing accounts, order status report-
:30
ing, personalizing literature send-outs, routing,
1:00
generating competitor databases, checking
:30
inventory levels, and evaluating sales force per-
2:00
formance. Benefits from using CASPs have been
:30
significant: Sales and Marketing Management
3:00
reported companies using CASPs enjoyed a 43
:30
percent increase in productivity as measured by
4:00
closing ratios, call frequencies, account manage-
:30
ment, lead follow-up and tracking, and number
5:00
of sales force calls made. Specific companies
:30
have benefited greatly. Typical is the experience
6:00
of Hewlett-Packard. Their CASP initiative cen- 3 1.5 2 1 1 1.5
Total (30%) (15%) (20%) (10%) (10%) (15%)
tered on providing the sales force with laptop
computers. Selling time was increased by 27 per-
st
Source: From Effective Salesmanship 1 edition by Richard T. Hise. Copyright © 1980.
cent. Productivity rose 10 percent. The number Reprinted with permission of South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning:
www.thomsonrights.com. Fax 800 730–2215.
of inquiries rose by 27 percent, and the time to
process inquiries was reduced from six weeks to
one week. Sales personnel reported improved morale, an enhanced sense of pro-
fessionalism, better control, and better preparation. 10
reality Glance through a recent issue of Sales and Marketing Management.
CH ECK What sales force responsibilities are discussed in the various articles?
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