Page 149 - International Marketing

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BRILLIANT'S Managing International Market 151

Managing the Global Sales Force
As the scope of international business is increasing, sales managers
have to align a firm's internal culture with the market place. It is not an
easy task. Operating in multiple locations with managers and salesper-
sons from different cultures, makes it difficult to employ a single system
of supervision. The reason behind this is the different behaviors and moti-
vation that exist in countries and cultures.
Thus, managing an international sales force includes their recruit-
ment and selection, training, motivation, compensation and evaluation.
1. Recruitment and Selection of Salesforce: The best organizations
select sales personnel with the specific talent and characteristics
conducive to building and maintaining profitable long-term customers
relationships. There are numerous differences between the home and foreign
markets that may complicate the process of hiring suitable sales
personnel. In general there are four cultural elements affecting sales force
recruitment in a foreign market:
(i) Education: The level of education may be more variable in some
countries. This may create difficulty in recruiting high-quality
individuals into sales.
(ii) Ethnic Composition: In culturally and linguistically diverse
markets (e.g. India has 1000 dialects and sub cultures), the
recruitment of sales personnel who speak the language and
understand the culture can be complex and costly.
(iii) Religious Orientation: Religious orientation can have a direct
impact on sales people’s behaviour on a day-to-day basis.
(iv) Social Class Environment: In the USA, there is a relatively
simple social class system based on economic criteria, e.g.,
income, wealth, and possessions others country may base their
social class and seniority. The differences in the social class
environment can impact on the recruitment, selection and
promotion of salespeople in the host country market.
In global sales situations, it is very crucial to have an effective sales
person. Therefore, it is essential that an efficient salesperson should have
maturity, flexibility, knowledge, cultural empathy and a positive outlook.
Most of these skills and attitudes can be assessed during the personal
interview and role playing exercises. In many cultures, sales is not viewed
as a professional occupation. And thus, highly qualified individuals did not
apply for these positions. Hiring wrong personnel are extremely costly in
international sales situations. When a global salesperson does not work-
out, hundreds of thousand of dollars and time are wasted.