Sales & Distribution Management

Chapter 3 : Sales Functions and Policies

 Role of A Sales Manager

+Responsibilities of a Sales Manager

 Role of a Sales Executive

 Responsibilities of a Sales Executive

+Policies That Impact Sales Management

Chapter Summary

A sales person’s professional life is characterized by various highs and lows. At times he may clinch a deal and close a sale, at other times he may have to face the customer’s rejection. Thus, the life of a salesperson is certainly not an easy one. What differentiates a successful company from a not-so-successful one is its sales force. The sales force of a company comprises the sales managers and the sales personnel. Both have distinct roles to play and responsibilities to fulfill toward the achievement of the sales objectives of the organization.

The sales manager who occupies a middle-level position in an organization satisfies the demands and expectations of not only those above him and those whom he is supervising, the sales persons, but also various other groups of people. These include people who belong to the organization as well those who are external to it. The sales manager has several functions to perform, which fall in the sphere of sales as well as marketing management. Likewise, a sales manager also plays a variety of roles - planner, recruiter, leader, controller, market analyst, sales forecaster, budget manager, and communicator.

In addition to playing a variety of roles in sales management, a sales manager also has a set of responsibilities to fulfill. These include the responsibility of hiring, training, coaching, motivating, setting targets for sales people and tracking the results, providing leads and sales support, organizing the sales effort, conducting sales meetings, and allocate scarce resources. The salesperson’s job is also a demanding one. He has to play the role of a persuader, a service provider, an information-gatherer and reporter, an advocate, a traveler, a coordinator and scheduler, a problem-definer, a customer-ego builder, a display arranger for the wholesaler or the retailer, a merchandiser as well as an ombudsman.

Like a sales manager, a salesperson too has his own set of responsibilities to fulfill. Further, the operations and functioning of a sales organization is governed by certain policies. The sales-related policies that have an impact on the sales achieved by an organization fall into three categories, namely, policies related to the product, policies related to the distribution aspects, and policies related to the pricing of the product. The product related policies determine the products and product lines the company should be involved in, and whether to add or drop a particular product or product line.

The product-related policies also help specify the company's stand regarding product design and quality, after-sales service, product recall, warranties and repair. The distribution-related policies in a sales organization deal with how the distribution of a product affects its sales. These policies also highlight the relationship between various factors such as product quality, its positioning, the marketer's reputation, marketing efforts, product promotion and sales, and the need for coordination among these various factors. The policies that relate to pricing of the product discuss the relationship between product or service pricing and its impact on sales.

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