MAR 4418 Exam 2
During the 2000s, the evaluation process is likely to become more important because of: A. The emphasis on transactional sales. B. The emphasis on profitable sales. C. The trend toward international sales. D. The emphasis on relationship selling.
D
For which of the following reasons are computers used in sales A. Improved accuracy of orders. B. Decrease in order processing time. C. Increased customer service capabilities. D. All of these E. None of these
D
In the past 20 years, salespeople have become:
More effective at retaining existing customers.
Bribery A. Is illegal in the U.S. B. Can be effective. C. Can lead to career jeopardizing incidents. D. Can lose customers. E. All of these
E
Excellent transactional leadership by the sales manager involves A. Informing B. Clarifying C. Monitoring. D. Verbal feedback E. All of these
E
Evaluating a salesperson's performance is a difficult job because:
Many duties of a sales rep cannot be measured objectively.
Surveys of buyer's intentions
Are based on information obtained directly from product users, whose later buying decision will actually determine the sales.
Regarding the business and ethical considerations involving bribes and entertainment:
Ordinarily entertainment in selling is not a good substitute for a good product or the effective servicing of an account.
In the management process in a sales department:
Planning and evaluation are interdependent activities.
As a guiding principle in demand forecasting, management should:
Prepare a separate forecast for each product sold by the company
As far as the length of a budget period is concerned:
Quarterly budgets usually provide for more flexibility than do annual budgets.
All of the following are qualitative bases for performance evaluation, except:
Reps' selling expenses.
A qualitative factor frequently used as a basis for evaluating sales force performance is the rep's A. Daily call rate. B. Gross margin. C. Average order size. D. Ability to work with customers' salespeople. E. Ratio of expense to sales.
D
It is recommended that sales managers review their territory structure:
Once every year
Budgeting normally is part of the ______ stage in the management process
Planning.
What percentage of sales surveyed admit to having been involved in some illegal or unethical activity?
50%
Which of the following is the best example of a quantitative factor used as a basis for evaluating sales force performance?
number of orders generated.
For the newly hired, inexperienced sales rep, the sales manager must first engage in a heavy dose of:
transactional leadership.
As the sales potential of a given territory increases, sales performance of the sales rep assigned to that territory will generally: A. decrease. B. stay the same. C. increase at the same rate as the increase in sales potential. D. increase for a time, but then level off. E. increase for a time, but then decrease significantly.
D
Charisma is something most commonly associated with: A. Transactional leadership. B. Citizenship behavior. C. Task orientation. D. Transformational leadership. E. None of these.
D
Genuinely caring about each individual subordinate is an example or type of A. Transactional leadership. B. Verbal feedback. C. Articulating a vision. D. Transformational leadership. E. Task orientation.
D
Which of the following is the best definition of a budget in sales force management?
A financial plan which details the expected revenues and expenditures from sales force operations
As a forecasting method, a "survey of buyer intentions" is most effective when:
A high percentage of "I-intend-to-buy" respondents are likely to actually buy the product.
A total evaluation program in marketing is best described as:
A marketing audit.
Oversupervising a sales force is likely to:
Be resented by many sales reps
To do the best leadership, a sales manager should exhibit:
Both transformational and transactional leader behaviors.
Which of the following managerial tools provides the best control over the expenditures and revenues in a firm?
Budgets
A U.S. company which conducts business abroad: A. Must pay a bribe if it wishes to do business in certain countries. B. Should leave a "little envelope" with Italian bureaucrats in order to cut through the red tape. C. Is subject to laws regardless of the country in which they are conducting business. D. Must adapt to the notion of "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". E. None of these.
C
A company's ____ is the maximum share of the market potential that this firm could under ideal conditions. ( We assume that the product market and time period have been stated.) A. Sales forecast. B. Sales quota. C. Sales potential. D. Marketing goal. E. Market index.
C
An example of unethical behavior is A. Poor Performance B. Alcoholism C. Expense Account Abuse D. Personal Problems E. None of the Above
C
Deliberately misleading the customer about some relevant fact in the proposition A. Is a felony. B. Is usually done in selling. C. Can provide the basis for invalidating a contract. D. All of these. E. None of these.
C
For sales forecasting, the sales force composite method has the merit of: A. Being useful in forecasting sales of convenience goods. B. Using qualified people to do the forecasting job. C. Placing responsibility on those who will have to meet the target. D. Not taking sales representatives' time. E. Being limited to the consumer market.
C
In the performance evaluation process, it is management's job to: A. Find out what happened. B. Decide what to do about it. C. Find out what happened, find out why it happened, and decide what to do about it. D. Find out why it happened. E. Find out what happened and find out why it happened.
C
An example of a transactional leader behavior is:
Clarifying company rules
A sales rep worked 25 days last month, made 150 calls, and wrote 60 orders for a total sales volume of $200,000. Which of the following is nearest to his batting average? A. .200 B. .600 C. .750 D. .400 E. .333
D
A sales territory is: A. The sales potential in a geographic region. B. The geographical pattern followed by sales reps when calling on their accounts. C. A sales performance goal. D. A number of customers located within a given geographical area and assigned to a salesperson. E. A Metropolitan Statistical Area.
D
As a supervisory tool, reports from the sales force: A. Are ineffective because the sales representatives are not likely to report truthfully. B. Are bad for sales force morale. C. Are no help in planning sales force activities. D. Are useful in helping to evaluate a sales representative's performance. E. Should not be required from high caliber salespeople.
D
Which of the following is the best reason for contributing to carry a product when a sales volume analysis alone is usually not sufficient because:
it does not indicate the profitability of sales territories or product lines
when evaluating sales performance, a sales volume analysis alone is usually not sufficient because:
it does not indicate the profitability of sales territories or product lines
The three stages of the sales management process are:
planning, implementation, and evaluation.
The market potential may best be defined as:
the expected total industry sales of the product in a given market during a stated period of time
Max sells for Whatisits Company. His batting average is by far the highest in the firm - .400. Unfortunately, his average order is the lowest - $3,000. He only saves himself by making a large number of calls per day (5) while working 275 days a year. What is his sales volume for the year? A. $1,000,000. B. None of these. C. $ 650,000. D. $1,500,000. E. $1,650,000.
E
Outcomes of effective leadership include citizenship behaviors, an example of which is when a rep: A. offers tips and encouragement to a struggling fellow rep B. always shows up to work on time, never missing meetings. C. tolerates problems without complaining. D. volunteer to serve on a committee E. All of these
E
Situational leadership involves which of the following leader behaviors? A. informing basic rules. B. verbal feedback. C. articulating a vision. D. individualized support. E. All of these.
E
The customer probability cube helps predict A. When the products will be purchased. B. When customers will buy. C. What products will be purchased. D. How much customers will buy. E. All of these.
E
The stage of sales performance evaluation in the marketing management process will most likely include: A. Sales forecasting B. Setting sales quotas C. Determining market potentials D. Selecting salespeople E. Analyzing sales volume results
E
The task of appraising the performance of individual salespeople is basically a part of the managerial function of: A. Planning. B. Staffing. C. Sales operations. D. Setting goals. E. Evaluation.
E
Typically, in 360-degree feedback evaluation A. workers received evaluative feedback from their peers. B. the manager gives evaluative feedback to subordinates. C. subordinates give evaluative feedback to the manager. D. customers give evaluative feedback to salespeople. E. All of these
E
which of the following would be the best market factor for estimating the demand for sales management textbooks? A. Number of sales executives. B. Number of business school undergraduate students. C. Number of marketing majors. D. Buying power of college students. E. Number of students enrolled in sales management courses.
E
Which of the following tools is most useful in a sales force performance evaluation?
Good job descriptions for the sales rep.
A quantitative factor which is useful for measuring output (results) in a sales rep's performance is:
Gross margin.
Establishing an ethical climate:
Is done by enacting policies that discourage, monitor and correct unethical behavior.
The "80-20" principle exists in many companies because:
Marketing efforts and costs follow the number of territories, products, and customers, rather than actual sales or profit from these units
An evaluation of sales reps' performance is important because it can
Reduce selling costs, boost the reps' morale, and spot weaknesses in field selling efforts.
The best method for a manager to use when dealing with a situation of substance abuse within a sales rep is:
Refer the sales rep to professional counseling
Which of the following is least likely to serve as a supervisory tool or method.
Sales Forecast
Among the following, sales performance evaluation is most closely related to:
Sales control
A new firm with ten salespeople selling expensive navigational instruments to shipbuilders probably should use the ______ method of sales forecasting.
Sales force composite
The number of customers located within a geographical area and assigned to a salesperson is a:
Sales territory.
Scanner technology has
Scanner technology has enabled retailers to provide their suppliers with useful sales data
Among the following steps in an evaluation procedure, which is the most difficult?
Setting performance standards.
The amount and type of leadership received by salespeople
Should vary among reps based on their individual differences and should vary over time based on the stability of the business environment.
When using the buildup method to establish sales territories, the first step ordinarily is to determine:
The call frequency per account per year.
All other factors being equal, a salesperson is likely to have a smaller territory if:
The rep sells directly to retailers instead of going through wholesalers.
One key difference between a company's sales forecast and this firm's sales potential is that:
The sales forecast is an estimate of sales the firm expects to make under a proposed marketing plan
The evaluation procedure known as 360 degree feedback involves getting feedback from which of the following?
The salesperson's peers, the salesperson's clients, and the salesperson's subordinates.
If the market potential for beer is $100 million in Denver and Coor's share is 60 percent, what is Coor's sales forecast?
There is not enough information to determine the sales forecast.
Accurate sales forecasts would be difficult to obtain for which of the following products?
Virtual reality games
Which of the following factors is likely to contribute the least to your leadership ability?
You own the company
When a large percentage of our products or customers account for only a small share of our total sales or profit, we refer to this situation as: A. The 80-20 principle B. Marketing profitability analysis C. Sales-volume analysis D. Performance evaluation E. The iceberg principle
A
When a leader anticipates, analyzes, and makes decisions, the leader uses A. Problem-Solving Skills B. Social Skills C. Communication Skills D. Persuasive Skills E. None of these
A
Marion sells for the Whatisits Company of Whoville. An analysis of the performance of the company's 25 person sales force shows that the average sales rep works 250 days a year, makes four calls a day, obtains an order, averaging $15,000, every ten calls made. Marion worked 200 days last year during which she made a total of 700 calls which resulted in 50 orders totaling $1,500,000 in sales volume. What was Marion's average order size?
$30,000
If a rep works eight hours per day and the average length of a call is 30 minutes and the average travel time is 30 minutes and the rep works 250 days per year, then what is the total annual number of calls the rep can make?
2,000
Marion sells for the Whatisits Company of Whoville. An analysis of the performance of the company's 25 person sales force shows that the average sales rep works 250 days a year, makes four calls a day, obtains an order, averaging $15,000, every ten calls made. Marion worked 200 days last year during which she made a total of 700 calls which resulted in 50 orders totaling $1,500,000 in sales volume. What was Marion's call rate?
3.5
A system of well-designed sales territories will most likely result in: A. A reduction in selling costs. B. The sales force feeling it is restricted too much. C. More accurate estimates of sales potential. D. Better sales selection techniques. E. A reduction in control over sales representatives activities.
A
All of the following, except for ____, are commonly used as control units for territorial boundaries: A. Sales potentials. B. Metropolitan Statistical Areas. C. States. D. Postal zip-code areas. E. Counties.
A
In performance evaluation by sales managers, the soft-spot principle holds that: A. An executive reaps the largest possible gain by working with the weakest segments of the organization. B. A company should not get rid of a territory or product that is a soft spot. C. If a company does a good job in sales-volume analysis, it won't have any soft spots. D. It is more useful to measure soft spots on a percentage basis rather than dollar volume. E. The principle is applicable only to a territorial volume analysis and not to a product or customer analysis.
A
Which of the following methods of sales forecasting is least dependent on historical data? A. Test marketing. B. Trend analysis. C. Correlation analysis. D. Direct derivation. E. Analysis of past sales.
A
In sales territory design, which of the following factors is least likely to affect the salespeople's work load? A. Whether the sales force is paid under a straight salary or a combination plan. B. Whether the company uses exclusive distribution or mass distribution. C. Whether the reps are selling in new markets or established ones. D. Whether the company is selling a complex product or a simple one. E. The intensity of competition.
A
Regarding business ethics and sales management A. Sales managers should not practice caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) philosophy. B. It is difficult to act in an ethical manner when sales and profits are increasing. C. Ethics are not related to standards of moral behavior. D. A long-run point of view is of no help in solving ethical questions which arise on a current, day-to-day basis. E. Written codes of ethics should be avoided because they become inflexible.
A
Regarding the pressure to compromise one's personal ethics A. Some executives believe that they have to compromise their personal ethics to achieve company goals. B. These pressures are not found outside of sales management situations. C. It is more difficult to be ethical when sales and profits are increasing than when they are decreasing. D. Most sales executives believe that their peers in competitor firms would not compromise their personal ethics. E. Most executives believe that business ethics are lower than ethics in society at large.
A
The correct terminology in demand forecasting may be illustrated by saying that the ______ for snow skis in the Midwest next year is 800,000 pairs, while the ______ for Head (brand) skis in that market is 100,000 A. Market potential - sales potential (market share). B. Sales potential - sales forecast. C. Market share - sales potential. D. Sales forecast - market potential. E. None of these is correct.
A
The following actions are available to managers or supervisors in the case of third party harassment except for: A. Do nothing. B. Reassign employees. C. Request customers stop inappropriate behavior. D. Advise customers that the company can no longer serve them without a commitment to refrain from such behavior. E. All of these.
A
To correct a poor performance problem, sales managers should: A. Provide immediate feedback about the problem. B. Be supportive, but not mention the specific problem. C. Be cautious, and wait for the problem to resolve itself. D. Above all be understanding and flexible. E. None of these is correct.
A
Transformational leaders do not merely bark orders - they lead by example. This leader behavior that best represents this is: A. Role Modeling B. Articulating a Vision C. Fostering Group Goals D. Providing Individualized Support E. Giving Verbal Feedback
A
What percentage of companies have ethics codes? A. 84 percent. B. 25 percent. C. 40 percent. D. 97 percent. E. 10 percent.
A
"Sales of lite beer are forecasted to $150 million in 2007 in the United States," reported sales manager, Chris Feldman to her boss. This statement is a: A. Forecast of sales B. Forecast of market potential C. Forecast of sales potential D. Forecast of territory potential E. Forecast of market share
B
A marketing audit is: A. A wrap-up of this period's operations, but does not affect next period's work. B. A systematic, comprehensive review of the marketing function in an organization. C. A concept that includes in its scope a company's financial audit. D. None of these. E. The main activity in sales force planning.
B
An advantage of using the executive-opinion method of sales forecasting is that: A. The salespeople are closest to the market situation. B. It can be done quickly and easily. C. It is highly accurate. D. It is subject to statistical measures of validity. E. None of these.
B
Misdirected marketing effort: A. Usually is corrected when a company conducts a sales volume analysis. B. Is a key reason underlying the existence of the 80-20 principle. C. Is easy to detect. D. Rarely occurs in a well-managed firm. E. Means that a company should reduce its marketing activities.
B
Overlapping territories: A. often make sense. B. tend to be a result of management's trying to avoid friction. C. are good for morale. D. generally result in increased selling efficiency. E. Both A and D.
B
Price discrimination: A. Is widely practiced. B. May be illegal. C. Can be effective. D. All of these. E. None of these.
B
Salespeople: A. Generally do not participate in the forecasting process B. Are often poor forecasters C. Tend to forecast high D. Are often good forecasters E. Tend to forecast low
B
The evaluation activity takes on a fuller, richer meaning if we think of this activity in terms of the evaluation and ______ of individual salespeople. A. Selection. B. Development. C. Reorganizing. D. Compensation. E. Criticizing.
B
When designing sales territories the ideal goal is to: A. Have all reps reach approximately the same level of income B. Have all districts be equal in both sales potential and work load for the reps. C. Have all districts be equal in size D. Have all territories provide the same profit potential E. Simply not have territories but use other managerial controls to achieve profit goals
B
When using the breakdown method to establish sales territories, the first step ordinarily is to: A. Determine the desirable call patterns. B. Determine the company's sales potential (that is, the total sales volume that the company can except in its full market). C. Decide how much sales volume should be generated by each rep. D. Decide how many accounts to assign to each rep. E. Draw tentative boundary lines, realizing that later they will have to be adjusted.
B
Which of the following best represents the market potential-sales potential relationship? A. Eastman Kodak-cameras. B. Camera-Polaroid. C. Kodak-Instamatic. D. Polaroid-Kodak. E. Cameras-film.
B
Which of the following changes is apt to decrease the geographical size of a territory? A. Company substitutes a selective distribution policy instead of mass distribution. B. Cover an area more intensively with increased call frequencies, etc., in order to meet competition more effectively. C. Company decides to sell to retailers instead of door-to-door. D. Have a sales rep discontinue the missionary phases of his job and do nothing but straight selling. E. None of these.
B
Which of the following forecasting methods is the most widely used? A. Survey methods B. Mathematical models C. Test markets D. Operational methods E. None of these
B
Which of the following leads to greater sales and profits? A. Evaluation based on outputs. B. Evaluation based on both inputs and outputs. C. None of these lead to greater sales. D. Evaluation based on inputs. E. Evaluation based on sales and profits.
B
Regarding the drawing of territorial boundary lines: A. This usually is the first or second step in determining basic sales territory B. The lines should be drawn so that the territories are all about the same physical size C. A good generalization to follow is this: Do not split one of your basic control units. D. The boundaries should be drawn after reps are assigned to a territory E. None of these is correct
C
Sales managers and salespeople of U.S. companies who work overseas: A. Must obey the laws of the country they are in and not U.S. laws. B. Must obey U.S. laws only. C. Must obey both U.S. laws and the laws of the country in which they reside. D. Will have immunity for minor violations of the laws of the country in which they reside.
C
The Robinson-Patman Act is most directly related to: A. Deceptive and misleading advertising. B. Breaking up monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade. C. Price discrimination. D. Truth in packaging. E. Misleading sales talks by salespeople.
C
The control system for a given sales organization falls on continuum ranging from outcome-based control to: A. Financial-based control B. Transactional-based control C. Behavior-based control D. Quota-based control
C
The managerial activity that establishes a formal pattern for sales reps as they go through their territories is called: A. The buildup method B. Call frequency C. Routing D. Breakdown method E. Establishing territories
C
The sales manager generally reaps the largest possible gain by working with the ______________ segments of the organization. A. Strongest B. Neutral C. Weakest D. Smartest (I made up these choices)
C
When feasible, the best leadership tool or technique is typically: A. Daily report. B. Daily phone calls or correspondence. C. Personal contact. D. Sales contests. E. A well-designed compensation plan.
C
When put together, a sales volume analysis and a marketing cost analysis constitute: A. A sales management audit. B. A detailed study of the unit sales volume by product line. C. A marketing profitability analysis. D. A marketing audit. E. An examination of marketing expenses associated with each marketing unit.
C
Which of the following is the best reason for continuing to carry a product when a sales volume analysis indicates it is a low-volume item? A. The product's gross margin is also low. B. The product accounts for 5 percent of the sales volume and 2 percent of the profit. C. The item is needed to round out the company's product line. D. The product was what gave the company its start in life. E. The primary demand for the product is declining.
C
_____________ is when a salesperson sells to a customer that is in another salesperson territory. A. Call frequenting B. Buildup C. Claim jumping D. Routing E. None of these.
C
Misdirected marketing effort occurs in many firms because: A. Companies do not earn a satisfactory return on investment B. Companies typically find that their sales forecasts are below the figure for sales potentials C. The salespeople do not ordinarily make their quota D. Management lacks reliable standards for determining what results should be expected from marketing expenditures E. The operating statement is false in that misdirected marketing effort does not occur in companies which show a good profit rate
D
Regarding the sources of information used in a performance evaluation: A. The company's accounting records are probably the best source regarding performance input factors. B. The company's records are the best source regarding performance output factors. C. A widely used (and good) source is to actively and regularly solicit opinions from customers regarding the sales rep's performance. D. Salespeople's reports are a very poor source of information about performance input (effort) factors. E. Sales managers should not be used as information sources.
D
Regarding the use of gross margin as a basis for evaluating salespeople's performance: A. This encourages missionary selling activities. B. This rewards the salesperson who has the highest sales volume. C. This is a poor basis for evaluating salespeople. D. This is a good basis when the company sells different products with widely varying gross margins. E. This takes selling expenses into consideration.
D
The controlling factor in all budgeting and operational planning in a company is the: A. Sales potential. B. Sales quota. C. Market potential. D. Sales forecast. E. Market share.
D
The main problem with using the Golden Rule as a basis for ethical evaluations is: A. No problem at all. B. Few people know what it is. C. Few people believe in it. D. People hold different values. E. It's illegal.
D
The management process of determining what happened, and what to do about it, is called: A. Planning. B. Staffing. C. Accounting. D. Evaluation. E. Execution.
D
The market potential for a product may best be defined as: A. Our expected company sales of that product during next year. B. Our company's share of the market for that product C. Being synonymous with sales potential D. The expected total industry sales of the product in a given market during a stated period of time E. A market index
D
When conducting a performance evaluation, a sales manager may let his evaluation of one factor influence his evaluation of other factors. This situation is referred to as: A. A Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS). B. Input-output evaluation. C. Interpersonal bias. D. The halo effect. E. The chemistry between manager and rep.
D
Which of the following is true about salespeople and SFA? A. All of these. B. Most SFA systems are so user-friendly that training for reps is not necessary. C. SFA provides meaningful information to top management, but not to salespeople. D. SFA adds value to an organization only when reps regularly enter data. E. Relative to management, salespeople tend to be more eager to adopt SFA.
D
A sales forecasting period of less than one year is usually imperative for a producer of:
Fashion clothing for teenagers.
In performance evaluation, Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) are used primarily as an aid when:
Evaluating the reps on subjective, qualitative bases.
Which of the following is the most subjective method of sales forecasting? A. Trend analysis. B. Test marketing. C. Executive opinion. D. Correlation analysis. E. Direct derivation.
Executive opinion