Chapter 16
Territorial Sales Force Structure
A sales force organization that assigns each salesperson to an exclusive geographic territory in which that salesperson sells the company's full line
Product Sales Force Structure
A sales force organization under which salespeople specialize in selling only a portion of the company's products or lines
Customer Sales Force Structure
A sales force organization under which salespeople specialize in selling only to certain customers or industries
Sales Quota
A standard that states the amount a salesperson should sell and how sales should be divided among the company's products
Salesperson
An individual representing a company to customers by performing one or more of the following activities: Prospecting, Communicating, Selling, Servicing, Information Gathering, and Relationship Building
Inside Sales Force
Inside salespeople who conduct business from their offices via telephone, the offices via telephone, the Internet, or visits from prospective buyers
Outside Sales Force (field sales force)
Outside salespeople who travel to call on customers in the field
Personal Selling
Personal presentation by the firm's sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationship
Sales Promotion
Short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service
Sales Force Management
The analysis, planning, implementation, or control of sales force activities. It includes designing sales force strategy and structure and recruiting, selecting, training, supervising, compensating, and evaluating the firm's salespeople
Follow-up
The last step in the selling process in which the salesperson follows up after the sale to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business
Closing
The step in the selling process in which the salesperson asks the customer for an order
Prospecting
The step in the selling process in which the salesperson identifies qualified potential customers
Pre-approach
The step in the selling process in which the salesperson learns as much as possible about a prospective customer before making a sales call
Approach
The step in the selling process in which the salesperson meets the customer for the first time
Handling Objections
The step in the selling process in which the salesperson seeks out, clarifies, and overcomes customer objections to buying
Presentation
The step in the selling process in which the salesperson tells the "product story" to the buyer, highlighting customer benefits
Selling Process
The steps that the salesperson follows when selling, which include prospecting and qualifying, pre-approach, approach, presentation and demonstration, handling objections, closing, and follow-up.
Team Selling
Using teams of people from sales, marketing, engineering, finance, technical support, and even upper management to service large, complex accounts