Unit 1 discussion
Hello Class, Introduce yourself to your fellow students and
instructor. Share your college degree plans, briefly explaining what degree you
are pursuing, why, and how you think taking this course will assist you in
achieving your personal or professional goals.
Did you ever come across a sales person that was unethical
and coerce? Please describe how the sales person was unethical or coerce you
into buy something that you really did not want and how you were not given the
time to make a rational decision. What was the correct approach the sales
person should have used?
Unit 2 discussion
In sales there are niche markets. Do think that a niche
market has an advantage on pricing? Give an example of a niche market product
or service and discuss “why” you feel the product is overpriced or fairly
priced.
Unit 3 discussion
In sales forecasting is very important. A sales manager
needs to plan and organize how the sales force can adequately handle the volume
and provide the best service to the customer. Discuss the method that you would
use to provide sales personnel the tools to get the job done to meet customer
satisfaction and grow the business
Unit 4 discussion
“Salespeople are born and not made.” Do you
believe this statement to be true? Why, or why not?
Unit 5 discussion
Think of a company for which you have worked or one you know
well. How is the sales force structured in this company, and why was it
established this way? Do you believe it
is a good structure or a bad structure? Support your discussion.
Unit 6 discussion
Identify a leader where you currently work or one that stood
out in the past. This leader mostly likely had leadership traits that motivated
you to be the best because you really like his/her leadership style. Discuss
the leadership’s traits that you would like to emulate to be a good leader.
Unit 7 discussion
Many companies will use award programs to increase sales.
These types of programs can lead to unethical behavior. Do you feel a sales
manager should encourage this type of program to increase sale? Please support
your view.
Unit 8 discussion
Did this course meet your expectations? What did you like
the best about this course? What suggestions can you offer to improve this
course?
You are a sales manager and you need to hire someone for a
sale job. How would you recruit?
Unit 1 case study
1.
Is it likely that Jon Menzes will be successful in the short term with this
strategy?
2. What are the longer-run implications of this
strategy for Jon Menzes and for ProFood?
3. If you were Emily Lewis, what advice would you
give Jon? What characteristics would you expect Emily to have as a successful
sales manager?
4. Describe the importance of trust in developing a
buyer-seller relationship.
5. Identify and describe the personal selling
approach that you feel would work best in the situation described in the case
study.
Unit 3 case study
1.
Assess Fred’s interview with Victor. Do you feel that Fred violated any legal
or ethical guidelines during the interview? Explain why you feel this way.
2.
How are the key concepts of socialization related to this situation? Explain.
3.
What do you think might happen to Victor should he accept the position?
4.
What responsibility does Victor have when interviewing for a position such as
this?
5.
Explain the approaches that Fred used to locate prospective candidates for his
sales rep position. How do you think that Fred could improve his recruitment
and selection process? Be sure to identify the legal and ethical considerations
Fred should be aware of when recruiting individuals and the tools he should use
to select candidates with the right profile.
Unit 2 assessment
Question 1 What role does personal selling play in
integrated marketing communications?
Your response should consist of at least 75 words.
Question 2 Describe some of the characteristics that would
come into play in determining the appropriate sales organization structure.
Your response should consist of at least 75 words.
Question 3 What are important elements of the design of
sales territories? What can be the impact of a poorly designed territory?
Your response should consist of at least 75 words.
Question 4 Explain the importance of sales territories from
the standpoint of the sales organization.
Your response should consist of at least 75 words.
Unit 4 Assignment
Developing a Sales Training Process
You are a sales manager for a corporation that sells
software to local businesses. You have been asked to create a new training
process for a new group of salespeople who have been recently hired. Describe
your sales training process using
the six interrelated steps discussed in your textbook. Be
sure to identify specific, measurable, and obtainable sales training
objectives.
Your process should consist of at least three pages, not counting
a title page or reference page Make sure that any sources used, including your
textbook, are cited and referenced properly using APA formatting. Outside
sources other than your textbook are not required but can add depth to your
response.
Information about accessing the grading rubric for this
assignment is provided below.
Unit 5 Assignment
In this assignment, you are asked to interview a sales
manager, and summarize what you learned in a paper of at least three pages.
Follow these steps to complete your assignment.
1. Read the chapter assigned in this unit.
2. Review the Unit V discussion in which everyone is asked
to post questions to ask a sales manager. Select four to six questions for your
interview. When selecting your questions, make sure that you include questions
that will cover the following:
? the difference between management and leadership of a
sales force,
? how situational factors affect sales leadership, and
? best practices sales managers can follow to create an
effective sales force.
3. Find a sales manager to interview. You may be able to
find one where you work or through your work colleagues, family, or friends.
Auto dealers, radio and television stations, and newspapers have sales
managers. A business you deal with may have a sales manager. Keep in mind that
the sales manager you interview does not necessarily have to be local because
you can conduct your interview in person, on the phone, or using the Internet
(email, Skype, Facetime, etc.).
4. When you conduct your interview, remember to take notes.
Be sure to record the name and title of the sales manager and where he or she
works. Start your paper by identifying the person you interviewed. BBA 3221,
Sales Management 4
5. Report on your interview in a paper of at least two pages.
As you prepare your report, list each question and then the sales manager’s
response after the question.
6. APA formatting is not required for this assignment.
Information about accessing the grading rubric for this
assignment is provided below.
Unit 6 PowerPoint
Presentation
You have been named the national sales manager of a small
distributor that sells products to electronics retailers. You know this is a
highly competitive field. You decide you need a reward system for your sales
staff in addition to their compensation. You present your idea to the executive
vice president of marketing who agrees and asks you to develop a reward program
and present it to leadership. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation of at least 10
slides, not including the title and references slide. Include at least two
additional peer-reviewed outside sources in addition to your textbook.
Your presentation must address these elements of your reward
plan:
1. three objectives your plan is designed to accomplish,
2. the principal elements of your plan with one being a
sales contest,
3. how you will describe the plan to the salesforce,
4. the rules for the sales contest (How will you select the
winner or winners? What is the prize?), and
5. the way you will evaluate the effectiveness of the plan.
Your presentation should describe how this contest will
motivate the salespeople using the key components of motivation,
identify potential issues that could arise due to the
contest and how those issues will be handled, and discuss how the
contest follows the guidelines for motivating and rewarding
salespeople.
Information about accessing the grading rubric for this
assignment is provided below.
Unit 7 Essay
In this assignment, you will plan to conduct an audit of a
sales organization and hold a sales meeting to discuss your findings. Prepare
one document that includes your 500-word business memo and the 500-word script
of what you will say at the sales meeting. Read the situations carefully so you
know what to include in each part. Submit this document to the
Unit 7 assessment tab in Blackboard.
You have been selected as the new sales manager of Rapid
Digital, a firm founded 20 years ago to provide digital repair services and
equipment to other businesses. You are replacing the long-time sales manager
(who retired) to bring fresh thinking to the sales organization and its 30
salespeople. The vice president of marketing has asked you to audit the sales
organization and prepare a business memo of at least 500 words describing, in
detail, how you will conduct the audit. Be sure to explain the role of sales
volume, cost, and profitability in your audit. How do these three evaluate the
effectiveness of the sales organization? Also, be sure to discuss the concept
of benchmarking and how it will be used in your audit to determine the
effectiveness of the salesforce.
Your audit of the sales organization raises questions in
your mind about the accuracy of the expense information submitted by
salespeople and whether some reps may be stretching ethical boundaries to make
sales. You decide to call a sales meeting to address your concerns. What will
you say? Write a script of at least 500 words that explains the importance of
submitting accurate expense reports and following ethical guidelines. Include
some examples of ethical lapses. You should not use a cover page but should
include references for any sources you use, including the course textbook.
Please include at least two peer-reviewed, outside sources, including your
textbook.
Information about accessing the grading rubric for this
assignment is provided below.
Unit 8 PowerPoint
Presentation
You were recently hired as a new sales manager and are about
to conduct your first evaluations of individual salespeople.
You have called a sales staff meeting to explain what you
plan to do. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation of at least six
slides with a title slide and final slide with references.
Please use at least one peer-reviewed outside source in addition to
your textbook. The title slide and reference slide are not
included in the required slide count. Your slides should use bullet
points and the notes section of the slides to add detail. Be
sure you include at least the following:
BBA 3221, Sales Management 5
1. three reasons why you are conducting the evaluations,
2. three criteria you will measure as part of your
evaluation,
3. some advantages and disadvantages of an outcome-based
evaluation,
4. some advantages and disadvantages of a behavior-based
approach, and
5. how you plan to use salesperson job satisfaction in your
evaluations.
Information about accessing the grading rubric for this
assignment is provided below
Quiz 1
Question 1 Match the concept with its definition.
Question
Customer value
The importance customers place on products that solve their
problems
Sales productivity
Includes the costs associated with generating sales and
serving customers and emphasizes producing more sales for a given level of
costs
Sales manager
Individual who works with the systems and processes and
interacts with the people involved in making a sales organization successful
Personal selling
Involves interpersonal communications between buyers and
sellers to initiate, develop, and enhance customer relationships
Transactional selling
Focusing on maximizing the outcomes of individual
transactions rather than on longer-terms relationships with customers
Trust-based relationship selling
Involves initiating, developing, and enhancing long-term
customer relationships by earning customer trust
Adaptive selling
The ability of a salesperson to alter their sales messages
and behaviors during a sales presentation
Mental states selling
An approach that assumes that the buying process for most
buyers is essentially identical and that buyers can be led through steps in the
buying process
Problem-solving selling
An extension of need satisfaction selling that develops
alternative solutions for satisfying needs
Consultative selling
The process of helping customers reach their strategic goals
by using the products, services, and expertise of the sales organization
Quiz 4
Question 1 Match proper advice for conducting business on
the right with its corresponding nation on the left.
Question
China
Never begin to eat
and drink before your host
Latin America
Do not schedule more than two appointments in the same day
Thailand
This culture emphasizes harmony, so avoid confrontation
Mexico
Send a box of premium chocolates as a gift instead of
flowers.
Japan
Avoid giving gifts wrapped with bows.
Germany
Do not address a business associate by his or her first name
without an invitation to do so.
France
Do not schedule a meeting before 10 a.m.
Peru
Avoid changing salespeople in the middle of negotiations.
Russia
Be warm and approachable during the first meeting.
India
Remember that only the highest level boss can make
decisions.
Final exam
Question 1 Which of the following business strategies would
involve selling on the basis of price?
Question 2 What is an objective a sales manager could expect
to achieve with a sales training program?
Question 3 What are the key components in marketing strategy
development?
Question 4 Which of the following competencies of successful
salespeople can build collaborative relationships with customers in which their
needs, suggestions, and concerns can be heard?
Question 5 Which of the following training topics would give
salespeople the knowledge to work with buyers who are considered straight
shooters?
Question 6 Which of the following types of salesforce
profitability analysis would a sales manager use to allocate costs to
individual units on the basis of how the units expend or cause these costs?
Question 7 What is an example of a style exhibited by a
transformational sales leader?
Question 8 Which of the following does a sales manager use
to instill cost consciousness and profit awareness throughout the organization?
Question 9 What is performance evaluation outcome bias?
Question 10 What is a basic principle of coaching
salespeople?
Question 11 Describe how you, as a sales manager, would
handle the following situation: One of the salespeople under you is trying to
get a customer to purchase a new product. He decides to take three individuals
from the customer’s firm to dinner and a basketball game, even though he knows
that he has exceeded his entertainment budget for the next month. He asks you
if he can just hide these entertainment expenses in different categories in his
expense report. How do you handle this situation?
Your response should consist of at least 200 words.
Question 12 Discuss how the development of personal selling
techniques can help a salesperson evolve into a business consultant.
Your response should consist of at least 200 words.
