Indian Education Society’s

Management College and Research Centre, Mumbai

(FINAL EXAMINATION)

Date : 25/09/2019 Day: Wednesday Time: 10.30 am To 01.30 pm Duration: 3 Hrs.

Course : PGDM -2nd Year Term: IV Sub: Sales Force Management Max. Marks: 60
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instructions: 1) Answer 5 questions. Questions 1 and 2 are compulsory. All questions carry equal marks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q.1. American Marketing Association’s definition of sales management is nearly same as the 12 CO1
“the management of sales force”. It is said that this definition is not in line with the broader
responsibilities of modern sales managers. Do you agree with this view? Explain your
answer with reasons.
OR
Explain the different success factors in selling. What are the characteristics of an Effective
salesperson?

Q.2. Assume that you are a regional sales manager of Bajaj Auto Ltd. And you are asked by your 12 CO2
general manager (sales and marketing) to submit your sales force strategy and tactics to
achieve an increase in sales volume by 20 percent for the next financial year. What will be
your response?
OR
Suppose you are faced with the following problems as sales manager
1. Sales people are not spending adequate time to develop new customers
2. Sales people are selling profitable products less than non-profitable and easy to sell
products to achieve their sales volume quotas. Suggest a compensation plan that
can be used to solve these problems

Q.3. Develop a sales forecast for the year 2017, based on the data given below. Use any two 12 CO3
methods of sales forecasting and give reasons for selecting the methods. Company uses 4
years moving average policy and smoothing constant is 0.7
Year Actual sales( In Rs. Million)
2011 550
2012 625
2013 690
2014 750
2015 825
2016 915
2017

Q.4. CASELET 12 CO 3

Rajan, the Regional Sales Manager( RSM) of Hercules Motorcycles Ltd.( HML) has just
completed the monthly meeting in his office with his 6 dealers of Chennai region. Rajan is
quite upset as the meeting did not go well as planned. The problem started with the targets
for the next month he gave to the dealers. None of them was willing to accept it saying that
the targets were too stiff & not achievable. The dealers were also not convinced about the
ability of the proposed promotional support for the month helping them achieve the
targets. The problem is compounded as 25% of the margins to the dealers are directly
linked to achieving their monthly targets.

This is the third month running that Rajan is facing the target issue with the dealers. Rajan
strongly believes that HML and its sales management team understands the company
needs, the competition and the prospects better and hence they can decide the targets for
the dealers.

Page 1 of 2
 The dealers have been missing the targets in the previous 2 months. In the first month only
2 dealers beat the targets and in the second month only one dealer could meet his target. In
the current third month targets just given to them are even stiffer as Rajan is under
pressure from his VP( marketing) to make up some of the losses of the previous 2 months.
He is planning to meet 5 of his Bangalore dealers the next week and is sure to face a similar
situation.
Questions:-
(a) What should be the course of action taken by Rajan, to ensure that the targets are
met?
(b) Suggest a system of sales planning for the future to avoid such situation in future.

Q.5. Refer to the case study- The Suspect Salesman discussed in the class. Answer following 12 CO3
questions.
(a) Do you think Sal’s probable action is the right action for him to take? Why do you
think so?
(b) Ideally, what do you think Sal should do?

Q.6. Why is your performance disappointing”? asked Vijay Dhavan, district sales manager, to 12 CO3
Ashok after looking at the computer printout of his district’s performance. The four
territories are by and large similar in market potential and competition. Vijay therefore,
set monthly quotas for the four territories by dividing the district quotas equally to the
four territories as follows:
Monthly Performance Analysis : Month-December 2005, District : Bijapur.
Performance Criteria Quota Alok Suresh Ashok Pradeep
Net sales product ‘A’ Rs.2,00,000 2,10,000 2,05,000 1,58,000 1,95,000
Net sales product ‘B’ Rs.3,00,000 3,20,000 3,01,000 2,78,000 3,10,000
Net sales total Rs.5,00,000 5,30,000 5,06,000 4,36,000 5,05,000
Number of new customers 2 3 2 1 2
Number of Calls 140 170 150 125 145
Sales expenses Rs.5000 5300 5100 4800 4900
Questions:
1. How Vijay’s district performance is analyzed?
2. What actions should Vijay take?
-----END-----

Page 2 of 2