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Campus: Stream:
Level: PCL-1 Year/Semester
Sales Organization and
Module Name: Assignment Type: Weekly Assignment
Sales Strategy
Student’s Name: Assessor’s Name:
Reqd. Submission
Issued on:
Date:
Actual Submission Date: Submitted to :
Higher Level Skills
Students are expected to develop the following skills in this assignment:
• Cognitive skills of critical thinking, analysis and synthesis.
• Effective use of communication and information technology for business applications.
• Effective self-management in terms of planning, motivation, initiative and enterprise.
Owing to intense global competition, slow growth in markets and different customer expectations, sales
organizations have to reengineer their organization structures and streamline their processes. An inefficient
organization structure can frustrate top managers as it may result in strategic plans going astray due to
absence of clearly defined responsibilities and reporting relationships. Developing customer-centric
organizations, building strong relationships within and outside the organization, modifying the traditional top-
down hierarchical structure and introducing cross-functional teams are some steps companies are taking to
improve their efficiency and profitability.
The organizational structure should fulfill the purpose for which it has been designed. The role of a sales
organization is to achieve company objectives, streamline reporting relationships, facilitate effective
coordination and control and develop an efficient sales force structure to ensure effective selling strategy.
Designing the sales organization plays a crucial role in a company’s overall success. One must consider the
influence of external and internal factors while designing a sales organization. External factors include the
markets targeted and the technology prevailing in the target market.
Internal factors influencing the design of a sales organization include the company objectives, the size of the
sales force, core competence of the company, compensation system, reporting relationships, etc. Based on the
span of control, authority, hierarchical levels and departmentalization, four basic organization structures are
possible. These are formal and informal structure centralized and decentralized structure, vertical and
horizontal structure and line and staff organization structure.
To efficiently serve the ever-changing needs of customers in the best possible manner, a company can have a
product-based, geographic-based, customer-based or a combination-based sales force structure. The type of
customers, the market size and its potential, the type of industry in which the company is operating, level of
sales desired, size of the sales force and the width and depth of the product mix are some factors that
influence the decision on the type of sales force structure to be adopted.
Sales culture plays an important role in the success of a sales organization. Sales culture is a collective
impression of the values, attitudes and personality of top management in an organization. It pervades down to
the lower levels of hierarchy over time. Sales culture has a significant influence on sales force activities and
attitudes. The various components that make up sales culture include symbols, language, ceremonies, rites and
rituals, role models, tales and stories, and values and beliefs. The strength and direction or fit of the sales
culture also play a crucial role in developing a sound sales organization.
Sales are one of the most crucial functions of an organization. It is the principal, and often, the only revenue
generating function in the organization. Sales has formed an important part of business throughout history and
will continue to do so. A constant evolution has been witnessed in the sales function from the early Stone
Age, through the Iron ages and the Middle Ages to sales in the twenty-first century. The evolution of the sales
concept can also be studied in terms of seven generations.
In addition to helping an organization achieve its business goals, the selling function performs various other
roles such as enhancing knowledge pertaining to the internal and external environments, developing positive
relationships with customers, suppliers and distributors, and negotiating with customers to sell the company’s
products profitably. Despite the crucial role the selling function plays in the growth of an organization, sales
has a rather negative image associated with it.
This can be attributed more to the misconceptions in the minds of the people rather than actual knowledge of
the profession. The major objectives of a sales organization are to increase sales volume, contribute to profits,
and attain long-term growth. For an organization to be successful, it is essential to integrate the sales and
marketing functions so that coordination of activities can be achieved.
Over the years, substantial changes have taken place in the selling environment, sparking a change in the sales
function too. The various trends that have shaped the sales function include shorter product life cycle, longer,
more complex sales cycle, reduced customer loyalty, intense competition among manufacturing firms, rising
customer expectations, increasing buyer expertise, electronic revolution in communications, and the entry of
women into the sales force.
Questions: