CHAPTER 1

SALES MANAGEMENT:
ITS NATURE, REWARDS, AND
RESPONSIBILITIES

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
A career in sales management is exciting and unique and
provides numerous opportunities. This chapter will do
the following:
Provide you with an overview of a sales managers
job.
Introduce you to the various types of sales managers
and the skills required of them.

Discuss what a new manager experiences when

promoted from a sales job.

WHAT IS SALES MANAGEMENT?

Sales management is the attainment of sales force
goals in an effective and efficient manner through:

Planning
Staffing
Training

Leading
Controlling organizational resources

FIGURE 1.1 THE SALES MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Sales Management Functions

PLANNING
The conscious, systemic process of making
decisions about goals and activities that an
individual, group, work unit, or organization will
pursue in the future and the use of resources
needed to attain them.

FIGURE 1.1 THE SALES MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Sales Management Functions

STAFFING
Activities undertaken to attract, develop, and
maintain effective sales personnel within an
organization.

FIGURE 1.1 THE SALES MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Sales Management Functions

SALES TRAINING
The effort put forth by an employer to provide the
salesperson job-related culture, skills, knowledge,
and attitudes that result in improved performance
in the selling environment.

FIGURE 1.1 THE SALES MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Sales Management Functions

LEADING

The ability to influence other people toward

the attainment of objectives.

FIGURE 1.1 THE SALES MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Sales Management Functions

CONTROLLING
Monitoring sales personnels activities,
determining whether the organization is on target
toward its goals, and making corrections as
necessary.

FIGURE 1.1 THE SALES MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Sales Management Functions

SALES PERFORMANCE

Sales Management is the attainment of

sales goals in an ethical, efficient, and
effective manner.*

* Instructor added word ethical.

FIGURE 1.2 THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF AN ORGANIZATION

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Organization is a social system that is goal

directed and has a deliberated structure.
Goal directed means an organization is designed
to achieve some outcome.
Social means being made up of two or more
people.
Deliberated structure means the tasks are divided,
and the responsibility for their performance is
assigned to organization members.

MAJOR PARTS OF AN
ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEM
Organizational effectiveness is the degree to which
the organization achieves a stated objective.
Organizational efficiency refers to the amount of
resources used to achieve an organizational goal.

FIGURE 1.3 SALES LEADER LEVELS IN THE ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY

CEO
President

To p S ale s L e ad e rs
(S trate g ic )

Vice President of Marketing

National Sales Leader
Zone Sales Leader

Middle Sales
Leaders
(Tactical)

Regional Sales Leader

First-Line
Sales Leaders
(Operational)

District Sales Leader

Assistant District Sales Leader
Nonmanagerial Salespeople
Sales Trainee

Salesperson

Key Account

FIGURE 1.4 PERCENTAGE OF TIME SPENT ON FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITIES

BY ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL

Top Managers
Staffing Training
10% 5%

Planning
35%

Leading
30%

Controlling
20%

Middle Managers
Planning
28%

Staffing Training
10%
10%

Leading
30%

Controlling
22%

First-Line Managers
Planning
15%

Staffing
20%

Training
25%

Leading
25%

Controlling
15%

FIGURE 1.5 A SALES PERSONNEL CAREER PATH

President
Vice President of Marketing

National Sales Mgr.

Zone Sales Manager

Regional Sales Manager
District Sales Manager
Key Account Salesperson

Salesperson

Sales Trainee

SALES MANAGEMENT SKILLS

1. CONCEPTUAL AND DECISION SKILLS
Refer to the cognitive ability to see the organization as a
whole and the relationships among its parts.

2. PEOPLE SKILLS
Involve the ability to work with and through other people and
to work effectively as a group member.

3. TECHNICAL SKILLS
The ability to perform a specialized task that involves a certain
method or process.

PROMOTION FROM SALESPERSON

TO SALES MANAGER
Changes that occur when a person becomes a new
manager:
1. Perspectives change

2. Goals change
3. Responsibilities change
4. Satisfaction changes
5. Job skill requirements change
6. Relationships change

FIGURE 1.6 RELATIONSHIP OF CONCEPTUAL AND DECISION, PEOPLE, AND TECHNICAL

SKILLS TO SALES LEADER LEVEL

Conceptual and
Decision Skills
Top Sales Leaders
Middle Sales Leaders
First-Line Sales Leaders
Nonmanagerial Salespeople

People Skills

Technical Skills

THE PROMOTION EXPERIENCE

Phase One Immobilization
Phase Two Minimization or Denial of Change
Phase Three Depression
Phase Four Acceptance of Reality
Phase Five Testing
Phase Six Searching for Meanings
Phase Seven Internalization

PROBLEMS NEW MANAGERS EXPERIENCE

Lack of preparation for the job.
Expected to step into the job and
immediately function effectively.
Often lacks an immediate peer group.

MAKING A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO

MANAGEMENT
Have a learning attitude a
willingness to learn, change, adapt,
and seek help when needed.
Having realistic expectations.
Leave the old job behind.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Skilled sales managers are the key to a successful organization.
Sales managers have five functions that, when combined, can
allow them to achieve the goals desired by higher levels of
management.
The various types of sales managers can be broken down into the
categories of vertical and horizontal.
Most corporations hire a person who cannot only sell but who
also shows the potential to one day become a sales manager.