Sales Force Management
McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Mark W. Johnston | Greg W. Marshall
Implementation of the Sales Program
Part 2
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8
Personal Characteristics and Sales Aptitude: Criteria for Selecting Salespeople
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War for Talent
- Employee turnover cost calculator
- Total cost of turnover
- Separation costs
- Replacement costs
- Training costs
- Select candidates with natural capacity for key job requirements
Source: HR Chally Group (2009).
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- "Are good salespeople born or made?"
- Define characteristics of successful salespeople
- Explain sales aptitude in sales performance
- Understand different success characteristics for sales positions
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Salespeople Born or Made?
- Training and development critical determinants of future success.
- A strong ego, self-confidence, decisiveness, and a need for achievement must also be extant in sales force candidates.
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8.1a
Variables that cause differences in performance across individual salespeople and the actions
management can take to influence them
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8.1b
Variables that cause differences in performance across individual salespeople and the actions management can take to influence them
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Variables That Cause Differences in Performance
- Factors controlled or influenced by sales mangers account for the largest variance in sales performance.
- Role perception
- Skills
- Motivation
- Research suggests successful salespeople are both born and made.
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Costs of Inappropriate Selection Standards
- Odds a salesperson will quit or be terminated in first five years of employment = 50/50
- People lacking necessary personal traits/abilities tend to leave before training and experience can make them productive sales performers
- Many firms may spend between $7000 and $100,000 annually training a new recruit
- Three to twelve months before a new rep generates adequate sales to cover compensation and expenses
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Characteristics Managers Seek
- Enthusiasm
- Organizational skills
- Ambition
- Persuasiveness
- Communication skills
- General sales experience
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8.1 German-American Cross Cultural Business Differences
| German | American | |
| Deference for authority | High | Lower |
| Leadership style | Formal | Casual |
| Respect for titles | Important | Less important |
| Relationships | Formal | Casual |
| Mix work and play | No | Yes |
| Dress | Formal | Casual |
| Multilingual | Yes | Not always |
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8.2a
Summary of the effect of variables on salesperson performance
*Inappropriate or illegal in selecting a job candidate.
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8.2b
Summary of the effect of variables on salesperson performance
*Inappropriate or illegal in selecting a job candidate.
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8.2c
Summary of the effect of variables on salesperson performance
*Inappropriate or illegal in selecting a job candidate.
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8.2d
Summary of the effect of variables on salesperson performance
*Inappropriate or illegal in selecting a job candidate.
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Source: Erin Strout, “Tough Sell,” Sales & Marketing Management, July 2001, p. 52 and Laine Chroust Ehmann “Great Opportunities: How the Future Looks for Women in Sales and Management, SellingPower .com, October 2007.
8.3
Compensation levels of men and women in sales and marketing careers
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8.4
The aging sales force
Source: Katherine Kaplan, “Better with Age,” Sales & Marketing Management, July 2001, pp. 58–62.
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8.2 The Importance of Image
- People are visual
- Better to be slightly overdressed
- Salespeople with an unkempt look have more difficulty making sales
- More professional dress = improved self-confidence
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8.3 The Educated Sales Force
- Nearly 2/3 of salespeople have a college degree
- College education demonstrated knowledge, motivation, professionalism
- Life experiences provide context for people dealing with customers
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Source: Source: Sales & Marketing Management, February 2001, p. 90.
8.5
The characteristics of salespeople who win customer trust
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8.6
Characteristics related to sales performance in different types of sales jobs
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Implications for Management
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Begin
recruiting
and selection
Develop
new recruit specifications
Evaluate characteristics
to perform tasks and activities
Analyze/describe tasks and activities
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McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Mark W. Johnston | Greg W. Marshall
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< 5%
Nonsales work experience
< 5%
Sales experience
< 5%
Educational content
< 5%
Level of educational attainment
Almost 21%
Personal history and family background*
Background and experience
—
developmental education and work experience
< 5%
Physical appearance
< 5%
Gender*
< 5%
Age*
Demographic and physical characteristics
—
physical traits
Percentage of Variance in
Performance Explained
Variable
< 5%
Nonsales work experience
< 5%
Sales experience
< 5%
Educational content
< 5%
Level of educational attainment
Almost 21%
Personal history and family background*
Background and experience
—
developmental education and work experience
< 5%
Physical appearance
< 5%
Gender*
< 5%
Age*
Demographic and physical characteristics
—
physical traits
Percentage of Variance in
Performance Explained
Variable
< 5%
Math ability
< 5%
Sales aptitude
< 5%
Verbal intelligence
Almost 7%
Cognitive ability
< 5%
Intelligence
Aptitude
—
enduring personal characteristics that determine an individual
’
s overall
ability to perform a sales job
< 5%
Activities/lifestyle*
Approximately 6%
Financial status
Almost 12%
Marital/family status*
Current status and lifestyle
—
present marital, family, and financial status
Percentage of Variance in
Performance Explained
Variable
< 5%
Math ability
< 5%
Sales aptitude
< 5%
Verbal intelligence
Almost 7%
Cognitive ability
< 5%
Intelligence
Aptitude
—
enduring personal characteristics that determine an individual
’
s overall
ability to perform a sales job
< 5%
Activities/lifestyle*
Approximately 6%
Financial status
Almost 12%
Marital/family status*
Current status and lifestyle
—
present marital, family, and financial status
Percentage of Variance in
Performance Explained
Variable
<5%
Creativity/flexibility
< 5%
Need for power/extrinsic reward
<5%
Need for achievement/intrinsic reward
< 5%
Self
-
esteem
< 5%
Sociability
<5%
Dominance
<5%
Responsibility
Personality
—
enduring personal traits that reflect an individual
’
s consistent
reactions to situations encountered in the environment
Percentage of Variance in
Performance Explained
Variable
<5%
Creativity/flexibility
< 5%
Need for power/extrinsic reward
<5%
Need for achievement/intrinsic reward
< 5%
Self
-
esteem
< 5%
Sociability
<5%
Dominance
<5%
Responsibility
Personality
—
enduring personal traits that reflect an individual
’
s consistent
reactions to situations encountered in the environment
Percentage of Variance in
Performance Explained
Variable
<5%
Vocational esteem
A little over 9%
General management
< 5%
Interpersonal
Almost 5%
Sales presentation
Almost 9.5%
Vocational skills
Skills
—
learned proficiencies and attitudes necessary for effective perf
ormance of
specific job tasks (these can change with training and experienc
e)
Percentage of Variance in
Performance Explained
Variable
<5%
Vocational esteem
A little over 9%
General management
< 5%
Interpersonal
Almost 5%
Sales presentation
Almost 9.5%
Vocational skills
Skills
—
learned proficiencies and attitudes necessary for effective perf
ormance of
specific job tasks (these can change with training and experienc
e)
Percentage of Variance in
Performance Explained
Variable