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Principles of Marketing - Philip Kotler

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the sales force

We are dismantled, how management informs business travelers what they need to do, and motivate them to perform the appropriate action. However, sales management is not just that. Manager must receive regular information on current business travelers, to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of their work.

Information sources

Management receives information about the traveling salesman problem in several ways. The most important source of information - sales reports. These reports not only provide information on the number of visits and improved their efficiency, but also sets out plans for the future. Additional information was collected through personal observations of letters and complaints from customers during customer surveys and conversations with other commercial travelers.

A formal evaluation of the work

Sales reports, as well as other reports and observations provide the starting material for the evaluation of the vending machine. Carrying out a formal assessment of promises at least three benefits. First, management needs to develop clear criteria for this assessment of the trading activities and to bring them to the attention of all employees. Second, the leadership there is a need to collect for each TSP the most complete information. And, thirdly, the salesman knows that one day he would have to sit at the same table with the manager of sales service and to explain their success or failure in solving various problems.

Comparison of the performance of individual sales agents. One of the ways to measure is to compare performance of different salesmen and ranking vendors based on these indicators. However, such comparisons can create and misconceptions. Comparative sales figures are significant only in the absence of differences in the market potentials in different territories, salespeople workload, intensity of competition, sales promotion and so on company efforts Moreover, the sales themselves are not at all an indicator of achievement. To a much greater degree of leadership should be interested in the amount of the personal contribution of each of the traveling salesman in the company's net profit. And for this it is necessary to study complex trading techniques used by them, and the structure and size of its trading costs.

Compare current sales figures with the past. The second method of evaluation - comparing current performance with a traveling salesman sales figures of its past sales. This comparison gives an immediate picture of the course of events. A comparison can be clearly seen as a growing (or fall) of profit or sales, of which a particular salesman has achieved over the years. At the same time you can clearly trace the history of the commission salesman specific business visits and identify them new customers.

QUALITY ASSESSMENT sales agents. If this assessment is usually consider the traveling salesman of knowledge about the company, its products, customers, competitors, their trading areas and responsibilities. According to a special scale can be assessed and the characteristics of his personality, such as behavior, appearance, manner of speaking, temperament. At the same time managing the sales Service can assess possible problems of motivation and compliance. Managing marketing service should make sure that the salesman knows the law (see para. 40 inset). Each company must decide for itself that it is most useful to know. It should bring their criteria for evaluation to all business travelers, so that they understand how their work will be evaluated, and have the opportunity to improve it.

Box 40. Personal selling and Public Policy

In an effort to get the order the salesman must not deviate from the principles of "fair competition". Certain techniques are prohibited by law or strictly regulated. Salesman should refrain from offering bribes to buyers, buying agents and other influential persons. It is illegal, and the acquisition of technical or trade secrets to competitors by means of espionage and bribery. Salesman should not denigrate competitors or their products by means of untrue statements. Salesman should not be used to sell products under the guise of new customer or introduce confusion on the benefits, Sulim buying. He must inform customers of their rights, such as the 72-hour "cooling period", during which the customer can return the product and get your money back. Salesman should not discriminate against customers on the basis of race, sex or religion.