3.1: Explain how sales strategies are developed in line with corporate objectives.
For any business to succeed, the design of its sales plan must include the corporate objectives intended for the organization's success. Corporate objectives provide direction into the targets that the business intends to achieve thus must comprise the sales plan. A sales strategy includes the formulation of management policy, sales presentation and identification and qualification of markets. Sales strategy helps in maintaining customer loyalty and helps the company design strategies that beat the competitors’. It also helps in targeting and reaching the most profitable businesses.
The company’s process of recruitment and selection must be in line with the set company objectives so as to achieve the sales target. The sales people must meet qualifications in terms of academic and experience in sales. The company must also ensure that the employees are motivated.
3.2: Explain the role of recruitments and selection procedure.
Recruitment of employees involves attracting, screening the interested candidates and selecting the best of them. The candidates are attracted to the job by making it known through advertisements, and then all the application for the job is screened. Screening helps rule out the unqualified applicants in line with the required qualifications. The selection then involves choosing the best candidates after successful interviews. The process helps in selecting the best candidate. The company must be certain about an employee’s competence. Further, the company must be sure that it can rely on the candidate’s loyalty and drive towards achieving the set targets.
3.3: Evaluate the role of motivation, remuneration and training in sales management
Having a team of employees who are not well motivated will bring down the business no matter how effective the strategies are. It is, therefore, important to ensure that the workforce is motivated in terms of rewards, salaries and the working conditions. A good remuneration package not only makes the employees motivated, but they can meet their basic needs without straining (Oakes 2010). Training the workforce acts as a motivating tool and boosts the employees’ confidence in the job making their productivity increase.
3.4: Explain how sales management organize sales activity and control of output
The sales manager has a very crucial role of formulating strategies that ensures that the company meets sales targets. The sales activity must be in line with the set output thus appropriate strategies of identifying and penetrating new markets better than the competitors must be drawn. The sales team must also aim at maintaining the current workforce.
3.5: Explain the use of database in effective sales management.
Accuracy should be ensured in the research done on the existing and potential customers since this helps in formulating a suitable sales strategy for the business. The customer database accuracy can improve the sales effectiveness by 38%. The data should regularly be collected because the markets and customer tastes and preferences keep changing. The analysis of such data should be done in such a way that it is possible to evaluate the customer buying cycle and any unresolved complaints of the customers. The database maintenance must be ensured, and appropriate actions must be taken after the analysis of the data.
4.1: Develop a sales plan for a product or a service.
An effective sales plan lays out strategic plan to acquire new businesses, grow the existing businesses and increase the sales territories (Levitt 2012). A sale plan includes four steps namely; new business acquisition strategies, new business acquisition tactics, existing business growth strategies and existing business growth tactics. Strategies are the plans necessary to accomplish the set targets while tactics involve the necessary steps in carrying out the plans.
4.2: Investigate opportunities for selling internationally
For a company to establish itself internationally, it must carry out adequate research on the international market (Oakes 2010). The regulations of the target countries must be considered before making any business move.
4.3: Investigate opportunities for using exhibitions or trade fairs.
Exhibitions and trade fairs can be used to boost sales through creation of awareness for the brand. Further, the sales data can be drawn from the exhibitions. However, the risks involved in trade fairs and exhibitions must also be weighed before taking up the strategies. The cost involved in the display could be higher than the benefits accrued thus must be considered.
REFERENCES
Levitt, T 2012. After the sale is over. Harvard Business Review, 61(5), 87-93.
Oakes G. 2010. The sales process and the paradoxes of trust. Journal of Business Ethics, 9(8), 671-679.
