Sales management

Sales Management – Meaning and Definitions:

Sales management specifically contributes to achieve the marketing objectives of a firm. In fact, sales managers set their personal selling objectives and formulate the personal selling policies and strategies.The word sales management is a combination of two words- sales and management. Sales is the art of planning in the mind of another a motive which will induce favourable action.
According to American Marketing Association, sales management is “the planning, direction and control of professional selling including recruiting, selecting, equipping, assigning, routing, supervising, paying and motivating to the personal sales force.” It is also often referred to as management of the personal selling part of a company’s marketing function.
Sales is the only function in an organization that generates revenue or income for a company and hence it needs to be managed properly. The financial results of a company depend upon the performance of the sales department.

There are four major branches (all interrelated) in successful sales management:

1. Top Level Policy Planning, which establishes a framework of policy within which the sales objectives of a com­pany or institution may be achieved, depending on an individual company’s particular situation,
2. Line and Staff Operational Plan­ning, through which procedures are established in advance, against which the quality and quantity of work may be controlled,
3. Organization, the setting up of a structure of responsibilities and normal interrelations—charting the organization, assigning responsibility, delegating authority, tracing accountability, and clarifying the character of collaboration, and
4. Administration, by which management meets planned objectives through guidance and evaluation of activity, including Sales Training, Motivation, Coordination, and Execution.