National Diploma in Business: Sales Management Report, 2019-20

This report, prepared for a sales conference, delves into sales management principles, structures, and financial strategies within a business context. It begins by defining sales management and outlining key principles such as planning, selling, and reporting, while also considering consumer and business buying behaviors. The report then evaluates sales structures, using examples from Vijay Sales and its competitors to assess their benefits and implementation. The concept of 'selling through others' is explained, emphasizing its importance and advantages. Furthermore, it explores successful selling techniques, analyzing their contribution to building and managing customer relationships. The report concludes by highlighting the significance of developing sales strategies that maximize profitability and incorporate account management, evaluating how core finance principles can enhance financial viability and competitive advantage, and recommending improvements to sales structures and approaches. The report is supported by research and referenced using the Harvard referencing system.

National Certificate/Diploma in Business
Assignment Brief
Student name/ ID Number Yash Sawant
Unit Number and Title 39 Sales Management
Academic Year 2019-20
Unit Tutor Mr. Husain Habib
Assignment title Sales Training and Sales structure & Finance strategy
Issue Date 03/04/2020
Submission Date 04/08/2020
IV Name & Date Ms. Shreya Kanjariya- 06/08/2020
Submission Format:
Task 1( LO1 & LO2, LO3 & LO4)
The submission is in the form of an individual written report. This should be written in a
concise, formal business style using single spacing and font size 12. You are required to make
use of headings, paragraphs and subsections as appropriate and all work must be supported
with research and referenced using the Harvard referencing system. Please also provide a
bibliography using the Harvard referencing system. The recommended word limit is 9,000 to
9,500 words, although you will not be penalized for exceeding the total word limit.
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Unit Learning Outcomes:
LO1 Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of sales management.
LO2 Evaluate the relative merits of how sales structures are organised, and recognise the
importance of ’selling through others’.
LO3 Analyze and apply principles of successful selling.
LO4 Demonstrate an understanding of the finance of selling.
Assignment Brief and Guidance:
You are the Sales Manager for a medium/large local organization and once a year there is an
sales meeting with all the sales representatives all across the country. You have been asked
by your Sales Director to write a report that will be given out at the annual sales conference.
The report should include the following:
•An introduction to the organization.
•Definition of sales management.
•Explanation of the key principles of sales management, focusing on planning, selling and
reporting. You may evaluate how principles of sales management will be different in
response to consumer and business buying behavior.
•Defining and explaining sales structures.
•Using examples from your own organization, as well as other organizations, to evaluate the
benefits of sales structures and how they are organized. You may critically evaluates the
implementation of different types of sales structure using specific organizational examples
(e.g. geographic, marketing, product sales).
•Describe the concept of ‘selling through others’ and explain the importance and advantages
of using this sales technique. Use relevant examples to enhance your answer.
•Describing and explaining the key principles and techniques of successful selling.
•Analyzing how these principles and techniques contribute to building and managing customer
relationships. Use examples from your own organization as well as from other organizations.
You may critically analyze the application of successful selling principles and techniques in
application to specific organizational examples.
•The student may produce a coherent, fully justified critical evaluation based upon a
comprehensive understanding of sales management, structure and selling technique within
an organizational context.
•Explaining the importance of developing sales strategies that yield highest profitability and
incorporate account management within sales structures. This may also have evaluation of
how core finance principle and successful portfolio management can lead to increased
profitability and competitive edge. This can be critically evaluated and make
recommendations on how sales structures and approaches can improve financial viability.
•Conclusion
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Grading Criteria
Learning Outcome Pass Merit Distinction
LO1 Demonstrate an
understanding of the
principles of sales
management
P1 Explain the key
principles of sales
management in
relation to the
importance of sales
planning, methods of
selling and sales
reporting.
M1 Evaluate how
principles of sales
management will be
different in response
to consumer and
business buying
behavior.
D1 Produce a
coherent, fully
justified critical
evaluation based
upon a
comprehensive
understanding of
sales management,
structure and selling
technique within an
organizational
context.
LO2 Evaluate the
relative merits of
how sales structure
are organized, and
recognized the
importance of ‘selling
through others’.
P2 Evaluate the
benefits of sales
structure and how
they are organized,
using specific
organizational
examples.
P3 Explain the
importance and the
advantages of the
concept of ‘selling
through others’.
M2 Critically
evaluates the
implementation of
different types of
sales structure using
specific
organizational
examples (e.g.
geographic,
marketing, product
sales).
LO3 Analyze and
apply principles of
successful selling.
P4 Analyze the key
principles and
techniques for
successful selling and
how they contribute
to building and
managing customer
relationships in
application to
specific
organizational
examples.
M3 Critically analyze
the application of
successful selling
principles and
techniques in
application to specific
organizational
examples.
LO4 Demonstrate an
understanding of the
P5 Explain the
importance of
M4 Evaluate how
core finance principle
D2 Critically evaluate
and make
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finance of selling. developing sales
strategies that yield
highest profitability
and incorporating
account
management within
sales structures.
and successful
portfolio
management can
lead to increased
profitability and
competitive edge.
recommendations on
how sales structures
and approaches can
improve financial
viability.
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Index
Executive summary ……………………………………………6
Introduction ……………………………………………………7
Explain the key principles of sales management in relation to the importance of
sales planning, methods of selling and sale reporting ………….8
Evaluate the benefits of sales structures and how they are organized using
specific organizational examples ………………………………15
Explain the importance and the advantages of the concept of ‘selling through’
others..…………………………………………….……………..23
Analyze the key principles and techniques for successful selling and how they
contribute to building and managing customer relationships in application to
specific organizational examples ….……………………………38
Explain the importance of developing sales strategies that yield highest
profitability and incorporating account management within sales structures..
……………………………………………………………………….41
Bibliography …………………………………………..………...44
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Executive summary
The topic for the paper below is sales management. The paper begins with understanding the
key principles of sales management for an organization, such as Vijay sales. The author also
incorporates the consumer buying behavior and businesses buying behavior in relation to the
key principles stated. The various sales structures present for any organization is explained
with graphical illustrations and the author presents the sales structure used by Vijay Sales and
its competitor, Croma. The sales structure for Vijay sales is critically evaluated by the author.
The concept of selling through others is explained in order to understand the practical aspect
of it. In order to have successful selling and a relationship with customers, an organization
must be able to combine their key principles of sales management along with the techniques
of sales. Finally, the author explains the importance of sales strategies in order to gain high
profitability for the organization as well as the sales structure for Vijay sales that allows them
to identify their key account managers.
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Sales Management
Vijay sales is a partnership firm owned by Mr. Nanu Gupta. Vijay sales is one of Mumbai’s
leading chain of electronic stores, and have spread across India. They have exquisitely
designed and conveniently located outlets that cater to all kinds of customers with various
budgets and preferences. They offer one of the best quality and service in their industry. They
promise to satisfy their customers’ needs and provide efficient after sales services.
The turnover for his partnership firm was Rs 3,250 crore last financial year and is close to
touching Rs 3,700 crore in 2017-18.
Image 1.1
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Explain the key principles of sales management in relation to the importance of sales
planning, methods of selling and sale reporting
Sales management is defined as the efforts put forth to attain a company's sales objectives.
Sales management can involve any of the following activities: (1) formulation of sales
strategy through development of account management policies, sales force compensation
policies, sales revenue forecasts, and sales plan, (2) implementation of sales strategy through
selecting, training, motivating, and supporting the sales force, setting sales revenue targets,
and (3) sales force management through development and implementation of sales
performance, monitoring, and evaluation methods, and analysis of associated behavioral
patterns and costs. (BusinessDictionary.com, 2019)
This means that sales management is the method of producing a sales force, coordinating
sales operations, and implementing sales techniques that enables a firm to consistently
surpass its sales targets.
Key principles of sales management
1. Sales planning
Sales’ planning is a dynamic but essential process of sales management. A good sales plan
includes how the company is planning to reach the customer, and what is the after sales
service plan of the company. It also includes building a profitable customer oriented sales
team.
Sales’ planning also includes recruiting and training sales personnel and to direct the sales
team. Recruiting sales personnel is an integral part of sales management. It includes
analyzing the open position, creating a job description and qualifying the applicants. It
ensures the right people are hired to sell and lead. An untrained sales professional is a costly
investment for the company. Instead, it is better to train sales professionals and keep
upgrading their skills so that they perform in the market. It ensures the sales personnel to be
educated in order to satisfy the customers. Team management is a crucial part of sales
management. A coordinated sales team can perform better than an uncoordinated sales team.
The sales team must coordinate with the product team, the service team, the logistics team
etc. It involves guiding people to perform at above average level.
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At Vijay sales, one of the objectives is to gain market share in the e-retail business. Thus,
their sales planning objective is to penetrate the e-retail market in order to increase their
market share. The sales set up and necessary channels must be in place. An organized plan
would be required during the sales planning process.
Importance of sales planning
 It helps the business to forecast potential problems so that they can try and mitigate
them beforehand.
 It puts the business in control by helping them determine their product’s current
status, where they want to take it, and how they will take it there.
 It helps a business to develop strategies according to the culture, needs, and
requirements of each consumer market.
2. Sales reporting
Sales management is tasked with developing and analyzing KPI’s. By understanding these
indicators, it becomes easier to track and improve productivity. These reports allow
evaluation of the sales and performance.
Going back to the first example of sales planning, where Vijay sales wanted to gain market
share in the e-retail business. If their sales reports show that they have succeeded in
penetrating the e-retail market, it will help them to set objectives for the next year. However,
if they fail to do so then they will have to study the causes of failure and their ales objectives
must be re-planned.
Importance of sales reporting
 Gives real-time view of the businesses sales activities and quickly allows them to
understand how their team is performing, compare results, and identify opportunities
for improvement with complete clarity.
 Business reports are important for critically analyzing financial reports, performance
reports and areas in which the business is doing well or poorly. Understanding the
available data leads to a cause-and-effect approach to solving performance problems.
 Reports show performance across quarters and for the entire year, in the case of
annual reports.. Benchmarks and goals are set by the company by reviewing their
performance trends.
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 Reports help business leaders to develop and make strategic decisions. They use the
data to back their decisions and to justify their move. Shareholders will use reports to
monitor their value and make high level decisions about top level management
capable of improving their overall invested value.
3. Customer satisfaction
Sales’ planning allows Vijay sales to achieve the key principle of customer satisfaction by
devising tactics and strategies in order to ensure there is a high level of customer satisfaction.
Vijay sales do so by offering 90 days to customers to exchange or return their product. They
also offer customer service where customers can come to fix their appliances with or without
warranty. Along with providing the best service, they also provide the customers best value
and the best products in the industry.
The sales reporting would enable Vijay sales to gain an insight on if customers were
genuinely satisfied with their purchase or their service offered. They would be able to gauge
their standing within the customers. They can do by conducting surveys of their customers,
asking appropriate and relevant questions about their satisfactory level with Vijay sales. The
report will enable Vijay sales to track and measure their performance and would allow them
to strive for better.
In B2B selling, Vijay sales must ensure that they offer the best price, best quality and the best
product in accordance with the needs of the company. They must provide the best possible
deal in order o convince the team of decision makers.
Customer satisfaction in the business buying behavior at Vijay sales would mean that the
business who is dealing with Vijay sales to buy a certain product for their office/work process
would need to be satisfied at every step of the process. For example, Vijay sales would want
to ensure they close the deal with the business as they would buy in bulk and it could lead to
a long lasting relationship between the business and Vijay sales if they are satisfied. For this,
they would offer the best price possible and would have to succumb to the price quotation
provided by the business in order to ensure that they do not lose the sale. Abiding by all the
requirements by the business would lead to them being satisfied.
In B2C selling, Vijay sales must know the exact requirement of the individual as he/she
would be the decision maker and in order to have a satisfied customer the representatives
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from Vijay sales must be able to provide information and sell the product according to the
requirement of the customer.
Customer satisfaction for consumer buying behavior at Vijay sales would mean that the
customers at Vijay sales would be satisfied by the products offered and the service by Vijay
sales from the point of meeting to the final selling of the product. Here, the customer
satisfaction is when the sales representatives have properly recognized the need of the
customer and is able to satisfy the need effectively. The difference between business buying
behavior and consumer buying behavior for the satisfaction level is that in consumer buying
behavior, Vijay sales would try to convince the consumer for the price best suited for Vijay
sales rather than adjusting to the consumers price demand, as seen in the business buying
behavior.
Advantages of customer satisfaction
 Customer satisfaction builds trust. Customers will only stay loyal to Vijay sales if
they work hard to keep customers and build their trust in their brand. By providing the
best in customer satisfaction, Vijay sales increase trust of their customers.
 Customer satisfaction matters more than the price. To get the right experience,
customers are willing to pay higher prices.
 Customer satisfaction is a factor that helps to stand out of the competition. Not all
companies like Vijay sales can provide excellent customer satisfaction, those who can
achieve this have a competitive edge over other.
 Satisfied customers will recommend Vijay sales to their network. Those customers
who are satisfied with the customer service at Vijay sales are likely to recommend
them to their friends and family. Promotion to word of mouth is effective in spreading
the kind of customer service offered by them.
4. Increasing sales volume.
Vijay sales sell appliances of other brands as well as produce their own appliances and sells
at a cheaper price than other brands. The prime responsibility of the sales department is to
build up higher volumes of sales. This higher volume of sales leads to greater production and
economies of scale.
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Sales planning to increase the sales volume would mean that Vijay sales can boost the
average sale per customer by 10% using add-on sales. Such strategies and plans would enable
for them to increase their sales volumes.
Sales reporting for increased sales volume would show if Vijay sales were able to increase
their volume of sales per quarter/ annum. In the case of the sales volume not increasing, it
would help them to determine which outlet lags, which product is not being able to increase
the sales etc and so allowing them to work on the same, by changing their strategies. It will
also help in sales forecasting, allowing Vijay sales to check the past data to plan for strategies
to help increase the sales in the future. This will lead to increasing sales volume and Vijay
sales would be able to target their sales effectively based on the previous data.
Methods of sales
1. Content selling
Content selling is the use of advertising agencies to create brand awareness and customer
knowledge to find out why one product is superior to another. They educate buyers on the
features and benefits of specific products, to thereby increase the sales. This method moves
away from commodity selling by being able to charge a higher price due to brand awareness
and buyer satisfaction.
Vijay sales uses content selling by placing TV advertisements of their products and what they
have to offer. Alongside this, they have effective sales staffs that have sufficient knowledge
about every product in the store in order to convince customers to buy their products. They
also provide descriptions of each product, like the specifications, model, details, processor
besides each product for comparison and informative purposes. As for Vijay sales they
provide warranty on all their products which is not offered by the electronic brand, but
however Vijay sales provide warranty on all products sold at their store.
2. Consultative selling
In consultative selling, the focus is on understanding the deeper needs, requirement and
buying motives of the customer and then ensuring their product matches with the needs and
motives. Having known those customers’ value different things, this method requires some
diversity.
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