University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
The Complete Guide to Accelerating Sales Force Performance
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The Complete Guide to Accelerating Sales Force Performance

Andris A. Zoltners, Prabhakant Sinha and Greggor A. Zoltners
AMACOM, 2001
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Editorial Rating

6

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

To boost your sales group’s performance, give your salespeople very specific assessments and instructions, as per authors Andris A. Zoltners, Prabhakant Sinha and Greggor A. Zoltners. The trouble here is that the instructions are not only detailed, they are highly technical. You have to see sales as a science to make the best use of the graphs, charts, lists, diagrams and formulas. If you can make your way through the academic writing, you’ll find some useful hard data, such as statistical evidence that backs the need for precise sales performance assessments. Despite its lengthy retelling of some very basic sales principles, getAbstract.com recommends this manual to the audience its authors suggest, "sales managers, top managers, salespeople who want to advance professionally, divisional presidents and business owners" plus business school students. If you’re going to be academic, you might as well learn something.

Summary

Sales Performance Assessment

Assessing your sales force for maximum performance is critical, since they represent you to the public and deal with your customer - your company’s most important asset. Salespeople are a large workforce group; about 12% of the U.S. population is engaged in full-time sales.

Develop a "go-to-market strategy" to assess the activities and employees that connect your company to customers and prospective customers. Your sales force can be based on direct face-to-face selling or indirect selling, where salespeople from another organization represent you. Such possibilities include value-added resellers, dealers, distributors, agents or even rented sales forces. Other go-to-market strategies include advertising, promotion, direct mail, trade shows, telephone sales and the Internet. Start with a three-step market segment analysis to determine the right approach for your firm. First, analyze the business environment to determine the work needed to serve that segment. Second, evaluate the most effective way to reach that segment. Finally, identify your capabilities, and then chose between a direct or an indirect sales force. Use these four questions...

About the Authors

Andris A. Zoltners, Ph.D., is a professor of marketing at the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Prabhakant Sinha, Ph.D., is Managing Director of Z Associates, a sales and marketing consulting firm he founded with Andris Zoltners in 1983. Greggor A. Zoltners is a finance and marketing consultant and business writer.

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