A large corporation notices an irregular decrease in the sales of a particular representative. The sales rep, normally in very high standing among other salespeople and quotas, has of late failed to achieve her own quota. What can be done by the sales manager to determine whether the slump in the sales curve is the responsibility of the representative or due to things beyond her control?

* Question 2

How would you respond to a salesperson who says the following? “You are asking me to spend more time calling on new accounts, but I do not see the point in doing so; most of my business comes from my existing accounts.” Instructions: Identify the issue underlying this concern and then provide a strong and detailed response that would help persuade this salesperson to view that time more positively.

* Question 3

What are the three interrelated sets of sales management decisions or processes? Instructions: Identify and describe each (in detail).

* Question 4

Given the following information from evaluations of the performance of different sales representatives, what possible conclusions can be made about why the sales reps are not achieving quota (assume each is not making quota)?

Representative 1: Achieved goals for sales calls, telephone calls, and new accounts; customer relations good; no noticeable deficiencies in any areas.

Representative 2: Completed substantially fewer sales calls than goal. Telephone calls high in number, but primarily with one firm. Time management analysis shows the sales rep to be spending a disproportionately large amount of time with one firm. New accounts are low; all other areas good to outstanding.

Representative 3: Number of sales calls low, below goal. Telephone calls, letters, proposals all very low and below goal. Evaluation shows poor time utilization. Very high amount of service-related activities in sales representative’s log; customer relations extremely positive; recently has received a great deal of feedback from customers on product function.