Sales management

Short description: Term in sales business

Template:Sales

Business administration

Management of a business

Accounting

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Business entities

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Corporate title

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Economics

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Finance

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Types of management

* Asset
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Organization

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Trade

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Marketing

* Marketing
* Marketing management

Key concepts

* Distribution
* Pricing
* Retail
* Service
* Activation
* Brand licensing
* Brand management
* Co-creation
* Corporate identity
* Dominance
* Effectiveness
* Ethics
* Mystery shopping
* Promotion
* Research
* Segmentation
* Strategy
* Account-based marketing
* Digital marketing
* Product marketing
* Social marketing
* Influencer marketing
* Attribution
* Annoyance factor

Promotional content

* Advertising
* Branding
* Corporate anniversary
* Direct marketing
* Loyalty marketing
* Mobile marketing
* On-hold messaging
* Personal selling
* Premiums
* Prizes
* Product placement
* Propaganda
* Publicity
* Sales promotion
* Sex in advertising
* Underwriting spot

Promotional media

* Behavioral targeting
* Brand ambassador
* Display advertising
* Drip marketing
* In-game advertising
* Mobile advertising
* Native advertising
* New media
* Online advertising
* Out-of-home advertising
* Point of sale
* Product demonstration
* Promotional merchandise
* Visual merchandising
* Web banner
* Word-of-mouth

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Sales management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of sales techniques and the management of a firm's sales operations.  It is an important business function as net sales, through the sale of products and services and resulting profit, drive most commercial business. These are also typically the goals and performance indicators of sales management. Sales manager is the typical title of someone whose role is sales management.

## Contents

* 1 Theories and models
* 1.1 Sales funnel
* 1.2 Hunter-Farmer Model
* 2 Sales planning
* 3 Recruitment of sales staff
* 4 Sales reporting
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 External links

## Theories and models

Sales management is guided by several theories and models that help structure sales operations, define the roles of salespeople, and manage customer relationships. These models provide a framework for forecasting, training, and strategic planning.[1]

### Sales funnel

The sales funnel (also known as a purchase funnel) is a consumer-focused marketing model that illustrates the theoretical journey a customer goes through from initial awareness of a product or service to a final purchase.[2] Sales managers use the funnel to track leads as they progress through different stages (e.g., from qualified lead to negotiation to closing). By analyzing conversion rates between stages, managers can forecast future sales, identify weaknesses in the sales process, and allocate resources more effectively.[3]

### Hunter-Farmer Model

The "Hunter-Farmer model" is a common framework for classifying salespeople and structuring a sales force. This model divides sales roles into two archetypes:[4]

* Hunters are focused on new business development. They seek out and acquire new customers, often through prospecting and cold calling. Their primary goal is to close new accounts.
* Farmers are focused on account management. They cultivate and grow relationships with existing customers to ensure retention, repeat business, and upselling opportunities.

From a management perspective, the model influences decisions on hiring profiles, compensation structures, and the overall sales strategy. A company might choose to have salespeople perform both roles or create specialized teams of hunters and farmers to align with its business goals.[5]

Churchill mentioned that the antecedents of sales performance are based on the meta-analysis for the period 1918- 1982 (76 years of previous research work).[6] He suggested five factors that influence a salesperson's job behaviour and performance along with different categories like skill level, role perceptions, motivation, aptitude, personal factors, and organizational factors with three moderators.[6]

## Sales planning

Sales planning involves strategy, setting profit-based sales targets, quotas, sales forecasting, demand management and the execution of a sales plan.

A sales plan is a strategic document that outlines the business targets, resources and sales activities. It typically follows the lead of the marketing plan, strategic planning[7][8] and the business plan with more specific detail on how the objectives can be achieved through the actual sale of products and services. Sales is a recurring and periodical process (maybe 'daily'), hence, this can not be called as a project. Sales is a process and ideally a periodical activity.

## Recruitment of sales staff

The three recruitment tasks used in sales management are job analysis; job description and job qualifications.[9]

Job analysis is performed to specify the certain tasks that a salesperson is responsible for on a daily basis. It should identify what activities are deemed as being vital to the success of the company. Any person associated with the sales organization or the human resources department could carry out the analysis, or it could be done by an outside specialist (Spiro, pp. 134–137). The person that is responsible for completing a job analysis should have an in-depth comprehension of the daily activities of the salespeople.

This job analysis is then written in an explicit manner as a job description. The general information consists of:[9]

1. Title of job
2. Organizational relationship
3. Types of products and services sold
4. Types of customers called on
5. Duties and responsibilities related to the job
6. Job demands.

An effective job description will identify compensation plans, size of workload, and the salespeople's duties. It is also primarily responsible for hiring tools such as application forms and psychological tests.[9]

The most difficult part of this process is the determination of job qualifications. A reason for this difficulty is because hiring affects a company's competitive advantage in the market as well as the amount of revenue.[10] Additionally, there should be a set of hiring attributes that is associated with each sales job that is within a company. If an individual does not excel in their assigned territory, it could be due to external factors relating to that person's environment.

A company should be careful not to submit to discrimination in regards to employment. A number of qualifications (ethnic background, age, etc.) can not be used in the selection process of hiring.[9]

## Sales reporting

The sales reporting includes the key performance indicators of the sales force. The key performance indicators record whether or not the sales process is being operated effectively and achieving the results as set out in the sales planning. It should enable the sales managers to take timely corrective action deviate from projected values. It also allows senior management to evaluate the sales manager.

More "results related" than "process related" are information regarding the sales funnel and the hit rate.

Sales reporting can provide metrics for sales management compensation. Rewarding the best managers without accurate and reliable sales reports is not objective.

Also, sales reports are made for internal use for top management. If other divisions’ compensation plan depends on final results, it is needed to present results of sales department's work to other departments.

Finally, sales reports are required for investors, partners and government, so the sales management system should have advanced reporting capabilities to satisfy the needs of different stakeholders.

## See also

* Economy
* Good (economics)
* Marketing
* Merchandise
* Personal selling
* Promotional mix
* Sales
* Sales operations
* Sales force management

## References

1. ↑ Johnston, Mark W.; Marshall, Greg W. (2016). Sales Force Management: Leadership, Innovation, Technology. Routledge. pp. 45–47. ISBN 978-1-317-38522-7.
2. ↑ Ambrose, Gavin; Harris, Paul (2011). The Visual Dictionary of Graphic Design. AVA Publishing. p. 110. ISBN 978-2-940411-15-9.
3. ↑ Weinberg, Mike (2015). Sales Management. Simplified.: The Straight Truth About Getting the Most from Your Sales Team. AMACOM. pp. 103–105. ISBN 978-0-8144-3659-9.
4. ↑ Spiro, Rosann L.; Rich, Gregory A.; Stanton, William J. (2008). Management of a Sales Force (12th ed.). McGraw-Hill/Irwin. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-07-352977-6.
5. ↑ Zoltners, Andris A.; Sinha, Prabhakant; Lorimer, Sally E. (August 26, 2021). "The End of the Hunter-vs.-Farmer Model for Sales". Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/08/the-end-of-the-hunter-vs-farmer-model-for-sales. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Churchill, Gilbert A.; Ford, Neil M.; Hartley, Steven W.; Walker, Orville C. (1985). "The Determinants of Salesperson Performance: A Meta-Analysis". Journal of Marketing Research 22 (2): 103–118. doi:10.1177/002224378502200201.
7. ↑ NC Office of State Personnel, "Strategic Planning", n.d., web. 10 July 2011. "OSP - Strategic Planning". http://www.performancesolutions.nc.gov/strategicPlanning/index.aspx. >
8. ↑ Spiro, Rosann L., Gregory A. Rich, and William J. Stanton, Management of a Sales Force. 12. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2008. 49-51. Print.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Spiro, Rosann L., Gregory A. Rich, and William J. Stanton (2008), Management of a Sales Force, 12th Edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin, Boston, pp. 134-137.
10. ↑ Munyon, Timothy P.; Summers, James K.; Ferris, Gerald R. (2011). "Team staffing modes in organizations: Strategic considerations on individual and cluster hiring approaches". Human Resource Management Review 21 (3): 228–242. doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2010.07.002.

## External links

* The Sales Management Association: claims to be "the only global, cross-industry professional association for managers focused in sales force effectiveness"

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Management

* Outline of business management
* Index of management articles

By type
of organization|

* Academic
* Association
* Business
* Restaurant
* Healthcare
* Military
* Public

By focus (within
an organization)|

| By scope|

| Strategic
(top-level)|

* Capability
* Change
* Communication
* Financial
* Innovation
* Performance
* Risk
* Systems

|

By component|

* Facility
* Product
* Product lifecycle
* Brand
* Program
* Project
* Construction

By activity or
department
managed|

| Line|

* Marketing
* Operations/production
* Process
* Quality
* Sales

|

Staff|

* Accounting
* Office
* Records

By aspect or
relationship|

* Customer relationship
* Engineering
* Logistics
* Perception
* Supply chain
* Talent

By problem|

* Conflict
* Crisis
* Stress

By resource|

* Environmental resource
* Human resources
* Information
* Information technology
* Knowledge
* Land
* Materials
* Skills
* Stock
* Technology
* Time

Management
positions|

* Interim
* Middle
* Senior

Methods
and approaches|

* Adhocracy
* Collaborative method
* Distributed
* Earned value management
* Evidence-based management
* Full Range of Leadership Model
* Management by objectives
* Management style
* Macromanagement
* Micromanagement
* Scientific management
* Social entrepreneurship
* Team building
* Virtual management

Management skills
and activities|

* Decision-making
* Forecasting
* Leadership

Pioneers and
scholars|

* Peter Drucker
* Eliyahu M. Goldratt
* Oliver E. Williamson

Education|

* Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering
* Business school
* Certified Business Manager
* Chartered Management Institute
* Critical management studies
* Degrees
* Bachelor of Business Administration
* Master of Business Administration
* PhD in management
* Organizational studies

Other|

* Administration
* Collaboration
* Corporate governance
* Executive compensation
* Management consulting
* Management control
* Management cybernetics
* Management development
* Management fad
* Management system
* Managerial economics
* Managerial psychology
* Managerialism
* Organization development
* Organizational behavior management
* Pointy-haired Boss
* Williamson's model of managerial discretion

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