Sales Force Strategies and Management: MBA 698
Summer II 2006 Instructor: Dr. Mark Leach Office: Hilton 315 Phone: (310) 338-1896 e-mail: mleach@lmu.edu
Course Objectives: • To examine the linkages among management of the sales function, personal selling activities, and the marketing area. • To gain an understanding of the role of the sales force in achieving of the firm's marketing objectives. • To develop an understanding of sales practices through the analysis of numerous case-based sales management issues, including hiring, firing, training, motivating, compensating, and evaluating sales personnel. • To develop decision-making skills and analytic capabilities around the development and management of both the sales function and salespeople.
Overview of Course Components and Topical Areas
The Context of Sales Management: This first module of the course offers insights into how the personal selling process works from both the seller’s and the buyer’s perspective. The recent emergence of sales management as a “boardroom issue” is also examined. Also overviewed are the three distinct types of “sales” which occur in today’s marketplace, and the different type of “selling” and customer account management which each requires. Finally, selected ethical dimensions concerned with managing the sales force are also examined.
Marketing Strategy & Top-Level Management of the Sales Force: In this section we examine how an organization’s sales force strategy is inherently linked to its overall marketing strategy and approach-to-market. In addition, cases and materials examine the concept of “relationship marketing” and how the firm should best organize its sales force to best cater to its specific customers. The last topic we examine is a pervasive one in today’s business environment – or why frictions and conflict exists between the sales and marketing functions in the firm, and what can be done to