Week $12$ Tutorial $$ MKF$3471$ Sales Management and Negotiation

Discussion on Week $10$ material on Acquiring sales talent and Week $11$ material on Sales Leadership.

Job Qualifications

Q$1.$ Assume the role of a district sales manager of Armstrong World Industries who supervises people calling on wholesalers and retail stores. You have an opening and are looking for a college graduate to fill the position. Your company offers a competitive compensation program for salespeople based on salary plus bonus, a free company car, and an expense account.

Some of the good qualities you'd like in the salesperson are $-$ Good, honest, dependable, admits mistake, loses a sale graciously, has problem$-$solving capabilities, a good understanding of customers' business, and is well$-$prepared.

Some of the poor qualities for the role are $-$ poor listening skills, wastes the customer's time, begins by talking sports, puts down competitor's products, walks in without an appointment, fails to ask about needs, and lacks product knowledge.

Now, develop a profile of the qualifications required for the job. The qualifications should include the following:

A$.$ Preferred skills

B$.$ Soft skills

C$.$ Personal traits

D$.$ Work experience

E$.$ Other job requirements

Interview Questions

Q$2.$ About two weeks after starting a new job, doubts creep into your mind. The gap between what you were told and what's actually happening gets wider by the day. When you've been on the job for three weeks, you say to yourself, "I think I made a mistake."

One way to avoid making a costly mistake like this is to ask the right questions when interviewing. What questions would you ask when applying for a field sales rep position to avoid accepting the wrong job?

List at least three questions.

Ethical Dilemma

Q$3.$ A typical ethical dilemma for a sales manager is on the issue of conflict of interest.

Read the mini$-$case on p$\mathrm{.}213$ of the reading on 'Sales Leadership, Management, and Supervision' and answer the following question:

What will you do and more importantly why? You are not limited to the choices listed in the ethical dilemma text in the reading.

Sales Leadership

Q$4.$ Austin has been a steady contributor as an automotive parts representative with Premier Auto Parts for the past five years. Conscientious and hard$-$working, he has always been willing to pull his weight and then some. Customers and coworkers find that his cheerful and pleasant demeanor make him a joy to be around. Over the past month, his sales manager, Warren, has noticed a significant change in Austin's behavior. Austin appears to be worn down, less than enthusiastic, and reluctant to make as many sales calls as he has in the past. His positive upbeat demeanor seems to have been replaced with a more pessimistic attitude about things.

His generally steady sales results have been on the decline. If you were Austin's sales manager, what would you do$?$ Explain.

$\{$Hint: discuss the power of the sales manager. Also, discuss the influence and communication strategies that the sales manager can use. And, finally, should you consider some coaching?$]$