Exam 20: Personal Selling and Sales Management

According to Lindsey Smith of GE Healthcare,all of the following are necessary skills to be successful in serving her customers except which?

Although firms may differ in the specifics of how salespeople are managed,the sales management process has many similarities across firms.Briefly describe the three interrelated functions of the sales management process.

A disadvantage of a straight commission compensation plan is that

The personal selling process begins with the ________ stage and ends with the ________ stage.

An advantage of the straight salary compensation plan is that it

Many firms such as Xerox and IBM use a cross-functional sales practice known as

Which is the simplest salesforce organizational structure?

At the ________ stage in the personal selling process,a salesperson begins converting a prospect into a customer by creating a desire for the product or service he or she is selling.

The final stage in the personal selling process is referred to as

At White Chemical Co. ,management is examining its selling strategy and wants to acknowledge the role its sales staff has in undertaking sales support (non-selling)activities,yet keep the salespeople directed toward increasing sales for the next year.What advice is most likely to be appropriate here?

Sales research and practice show that knowledge of the customer and sales situation are key ingredients for

Sales force automation is typically applied to all of the following except which?

Team selling would most likely be used by a company that sells

Russ Berry Co.sells stuffed animals and holiday gifts.When its salesperson asks a retailer,"Do you want to order the two dozen assorted bears or two dozen white-only bears?" he has executed which stage of the selling process?

Aspects of ________ policies might include which individuals in a buying organization should be contacted,the amount of sales and service effort that different customers should receive,and the kinds of information salespeople should collect before or during a sales call.

When Jason called the toll-free number to order two children's books from the Chinaberry catalog,the firm was using

In a ________,the salesperson tries one appeal after another,hoping to "hit the right button."

Adaptive selling is a presentation format that

When specific knowledge is required to sell certain types of products or services,then a ________ is used.

One of the first sales management decisions a firm must make is whether the company should build its own salesforce or hire independent agents such as manufacturers' representatives.Abacus Designs sells high-end furniture to retailers and needs to make this decision.Independent agents would receive a 5 percent commission on sales while a company salesforce would receive a 3 percent commission,salaries,and benefits.In addition,with company salespeople,sales administration costs would be incurred for a total fixed cost of $500,000 per year.At what sales level would independent salespeople be less costly?