Exam 17: Management of the Sales Force

Some organizations are using ability or aptitude assessment instruments to determine future performance in certain types of sales jobs.Experts in the field of employment testing say:

The sales manager who treats each member of the sales force as an individual is displaying the dimension of leadership described as "consideration."

It is extremely important that managers who use rewards as external motivators for salespeople who reach certain goals:

Victor Craig is sales director for a software company selling diagnostic software to automotive repair shops all across the country.He has been with the company for 14 months and manages a staff of six sales representatives,as well as covering a four-state territory himself. One Monday the CEO of the company calls Victor into his office and tells him that management is dissatisfied with his performance as sales director,and that they are giving him 90 days to turn his performance around or he will be fired. -Management sends Victor to a workshop about coaching employees to success.Victor learns new information in this workshop.He had thought he was helping employees increase their skills,but in this workshop he discovers that in order to help an employee increase their skills:

Situational leadership occurs when:

The sales manager should not change the compensation plan,even if conditions in the marketplace warrant change.

A ________ ________ is an explanation of what the salesperson will do and under what conditions the work will be performed.

________ is an interpersonal process between the sales manager and the salesperson in which the manager helps the salesperson improve performance in a specific area.

Paolo dos Santos,a sales manager for Paronille Corporation,provides all of his salespeople with scheduled performance appraisals.This behavior indicates that he is attempting to incorporate the dimension of:

The functions performed by sales managers include planning,recruiting,training,budgeting,development of compensation plans,and assessing sales force productivity.

The Leadership Grid portrays dimensions of:

Effective sales managers set a good example and possess characteristics of both structure and consideration.

Victor Craig is sales director for a software company selling diagnostic software to automotive repair shops all across the country.He has been with the company for 14 months and manages a staff of six sales representatives,as well as covering a four-state territory himself. One Monday the CEO of the company calls Victor into his office and tells him that management is dissatisfied with his performance as sales director,and that they are giving him 90 days to turn his performance around or he will be fired. -When Victor asks for an explanation,the CEO says that Victor has not been able to organize or motivate the sales staff,and that the staff reports that they do not respect him.The CEO says that Victor:

In many cases,intrinsic motivators have a more long-term effect on the attitudes of salespeople than extrinsic motivators do.

The costs of training an employee can be recouped by a company in increased sales per employee in which of the following amounts?

The training programs of both small and large marketing firms should incorporate three dimensions.One of them is knowledge of the product line,company marketing strategies,territory information,and business trends.What are the other two?

Aspen Stewart is one of five sales managers at a sports equipment company.She and the other sales managers are under pressure from management to keep their teams of sales representatives motivated and hitting their sales quotas.Because of that,Aspen has studied psychology and motivation,and is always looking for better ways to motivate her team. -While they are discussing compensation,the sales managers and director of sales also decide how to evaluate sales production levels.The company's policy was to compare each sales representative's sales to their sales the previous year.Which of the following is the strongest argument for changing this method of evaluation?

Coaching focuses on helping the salesperson recognize the need to improve his or her performance and:

Aspen Stewart is one of five sales managers at a sports equipment company.She and the other sales managers are under pressure from management to keep their teams of sales representatives motivated and hitting their sales quotas.Because of that,Aspen has studied psychology and motivation,and is always looking for better ways to motivate her team. -To provide external motivation,Aspen runs a contest every quarter.Because she emphasizes sharing information and cooperation on her team over competition,she structures the contest so that if the team reaches a collective goal they all get a prize that has a substantial monetary value (she changes it every contest),and the top three individual winners:

Rosalinda Goldstein,a sales manager,is rated very low in the quality described as "structure." What steps should she take to incorporate more structure into her leadership style?