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Part Three
Developing the Salesforce
MAKING SALES MANAGEMENT DECISIONS
CASE 5.1: HELP WANTED!
Background
Fred Sutton, sales manager for Batops, a small
regional manufacturer and marketer of various
grades of batteries based out of Kansas City, has
been experiencing a difficult time filling an open
sales rep position that was vacated by a rep who
quickly left the company due to his spouse's job
transfer. As the weeks and months passed, Fred
began to feel significant pressure and was becoming
anxious about filling this position. Reps in his dis-
trict were complaining that helping to service cus-
tomers in the open territory was taking a toll on
relationships with their existing customers. Conse-
quently, Fred was concerned with the level of service
current customers in the vacated territory were
receiving. Moreover, no prospecting had been con-
ducted in the territory since it was vacated, making it
difficult to increase sales volume. To compound
matters, Fred has been helping to cover the vacated
territory and it was starting to detrimentally affect
his ability to properly manage his salesforce. Fred
realized that the longer the position was left vacant,
the greater the chances for damaged customer rela-
tionships and the larger the lost sales opportunity.
Fred's boss, Sean Lexington, was a tolerant individ-
ual, but his patience was wearing thin. Fred knew
that if he did not fill the position soon, not only
would his personal income be hurt, but he risked
receiving a poor performance appraisal. Given that
his last appraisal was less than stellar he wanted to
avoid this at all costs.
Fred has been undertaking an extensive search
to fill the vacant position. He placed a classified ad
in the local newspaper, the Kansas City Star. Addi-
tionally, he contacted the career placement offices of
local colleges and universities to see whether they
had any leads on potential candidates. This attracted
a limited pool of candidates, several of which were
interviewed for the position. However, Fred was
having a difficult time finding a proper fit. Some
candidates were simply unqualified for the position.
The qualified candidates seemed to lose interest upon
learning more about what the position entailed.
The vacant position is demanding. It requires
extensive overnight travel and some weekend travel.
The job is also physically demanding, requiring lift-
ing heavy product, assembling displays and spending
grueling hours on the road driving from account to
account. The salary is primarily commission-based,
with the average salesperson earning about $45,000
his or her first year. Within five years, the average
salesperson with the company makes about $75,000
a year. However, the earnings potential is great for
star performers, with some earning $150,000
annually. Although there was money to be made as
a salesperson, the company's size limited the oppor-
tunities for promotion. The company offers little
formal training. Salespeople are provided a training
manual and most of the training occurs on the job.
Salespeople at Batops are required to be very
customer-oriented. In addition, they need good
prospecting skills since the company is constantly
trying to acquire new customers given its relatively
high customer turnover rate. Furthermore, the per-
son who fills this position must have outstanding
planning and organizing skills, leadership skills, be
persuasive, show initiative, and possess strong com-
munication skills, including the ability to write,
speak and listen.
Current Situation
Fred believes that his inability to fill the vacant
position stems from not making the position look
attractive enough to potential candidates. Thus,
to increase the attractiveness of the position, he
decided to rewrite his newspaper ad, neglecting to
mention some of the responsibilities of the job. In
particular, he downplayed the travel associated with
the position and emphasized the high earnings
potential. In doing so, he noticed an increase in job
applications. Fred reasoned that if he could make
the job sound attractive enough he could persuade
someone to take it, who surely later would find it
a rewarding opportunity.
What follows are some excerpts from a recent
interview with Victor Shell, a candidate attracted by
the new round of advertising. Victor recently gradu-
ated with a degree in marketing from a well-respected
university in the area. Although he has limited sales
experience, he otherwise appears to be qualified for
the position.
Fred: Victor, you'll be responsible for selling various
lines of batteries to retailers throughout the Mid-
west. You'll service existing accounts in your ter-
ritory as well as prospect for new accounts. We
participate in two trade shows a year, which
should provide you with good opportunities to
prospect.
Victor: Does the position entail overnight stay?
Fred: Yes, there's some overnight travel involved,
depending upon where your customers are
located. However, we pay for all your travel
expenses, including your lodging and meals. I
haven't heard many complaints from our sales-
force regarding travel requirements.
Chapter Five
Acquiring Sales Talent: Recruitment and Selection
165
Questions
1. Assess Fred's interview with Victor.
Victor: Do you have a training program?
Fred: We have a fine training program. Our current
salespeople have been through our training pro-
gram and each one is performing quite well right
now. Our training manual is particularly helpful
for learning new product knowledge. Once you
get into the field, you will find the product prac-
tically sells itself.
Victor: Are there ample opportunities for promo-
tion?
Fred: We try to promote from within as much as pos-
sible. There is no reason why a hardworking ambi-
tious person should not be able to get promoted
in this company. In fact, I began my career as a
delivery person for Batops, was promoted to sales,
and from there moved into sales management.
Victor: I understand the job pays a salary plus com-
mission.
Fred: That's correct. Our starting base salary is
$25,000. However, with commission, you could
earn as much as $150,000! With little effort you
should have no problem making about $50,000-
$60,000 your first year. .
2. How are the key concepts of socialization related
to this situation? Explain.
3. What do you think might happen to Victor
should he accept the position?
4. What responsibility does Victor have when inter-
viewing for a position such as this?
5. How do you think that Fred could improve his
recruitment and selection process?
Role Play
ROLE PLAY
Situation: Read Case 5.1.
Characters: Fred Sutton, sales manager; Sean Lex-
ington, Fred's boss; Victor Shell, sales
candidate.
Scene 1: Location—Sean's office. Action-Fred
meets with Sean to discuss the actions
that have been taken to date to fill the
vacant sales position. Sean provides
Fred with advice on how to improve
his recruitment and selection strategy.
Scene 2: Location-Fred's office. Action-Fred
interviews Victor for the position. This
time he is careful to avoid misrepresen-
tation and takes actions to achieve real-
ism and congruence.
After interviewing two candidates for the posi-
tion resulting from his new approach, Fred decided
he would forgo any more interviews and make a
job offer to Victor, given his apparent interest, and
Fred's strong desire to quickly fill the position. Vic-
tor was very excited about the offer Fred extended
to him. Two days ago he interviewed for a sales posi-
tion at another company that also extended him an
offer. Although this company was reputable, and
the offer sounded like a solid opportunity, it did not
sound as appealing as the opportunity at Batops. He
is leaning toward accepting the offer from Batops,
but he wants to talk it over with his wife. He likes
the fact that there is not much overnight travel. He
and his wife recently had a baby son and Victor
does not want to be away from his new family too
much. The fact that the company provides training
also appeals to him. Although he took a sales class
in college, he believes he can be more successful
with additional company training. The other com-
pany Victor interviewed with offered a one-week
training program, which he thought might not be
enough. The compensation is particularly appeal-
ing. The offer from the other company included a
higher base salary, but first-year earnings were
expected to be only about $45,000 and there was
no mention of earning $150,000. With student
loans to pay off, Victor is interested in earning as
much as he can as quickly as possible. Although
Victor is eager to sell, he wants to land a job with a
company that provides ample opportunity for pro-
motion. Based on his conversation with Fred, Vic-
tor sensed such opportunity existed at Batops.
CASE 5.2: STUCK IN THE PAST
Background
Steelrock Industries manufactures and markets
industrial equipment throughout the United States.
Last year, Steelrock did more than $2 billion in sales
and appeared to be in an upward growth trend. The
company has grown considerably since its inception
in 1974. Founder and CEO Carman Pulte is proud
of the progress the company has achieved over the
years, despite considerable aggressive competition.
He attributes much of Steelrock's success to his
management team, most of whom have been with
him since the company's founding.
David Winston had been vice president of sales
and marketing at Steelrock since 1977. Two months
ago, he retired and was replaced by Duane Rowland.
Duane had been in product design and engineering
at Steelrock since 1989. Well-educated, articulate,
and likable, Rowland was believed to be the best
candidate for the position.
Rowland, a very methodical individual, set as his
first task an assessment of the marketing program.
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