A Guide to Sales Management, livre ebook

In many FMCG companies, the challenges for the sales function are to develop effective sales strategies and to deliver excellent sales operations in order to support the achievement of business targets. The purpose of this book is to provide a practical guide to sales management through the analysis of its key components: route to market, sales strategy, key performance indicators, organizational models, sales force management, customer business planning, order to cash, and sales and operations planning.
For each of these topics, the content of this book is a balance of theory, practical tips, and useful tools, keeping in mind not only the “what,” but also the “how” of the implementation. The reader will learn how to map sales channels, assess a customer base, design a sales strategy, build a sales scorecard, and organize a sales team’s frontline and back ofi ce. The book also covers how to structure trade category plans, customer business plans, and customer negotiation plans and how to optimize
the sales team’s contribution to the company’s key fundamental processes. It concludes with an overview of the future challenges of sales management.
List of Figures ....................................................................................... xi
Figure Credits ..................................................................................... xiii
Foreword ............................................................................................. xv
Preface .............................................................................................. xvii
Acknowledgments ................................................................................ xxi

Chapter 1 Trade Structure and Route to Market................................ 1
Retail outlets and sales channels ........................................ 1
Trade accounts and route to market .................................. 8
Trade account strategies and economics .......................... 13
Trade account pre-evaluation model ............................... 23
Takeaway points ............................................................. 26
Chapter 2 The Sales Strategy ........................................................... 29
Definitions of corporate strategy: a mini tour .................. 29
Sales strategy: definition, responsibility, and sources ........ 33
Market analysis: trade environment scan ......................... 34
Responding to customers’ strategies ................................. 34
Customer-satisfaction surveys as a strategic input and a
monitoring tool ........................................................ 35
Organization capabilities assessment and capability
building program ..................................................... 37
Corporate strategy: vision, strategic themes, and goals ..... 38
The definition of the sales strategy: strategic actions,
targets, and activities ................................................ 43
Communication and outputs of the sales strategy ............ 47
Takeaway points ............................................................. 47
Chapter 3 The Performance Indicators for Sales Management ......... 49
Why we need key performance indicators? ...................... 49
Financial indicators ......................................................... 49
Field sales efficacy indicators ........................................... 51
Customer-service indicators............................................. 52
Point of purchase indicators ............................................ 56
Joint business planning and customer indicators.............. 61
Utilizing KPIs: the sales team scorecard ........................... 62
Utilizing KPIs: identifying reasons and solutions ............. 63
Takeaway points ............................................................. 66
Chapter 4 Organizational Roles and Responsibilities ....................... 69
The pillars of the organization of the sales function ........ 69
The multilevel customer interface: an example ............... 69
The front office roles ...................................................... 72
The back office roles ....................................................... 77
Takeaway points ............................................................. 99
Chapter 5 Organization Models, Recruitment, and Incentives ...... 101
The organization of the front office: alternative models .... 101
The organization of the back office: alternative models ..... 104
Job descriptions ............................................................ 109
Sizing, recruiting, training, and developing
the sales team......................................................... 112
Incentives, variable pay, reward, and recognition .......... 116
Takeaway points ........................................................... 119
Chapter 6 The Business Planning Process ..................................... 121
The business planning process in sales management ..... 121
Customer business plans: prerequisite and structure ..... 122
Trade category plans: prerequisite and structure ........... 131
Integrated business planning ........................................ 138
Customer audit ............................................................ 140
Integration matrix ........................................................ 143
The customer negotiation plan ..................................... 144
IT tools for business planning ...................................... 146
Takeaway points ........................................................... 148
Chapter 7 The Order to Cash Process ........................................... 151
The definition of order to cash ..................................... 151
The phases of the O2C cycle ........................................ 151
The golden rule and the principles of O2C .................. 154
Roles and responsibilities of the O2C cycle .................. 155
The performance indicators of the O2C cycle .............. 158
IT tools for O2C .......................................................... 160
O2C development and innovation ............................... 162
Takeaway points ........................................................... 164
Chapter 8 The Sales and Operations Planning Process .................. 167
The definition of sales and operations planning ............ 167
Why a sales director should care about S&OP?............. 168
The phases of the S&OP cycle ..................................... 169
The principles of S&OP ............................................... 177
The prerequisites of S&OP .......................................... 180
Meetings supporting the S&OP process ........................ 183
The S&OP performance indicators ............................... 186
IT tools for S&OP ........................................................ 189
Takeaway points ........................................................... 189
Chapter 9 The Challenges of Sales Management ............................ 191
Changes will happen ..................................................... 191
Mergers and acquisitions ............................................... 191
An experience of merger ................................................ 194
Two theories on leading cultural change ........................ 198
A change checklist for the sales director ......................... 204
Customer consolidation and channels evolution ............ 208
Customer internationalization ....................................... 210
The future challenges of sales management .................... 212
Takeaway points ........................................................... 212
References ..................................................................................... 215
Index ..................................................................................... 221