Basics of Sales Management I

Chapter

4Recruitment and Selection

Dr. Fatima & Ms Nivedita

STC Gurgaon

Basics of Sales Management I

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Introduction

Recruitment is the process of locating and attracting job applicants.

Recruiting and selecting a new sales force is an important aspect of the sales

manager’s job.

The basic objective of sales force planning is to balance supply and demand.

This requires consideration of a wide range of variables, including (1) Market

conditions such as increased competition in the form of new goods and

services (2) Economic conditions, such as increased inflation or economic

growth (3) Demographic conditions (4) Technological developments.

Basics of Sales Management I

Variables Which Influence the Forecasting of Sales Force Requirements

Internal and External Sources

Market conditionsEconomic status Demographic conditions

Operational plan Technological

development

External Sources Analysis of sources

such as Competitors

Other industry sources Universities Colleges

Employment agencies Terminations

Internal Sources Analysis of current

workforce Abilities Skills Talents Promotions Transfers

Forecast of sales force needed

Numbers Work experience

Abilities

Comparison of

Forecast of External Supply of Sales Forces Numbers Work experience

Abilities

Forecast of Internal Supply of Sales Forces Numbers Work experience

Abilities

Reconciliation of any differences

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Preparing The Job Description And Specification

The sales manager should prepare the job description before recruiting the sales

force. The following factors should be included in any job description:

a. Title of the job

b. Duties and responsibilities

c. Reporting methods

d. Technical requirements

e. Territory to be covered

f. Degree of autonomy

Basics of Sales Management I

Jobber and Miller have described certain important qualities of salespeople.

Important Qualities

of Salespeople

Communication Skills Personality

Determination

Intelligence

Motivation/Self-motivationProduct Knowledge

Educational Background

Confidence

Appearance Resilience and tenacity Business Sense

Intergrity

Ambition

Acceptability/likeability Empathy

Initiative

Self-discipline Experience

Adaptability

Persuasiveness

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Basics of Sales Management I

Recruitment Sources

There are five main sources of recruitment:

1. Advertisements

2. From inside — the company’s own staff

3. Recruitment agencies

4. Educational institutes

5. Competitors and other industries

Basics of Sales Management I

Selection Procedure Selection, as the name implies, involves picking and hiring a few people from

the total number of candidates applying for the sales job.

Selection is done by comparing the requirements of a job with the applicant’s qualifications.

The following are

some common steps in any selection process: Job offer

Physical examination

Reference check

Psychological testing

Interview

Application scrutiny

Hiring profile1

2

3

4

5

6

7

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Legally Workable Performance AppraisalsA. A focus with respect to performance appraisal is the involvement of subjective judgments. In general, the courts have shown tolerance for subjectivity and performance appraisals, particularly when the positions involved are "upper level" jobs involving skills, attributes and abilities arguably not susceptible or at least less susceptible to objective measurement.B. Elements of a Successful Performance Appraisal System:

1. Clear instructions and training for performance raters.2. Performance-rater familiarity with the nature and importance of job duties on which employee is being rated and with the employee's actual performance.3. Use of an appraisal system that is as job-related and understandable as

possible.4. Precautions against improper bias by performance raters.5. Some additional level of review and signature beyond the performance

rater.

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1. Some amount of monitoring to ensure uniform approach or application of the standards in the performance system.

2. Employee right to review and comment.3. Employee signature to signify reading of review but not necessarily agreement with any rating.4. Employee right of appeal if the system is oriented toward that.5. Whether the system is numerical and traditional, or collaborative, some

means to ensure specific and mutually agreed-upon goals.6. Some statistical evaluation for adverse impact.

C. Practical considerations:1. Make sure the appraisals are actually done.2. Try to ensure that the written text in the appraisal matches any numerical rating.3. Use some form of review process to help ensure against arbitrary decisions.4. Try as best as possible to ensure honest and candid appraisals so that,

to the extent that the appraisal is set up to do this, it distinguishes between high and low performers.

Basics of Sales Management I

D. Most truly effective performance appraisal systems are characterized by the fact that those administering the performance appraisals are well trained. Instead of offering simple instructions to performance raters, organizations that want the most from their appraisal process usually implement training programs to correct a rater's common mistakes. A list of common mistakes is as follows:

1. Halo effect – rating employees “excellent” in many categories when they excel only in one.

2. Leniency/stringency – very low or high ratings instead of finding any category in which the employee is average.

3. Contrast effect – evaluation an individual in relation to other employees‘ performance instead of on job requirements.

4. Similar-to-me effect – rating employees favorably because they mirror the rater's self-image.

5. Central tendency error – putting every employee's performance in the middle of the rating scale.

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Some Management ConsiderationsA. As noted, a major issue with performance appraisal systems is defining the goals of the system and matching goals with the right tools and techniques.

1. An emphasis on selection of employees for promotion or training and\or granting of compensation increases favors a traditional, quantitative appraisal with unilateral goal-setting by management.

a. Managers may be more comfortable with numerical or scale rankings.

b. Quantitative measures sometimes are easier to defend against legal challenges than qualitative appraisals.

B. If the emphasis is on communication, matching expectations between supervisor and subordinate, and mutual goal setting, then a collaborative approach aimed at helping employees develop and become more effective is preferable.

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C. A system incorporating both traditional and collaborative approaches may be

desirable, but such systems require sophistication and considerable attention

to design. Employers should be wary, as noted, of imposing more goals on a

performance appraisal system than it can be expected to accomplish.

D. Whatever system is used, a good measure of success is how those

appraised and compensated perceive the accuracy and fairness of the program.

A program that is seen as fair an personalized, regardless of sophistication, will

likely be motivational. A good first step in deciding whether changes are

needed in a performance appraisal system may be a survey of management and

employee attitudes about appraisal practices and compensation.

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Problems with forced ranking approaches

1. With respect to discrimination issues, because forced raking presents the

possibility that a satisfactorily-performing employee may nonetheless be

ranked at the bottom and discharged as a result, the employer must be prepared

to present a thorough explanation of the program, including its emphasis on

comparative rather than actual job performance, in order to avoid findings of

pretext and/or discriminatory intent.

2. To avoid disparate or adverse impact claims, the employer must ensure

against disproportionate effect on employees in protected categories.

3. Such systems do not impose honesty in performance evaluations – more

often they artificially deflate ratings. Because employee performance is rated

in comparison with performance of other employees, it may have little to do

with actual job performance.

Basics of Sales Management I

4. Even if all employees are performing well, some will be ranked at the bottom,

which may punish those organization that have recruited and trained well,

but weeded out poor performers.

5. At the senior or executive-level, a company may not be accepting of the

proposition that a certain proportion of employees are unworthy of retention.

6. If a forced ranking system is pushed too many levels down from senior and

executive level positions, the tendency may be to impose the forced lower

ranking on employees in positions which are less crucial, so that ranking

becomes more dependent of job than quality of performance.

7. Forced ranking systems provide little allowance for market factors – some

positions are difficult to fill because the labour market includes few persons

with necessary skills. An employee in such a position may be marginal

performer, but hard to replace, so that a discharge based on forced ranking

be an unwanted result.

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Sales Force Training

The purpose of sales training is to achieve improved job performance. In the

absence of training, job performance improves with experience. Training

substitutes for job experience so that trained sales personnel achieve high

job performance levels faster.

The overall efficiency of a company’s personal selling operation is influenced

by the state of relations with customers and prospects. The sales force plays

a crucial role in moulding and maintaining these relations. Contrasted with

inexperienced sales personnel, experienced sales personnel maintain better

continuing relations and make better impressions on prospects. Sales training

contributes by accelerating the process of learning through experience.

Basics of Sales Management I

Aim of Training

Building Sales Training Programmes

Identifying Initial Training Needs

Training on Market Place

Training in Handling the Competition

Training on Communication

Training on Negotiating

Training Methods