ASSIGNMENT: Sales Management & Practices

Directions: Unless otherwise stated, answer in complete sentences, and be sure to use correct English, spelling and grammar. Sources must be cited in APA format. Your response should be four double-spaced pages; refer to the "Assignment Format" page located on the Course Home page for specific format requirements.

Part A: Fully describe three measures for assessing the effectiveness of a sales force as a whole. Explain why they are important, what they determine, and how sales managers apply these criteria to sales force performance evaluations.

Part B: You are a sales manager in the electronics industry. Your firm had a salesperson in the far western U.S. who everyone thought was a high performer. Every year he sent in his forecast, which was slightly higher than the year before, and every year he achieved that sales goal and received a nice evaluation and raise. Finally the salesperson retired and a replacement was reassigned. In the first year, he increased sales by 50 percent and in the second year he doubled the previous salesperson's output. Based on this anecdote:

1. List and describe five pipeline analysis evaluation criteria that would have allowed you, the sales manager, to more accurately assess the salesperson's performance.

2. What would these evaluation criteria tell you about the previous and current sales reps?