Sales Force Management

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/sales-force-management

Introduction

**Course Review: Sales Force Management on Coursera** In today’s dynamic and competitive business landscape, effective sales force management is pivotal for organizational success. If you are looking to enhance your knowledge and skills in this critical area, the “Sales Force Management” course on Coursera offers a comprehensive and structured approach to understanding the intricacies of hiring, training, and motivating your sales team. ### Course Overview The “Sales Force Management” course is the second installment in the Sales Operations/Management Specialization. It delves into several essential facets of sales force personnel management, including hiring processes, recruitment tools, training methodologies, and motivational strategies. This course is not only theoretical; it equips students with practical skills and actionable insights that can be implemented in real-world applications. ### Syllabus Breakdown 1. **Sales Force Selection, Recruitment, Motivation, and Evaluation** - This foundational week provides insight into the job design and recruitment processes, covering vital documents such as job analysis, job descriptions, and job qualifications statements. The concept of the job recruitment funnel is an eye-opener, illustrating how to streamline hiring effectively. The lesson is rounded out by exploring eight potential sources for recruiting sales professionals. 2. **Sales Force Recruitment** - Focused entirely on recruitment tools, this module dives into interviewing techniques, testing methodologies, and the importance of references. Furthermore, learners will gain expertise in ranking candidates and understanding the factors that predict performance and turnover — knowledge that is invaluable for any sales manager. 3. **The Role of Training in Sales Force Development** - Training remains a cornerstone of sales force success, and this module covers the intricacies of creating effective training programs. From the eight crucial steps involved to setting objectives and content selection, students will discover the key decisions in sales training that can lead to enhanced team performance. Emerging trends in training are also highlighted, ensuring that students are equipped with modern techniques. 4. **Motivating the Sales Force** - A routine challenge for sales managers is motivation, and this module addresses it head-on. By defining motivation and its significance, learners will explore five different theories that can be applied to sales situations. The discussions on rewards and incentives provide a pragmatic approach to creating effective motivation programs. 5. **Sales Force Evaluation** - This final module equips students with strategies for evaluating sales professionals. It starts by identifying common challenges that managers face during the evaluation process and then moves into a five-step model to guide evaluations. Different criteria for appraisal are reviewed, alongside the four primary types of performance evaluations, enabling a nuanced understanding of how to assess and improve sales performance effectively. ### Recommendations Whether you are a seasoned sales professional looking to sharpen your management skills, a sales manager eager to refine your team's performance, or a business leader interested in understanding the fundamental aspects of sales operations, this course is a fantastic option. The structured content and expert-led discussions provide a blend of academic rigor and practical applicability. Moreover, Coursera’s interactive platform enhances the learning experience with features like quizzes, peer-reviewed assignments, and community discussions, helping to reinforce knowledge and foster collaboration. ### Conclusion If you're ready to elevate your sales management capabilities, the “Sales Force Management” course on Coursera is a valuable investment in your professional development. By the end of the course, you’ll emerge with a thorough understanding of how to recruit effectively, train strategically, motivate your team, and evaluate performance, setting the stage for elevated success in your sales organization. Don't miss the opportunity to broaden your expertise in this crucial aspect of business management!

Syllabus

Sales Force Selection, Recruitment, Motivation, and Evaluation

This week provides a general overview of the job design and recruitment processes. As part of that, we cover three important documents: a job analysis, a job description and a job qualifications statement. We discuss what these documents are, what purpose they serve and how they are prepared. We present a concept called the job recruitment funnel and show how this is applied to hiring situations. Finally we discuss 8 sources for recruiting sales people.

This module focuses on the recruitment of sales professionals. In this section, we cover the tools of recruitment. This includes interviewing, testing and references. We also cover how to rank and select job candidates and describe the factors that predict performance and turnover.

In this module we focus on the training. We cover the 8 steps involved in a sales training program, how to set training objectives and the kinds of content found in sales training programs. We discuss the three key decisions involved in sales training as well as the emerging trends in sales training.

Part of a sales manager's job is to motivate his or her salespeople to perform the tasks critical to an organization's success. In this unit, we define motivation and its importance in sales. We will present five different theories of motivation and show how these work in sales situations. Finally, we discuss the use of rewards and incentives as part of a motivation program.

In this module we cover the basics of sales force evaluation. We will begin with identifying the challenges a manager faces in evaluating a sales person. Next I will present a five step model to guide the evaluation process. After this, we will review the various criteria used in evaluating sales people. Finally, we will go over the four kinds of appraisals.