個案資料

Sales managers need to understand that linear relationships may be the exception rather than the rule. These managers have the unenviable job of trying to perpetually improve team performance. To do this, they must hire people with the right skills and then provide training, evaluation, and compensation programs. We normally label these attributes “good” or “bad” in respect to sales performance—for example, providing sales training is good; hiring arrogant salespeople is bad. But to understand the drivers and inhibitors of a sales team’s performance, a more nuanced view is needed. Relationships between key drivers or inhibitors and the sales team’s performance are more likely to follow a non-linear pattern, where diminishing or negative returns are realized. For example, a certain number of training hours improves salesperson performance, but additional training may have no impact, which becomes an unnecessary expense. In this article, the author looks at four common statements using linear logic, sales management realities, and non-linear rationales for comparison. These are 1) the use of customer relationship management technology improves a sales representative’s performance; 2) the more customer oriented a sales representative is, the better; 3) give salespeople more product lines to sell and they will sell more products; and 4) role stress has a negative impact on a sales representative’s performance.

• Sales management
• Sales performance
• Nonlinear Management
• Sales Team Training