Mktg600 | Management homework help

150 words to each questions agree or disagree

Q1.

This week we are exploring the development of an effective sales force and if it is more important to prioritize training or selection. First thing we need to establish a common understanding of what comprises a sales force. A sales force is every employee of a company that attempts to pursued consumers to purchase produces from that company. This would include every employee within the store that you may have an interaction with, marketers, ad designers, and management. Each of these employees contributes to a consumer experience and overall perception of the company. Furthermore, to make the appropriate selection there are several variables of the company that will need to be defined to make to the correct selection. Is the company new or established? Is the company restricted to a local population or a global market? What is the size of the company and relative operating capital? What is the average rate of turnover? How complex is the products being sold by the company? These are all issues that would drastically affect the strategy utilized to develop an effective sales force and retain it.

            Costco for example is a very large and well-established company in the global market with a vast array of products that do not require a significant degree of knowledge to sell. The company has focused on retention of employees through good wages and better than average benefits. The longer a company can retain personnel the more experience they will gain and if they enjoy their place of employment, it becomes easy to endorse the company and their products. Costco has invested heavily into training and developing quality employees due to the large demand of labor they require. Most companies become more selective as potential employees are screened for the more influential positions that have significantly larger impacts on the greater commerce perception. Some companies will grow their future management or higher positions from within the company but if there are no candidates with enough skill then the company will be forced to outsource the position. In conclusion training is more important at the lower levels that require a significant number of employees, but selection is more important at the higher levels where potential employees are expected to have the training and experience to fulfill the obligations of that important position. 

References

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2014). Marketing management (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall

Q2.

First off, I would like to say that I have really enjoyed this class’s discussion topics. I knew an area of weakness for me was marketing, but everything this class has pointed out this far has been thought provoking and really opened my eyes. Anyways, on to the discussion in question: is the key to developing an effective sales force selection or training? As always, I feel a bit torn and on the fence with my response. While on one hand I have seen the benefit of having the right person right away, but on the other hand, I have also seen how vital training and continuous learning and adapting is. So this may not be a popular opinion, but I believe that you need both in order to be successful and remain successful, but it starts with selection followed by training. For example, as a manager in an IT company I have had the privilege of hiring in software engineers for other teams along with mine, and even managers who will report to me. One of the absolute first and most important things that I look for when hiring is: are they the right culture fit? What I mean by that is I have full faith that I and the company can teach and train someone to do the job as long as they’re dedicated, willing, and open to learning. One caveat to this is making sure that you have the right people selecting individuals. For instance, my knowledge is in IT and software development, so in no way would you want me to be the person that is selecting for my company’s finance or even HR department since I have no background, knowledge, or honestly passion for that area. All of this to say that this goes to show that selection is the first step. Assuming the individual chooses the company as well since it is a two-way street, once they start with the company that is when the training starts. There are so many tools and resources out there for individuals to gain knowledge and usually companies have their own form of training that people go through as well that caters to the business specifics. Even now, I have been working with this company for over four years and still find opportunities to train and adapt to the changes that weren’t necessarily there when I first started. As a result, post selection, continuing training is important to remain successful.

Thanks,