Sales Management: motivating a salesperson
Final Exam for MKT 442: Sales Management – Spring 2020
This is an independent final exam. This means that you cannot discuss these questions or their potential answers with anyone else. Therefore, before you can submit this exam for credit, you must read and sign your name for the following academic honesty statement. If you do not sign this statement, your final exam grade will automatically be a 0.
As a student at the Ivy College of Business I am committed to scholastic honesty and academic integrity as stated in the Ivy College Professional Standards and Expectations.
Academic expectations include but are not limited to:
- Doing my own work on this test.
- Using only authorized notes, texts, or other aids during tests. For this test, the only material allowed are the textbook, CANVAS course material, your notes, the SMS website, and lecture content.*
- Denying others to view or copy my work on tests when not allowed by the course instructor.
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- Collaborating on or discussing with other students the content of this test only when specifically permitted by the course instructor.
I agree.
Type your official name here as your signature:________________________
*Please note, if you answer a question using a resource outside of those listed here, your answer will be marked as incorrect, as this is a test of your understanding of this course’s content.
Directions: This exam is due by 11:59pm on Tuesday, May 5, 2020. Write your answers using the document, below, and submit your final word document to the CANVAS drop box. If you have questions regarding a question, you can ask me and I will answer as best I can, keeping in mind that this is an examination.Hint: Save this document often and in multiple places to not lose your work (Eg. on your computer, on a cloud service like google drive, AND in your cybox). I will NOT be able to extend the deadline for this exam due to the strict timeline of when grades are due to the University.
Note: There are 6 questions with many parts to them. Make sure you answer each part of the question to not lose points.
Question 1:
Directions: Review the table below and answer the questions that follow.
| Table 1: | ||||||
| Market | 2019 | 2019 | ||||
| Sales ‘18 | Sales ‘19 | % | Potential | Sales | % | |
| Jan-Sept | Jan-Sept | Sales | Index | Quota | of Quota | |
| Territory | (000) | (000) | Growth | (%) | (000) | Achieved |
| Iowa | $750 | $825 | 10.0 | 26 | $943 | 87 |
| Nebraska | 500 | 470 | 14.0 | 15 | 543 | 87 |
| Texas | 1,025 | 1,110 | 8.3 | 32 | 1,160 | 96 |
| Illinois | 960 | 1,000 | 4.2 | 27 | 977 | 102 |
| Total | $3,235 | $3,405 | 5.0 | 100 | $3,623 | 94 |
List 3 items from Table 1 that a sales manager should be concerned with (An anomaly or potential issue). (State what the value is, and be sure to name the column and row of the item). Then, describe why that item should be a concern to the sales manager.
(5 Points) 1.
(5 Points) 2.
(5 Points) 3.
Question 2:
Directions: Review the table below and answer the questions that follow.
| Table 2: Ranking Factors | Ford | Bell | Shah | Smith | Gold |
| Dollar Sales | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Sales to Potential | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Sales to Quota | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Sales per Order | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Number of Calls | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Orders per call | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Gross Margin Percent | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Direct Selling Costs | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| New Accounts | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Number of Reports Turned In | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Total of Ranks | 24 | 27 | 34 | 33 | 32 |
1 = excellent; 5 = poor
(10 Points) Question 2a. Based on the information in Table 2, pick 2 salespeople and choose a situational leadership style that you think a sales manager should use for each of them. Explain why that style is best for each salesperson. Hint: You can use the same or a different situational leadership style for each salesperson, so long as you give a good explanation of why you chose that style for that salesperson.
(10 Points) Question 2b. Pick 2 salespeople in Table 2 and describe the best compensation plan for that salesperson (For this exam, it is good if it is unique to the individual salesperson.). Be sure and explain why that compensation plan should work best for that salesperson. Hint: Think of all the different ways to compensate that you have learned in this class and address those ways to have a complete answer for each salesperson.
Question 3:
(15 Points) Question 3: Why is motivating a salesperson so difficult for sales managers? List at least 3 reasons and give an example of each.
Question 4:
(15 Points) Question 4a: A company’s CIO (Chief Information Office) has noticed that inputting information into the CRM system is being neglected. What can a sales manager do to make sure the sales team is inputting their customer information? To answer this, discuss 3 strategies a sales manager can use on the sales team and give an example of each.
(5 Points) Question 4b: Why is inputting information into the CRM system an important concern?
Question 5:
(20 Points) Question 5: For each of the career stages, discuss the best method of delivering training. For each answer, explain why you feel that specific training delivery is the best for that career stage.
Question 6:
(5 Points) Question 6a: Discuss what type of reward systems seem to encourage unethical behavior more than others.
(5 Points) Question 6b: Give a detailed example of a reward system that encourages more ethical behavior.
Bonus Question (5 Extra Points):
Discuss the costs of bad leadership to a company.
