UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Marshall School of Business Administration
Marketing 415
Sales Force Management
Spring, 2011
M and W, 2 to 3:50 pm
Class Room: Accounting 205
Office Hours: By appointment
Dr. Gary L. Frazier
The Richard and Jarda Hurd
Professor of Distribution
Management
Office: Accounting 308B
Office phone: (213) 740-5032
e-mail: frazier@marshall.usc.edu
Course Materials
1. Rosann Spiro, Greg Rich, and William Stanton (2008), Management of a Sales
Force, 12th edition, McGraw-Hill.
2. Tom Hopkins (2005), How to Master the Art of Selling, Warner Business Books.
3. Course packet of channel articles and cases.
Course Objectives
1. Help you to grasp major principles of personal selling, sales force
management, and channel management;
2. Assist your problem solving skills;
3. Discuss current and future issues of importance in the marketing arena; and
4. Help prepare you for a business career.
My Background
I have focused my teaching, research, and consulting on marketing channels over the past
thirty years. I have frequently published in the top marketing journals. In fact, I am one
of the top contributors of all time to the Journal of Marketing, a leading marketing
journal established in 1936. Further, I have been fortunate to win several awards for my
teaching over my career. I am currently one of two Co-Editors of the JM. I become
Editor of the JM effective 7-1-2011.
I have consulted and provided expert witness testimony for a number of major
corporations on marketing strategy and channel management over the years, including
Adams’ Golf, Anheuser-Busch, Arctic Cat, AT&T, Bergen Brunswig, Big 5 Sporting
Goods, Calphalon, Carnation, Coca-Cola, General Electric, General Motors, Gillette,
Harley Davidson, Hasbro, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, IBM, Intel, Lipton, MasterCard
International, Merck, Micron Electronics, Microsoft, 3M, New York City, Northrop, the
Oakland Raiders, Planet Hollywood, Playtex, Samsung, Sirius Radio, Stop Staring!,Taco
Bell, Texas Instruments, Toyota, TRW, UPS, Visa International, Wal-Mart, and
Weyerhaeuser.
Course Format
I use a combination of lectures, class discussions, cases, and guest speakers. I encourage
a lot of interaction in class, as I follow the following teaching principle: “Tell me and
I’ll forget. Show me and I might remember. But INVOLVE me and I will
understand.” I need every one prepared for each class. I do cold call students. Every
student must participate in class discussions over the course of the semester.
Course Guidelines
1. Come to class and be on time as much as possible.
2. Do the assignments.
3. Be courteous when someone else is speaking. Avoid side conversations as much as
possible.
4. Participate in class discussions. Do not be afraid to disagree.
5. Bring a name card to class every day and place it in front of where you are sitting.
6. No use of cell phones, lap-tops, texting, or reading of newspapers-periodicals during
class. Focus on what we are doing.
Performance Appraisal
% of grade
1. Exam on personal selling
30%
2.
Exam on sales force and channel management
30%
3.
Group project on Philip Morris
30%
4.
Class participation
10%
Class Participation
I evaluate the value of your participation on a scale from 0 to 3. Your grade on class
participation is based on your contribution to student understanding and learning about
marketing and channel management. Your participation in case discussions is important.
Exams
The exams will be essay in nature to test your understanding of class concepts and
principles.
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Altria Group Project
Groups of students will compete against one another in a case competition sponsored by
Altria. Each group will make a 15 minute presentation of their project during the
semester. The final power-point presentation is due during finals’ week.
Guidelines for Case Analyses
Read each case carefully and focus on key facts. Then, decide on what is the major
problem or decision facing the company. In some cases, identifying the major problem
or decision will be easy; in others, it will be more difficult.
Then focus on the key action that will help solve the problem or make the decision to the
highest degree (e.g., a sales training program for dealers). The key action should be well
developed in terms of its components and how it should be implemented. Further,
carefully explain “why” you feel your key action will effectively address the problem or
decision. In other words, a rationale for your key action must be provided.
Course Outline
Date
Topic
Jan. 10
Overview of the class
Jan. 12
Marketing, types of selling, and
sales management
Assignment (if any)
Text: Chapters 1 and 2
Reading: “From Branded
Bulldozers …”
Jan. 17
Holiday
Jan. 19
The end customer
Text: Chapter 7
Reading: “The Customer has
Escaped”
Case: The Mores Buy …
Jan. 24
Brand equity and the end customer
Case: Coca-Cola … in Brazil
Case: 3M Canada (skim the
case)
Jan. 26
Account management
Case: Siebel Systems (A),
(B), and (C)
Jan. 31
Guest Speaker: Lindsey Levine, Sales Manager, Altria
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Feb. 2
The personal selling process
Text: Chapter 3
Hopkins: Chapters
1 through 5
Feb. 7
Personal selling
Hopkins: Chapters
6 to 11
Feb. 9
Personal selling
Hopkins: Chapters
12 to 17
Feb. 14
Personal selling
Hopkins: Chapters
18 to 23
Feb. 16
1st Exam, Personal Selling
Feb. 21
Personal selling and Altria project
Feb. 23
Guest Speakers: Sanah Chung and John Barnes, Financial Advisors,
Smith-Barney
Feb. 28
Sales organization
and deployment
Text: Chapters 4 and 13
Case: 4-2, p. 121
Case: 13-1, p. 407
Mar. 2
Planning, recruiting, and
selecting
Text: Chapters 5 and 6
Case: 5-2, p. 156
Case: 6-2, p. 188
Mar. 7
Training of the sales force
Text: Chapter 7
Case: 7-2, p. 221
Mar. 9
Sales force compensation
Text: Chapters 9 and 10
Case: Eureka Forbes
Mar. 14 and 16 Spring Break
Mar. 21
Performance evaluation
Text: Chapters 14, 15, 16
Case: Sales Force Integration
at FedEx (A) and (B)
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Mar. 23
Managing a global brand
Case: Colgate
Mar. 28 Guest Speaker: Lindsey Levine, Altria
Mar. 30
The introduction of new products
Case: Aqualisa Quartz
Apr. 4
Managing dealer relationships
Case: Callaway Golf
Apr. 6
Managing distributor relationships
Case: Soren Chemical
Apr. 11
Altria Group Presentations
Apr. 13
Altria Group Presentations
Apr. 18
Channel evolution and incentive
alignment
Apr. 20
Franchising
Apr. 25
2nd Exam, Sales Force and Channel Management
Apr. 27
Class party at the Radisson Hotel, McKays’
Case: Cisco Systems
Case: Lululemon
The course project needs to be emailed to me by 5 pm on the scheduled day of the final
exam during finals’ week.
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