Sales Management
MKMG – 326
SPRING 2009
Dr. Raj Devasagayam
Colbeth 113
(518) 782-6863
RAJ@siena.edu
P: rdevasagayam
Office Hours:
Tuesday/Thursday 1:00 PM to 2:20 PM
Wednesday
4:00 to 5:00 PM
And by appointment
___________________________________________________________________
It is often said that humans learn best if we are told why we need to learn something
rather than what we need to learn. With this in mind I devote considerable ink to the
reasons why this course should be of interest to you.
One out of every nine people who are fully employed in the U.S. is a salesperson. Close
to 14 million individuals report their jobs to be directly related to sales. About one trillion
dollars is spent every year on this critical marketing investment. The average
compensation for these jobs is traditionally on the higher end of the wage spectrum
(roughly $90000 per annum in 2005). Salespeople have been known to out-earn their
managers and even the CEO. Why? Because they drive the top line. Every senior
management team must deliver its revenue and profit numbers. They look to their
salesforce to help them achieve this objective. Please peruse the information below which
should further motivate you to devote time and attention to the course material to be
covered this semester (abridged version cited from http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos020.htm).
U.S. Department
of Labor
Bureau of Labor
Statistics
Occupational Outlook Handbook
Advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers held about 583,000
jobs in 2006. The following tabulation shows the distribution of jobs by occupational specialty:
Sales managers
Marketing managers
Public relations managers
Advertising and promotions managers
318,000
167,000
50,000
47,000
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These managers were found in virtually every industry. Sales managers held more than half of
the jobs; most were employed in wholesale trade, retail trade, manufacturing, and finance and
insurance industries.
JOB OUTLOOK
Advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales manager jobs are highly coveted
and will be sought by other managers or highly experienced professionals, resulting in keen
competition. College graduates with related experience, a high level of creativity, and strong
communication skills should have the best job opportunities. In particular, employers will seek
those who have the computer skills to conduct advertising, marketing, promotions, public
relations, and sales activities on the Internet.
Employment of advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers is
expected to increase by 12 percent through 2016— about as fast as the average for all
occupations. Job growth will be spurred by intense domestic and global competition in products
and services offered to consumers and increasing activity in television, radio, and outdoor
advertising.
EARNINGS
Median annual earnings in May 2006 were $73,060 for advertising and promotions managers,
$98,720 for marketing managers, $91,560 for sales managers, and $82,180 for public relations
managers.
Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of sales managers were:
Professional and commercial equipment and supplies
$112,810
merchant wholesalers
Wholesale electronic markets and agents and brokers
107,420
Automobile dealers
101,110
Management of companies and enterprises
98,240
Machinery, equipment, and supplies merchant wholesalers
93,450
According to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, starting salaries
for marketing majors graduating in 2007 averaged $40,161 and those for advertising majors
averaged $33,831.
What should we as salespeople and sales managers be doing in light of a changing world
around us? What are our business objectives? Legal responsibilities? Moral obligations?
Ethical duties? Are these all mutually exclusive and inherently competing paradigms?
This course, by choice, illustrates and enriches business complexities awaiting you and
trains you as future managers to approach selling and relationship management with the
sophistication it deserves.
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Course Description
This course focuses on the strategic and tactical aspects of selling and salesforce
management. It is appropriate for students who are interested in careers in sales and sales
management or who will work for companies whose revenues and profits depend upon a
productive salesforce.
This is not a course in personal selling; this is a course in relationship and sales
management. We will focus on being effective sales managers. However, it will soon be
evident that being an effective sales manager almost always demands being an excellent
salesperson. It is impossible to grasp the subtle complexities of managing salespeople
without an empathetic understanding of personal selling. Today, more than ever, sales
managers are expected to understand and implement complex competitive strategies.
A sales professional is at the forefront of facing the demands of metamorphosing markets
and building lasting relationships. Relationship management is a complex function
rendered even more so due to increased globalization, changes in competitive structures,
speed of communication, increased amounts of information, and increasing customer
demands for real-time quick responses. Successful sales professionals in the twenty-first
century will exhibit the twin qualities of understanding markets and marketing, and
building customer relationships based on effective problem solving.
Course Objectives
The primary goal of this course is to train you be effective decision-makers in the sales
management and relationship management arena of business. Emphasis will be on
strategic decisions concerning personal selling and sales management as they relate to the
overall marketing strategy. Throughout the course a strategic perspective is used to
develop an analytical understanding of the concepts, tools, and techniques of sales
management, using “real-world” marketing problems. Issues concerning international
dimensions, social responsibility, and ethical considerations as they relate to sales
management will receive special attention.
1. To develop an understanding of the basic concepts related to selling and sales
management, and the strategic marketing factors affecting the direction, intensity, and
timing of the strategic decisions in sales management.
2. To develop an appreciation for the dynamics of the marketplace and how strategic
decisions concerning sales function of a firm relate to these changes.
3. To develop an understanding for the integration of essential variables which affect the
development of selling and sales management strategies.
4. To develop your capacity to work in groups and integrate knowledge of selling and
sales management concepts and applications into a composite and usable whole; as
evidenced by mini projects and your term projects.
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5. To provide you with opportunities for practicing the theoretical concepts learned in
the class meetings under conditions as realistic as possible through the use of a
computer-based simulation.
Assessable Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of this course, the students should be able to:
1. Describe and discuss the strategic role of the sales force function and its relationship
to the overall marketing strategy
2. Describe and discuss the principles of salesforce recruitment and selection
3. Describe and discuss the principles of salesforce compensation and training
4. Describe and discuss the principles of ethical and legal issues faced by contemporary
salesforce
5. Describe and discuss the principles of personal selling and relationship building
6. Describe and discuss the principles of salesforce prospecting and salescall planning
7. Describe and discuss the principles of effective salescalls
8. Additionally, the student will have gained experience in significant decision-making
and problem-solving skills in a simulated sales management environment
Teaching Methodology
A mix of lectures, discussions, exercises, problem assignments, group projects, computerbased simulations, role-playing exercises, and cases will be used as pedagogical tools.
The core of this course is the required textbooks and readings. You are expected to have
read the assigned chapters and additional assigned material prior to the class meeting. To
benefit fully from the course you should assume the role of an active participant. Make
sure to adequately prepare yourself to raise questions and address the issues for class
discussion. In order to avoid the general proclivity of opinions, we will focus on the
rationale that forms the basis for such opinions rather than the opinions per se.
Together we will attempt to create a classroom environment that reflects both the
excitement and the practical realities of strategic decision-making as it happens in a
variety of real world settings. We will deal with a smorgasbord of cases and examples
that demonstrates sales strategies and practices as they are applied to industrial as well as
consumer products, services as well as goods, not-for-profit as well as profit seeking
firms, and foreign as well as domestic markets.
My Teaching Philosophy
My intent has been to center my teaching and learning with a healthy balance between
words and action. I attempt to avoid the pitfalls of memorization at the expense of
application. All my efforts are geared to ensure that both my students and I find a center
and balance between word and action, between concepts and applications, between
academe and "real world," between the classroom and the boardroom. I have devoted
many years to perfecting a model of active, student-involved experiential learning. My
pedagogical objectives have focused on student cognition (curiosity, application, analysis,
criticism, judgment, and wisdom), student attributes and skills (character, team-spirit,
time-management, sensitivity, relationship management, communication, responsibility,
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and accountability), and the inductive learning of applying general concepts to specific
business situations. Reading about problems or memorizing principles does little for a
practitioner; experiential active learning challenges the student to sharpen cognition,
attributes, and practical learning.
I believe my students to be my colleagues in a collaborative learning experience. You are
responsible adults and therefore will be treated as such. I require you to prepare for every
class session. In order to make it as convenient for you as possible I have provided you
with a tentative breakdown of the course by each session. I am sure you will appreciate
the effort that goes into designing a course with such detail. This will help us keep on
track throughout the semester. It forces all of us to commit to a schedule and be well
prepared for our meetings. I promise to prepare for our meetings and request you to
express your respect for your colleagues and myself by doing the same. You will be
responsible for all readings and I will focus on dealing with selected complex concepts.
My role is to enhance your understanding of concepts above and beyond the textbook, not
merely read the book back to you. I will infuse additional material from my personal
experience and research to enhance our learning experience in this course and expect you
to feel free to do the same. I will seek continuous feedback from you throughout the
semester and use it to further improve your learning experience.
I use the Instructional Design paradigm in organizing my courses. Such a paradigm lends
flexibility to my pedagogy based on my assessment of your needs, our joint expected
outcomes of this course, and providing learner control through experiential learning.
There is well-documented research to suggest that this philosophy of learning places high
emphasis on memorization and information consumption as well as higher-order
cognition and creative problem solving.
Required
1. “Relationship Selling and Sales Management,” Mark Johnston and Greg Marshall,
2008, Second ed., McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
2. MARS: A Simulation for First Line Sales Manager, Cook, Cook, and Cook, (2007),
($100 per Team) URL: http://www.shootformars.com
3. Additional readings assigned by the instructor as and when appropriate.
4. A calculator.
5. Familiarity with Spreadsheets and PowerPoint expected.
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Prerequisite
Marketing Concepts and Issues [MKMG-212 at Siena] or Equivalent. THE TWO COURSES
CAN NOT BE TAKEN CONCURRENTLY.
Class Participation
Your class participation score (20% of the course grade) is based on my judgment of
three P's: Preparation, Presence, and Participation. I am less concerned with "right" or
"wrong" answers than I am with thoughtful contributions which follow the discussion and
either add to the debate or move it in a new direction. If you find it uncomfortable to
speak up in class, I encourage you to visit me in office hours and together we will
work on alternative ways of participating. I will keep a record of your attendance on
random days and also have quizzes on random days at the start of the class to gauge your
level of preparation for our meetings. Quizzes may be administered in-class or on
BLACKBOARD and it is your responsibility to complete these quizzes in a timely
manner. Please note that BB will have quizzes available on-line for a limited time only.
Please note that out of courtesy to your classmates and myself: NO exceptions may be
made for any reason.
Attendance
Attendance is mandatory. You may miss no more than ONE class meeting throughout
this semester. I will invite you to withdraw from this course if you miss more than one
class. Missing TWO or more class meetings will lead to an Unsatisfactory grade (“U”).
Apart from failing participation scores, there is a noticeable cost for missing classes.
Exam scores tend to be much lower for those who miss classes. Assignments and term
projects are often missing or substandard. Being present in class and gaining an
understanding of the basic concepts aids in improving scores on the assignments. In short,
it is wise to regularly attend class.
Examinations
There will be two examinations during the course of this semester a midterm exam and a
final examination. These examinations could have any combination of true/false
identifications, multiple-choice questions, essay questions, and problems. All exams will
be based on class lectures, discussions, exercises, cases, assignments and the required
textbooks and reading material. The course is quite cumulative in nature. Every concept
builds upon concepts dealt with in earlier meetings. However, each examination will
emphasize the material covered since the previous exam. The final exam will be selective
cumulative - I will let you know the topics to be covered during the last week of class.
The examinations will account for 45% of your course grade.
There are no surprises; the dates specified in the attached course schedule are final. As a
rule, no makeup exam will be given. If you must miss an exam, notification must be given
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prior to the exam, at which time I will determine whether special consideration is
justified.
Term Project [SMS]
You will be completing a term project that will account for 25% of your course grade.
This important element of this course involves a computer-based simulation [SMS]. You
will assume the role of a top manager for a large business firm. The SMS operates in an
industrial marketplace, actual secondary data define the industry, and the simulated
strategies and competitive responses draw on direct industry experience. The raison
d’être of this term project is creating “real world” situations in which you are expected to
make strategic decisions and enjoy (suffer?!) the consequences of your decisions. You
will find the interesting details of this “Game” in the required text number Two. I will
provide the operational and logistical guidelines to you in a separate handout as the
semester progresses.
You are responsible to form and manage a group of 2 or 3 students (as advised by the
instructor) that will work on the term project jointly. Each group will be required to make
a brief formal professional oral presentation to the class on the dates specified in the
attached course schedule. Use of audio-visual aids and distribution of a summary of the
presentation to the rest of the class is required and rewarded. Depending on the number
of groups, I will let you know the maximum amount of time available for your short
presentation. Please do not exceed the allocated time as a courtesy to the other groups in
class.
It is important that all members of the group participate in every step of the
analysis. We will jointly decide on a method to evaluate your contribution in the group
project through feedback from the rest of the group. You are responsible for maintenance
of uniform contribution by each member. Failure to participate as an equal member will
result in removal from the group and a failing grade for the term project.
Each team is required to purchase the MARS simulation at www.shootformars.com.
Each team will submit simulation decisions, via the Internet, as scheduled by the
instructor in consultation with the class. Simulation grades will be team-based, and
determined by each team’s cumulative contribution to profits, market share, and customer
satisfaction -- summed over all periods in the simulation. The team ending up in first
place will receive 100% of points awarded. The team ending up in last place will receive
78% of points awarded. In rare instances, last-place teams demonstrating sufficient effort
and learning to convince me that their performance is not significantly different from the
B- group may be awarded the B- grade. As a class, we will discuss the details of
evaluating team performance based on cumulative results on Profitability earned (40%),
Sales generated (30%), and Customer Satisfaction achieved (30%).
Simulation decisions are made over the Internet. Each team will log on to its own account and
enter team decisions. These decisions can be entered at the students’ convenience, but there is a
deadline for submission. Failure to enter a decision on time will result in a simulation run using
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default decisions for offending teams, and a 3-point deduction will be taken from the points
awarded, for each such offense. In the unlikely event that the simulation is “down” at the
deadline for submission, students should bring this problem to my attention immediately, and the
deadline will be extended as necessary. Any deadline extension will be communicated by email
to the class using the Siena email accounts. You are responsible for maintaining your Siena
email accounts, this is the official medium of communication of the Siena School of
Business. I am hoping that this medium of communication will encourage exchange of ideas,
questions, clarifications, examples, announcements, assignments, and feedback. Please be sure to
access your e-mail regularly to keep up with the volume of messages posted on the discussion
list.
Any discussion of your team decisions, strategy, or results with another team member and/or a
team member from another section of this course will be deemed a violation of the Academic
Integrity Policy of this course. You are always welcome to talk with me about the term
project at any time during the semester.
The written report of this project will be written outside of class and will be due at the
beginning of session on the due date. Emphasis will be placed on learning to substantiate
one’s recommendations with analysis based on concepts and facts presented in the
classroom. This report should not exceed 10 double-spaced typewritten sheets (excluding
exhibits, which should be appended). Please include a list of references used. Be very
careful in following the Academic Integrity Policy, with special attention on issues related
to plagiarism. No late submissions will be accepted, even for partial credit. I will be
devoting some class meetings to presentations reporting the progress your group makes
toward the completion of the term project. In these sessions you will brief us on the status
of your project and we as a group might make helpful suggestions. These sessions are
designed to improve your term project and, in effect, help you receive better grades on the
term project. You are always welcome to talk with me about the term project at any time
during the semester.
Assignments
Together we will attempt to create a classroom environment that reflects both the
excitement and the practical realities of strategic decision-making as it happens in a
variety of real world settings. We will deal with a smorgasbord of cases that demonstrates
marketing strategies and practices as they are applied to industrial as well as consumer
products, services as well as goods, not-for-profit as well as profit seeking firms, and
foreign as well as domestic markets.
We will take on some individual/group assignments both in the class and outside of class,
projects, cases, and presentations. All such assignments will add up to 10% of your
course grade. All out of class assignments are due at the beginning of the class on the
dates specified by the instructor. Please note that out of courtesy to your classmates and
myself: NO late submissions will be accepted for any reason. I will award you points for
submissions and reserve the right to grade submissions randomly. If you are absent when
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an assignment is made, you are responsible for checking with classmates or me. If you are
absent when an assignment is due, you are responsible for having it turned in on time.
Academic Integrity
Adherence to the Siena College Academic Integrity policy is required; therefore, I direct your attention to
the Statement of Academic Integrity in the College Catalog. Some items that merit special mention due to
the nature of this course are:
1. All quizzes and exams are to be closed book and closed-notes, unless otherwise specified by the
instructor. All exams and quizzes must be solo effort. You may not use calculator manuals or instructions
during a quiz and exam.
2. When you place your name on any assignment (case analysis, term projects, etc.) to be handed in for this
course, this shall be taken as your signature indicating that you have fully conformed to the Statement of
Academic Integrity at Siena. Every quiz and examination will have a space to sign such a pledge.
3. Appropriate classroom decorum involves treating others with respect in the classroom, arriving on time,
and not leaving early unless absolutely necessary. If you must leave early, please advise the instructor
before the class session. Your respect for this basic classroom etiquette will factor into my evaluation of
your class participation grade.
Evaluation
Examinations
Term Project [SMS]
Assignments
Class Participation



45%
25%
10%
20%
All submissions are due at the beginning of the class on the dates specified by the instructor.
All submissions are subject to a penalty of 10% deduction per day, if they are submitted late for
acceptable reasons or partial credit.
This 10% deduction will also apply to any assignment submitted AFTER the class meeting.
Your course grade will be determined based on the following guidelines:
A
95-100%
C
73-76%
A-
91-94%
C-
70-72%
B+
87-90%
D+
65-69%
B
83-86%
D
62-64%
B-
80-82%
D-
59-61%
C+
77-79%
F
<58%
In order to keep your grade expectations reasonable, please note that an average
grade in this course would imply a “C.”
Disciplined effort throughout the semester results in superior quality of the end product. I
will be available to guide you throughout this course, please feel free to meet with me and
discuss any difficulties you encounter.
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Pandemic/ Emergency Planning
While we hope that any event of a natural, technological, or human-made disaster will not
occur, it is important to be prepared. Siena College will endeavor to provide a full a term
of instruction as possible for the impacted semester. Accommodations may include,
among others, extension of the term; providing instruction through an alternate means,
such as distance learning via Blackboard, email, and other on-line technology; to ensure
students achieve the stated objectives of the course. You are instructed to bring all texts
and a copy of the syllabus/course schedule home with you in the event of a College
Closure. The Academic Calendar will be adjusted upon Reopening; so be prepared for the
possibility of a short mini-semester; rescheduled class / exam period; and /or rescheduling
of the semester, depending on the length of the Closure. You will be given instructions
regarding how to deal with paper assignments requiring library or other required research
by me, as needed. Finally, stay connected with information regarding the status of the
College’s status and Reopening schedule by monitoring the Siena website,
www.siena.edu.
Franciscan Values and Academic Etiquette
Franciscan Values are founded on four pillars: Diversity, Optimism, Respect, and Service.




Diversity (openness to diverse viewpoints and humans)
o Be Unique
o Be Welcoming
o Be open to the world
Optimism
o Be positive
o Be hopeful
o Be welcoming of the future
Respect
o For yourself
o For others
o Affirm dignity of all humans
o Be caring of all of God’s creation
Service
o Be Grateful
o Be generous with time and talent
o Be compassionate
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This is a large class, but it can be a rewarding experience for you and I if we adhere to
some general courtesies and procedures that draw upon the Franciscan Values we espouse
at Siena.
 Diversity in classroom translates to openness -- the freedom to express your thoughts
and opinions, which include scope for debate and disagreement with me or anyone
else in the class, provided it be within the bounds of respect. I am sure you will extend
the courtesy of our disagreeing with your opinions as well.
 Optimism means a persistent willingness to tackle the problems that come up in the
readings and the classroom. This does not mean that everyone always shows up happy
and cheerful (although that would help), but it is my expectation that you will be
ready and willing to contribute to your own learning as well as other’s in the
classroom.
 Respect means valuing each person and their participation, not because their ideas are
the best (although you might think so), but because they are humans and deserve your
dignified compassion and any attempts by another human in enhancing our
knowledge is deserving of our respect.
 Service in classroom will be modeled by my commitment to be grateful to you and
your creator for your abilities and talents that you bring into my classroom (and
consequently enrich my life). I request you to express your compassion by
recognizing the divine in each other and learning from one another.
 The ideal may not always be achievable, however, that is no reason to give up on
striving for its achievement!
 Appropriate classroom decorum involves treating others with respect in the
classroom, arriving on time, and not leaving early unless absolutely necessary. If you
must leave early, please advise the instructor before the class session. Starting class
meetings on time gives you the best value for your tuition dollar. Students who
repeatedly violate this basic etiquette, generally have lower class participation grades.
 I strongly encourage you to treat your term project team as a study group. Past
experience indicates that doing so will greatly improve the level of your learning and
will make the most efficient use of your study time. The key to success is to establish
a regular meeting time and keep to it throughout the semester and not waste time each
week going through the infinite permutations of individual schedules.
 Please turn off all electronic devices (cell phones and iPods included) during our
meetings.
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