Chapter Learning Objectives
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The role of interpersonal selling in international marketing
The considerations in designing an international sales force
The steps to recruiting three types of international sales people
Selection criteria for international sales and marketing positions
The special training needs of international personnel
Motivation techniques for international sales representatives
How to design compensation systems for an international sales
force
• How to prepare Americans for foreign assignments
• The changing profile of the global sales and marketing manager
17 - 1
Global Perspective
International Assignments are Glamorous, Right?
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Job security
Readjustment upon return to U.S.
Adjustment to other cultures
Will an international assignment really help your career?
Relationship marketing and customer relationship management
17 - 2
Designing the Sales Force
• Decisions must be made regarding the numbers, characteristics,
and assignments of sales personnel
• Different market requirements regarding direct sales and customer
approach
• Territory allocation
• Customer call plans
17 - 3
Recruiting Marketing and Sales Personnel
• The largest personnel requirement abroad for most companies is
the sales force
• Expatriates
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Numbers are declining
Important for highly technical or involved products
High cost
Cultural and legal barriers
Limited number of high-caliber personnel willing to live abroad
• Virtual expatriates
- Manage operations in other countries but don’t live there
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Recruiting Marketing and Sales Personnel
(continued)
• Local nationals
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Transcend both cultural and legal barriers
Familiar with distribution systems and referral networks
Headquarters personnel may ignore their advice
Lack of availability
Sales positions viewed negatively
• Third-country nationals
- Expatriates working for a foreign company
• Host-country nationals
- Work restrictions
17 - 5
Selecting Sales and Marketing Personnel
• Management must define precisely what is expected of people.
• Prime requisites:
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Maturity
Emotional stability
Breadth of knowledge
Positive outlook
Flexibility
Cultural empathy
Energetic and enjoy travel
• Mistakes can be costly
• A manager’s culture affects personnel decisions
17 - 6
Training for International Marketing
• The nature of the training program depends on:
- The home culture of the sales person
- The culture of the business system and foreign market
• Continual training is important in foreign markets
• Companies should provide home-office personnel with crosscultural training
• The Internet now makes some kinds of sales training much more
efficient
17 - 7
Motivating Sales Personnel
• National differences must always be considered when motivating
the marketing force
• Individual incentives that work effectively in the U.S. can fail
completely in other cultures
• Communications are important in maintaining high levels of
motivation
• A company needs to make clear the opportunities for growth
within the firm
17 - 8
Designing Compensation Systems for
Expatriates
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Fringe benefits
Compensations comparisons between the home office and abroad
Short-term assignment compensation
Using a compensation program to recruit, develop, motivate, or
retain personnel
17 - 9
Designing Compensation Systems for a Global
Sales Force – The Do’s
• Do involve representatives from key countries.
• Do allow local managers to decide the mix between base and
incentive pay.
• Do use consistent performance measures (results paid for) and
emphasis on each measure.
• Do allow local countries flexibility in implementations.
• Do use consistent communication and training themes worldwide.
17 - 10
Designing Compensation Systems for a Global
Sales Force – The Don’ts
• Don’t design the plan centrally and dictate to local offices.
• Don’t create a similar framework for jobs with different
responsibilities.
• Don’t require consistency on every performance measure within
the incentive plan.
• Don’t assume cultural differences can be managed through the
incentive plan.
• Don’t proceed without the support of senior sales executives
worldwide.
17 - 11
Evaluating and Controlling Sales
Representatives
• In the U.S., emphasis is placed on individual performance, which
can easily be measured by sales revenues generated
• In many countries evaluation is more complex where teamwork is
favored over individual effort
• The primary control tool used by American sales managers is the
incentive system
• In other countries, corporate control and frequent interactions with
peers and supervisors are the means of motivation and control
17 - 12
Preparing U.S. Personnel for Foreign
Assignments
• Foreign assignments typically cost from 150-400 percent of the
annual base salary
- This cost increases if the expatriate returns home before completing
the scheduled assignment
• The planning process must begin prior to the selection of those
going abroad and extend to their specific assignments after
returning home
17 - 13
Overcoming Reluctance to Accept a Foreign
Assignment
• Concerns for career:
- An absence will adversely affect opportunities for advancement
• Concerns for family:
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Education of the children
Isolation from family and friends
Proper health care
The potential for violence
17 - 14
Reducing the Rate of Early Returns
• Evaluation of an employee’s family
- 75 percent of families sent abroad experience adjustment problems
with children or marital discord
• Cross-cultural training for families as well as the employee
• Local ombudsmen
17 - 15
Successful Expatriate Repatriation
• Commit to reassigning expatriates to meaningful positions.
• Create a mentor program.
• Offer a written job guarantee stating what the company is
obligated to do for the expatriate on return.
• Keep the expatriate in touch with headquarters through periodic
briefings and headquarter visits.
• Prepare the expatriate and family for repatriation once a return date
is set.
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Developing Cultural Awareness
• Most expatriate failures are cause by lack of an understanding of
cultural differences and their effect on management skills.
• Good cultural skills can be learned and developed.
• Cultural skills provide the individual with the ability to relate to a
different culture even when the individual is unfamiliar with the
details of that particular culture.
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The Changing Profile of the Global Manager
• Fewer companies today limit their search for senior-level
executive talent to their home countries
• Some companies believe that it is important to have international
assignments early in a person’s career, and international training is
an integral part of their entry-level development programs
• Many companies are active in making the foreign experience an
integrated part of a successful corporate career
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Foreign-Language Skills
• Many believe that learning a language improves cultural
understanding and business relationships
• Many believe that to be taken seriously in the business community,
the expatriate must be at least conversational in the host language
• Many companies are making stronger efforts to recruit people who
are bilingual or multilingual
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