دانلود رایگان مقاله محرک تغییر در مدیریت نیروی فروش و رسانه های اجتماعی

Abstract

The selling environment has undergone tremendous transformation over the past 2 decades. Perhaps the greatest change has centered on changes and advancements in technology. The latest dramatic change has been the rapidly increasing use of social media and other related technologies in the business-tobusiness realm. The sales world began the use of technology through the use of Web 1.0, which was primarily webpage oriented; now we see the world of social media as the paradigm of how firms should implement technology. Although there has been some recent emphasis on how marketing might implement social media into their strategies and how the individualsalesperson mightimplementsocial media into his or her daily selling routine, no substantive discussion on how social media is affecting the role of the sales manager has appeared in the literature. This article systematically examines how social media is impacting the sales management function and, in fact, may be dramatically revolutionizing the position. To help the marketing and sales organization better understand the changing sales world, we present eight lessons that every sales manager needs to embrace.

5. Final thoughts

Now, let’s go back to Burt’s rough week, culminating with that Friday night Scotch. It’s important for Burt–—and for all contemporary sales managers–— to benefit from the lessons described above. Recall Burt’s particular challenges: A ‘border dispute’ about who gets credit for a sale facilitated by two salespeople through social media. Undependable connectivity in an important virtual meeting, which is impeding a client relationship. Reluctance by a young salesperson to actually make face-to-face sales callsinstead of practicing the generationally preferred virtual selling approach. Personal insecurity about how his company’s new gamification-driven compensation platform works. Clearly, the lessons highlighted across the five sales management function areas(i.e., supervision,selection, training, compensation, and deployment) and the three aspects of salesperson performance (i.e., sales role, sales aptitude and skill, and salesperson motivation) can help our friend Burt immensely. In an era of social media and related technology, a heightened awareness of the key takeaways outlined herein will lead to both a more sophisticated approach to the issues and increased confidence and job satisfaction. So on Monday morning, when Burt is refreshed and ready to proactively take on the new challenges of managing salespeople–—and customer relationships–—he can use the lessons presented here to address his particular challenges as well as any others that may arise. Admittedly, not all firms are going to take on a social media focus, just like not every firm has bought into a traditional relationship selling focus over transaction-based selling. Our position is not whether sales organizational leaders should be working to get ahead of the social media curve, but rather how and how fast they will be able to embrace social media and related technology strategies in sales for competitive advantage. This article providesstrong evidence thatsales managers are in a critical role within the firm to positively impact organizational success in this manner.