Table of Contents
What is Sales Management Information System?
Sales management is the process of managing the sales operation of a firm through proper planning of sales operation, designing and implementing sales techniques, and developing a trained sales force in order to meet the sales goal.
American Marketing Association defines Sales Management as, “The planning, directing and controlling of personal selling including recruiting selecting, equipping, assigning, routing, supervising paying and motivating as these tasks apply only to the sales force”.
In order to manage the sales process, strategic information systems are designed to keep track of the sales record which helps the sales manager in making pivotal decisions for the attainment of the sales goal of the firm.
These reports help the sales manager in forecasting sales trends and in making necessary changes to cope with the prevailing scenario and assist in prudent decision-making.
Thus, the sales management information system facilitates the sales managers to attain the sales target set by the top management by helping them in making strategic decisions regarding sales territories, potential customers, promotional schemes, suitable products for specific market segments, allotment of territories to sales personnel, etc. It provides information regarding past sales which helps the sales manager in projecting future trends by product segment, geographical location, sales personnel, customer segmentation, etc.
Importance of Sales Management Information System
The importance of sales management information systems is explained below:
Reports
Reports help in monitoring information and in analyzing the data available for performing problem analysis and making crucial decisions. Detailed sales report highlighting the sales scenario of the company assists in strengthening the sales management of the company. There are various types of reports that salespeople need to prepare. They are as follows:
Daily Reports
The daily reports are prepared by the sales manager where they state their name or employee code, the date, the territory which they worked on during that particular day, the products they pitched to the customers, and the number of orders received during the day.
In addition to these, it also includes the competitors’ activity in the marketplace so as to provide an idea regarding the change in marketing plans in order to increase the profit margin of the company.
It is essential to maintain the daily reports as salespeople are mostly in the market. These reports provide a connecting link between the salesperson, the customer, and the market. It also acts as a tool for continuous monitoring of sales activities by the management.
Weekly Reports
These reports are prepared by the salesperson providing all the information of the week such as places visited during the week, information about distributors and dealers, and volume and value of the product that was dealt with within the week. In addition to these, it also mentions the competitors’ activities such as their schemes, prices, products, etc.
Tour Programme
These reports are prepared by the sales representative to inform his or her immediate supervisor regarding the location visited and expenses that are to be incurred by the sales representative during the sales visit. The sales representative can finalize his visits only when the tour program is approved by the sales manager.
Monthly Performance Review
The monthly performance reviews are prepared either monthly, quarterly, or annually by the sales representative. It includes the previous tour cycle date-wise and the plan for the next tour cycle. It is submitted to the sales manager who reviews it for each sales representative.
FAQs Section
What is the importance of a sales management information system?
The importance of a sales management information system is:
1. Reports
2. Daily Reports
3. Weekly Reports
4. Tour Programme
5. Monthly Performance Review.