Sales Force Allocation

Companies must deploy sales forces strategically so they can call on the right customers at the right time in the right way, acting as “account managers” who arrange fruitful contact between people in the buying and selling organizations (Kotler & Keller 2012). A sound sales force strategy would capitalize on the sales opportunities and brand strength presented as a result of the expansive advertising campaigns. The simulation began with 145 sales force associated which totaled $7M in spend. At the end of the simulation, the sales force had grown to 341 (135%) associates totaling $21M. The exponential growth was attributed to new products launched in the later portion of the simulation and the continued focus on maintaining and growing the Allround brand. The sales force allocation strategy relied on dashboard reports, performance summaries, sales reporting, market outlook and channel sales. The information was analyzed holistically with an emphasis on the chain and grocery segments which represented on average 65% of sales. The chart below summarizes the calculation used to determine the sales force allocation and growth. The distribution of the prior period sales was translated into a percentage of sales for the channel.

The market updates and outlook were compared to the sales force allocations and where applicable adjustments were made to either increase or decrease sales force associates per channel based on market anticipated growth. The average split between direct and indirect sales force was 70/30.During the simulation, we did maintain larger sales force compared to our competitors mainly due to the anticipation of future product launches. The strategy provided flexibility from period to period as if necessary spend could have been shifted to other areas without weakening the sales force.