Deck 14: Sales and Sales Management

Question 1

It has been found that too few companies leverage the advantage of salespeople as listening posts in terms of competitive intelligence.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

In one study conducted by a hospital, it was reported that banning medical device representatives from the operating room led to an increase in hip replacement costs because the surgeons were no longer aware of lower-cost devices to use as implants.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

In an organizational setting, a gatekeeper is often involved in the preapproach stage.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Citing testimonials is often helpful for a salesperson when trying to address a customer's logical objections in the sales presentation step.

Question 5

From the buyer's perspective, a key aspect of an effective sales presentation is the adaptability of the salesperson.

Question 6

Positive conversion is turning a customer's objection in the sales process into the exact reason for the purchase of the product or service.

Question 7

In the sales process, the trial close is asking the customer to buy but not asking for immediate payment.

Question 8

A canned sales presentation style is based on a Pavlovian approach to sales.

Question 9

The canned sales presentation assumes that each prospect will react in the same way, which is its major limitation.

Question 10

In the selling formula approach, the salesperson follows a defined script that leads to buyer action after generating interest and desire.

Question 11

In the second stage of the needs satisfaction approach, the salesperson ensures that the buyer recognizes that the product meets the customer's needs, which will lead to closure of the sale.

Question 12

The most customer-oriented of all sales approaches is the needs satisfaction approach.

Question 13

The three stages of the selling formula approach are need development, need awareness, and need fulfillment.

Question 14

Helping customers arrive at better solutions than they would have discovered on their own is a part of the consultative selling approach.

Question 15

Trust is at the core of the need satisfaction method.

Question 16

The simplest way to organize a sales force is by product line.

Question 17

The more homogeneous the customer base, the more a company might have a geographic organization in terms of its sales force structure.

Question 18

The geographic approach to sales force organization requires salespeople to have the broadest knowledge of the company's product line.

Question 19

With a sales force based on product organization, specialization in structure can lead to a customer getting multiple calls by the same seller organization.

Question 20

The most appropriate way for healthcare organizations to organize a sales force is the product structure.

Question 21

As the cost of health care has increased, the influence of employed physicians has increased within healthcare systems in the decision to purchase devices and supplies.

Question 22

A focus on a solutions strategy is most possible with a sales force structure based on customer organization.

Question 23

The workload method determines sales force size by assessing the number of accounts to be called on based on their size and their profit value to the organization.

Question 24

The workload method does not recognize that the cost of servicing accounts may vary, which is a limitation of this method in determining sales force size.

Question 25

The first step in developing an effective sales force is recruiting to solicit a large number of potential job applicants from which to select.

Question 26

Ninety percent of firms are now using social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn for recruitment of job applicants.

Question 27

Almost 90% of all employers eliminate candidates for a job based on prior screening of the applicants on the Internet.

Question 28

The in-depth personal interview is the first step in eliminating individuals who are not qualified for the sales position that the company is seeking to fill.

Question 29

The structured interview allows candidates to be compared using the same dimensions, which makes it the best interview tool for recruiting candidates.

Question 30

Structured interviews are the best approach to use with job applicants.

Question 31

Putting potential candidates in role-playing interviews is part of the stress interview.

Question 32

The best way to assess personality and social skills is with the structured interview.

Question 33

It has been found that it takes several unstructured interviews to equal the reliability of one structured interview.

Question 34

When it is difficult to determine the effect of a salesperson's efforts on sales rather than pay any incentive through commission, it is better to use a bonus with salary as part of the compensation package.

Question 35

Nonsales activities tend to be less attended to by salespeople when the compensation is primarily based on commission.

Question 36

Pretesting a compensation plan should always be done prior to implementing any commission-based plan.

Question 37

Nonfinancial incentives are often used to relate to a salesperson's higher-order needs such as self-esteem.

Question 38

Effective evaluation measures of a sales force should include both input and output measures.

Question 39

Which of the following roles do salespeople not perform?

A) Production
B) Marketing
C) Facilitating
D) Partnering

Question 40

Hybrid selling involves:

A) using face-to-face and digital customer approaches.
B) delivering a product online as well as through direct retail or wholesale support.
C) using an omnichannel approach.
D) using hybrid technology to facilitate ordering by the customer.

Question 41

When the salesperson leads the buyer through a canned presentation, there is the expectation of a response (a purchase). This method is:

A) the selling formula.
B) need satisfaction.
C) the consultative formula.
D) the stimulus-response approach.

Question 42

The advantage of the stimulus-response approach to selling is that:

A) it always leads to a close.
B) it ensures that the salesperson will follow the intended message.
C) the customer usually decides to purchase.
D) the message is delivered to result in a sale.

Question 43

The major limitation to the stimulus-response sales presentation approach is that:

A) it does not encourage prospect involvement in the sales presentation.
B) it is highly interactive, resulting in long sales calls.
C) it is very expensive to create an effective presentation.
D) salespeople are often not satisfied with the close.

Question 44

The approach that assumes that the buyer goes through a series of steps internally before they purchase is the logic behind which method?

A) Stimulus-response
B) Need satisfaction
C) Consultative
D) Selling formula

Question 45

Which of the following is the most marketing-oriented sales presentation approach?

A) Technical selling
B) Need satisfaction
C) Stimulus-response
D) Selling formula

Question 46

In the need awareness stage of the need satisfaction method of selling, the key objective of the sales representative is to ensure that the:

A) sales representative is aware of all of the customer's problems.
B) customer recognizes all the same needs as the salesperson.
C) salesperson recognizes all the same needs as the customer.
D) buyer is aware this is the only solution.

Question 47

At the need fulfillment stage of the need satisfaction selling method, the salesperson:

A) highlights the buyer's needs and how the product meets those needs.
B) highlights what the product does.
C) highlights all the needs that exist in the market that the company's offerings can meet.
D) discusses how the company's product breadth can fulfill all of the buyer's needs.

Question 48

Which of the following is not one of the three primary ways a consultative sales approach delivers value to the customer?

A) Helps customers understand their problems, issues, and opportunities in a new or different way
B) Assists in structuring a new paradigm by which the business process can be reformulated or reconfigured
C) Helps customers arrive at new or better solutions to their problems than they would have discovered on their own
D) Acts as the customer's advocate inside the supplier organization, ensuring the timely allocation of resources to deliver customized or unique solutions that meet the customer's special needs

Question 49

Having a relationship perspective and trust is a central part of which sales approach?

A) Selling formula
B) Stimulus-response
C) Needs satisfaction
D) Consultative selling

Question 50

The simplest way to organize a sale force is by:

A) product.
B) customer.
C) geography.
D) market.

Question 51

When the customer base is homogeneous, the sales force structure can be:

A) product based.
B) geographic.
C) customer structured.
D) revenue structured.

Question 52

The major advantages of geographic organization to the sales force structure is:

A) cost and customer knowledge.
B) customer knowledge and travel time.
C) travel time and customer expertise.
D) travel time and cost.

Question 53

The problem of needing to have broad knowledge of the customers is particularly problematic in which form of sales force structure?

A) Geographic
B) Customer
C) Market
D) Product

Question 54

Customers often receive multiple sales calls from the same organization when the sellers use which sales structure?

A) Geographic
B) Product
C) Customer
D) Market

Question 55

Having a broad understanding of the product and service mix is the major limitation of which sales forces structure?

A) Geographic
B) Product
C) Market
D) Customer

Question 56

In order to use the workload method, it is necessary to estimate:

A) how efficient an average salesperson is.
B) the work effort required to service an account.
C) the average travel time between accounts.
D) the total number of accounts per salesperson and the average distance traveled.

Question 57

The major limitation to the workload method is that it does not:

A) account for the varying effectiveness of the individual salesperson.
B) recognize differences in response by accounts if given varying levels of sales effort.
C) account for the variations in sales territories.
D) None of these is correct.

Question 58

Prior to recruiting any individual for a sales job, it is essential that the organization:

A) analyzes who are the most effective salespeople and determine their characteristics.
B) identifies the characteristics of those who have not been successful.
C) conducts an analysis of the sales job.
D) performs a multifactorial trait analysis of high and low performers.

Question 59

Which of the following factors is an indicator of an unsuccessful salesperson?

A) Instability of residence
B) Failure in business within the last 2 years
C) Unexplained gaps in the person's employment record
D) All of these are correct.

Question 60

Which of the following questions is not illegal under the Equal Opportunity Guidelines to ask on a personal history form in the hiring process of an individual?

A) Age
B) Religion
C) Gender
D) All of these are illegal questions.

Question 61

The goal of the stress interview is to:

A) place the interviewee under as much tension as possible.
B) observe how the candidate will react in on-the-job conditions.
C) create stress to observe the candidate's breaking point.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 62

Unstructured interviews are useful to assess an applicant's:

A) personality.
B) quantitative skills.
C) judgment.
D) crisis management skills.

Question 63

Interviewing of job candidates can be improved by using:

A) role-playing.
B) unstructured interviews.
C) structured interviews.
D) stress interviews.

Question 64

In a sales position in which the majority of the responsibility is relationship maintenance, the appropriate compensation structure would be:

A) straight salary.
B) commission.
C) combination.
D) None of these is correct.

Question 65

When sales volume is declining, the compensation plan that is particularly disadvantageous to an organization is:

A) straight salary.
B) commission.
C) base plus bonus.
D) variable.

Question 66

Missionary sales tasks tend to be focused on the least by salespeople under which type of compensation plan?

A) Straight salary
B) Commission
C) Combination
D) Variable

Question 67

Pretesting is particularly critical under which form of compensation plan?

A) Straight salary
B) Commission
C) Combination
D) Mixed

Question 68

In order for supplemental incentives to succeed as part of a compensation plan, it is important that:

A) the reward be important to the salespeople.
B) vacations to interesting destinations always be part of the incentives.
C) the time period be realistic.
D) salespeople believe they have an opportunity to win.