international sales management

international sales management

• 1.
  Chapter 5 International sales management
• 2.
  In this chapterwe will discuss: • Role of the sales manager in the international market • International sales and marketing opportunities • Challenges in international sales management • Strategic issues for international sales and marketing • International sales techniques • Structures for international sales organizations • International sales management practices
• 3.
  Role of thesales manager in the international market • Basic level functions – Training – Evaluating – Planning – Compensation • Advanced level functions – Strategic account management – Conducting negotiations – Arranging agreements with distributors – Developing relations and network locally
• 4.
  International sales andmarketing opportunities • Diversifying market base – Strategies of Japanese companies • Emulating the competition – Imitating competitors • Achieve economies of scale – Air bus – 1 plane – 3,40,000 man hours 87th plane – 78,000 man hours
• 5.
  Challenges in internationalsales management • Economic environment –Tariff barriers • Specific, ad – valorem, compound –Non-tariff barriers • Regulatory, industry, cultural –Other economic factors • Exchange rate fluctuations • Restrictions on profit repatriation • Credit control etc.
• 6.
  Continued …… • Legalenvironment – Partnership laws – Anti Corruption laws – Intellectual property rights • Cultural environment – Language – Religion – Education – Social attitudes & behavior
• 7.
  Strategic issues forinternational sales and marketing • Marketing mix – adapt or standardize? – Ethnocentric vs. geocentric • Obtaining international information – Internal company records – Published sources – Primary sources like surveys, observation studies etc. • Entering overseas markets – Exporting – Licensing – Franchising – Joint ventures – Wholly owned subsidiaries
• 8.
  International sales techniques •Personal selling process – Preliminary selling • Identify prospects • Approach – Advanced selling • Sales interview • Flexible presentation • Product demonstrations • Handling objections • Close • After sales techniques • Time and territory management – Proper routing & scheduling
• 9.
  Structures for internationalsales organizations • Long-distance selling – Common in highly specialized industries like aircrafts, defense equipment etc. • Manufacturer’s representatives – Differences in MR & distributor – High level of control – Prerequisites for selection – Legalities related to selection & termination – Training aspects & support programs
• 10.
  • Piggybacking – Lowcost entry – It involves a rider & a carrier – Whirlpool & Sony, AT&T and Toshiba in Japan – Some times it can be a reciprocal • Intermediaries – Merchants – Independent agents – Facilitating intermediaries • Transporting & warehousing • Market research / advertising Continued…….
• 11.
  Continued……. • Establishing directsales force abroad – Useful when grater commitment and control is needed – Sales force structure (standard/customized) – Size of sales force – Market similarities – Company operations
• 12.
  International sales management practices •Recruitment of sales personnel – Selling approach • Canada - no aggressive selling • Mexico – personal relations – Origin of sales personnel • Home country people if the product is high value technical product • Host country people for quicker establishment • Third country people where similarities exists – Sources of recruitment
• 13.
  Selection of salespersonnel • Education – In Germany Ph. D. holders are selected to sell chemical equipment – Pfizer selects MBBS candidates to promote their specialty products in India • Religion – Muslim – Buddhist in Malaysia, Indonesia, Hindu Muslim in India & Pakistan, Sunni – Shia in middle east • Ethnic composition
• 14.
  Continued….. • Social stratification –USA wealth based, India caste based, seniority in Japan – Different criterions for different products & industries • Socio-economic development – Education, religion, nepotism, talent, references, psychological tests plays different roles in different countries
• 15.
  Training & developmentof sales personnel • Changing role, attitudes and perceptions – Differences in selling approaches – In Europe relations are more formal – Business lunch & different protocols • Flexibility in training content and methodology – Modifications to suit cultural &regional factors – Length of training schedule – Use of female sales persons in video modules – Shaking hands & implications in various countries
• 16.
  Sales incentives andcompensation • Uniform / Discriminating • It needs to be tailor made • Often Linked with organization performance • Weight age of incentive component • Influence as motivating factor in different countries • Alignment of management practices with other countries is needed