Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic

Marketing: A

Global−Managerial

Approach, 14/e

15. Personal Selling Text © The McGraw−Hill
    Companies, 2002

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place

price

promotion

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concerns as part of the sales

team effort. And when the sales

rep identifies a prospect that

has the potential to become

one of Cisco’s “premier part-

ners,” Cisco’s top brass may

help cement a close relation-

ship. Cisco faces tough

competition, so even with all

this help Cisco salespeople

need real skill to get the order

and close a deal. And to keep

the relationship going, top-

notch sales support is needed

whenever a customer has a

problem that can’t be quickly

handled online.

To be certain that these

challenging jobs are done well,

Cisco’s sales managers recruit

talented people using a wide

variety of methods. For exam-

ple, the Hot Jobs@Cisco

section of its website collects

job applicant profiles on an

ongoing basis. When a posi-

tion opens up, qualified candi-

dates are notified. After the

best people are selected,

Cisco provides the sales train-

ing to make them even better.

New people may need training

to build professional problem-

solving and sales presentation

skills as well as technical

knowledge. Even experienced

sales reps need ongoing train-

ing. For example, Cisco gives

its salespeople training in

everything from the firm’s poli-

cies on expenses to the latest

developments in technology—

with approaches ranging from

traditional instructor-led work-

shops to cutting-edge

e-learning opportunities.

Cisco’s salespeople have an

array of different skills and

experience. And Cisco has cus-

tomers and sales offices all over

the world. So Cisco must care-

fully match each salesperson to

particular territories, industries,

customers, and product lines.

And to be sure that each sales-

person is highly motivated,

Cisco’s sales managers must

make certain that sales com-

pensation arrangements and

benefits reward salespeople for

producing needed results.^1