We have already discuss some important factor for the organization and those are customer organization, control organization etc…Today we are going to discuss on functional organization which is most important part of any organization and it can useful for any small business. A functional organization can be characterized as giving staff managers line authority for a product, brand, or aspect of the salesman’s performance. Instead or one manager giving him orders, the salesman may have several. Herein lies two deterrents to the functional organization division of responsibility and conflict of interest.
With a functional organization, field sales gets the advantages of specialization. Market plans developed by product managers will carry line rather than advisory authority, thus materially increasing the odds for implementation. By narrowing the scope of the field sales manager’s job to primarily direction and control he can become more specialized. Organizing on the basis of job aspects such as marketing research, advertising, and sales analysis is not nearly as prevalent as it once was with the changing role of field sales as a function of marketing.
Instant Life Insurance rates, Term Life Insurance, Sales Force Management
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Span-of-control organization
Firms that use one or more of the other bases of division may combine them with span-of-control organization. This form of organizational structure is predicated on the assumption that there is some ideal or desirable span of control for a field sales manager. The determined number is considered a reasonable maximum for optimizing field sales manager’s performance relative to the selling efforts of salesmen. More than this number and the field sales manager will not have sufficient time for each of the salesmen assigned to his jurisdiction.
One manufacturer has determined that the ideal span of control for their district sales managers is ten salesmen. There is no stated number above ten when splits are made. Rarely, however, will a district be allowed to get any bigger than 15 salesmen. Future sales prospects have a lot of influence of the timing of the split at a lower number than might otherwise be the case.
The main drawback is the inverse relationship of the span of control to the number of tiers of sales management. The narrower the span of control, the more likely will be the necessity of another level of dales management. This increase in executive overhead raises disproportionately selling expenses as a percent of sales. A second drawback is the difficulty that may be experienced in determining when a new sales unit should be broken out.
One manufacturer has determined that the ideal span of control for their district sales managers is ten salesmen. There is no stated number above ten when splits are made. Rarely, however, will a district be allowed to get any bigger than 15 salesmen. Future sales prospects have a lot of influence of the timing of the split at a lower number than might otherwise be the case.
The main drawback is the inverse relationship of the span of control to the number of tiers of sales management. The narrower the span of control, the more likely will be the necessity of another level of dales management. This increase in executive overhead raises disproportionately selling expenses as a percent of sales. A second drawback is the difficulty that may be experienced in determining when a new sales unit should be broken out.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Customer organization
In our last post we have discussed on sales force management and product organization. Today we are going to talk on customer organization which is most important part of any small business. To orient the field sales organization to the market a firm may make use of a customer basis. The type of industry corresponding to SIC category and the channel of distribution are two widely used classes of customer. For example, if it is for blinds industry where they are selling different products like vertical blinds, roman shades online, than for them channel of distribution is different. While for Instant term life insurance rates company who are providing life insurance quotes online, channel of distribution is different. What a firm seeks to achieve in limiting a salesman’s efforts to selected group of customers is specialization in servicing their particular needs. Market factors conducive to the use of a customer base include:
(1) geographical concentration to facilitate the equating of customer sets with geographical assignments;
(2) substantial sales and profits to justify the assignment of sales personnel; and
(3) distinctiveness in needs to permit differentiation between customer segments.
Organizing of the basis of customers rather than products offers the practical advantage of less territorial overlap with specialization. There is still the added costs of some territorial overlap plus the possibility the salesman may be called upon to sell a diverse range of products.
(1) geographical concentration to facilitate the equating of customer sets with geographical assignments;
(2) substantial sales and profits to justify the assignment of sales personnel; and
(3) distinctiveness in needs to permit differentiation between customer segments.
Organizing of the basis of customers rather than products offers the practical advantage of less territorial overlap with specialization. There is still the added costs of some territorial overlap plus the possibility the salesman may be called upon to sell a diverse range of products.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Product organization
Two conditions are conducive to the use of a product basis in organizing field sales. One is that the firm markets a diverse range of products or product lines. By limiting the product types he is accountable for, a salesman can become more of a product specialist. This may be especially important from a competitive standpoint when products are technically complex in nature. The second is the determination that product knowledge is the primary marketing input for the salesman.
While a product division appears ideally suited to industrial marketers, several prominent consumer-good marketers use this basis of organization for field sales. General Foods, for example, divides up the field sales organization by brands. Another large marketer of essentially grocery products separates its field sales organization into food and nonfood.
A major disadvantage of the product organization is the duplication of effort. Two or more salesmen from the same company will travel in the same geographical area, possibly calling on the same accounts and purchasing contacts. Another disadvantage is the added expense of hiring product or brand managers to provide staff assistance. Still an-other disadvantage is the possible development of insularity among salesmen causing them to lose sight of the other products marketed by the firm.
While a product division appears ideally suited to industrial marketers, several prominent consumer-good marketers use this basis of organization for field sales. General Foods, for example, divides up the field sales organization by brands. Another large marketer of essentially grocery products separates its field sales organization into food and nonfood.
A major disadvantage of the product organization is the duplication of effort. Two or more salesmen from the same company will travel in the same geographical area, possibly calling on the same accounts and purchasing contacts. Another disadvantage is the added expense of hiring product or brand managers to provide staff assistance. Still an-other disadvantage is the possible development of insularity among salesmen causing them to lose sight of the other products marketed by the firm.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sales Force Management
A geographical split by minimizing duplication of travel patterns is usually the most economical basis. Other advantages include enhanced adaptability to local market conditions, greater control, and quicker sales reactions. Working against a geographical basis alone works against this type of specialization. I was talking with the owner of online blinds store who are selling vertical blinds and roman shades blinds. He says that with sales force management it is really easy for them to manage geographically large areas with one location office. To retain the advantages of the geographical basis without incurring its limitations, it is often used in combination with either the product or consumer basis.
Product organization
Two conditions are conducive to the use of a product basis in organizing field sales. One is that the firm markets a diverse range of products or product lines. By limiting the product types he is accountable for, a salesman can become more of a product specialist. This may be especially important from a competitive standpoint when products are technically complex in nature. For instant life insurance rates company who are providing life insurance quotes online, they says that they need term life insurance agents who are expert in their field. More experience they have more business they are going to give. The second is the determination that product knowledge is the primary marketing input for the salesman.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Internet marketing
Internet marketing, also referred to as web marketing, online marketing, or eMarketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet.
The Internet has brought many unique benefits to marketing, one of which being lower costs for the distribution of information and media to a global audience. The interactive nature of Internet marketing, both in terms of providing instant response and eliciting responses, is a unique quality of the medium. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to have a broader scope because it refers to digital media such as the Internet, e-mail, and wireless media; however, Internet marketing also includes management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) systems.
Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. Internet marketing does not simply entail building or promoting a website, nor does it mean placing a banner ad on another website. Effective Internet marketing requires a comprehensive strategy that synergizes a given company's business model and sales goals with its website function and appearance, focusing on its target market through proper choice of advertising type, media, and design.
Ref: Wikipedia
The Internet has brought many unique benefits to marketing, one of which being lower costs for the distribution of information and media to a global audience. The interactive nature of Internet marketing, both in terms of providing instant response and eliciting responses, is a unique quality of the medium. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to have a broader scope because it refers to digital media such as the Internet, e-mail, and wireless media; however, Internet marketing also includes management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) systems.
Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. Internet marketing does not simply entail building or promoting a website, nor does it mean placing a banner ad on another website. Effective Internet marketing requires a comprehensive strategy that synergizes a given company's business model and sales goals with its website function and appearance, focusing on its target market through proper choice of advertising type, media, and design.
Ref: Wikipedia
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Order Fulfillment -1
The first research towards defining order fulfiment strategies was published by Mather (1988) and his discussion of the P:D ratio, whereby P is defined as the production lead-time, i.e. how long it takes to manufacture a product, and D is the demand lead-time, i.e. how long customers are willing to wait for the order to be completed. Based on comparing P and D, a firm has several basic strategic order fulfilment options:
- Engineer-to-Order (ETO) - (D>>P) Here, the product is designed and built to customer specifications; this approach is most common for large construction projects and one-off products, such as Formula 1 cars
- Build-to-Order (BTO); syn: Make-to-Order (MTO) - (D>P) Here, the product is based on a standard design, but component production and manufacture of the final product is linked to the order placed by the final customer's specifications; this strategy is typical for high-end motor vehicles and aircraft
- Assemble-to-Order (ATO) - Here, the product is built to customer specifications from a stock of existing components. This assumes a modular product architecture that allows for the final product to be configured in this way; a typical example for this appraoch is Dell's approach to customising its computers.
- Make-to-Stock (MTS); syn: Build-to-Forecast (BTF) - (D=0) Here, the product is built against a sales forecast, and sold to the customer from finished goods stock; this approach is common in the grocery and retail sectors.
In its broadest definition the possible steps in the process are :
- Product Inquiry - Initial inquiry about offerings, visit to the web-site, catalog request
Sales Quote - Budgetary or availability quote - Order Configuration - Where ordered items need selection of options or order lines need to be compatible with each other
- Order Booking - The formal order placement or closing of the deal (issuing by the customer of a Purchase Order)
we talk more steps in next post.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Order Fulfillment
Order management System and Multi-channel order management we are talking here as part of insurance sfa software. The goal of a multi-channel order management system is to provide a uniform customer experience regardless of sales channel, and to enable customer-service and sales representatives to view and manage orders across sales channels. Insurance agency management software or insurance software with insurance crm software and insurance sfa software helps order management system to work properly.
Today we are going to talk about Order Fulfillment.
Order fulfillment (in BE also: order fulfillment) is in the most general sense the complete process from point of sales inquiry to delivery of a product to the customer. Sometimes Order fulfillment is used to describe the narrower act of distribution or the logistics function, however, in the broader sense however it refers to the way how firms respond to customer orders.
The first research towards defining order fulfillment strategies was published by Mather (1988) and his discussion of the P:D ratio, whereby P is defined as the production lead-time, i.e. how long it takes to manufacture a product, and D is the demand lead-time, i.e. how long customers are willing to wait for the order to be completed. Based on comparing P and D, a firm has several basic strategic order fulfillment options.
We continue our talk on Order Fuifillment in next post.
ref: Insurance Software, Insurance CRM, Wikipedia
Today we are going to talk about Order Fulfillment.
Order fulfillment (in BE also: order fulfillment) is in the most general sense the complete process from point of sales inquiry to delivery of a product to the customer. Sometimes Order fulfillment is used to describe the narrower act of distribution or the logistics function, however, in the broader sense however it refers to the way how firms respond to customer orders.
The first research towards defining order fulfillment strategies was published by Mather (1988) and his discussion of the P:D ratio, whereby P is defined as the production lead-time, i.e. how long it takes to manufacture a product, and D is the demand lead-time, i.e. how long customers are willing to wait for the order to be completed. Based on comparing P and D, a firm has several basic strategic order fulfillment options.
We continue our talk on Order Fuifillment in next post.
ref: Insurance Software, Insurance CRM, Wikipedia
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Multi-channel order management - 1
Insurance SFA Software is part of Insurance CRM Software. Sales Force Automation we talked in the past with order management system which is part of agency management software. Today we continue our talk on Multi-channer order management.
Integration and coordination between supply chain partners is central to harnessing the benefits of a customer driven strategy. In addition to the challenge of integrating with partners outside the enterprise, integration within the enterprise is an equally daunting task. The unified order fulfillment challenge is compounded by organizations that have ageing legacy or divisional ERP applications with multiple instances that fail to provide a single view of inventory and customers orders.
In an increasingly competitive marketplace, organizations have realized that the existing legacy order management and fulfillment systems were designed to support a monolithic order fulfillment process within the four walls of the business and not the multi-party, multi-tiered fulfillment process that exists in most supply chains. Companies must align processes and measures and rethink the architecture and applications that link key functions and external parties in this extended and increasingly distributed order fulfillment process.
Integration and coordination between supply chain partners is central to harnessing the benefits of a customer driven strategy. In addition to the challenge of integrating with partners outside the enterprise, integration within the enterprise is an equally daunting task. The unified order fulfillment challenge is compounded by organizations that have ageing legacy or divisional ERP applications with multiple instances that fail to provide a single view of inventory and customers orders.
In an increasingly competitive marketplace, organizations have realized that the existing legacy order management and fulfillment systems were designed to support a monolithic order fulfillment process within the four walls of the business and not the multi-party, multi-tiered fulfillment process that exists in most supply chains. Companies must align processes and measures and rethink the architecture and applications that link key functions and external parties in this extended and increasingly distributed order fulfillment process.
ref: agency management software, Insurance Software, wikipedia
Monday, February 4, 2008
Multi-channel order management
Order Management System and financial securities we talked in our last talked. Agency management system helps to manage crm software, sfa software and also order management system.
An Order Management System for businesses, such as retailers, that operate multiple sales channels, including:
Storefront sales
Web sales
Telephone/catalogue sales
Kiosks
The goal of a multi-channel order management system is to provide a uniform customer experience regardless of sales channel, and to enable customer-service and sales representatives to view and manage orders across sales channels.
From a demand management perspective, global organizations are focused on unifying the order process, enabling multi-tier distribution channels, extending product offerings with services, and dramatically improving customer response times.
From a supply management perspective, they continue to outsource more of the fulfillment process to partners and suppliers for the design, manufacturing, distribution, and installation of the product. The rapid adoption of the internet has accelerated the trend towards multi-channel shopping and reinforced the importance of the direct-to-consumer channel. The next big challenge facing retailers and CPG companies is to facilitate a uniform and consistent customer experience through integrated and synchronized execution across a complex and fragmented web of business partners.
we continue our talk on multi-channel order management in next post.
ref: agency management system, Insurance Software, wikipedia
An Order Management System for businesses, such as retailers, that operate multiple sales channels, including:
Storefront sales
Web sales
Telephone/catalogue sales
Kiosks
The goal of a multi-channel order management system is to provide a uniform customer experience regardless of sales channel, and to enable customer-service and sales representatives to view and manage orders across sales channels.
From a demand management perspective, global organizations are focused on unifying the order process, enabling multi-tier distribution channels, extending product offerings with services, and dramatically improving customer response times.
From a supply management perspective, they continue to outsource more of the fulfillment process to partners and suppliers for the design, manufacturing, distribution, and installation of the product. The rapid adoption of the internet has accelerated the trend towards multi-channel shopping and reinforced the importance of the direct-to-consumer channel. The next big challenge facing retailers and CPG companies is to facilitate a uniform and consistent customer experience through integrated and synchronized execution across a complex and fragmented web of business partners.
we continue our talk on multi-channel order management in next post.
ref: agency management system, Insurance Software, wikipedia
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Financial Securities - OMS
Sales Force Automation we are talking here as part of Agency Management System. we talked Insurance SFA and Order Management System in our last post. Today we are going to talk about Financial securities as part of our talk on Order management system.
Financial Securities
Another use is as a software-based platform that facilitates and manages the order execution of securities, typically through the FIX protocol.
First, it has to allow firms to input orders to the system for routing to the pre-established destinations. It also has to allow firms to change, cancel and update orders. When an order is executed, the OMS has to update its database and send an execution report to the order's originating firm. An OMS should also allow firms access information on orders entered into the system, including detail on all open orders and on previously completed orders.
Some management functions of an OMS might include: establishing and modifying order routing tables, entering and modifying dividend and stock split transactions, and processing and managing underwriting functionality. An OMS may offer direct market access (DMA). Typically only exchange members can connect directly to an exchange.
An OMS encompasses five components:
Financial Securities
Another use is as a software-based platform that facilitates and manages the order execution of securities, typically through the FIX protocol.
First, it has to allow firms to input orders to the system for routing to the pre-established destinations. It also has to allow firms to change, cancel and update orders. When an order is executed, the OMS has to update its database and send an execution report to the order's originating firm. An OMS should also allow firms access information on orders entered into the system, including detail on all open orders and on previously completed orders.
Some management functions of an OMS might include: establishing and modifying order routing tables, entering and modifying dividend and stock split transactions, and processing and managing underwriting functionality. An OMS may offer direct market access (DMA). Typically only exchange members can connect directly to an exchange.
An OMS encompasses five components:
- Connectivity to a broker or market, typically using FIX messaging.
- trading blotter
- post-trade support
- compliance
- portfolio modeling
An example of a buy-side order management systems is Eze Castle Software.
We talk on Multi-channel order management in our next post.
ref: agency management system, insurance sfa software, wikipedia
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Order Management System
Sales Force Automation we are talking here as part of Agency Management System. we talked Insurance SFA in our last post. Today we are going to talk about Order Management System.
An order management system, or OMS, is a software system used in a number of industries for order entry and processing.
eCommerce and Catalogers
A common use of order management software is by eCommerce and Catalog companies. This software facilitates entering of an order, whether via a web-site shopping cart or a data entry system (for orders received via phone and mail). It typically captures Customer Proprietary Information and Account Level information. Credit Verification or Payment processing is done to check for validity and/or availability of funds. Once entered, valid orders are processed for warehouse fulfillment, such picking/packing/shipping.
Orders can be received from businesses, consumers, or a mix of both, depending on the products. Offers and pricing may be done via catalogs or web sites or TV/newspaper/radio advertisements.
An integrated Order Management System may encompass these modules:
An order management system, or OMS, is a software system used in a number of industries for order entry and processing.
eCommerce and Catalogers
A common use of order management software is by eCommerce and Catalog companies. This software facilitates entering of an order, whether via a web-site shopping cart or a data entry system (for orders received via phone and mail). It typically captures Customer Proprietary Information and Account Level information. Credit Verification or Payment processing is done to check for validity and/or availability of funds. Once entered, valid orders are processed for warehouse fulfillment, such picking/packing/shipping.
Orders can be received from businesses, consumers, or a mix of both, depending on the products. Offers and pricing may be done via catalogs or web sites or TV/newspaper/radio advertisements.
An integrated Order Management System may encompass these modules:
- Product Information (descriptions, attributes, locations, quantities)
- Vendors, Purchasing, and Receiving
- Marketing (Catalogs, promotions, pricing)
- Customers and Prospects
- Order Entry and Customer Service (including Returns and Refunds)
- Financial Processing (credit cards, billing, payment on account)
- Order Processing (selection, printing, picking, packing, shipping)
- Data Analysis and Reporting
- Financials (Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, General Ledger)
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Sales Force Automation System
Insrance SFA system we are talking here as part of agency management software in this blog. We talk Insurance sfa - leadorganizer introduction to that in last post, today we continue our talk.
SFA also includes a sales lead tracking system, which lists potential customers through paid phone lists, or customers of related products. Other elements of a SFA system can include, sales forecasting, order management and product knowledge. More developed SFA systems have features where customers can actually model the product to meet their required needs through online product building systems. This is becoming more and more popular in the automobile industry, where patrons can customize various features such as color and interior features such as leather vs. upholstered seats.
An integral part of any SFA system is company wide integration among different departments. If SFA systems aren’t adopted and properly integrated to all departments, there might be a lack of communication which could result in different departments contacting the same customer for the same purpose. In order to mitigate this risk, SFA must be fully integrated in all departments that deal with customer service management.
ref: insurance crm, Insurance sfa software, wikipedia, agency management software
SFA also includes a sales lead tracking system, which lists potential customers through paid phone lists, or customers of related products. Other elements of a SFA system can include, sales forecasting, order management and product knowledge. More developed SFA systems have features where customers can actually model the product to meet their required needs through online product building systems. This is becoming more and more popular in the automobile industry, where patrons can customize various features such as color and interior features such as leather vs. upholstered seats.
An integral part of any SFA system is company wide integration among different departments. If SFA systems aren’t adopted and properly integrated to all departments, there might be a lack of communication which could result in different departments contacting the same customer for the same purpose. In order to mitigate this risk, SFA must be fully integrated in all departments that deal with customer service management.
ref: insurance crm, Insurance sfa software, wikipedia, agency management software
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Insurance SFA - Leadorganizer
Sales Force Automation Systems (SFA),typically a part of a company’s customer relationship management system, is a agency management system that automatically records all the stages in a sales process.
SFA includes a contact management system which tracks all contact that has been made with a given customer, the purpose of the contact, and any follow up that might be required. This ensures that sales efforts won’t be duplicated eliminating the risk of irritating customers.
SFA also includes a sales lead tracking system, which lists potential customers through paid phone lists, or customers of related products. Other elements of a SFA system can include, sales forecasting, order management and product knowledge. More developed SFA systems have features where customers can actually model the product to meet their required needs through online product building systems. This is becoming more and more popular in the automobile industry, where patrons can customize various features such as color and interior features such as leather vs. upholstered seats.
Ref: agency management software, Insurance SFA Software, wikipedia
SFA includes a contact management system which tracks all contact that has been made with a given customer, the purpose of the contact, and any follow up that might be required. This ensures that sales efforts won’t be duplicated eliminating the risk of irritating customers.
SFA also includes a sales lead tracking system, which lists potential customers through paid phone lists, or customers of related products. Other elements of a SFA system can include, sales forecasting, order management and product knowledge. More developed SFA systems have features where customers can actually model the product to meet their required needs through online product building systems. This is becoming more and more popular in the automobile industry, where patrons can customize various features such as color and interior features such as leather vs. upholstered seats.
Ref: agency management software, Insurance SFA Software, wikipedia
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