Interviewer: Today, I am going to interview Julie, the sales manager of The Coca-Cola Company, to figure out the main problems that she faces in such a position. Good afternoon, Julie.
Julie: Good afternoon.
Interviewer: The Coca-Cola Company is the biggest provider of various drinks in the world now. Recently, the product sales of the company have gone up considerably, which indicates that the business remains sustainable and successful (coca-colacompany.com, no date). Is it true that the appropriate sales management contributes to such a state of the art of firm to a great extent?
Julie: Yes, it plays a significant role, and it should be noticed that a profitable and remarkable enterprise always makes “the management function a key driver to change” (Traù, 2017, p. 749).
Interviewer: I would say that you might be one of the most noticeable sales managers as you would not have been working for the transnational company for such a long period in the other case. My question is: what primary issues should a sales manager deal with to make his or her firm remain prosperous?
Julie: Thank you for the compliment; I am pleased to hear that. Regarding the question, a sales manager has to overcome a high number of obstacles. The first issue that comes into mind is the organization of the internal business environment. It is essential to make sales managers work as a whole and productively. The leader should develop and conduct a coherent and consistent strategy of interaction and cooperation. Then, a sales manager is to analyze sales planning, development strategy, the policy of production, and the firm’s infrastructure (Rustenburg and Steenbeek, 2015), as well as come up with timely and rational proposals.
Furthermore, the external business environment may give many issues that have to be solved by a sales manager. Thus, it is vital to monitor the sales strategies of rivals, predict the shifts of competition, oversee consumers’ demand, and have an in-depth understanding of distributions chains (Rustenburg and Steenbeek, 2015). Acute political and economic conditions dictated by governments have to be monitored too. Then, if to consider an international firm like The Coca-Cola Company, it should be noticed that sales management is more complicated here in comparison with a completely domestic enterprise (Schrock et al., 2018).
For instance, the highest board of my company never make a critical decision regarding some local sales strategy without considering the opinion of managers who work in specific cultural dimension such as in Arabian countries. Especially after the advertisement fail in Saudi Arabia as the company did not take into account that people read right to left there. Hence, a sales manager also should learn the peculiarities of the country in which he or she works.
Interviewer: Thank you for such a consistent answer that might clarify a lot regarding the activity of sales managers. One more question: how does a sales manager can deal with the listed issues and targets; is there any unified solution?
Julie: I suppose that each situation requires an individual approach that has to be undertaken creatively. Nevertheless, several wide-known tools might help a sales manager to generate an appropriate strategy. He or she may develop a unique sales management control system that “align salespeople’s activities and actions with organizational objectives” (Malek, Sarin and Jaworski, 2018, p. 30). Then, it is always beneficial to conduct SWOT and PESTEL analysis or something similar to get a clear picture of the internal and external business environment.
Interviewer: Once again, let me express my gratitude to you for this interview. I am sure that the audience will find it significant.
Julie: You are always welcome!
Reference List
Malek, S., Sarin, S. and Jaworski, B. (2018) ‘Sales management control systems: review, synthesis, and directions for future exploration’, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 38(1), pp. 30–55.
Schrock, W. et al. (2018) ‘On the nature of international sales and sales management research: a social network–analytic perspective’, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 38(1), pp. 56–77.
Rustenburg, G. and Steenbeek, A. (2015) Sales management. New York: Routledge.
Traù, F. (2017) ‘The organisational factor and the growth of firms’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 41(3), pp. 749–774.
coca-colacompany. (no date). Web.