Personal Selling and Sales Promotion with Answers Part 4

112) At Finley's Fine Goods, members of the sales force and marketing department tend to have disagreements when things go wrong with a customer. The marketers blame the salespeople for poorly executing their strategies, while the salespeople blame the marketers for being out of touch with the customer. Which of the following steps should upper-level management at Finley's Fine Goods take to help bring the sales and marketing functions closer together? A) establish a customer sales force structure B) establish a complex sales force structure C) appoint a new sales force manager D) adopt a sales force automation system E) appoint a chief revenue officer Answer: E 113) Ultra-Tech, Inc. has decided to switch to a customer sales force structure. Which of the following advantages is the company now LEAST likely to enjoy? A) The company can become more customer-focused. B) The company can better serve different industries. C) The company can build closer relationships with important customers. D) The company can better serve current customers and find new customers. E) The company can expect salespeople to develop in-depth knowledge of numerous and complex product lines. Answer: E 114) Johnson Business Solutions, Inc., maintains one sales force for its copy machines and a separate sales force for its computer systems. Johnson Business Solutions utilizes a ________ structure. A) product sales force B) customer sales force C) territorial sales force D) a combination of B and C E) complex sales force Answer: A ) Morrill Motors splits the United States into 10 sales regions. Within each of those regions, the company maintains two sales teams one for existing customers and one for prospects. What type of sales force structure does Morrill Motors use? A) territorial B) product C) customer ) complex E) workload Answer: D 116) J &M Manufacturing has 2,000 Type-A accounts, each requiring 35 calls per year, and 1,000 Type-B accounts, each requiring 15 calls per year. What is the sales force's workload? A) 15,000 calls B) 35,000 calls C) 70,000 calls D) 85,000 calls E) 95,000 calls Answer: D 117) Stahl, Inc., has 1,000 Type-A accounts, each requiring 28 calls per year, and 2,200 Type-B accounts, each requiring 15 calls per year. If each salesperson at Stahl, Inc., can make 1,500 sales calls per year, approximately how many salespeople will be needed? A) 31 B) 35 C) 41 D) 45 E) 48 Answer: C 118) East Bay Communications has increased its inside sales force. This will help East Bay in all EXCEPT which one of the following ways? A) East Bay salespeople will have more time to sell to major accounts. B) East Bay salespeople will have more time to find major new prospects. C) East Bay salespeople will have more time to provide after-the-sale customer service. D) East Bay customers will have questions answered in a timely manner. E) East Bay customers will have full access to sales automation technology. Answer: E 119) You are applying for a position with the inside sales force at Carson Medical Sales. If you earn the job, you will most likely be expected to perform all of the following tasks EXCEPT ________. A) confirm appointments for outside salespeople B) use the Internet to qualify prospects C) use the telephone to find new leads D) follow up on product deliveries E) travel to visit customers Answer: E 120) The sales force at Messimer Computing recently began telemarketing and Web selling. How will telemarketing and Web selling most likely benefit Messimer Computing? A) The inside sales force of Messimer will receive better compensation than the outside sales force. B) Messimer sales reps will need to spend less face-to-face time with large, high-value customers. C) Messimer sales reps will be able to service hard-to-reach customers more effectively. D) Messimer sales reps will be able to work from home offices more regularly. E) The outside sales force of Messimer will be freed up to work more with the marketing department. Answer: C 121) An IBM sales representative is giving a product demonstration to a Best Buy representative. Assisting with the demonstration are an engineer, a financial analyst, and an information systems specialist. If IBM wins the Best Buy account, then all four IBM representatives will service the Best Buy account. This is an example of ________. A) team selling B) territorial selling C) inside selling D) prospecting E) sales promoting Answer: A Sales have been slow recently at B & B Materials, so management has organized a training program to improve the performance of its sales force. Which of the following would most likely lead to improved sales for B & B Materials? A) tests to measure the analytic and organizational skills of the sales force ) information about the marketing strategies used by competitors C) tests to identify the personality traits of sales force members D) a time-and-duty analysis for each salesperson E) instructions on completing expense reports Answer: B 123) The CEO of Comfy Carpet, Rick Hadley, was skeptical about Web-based training until his sales manager explained that online training is ________. A) time consuming and difficult to use B) used by all small companies C) dynamic and interactive D) cost competitive and efficient E) useful to customers Answer: D 124) At Deck Decor, a manufacturer of outdoor furniture and accessories, the marketing and sales force objectives are to grow relationships with existing customers and to acquire new business. Which of the following compensation plans should management establish to encourage the sales force to pursue both of these objectives? A) straight salary B) straight commission C) salary plus bonus for new accounts D) commission plus bonus for new accounts E) salary plus commission plus bonus for new accounts Answer: E B) sales reports C) call reports ) expense reports E) territorial sales and profit reports Answer: A 126) The sales force of Conway Pools has qualified a number of leads. Which of the following will most likely occur next? A) The outside sales force will call on all prospects. B) The outside sales force will close the deal with one of the prospects. C) The outside sales force will learn as much as possible about the prospects. D) The inside sales force will attend meetings with qualified prospects. E) The inside sales force will put together a presentation for the prospects. Answer: C 127) Marlene Arau is a member of the sales force at Urban Fashions, a clothing manufacturer. Marlene is preparing for a first meeting with a wholesaler who is a potential customer. Marlene is learning as much as she can about the wholesaler's organization. Marlene is in the ________ step of the personal selling process. A) prospecting B) qualifying C) preapproach D) approach E) handling objections Answer: C 128) An insert in a Land's End catalog offers free shipping on your next purchase. This is an example of a ________. A) sales promotion B) POP promotion C) trade promotion D) price pack E) premium Answer: A 129) Monty Boyd travels frequently on West Coast Airlines for his job as an account manager. Monty earns points for every mile he flies, and he will soon have enough points to receive a free airline ticket. West Coast Airlines is building a customer relationship with Monty using which of the following? A) publicity B) POP reward C) premium reward D) sweepstakes program E) frequency marketing program Answer: E 130) Toro ran a clever preseason promotion on some of its snow blower models, offering some money back if the snowfall in the buyer's market area turned out to be below average. This is an example of a(n) ________. A) advertising specialty B) premium pack C) sweepstakes D) price pack E) rebate Answer: E ) An example of a(n) ________ is a five-foot-high cardboard display of Tony the Tiger next to Frosted Flakes cereal boxes. A) sample ) POP promotion C) POP pack D) advertising promotion E) premium Answer: B 132) Kirk Wilkins renewed his cell phone contract with Zip Wireless and purchased a new cell phone through the Zip Web site. If Kirk mails Zip his phone receipt, proof of purchase, and a completed form, he will receive $50 in the mail. What type of sales promotion is being used by Zip? A) point of purchase B) advertising specialty C) premium D) price pack E) rebate Answer: E Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Reliable Tool Company is a manufacturer of hubs and axles for the trailer and heavy truck industry. Although Reliable Tool only has fifteen customers, the company is the sole supplier of hub and axle components to those customers. Monthly sales at Reliable Tool are approximately $1 million. "You might say we have all of our eggs in one basket," says owner Arthur Deetz. Therefore, it is critical that a competent sales force be maintained in order to nurture those few but large accounts. Ninety-five percent of Reliable Tool's customers are located in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, which means that travel time to all customers is relatively short. However, given the nature of the industry, time spent with each customer is essential. 133) How would a customer sales force structure benefit Reliable Tool? A) It would decrease the amount of travel required of each Reliable Tool salesperson. B) It would enable ReliableTool salespeople to build close relationships with clients. C) It would help Reliable Tool salespeople become experts on the specific parts they sell. D) It would allow Reliable Tool management to better supervise and evaluate its salespeople. E) It would eliminate the need for telemarketers and sales assistants at Reliable Tool . Answer: B Reliable Tool management is in the process of evaluating its salespeople to make sure they are value merchants instead of value spendthrifts. Which of the following describes a Reliable Tool salesperson who is a value merchant? A) The salesperson gives products away for free in order to close a deal. B) The salesperson sells primarily on price comparisons with competitors. ) The salesperson routinely gains more business at the same price. D) The salesperson informs management that customers only care about price. E) The salesperson regularly trades more business for lower prices. Answer: C 135) Which of the following promotions would be most appropriate for Reliable Tool to use in its attempt to promote its products and generate new business leads? A) rebates B) premiums C) specialty advertising items D) point-of purchase promotions E) conventions and trade shows Answer: E 136) What type of company would be likely to use the territorial sales force structure? Answer: A company with only one product line to one industry with customers in many locations would most likely use a territorial sales force structure. 137) What type of company would be likely to use a product sales force structure? Answer: A product sales force structure will most likely be used by companies that carry extensive product lines with the need to separate customers according to the products they buy. 138) Explain how the workload approach helps companies set sales force size. Answer: Using this approach, the company first groups accounts into different classes according to size, account status, or other factors related to the amount of effort required to maintain them. The company can then determine the number of salespeople needed to call on each class of accounts the desired number of times. 139) Why might a company need to hire both an inside and an outside sales force? Answer: Larger accounts may require special nurturing and face-to-face interaction, so an outside sales force can call on those customers. Smaller accounts and harder-to-reach customers may be able to be taken care of by an inside sales force. 140) Why do many companies invest in ongoing training for their salespeople? Answer: Though training is expensive, it can be very effective in helping salespeople learn about the needs and motives of their customers, techniques for effectively selling, the company's objectives, and the strategies of major competitors. With this training, salespeople are able to better do their jobs, resulting in more revenue for the company. 141) Compare the four types of compensation plans available to salespeople. Answer: A straight salary is a fixed amount that is not dependent on sales performance, while a straight commission is entirely based on sales performance. The two other types, salary plus bonus and salary plus commission, make a portion of the compensation fixed and a portion based on sales performance. 142) Why do sales supervisors provide their salespeople with annual call plans? Answer: The annual call plan shows which customers and prospects to call on in which months and which activities to carry out, giving supervisors more control over the activities of their salespeople. 143) What does a time-and-duty analysis reveal? Answer: This tool, which can be used to help sales management determine how to increase selling time, indicates a salesperson's time spent selling, traveling, waiting, eating, taking breaks, and doing administrative chores. 144) Why have firms adopted sales force automation systems? Answer: Many firms have adopted sales force automation systems to help their salespeople better manage their time, improve customer service, lower sales costs, and increase sales performance. 145) Why is a firm's organizational climate an important part of building a successful sales staff? Answer: How salespeople feel about their opportunities, value, and rewards for a good performance affects how well salespeople will perform; when salespeople are treated as special contributors and have great opportunities for income and promotion, their sales performance is higher. 146) Why does a firm's number of prospects always equal or exceed its number of qualified customers? Answer: Prospecting identifies the total number of potential customers in an area; qualifying breaks that number of prospects down into the actual group that it is worthwhile for the salesperson to target. 147) Why does a salesperson set call objectives? Answer: Call objectives might include qualifying the prospect, gathering more or better information, and/or making an immediate sale. With a call objective, a salesperson can be more focused on how to prepare for the sale. 148) In what situation would a demonstration be especially critical during a salesperson's presentation? Answer: A demonstration may be important if the product's use or value can be better understood with a visual demonstration. For example, if comparing Brand A brass cleaner with another leading brand, a demonstration of how much more quickly Brand A works may be more convincing for the prospective buyer. 149) How does mobile couponing benefit both consumers and marketers? Answer: Consumers don't have to find and clip coupons . Mobile coupons allow marketers to carefully target customers and eliminate the costs associated with printing and distributing paper coupons. 150) What type of sales promotion would benefit a political candidate the most? Answer: A political candidate would likely benefit most from using specialty advertising items such as pencils or pens with the candidate's name or T-shirts with the candidate's name and/or photograph.