This article is based on interactions with many sales executives of various organizations dealing in products, such as industrial motors, switchgears, cables, wires, pumps, etc., and a detailed study with 15 of them. It explains how an organization can increase the face time of its sales force with customers by identifying various non value-added activities that sales teams perform today, and transferring them to a different set of people who may be better equipped to handle them. A complete "responsibility matrix" is drawn up, showing the suggested roles of sales, logistics and other related departments within the organization.

Every organization wants its sales force to be very effective. Among the various measures of effectiveness, one of the most important is the time a salesperson actually spends with customers. Ideally, he should not come to his office, except when specifically required (say for team reviews/meetings or for a few other essential activities). But, at present, most salespersons are seen going to their offices regularly for many internal follow-ups and other non value-added activities. In fact, many tend to overstay in the office. Therefore, to increase the face time of salespersons with customers, it is required that many follow-up and other non value-added activities that they are doing today are taken away from them. This should immediately improve their face time with customers and, in turn, result in the generation of more sales.

However, this is easier said than done. In most organizations, salespersons are the primary point of contact when it comes to customers. It is the salesperson who books orders from customers and commits to execute these as per the agreed schedule. Therefore, for any issue, the customer contacts the salesperson and expects an immediate response.

Further, in many organizations, salespersons are also responsible for invoicing (in addition to order booking) and, therefore, they are anyway forced to follow-up for speeding up product delivery and invoicing. In fact, to execute an already booked order, the salesperson is required to go through a series of activities - take required approvals, place order in the SAP system (a software which facilitates tracking customer and business interactions), ensure timely availability of all materials, which involves identification and coordination with various internal departments (demand planners, logistics, factory, stores, even design and marketing sometimes). One has to do all these, while also managing internal, customer and channel partner communications. Obviously, the follow-up and coordination activities consume a lot of time, and finally leave much less time for making customer calls.

Marketing Mastermind Magazine, Industrial Motors, Business Interactions, Customer Calls, Channel Partner Communications, Customer Expectations, Communication Channels, Sales Force Automation Systems, Monthly Invoice Statements, Manpower Development, Original Equipment Manufacturers, OEMs.