This article presents a lucid elucidation of the basic principles and practices of sales management. It is put together in the form of a conversation between a final year college student who is on the threshold of pursuing a career in marketing and sales, and his father, who has been a marketing professional for over three decades. This article draws upon the personal experiences of the two authors, who have rich industrial exposure in the field of sales and marketing management.

A keen immigrant Indian had applied for a salesman's job at London's premier downtown department store. In fact, it was the biggest store in the world—you could get anything there. The boss asked him, "Have you ever been a salesman before?" "Yes, I was a salesman in India," said the lad. The boss liked the cut of him and said, "You can start tomorrow and I'll come and see you." The day was long and arduous for the young man, but finally 5:00 p.m. came around. The boss duly fronted up and asked, "How many sales did you make today?". "One" said the young salesman. "Only one?" blurted the boss. "Most of my staff makes 20 or 30 sales a day. How much was the sale worth??" Three hundred thousand, three hundred and thirty four pounds," said the young Indian."

How did you manage that?", asked the flabbergasted boss. Well", said the salesman "This man came in and I sold him a small fish hook, then a medium hook and finally a really large hook. Then I sold him a small fishing line, a medium one and a huge one. I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down the coast. I said he would probably need a boat, so I took him down to the boat department and sold him that 20-foot schooner with the twin engines. Then he said his Volkswagen probably wouldn't be able to pull it, so I took him to the car department and sold him the new Deluxe Cruiser."

The boss took two steps back and asked in astonishment, "You sold all that to a guy who came in for a fish hook!" "No", answered the salesman, "he came in to buy a box of tissue paper." This story is from the Internet and has been widely circulated. The author and source are unknown. However, it provides important answers to several aspects of sales force management, and has been used as the background to understand and explain the roles and responsibilities of the sales force.

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