Although firms may differ in the specifics of how salespeople are managed, the sales management process has many similarities across firms. Briefly describe the three interrelated functions of the sales management process.

Sales management consists of three interrelated functions: (1) Sales plan formulation: The sales plan is a statement describing what is to be achieved and where and how the selling effort of salespeople is to be deployed. Formulating the sales plan is the most basic of the three functions and involves three tasks-setting objectives, organizing the salesforce, and developing account management policies.
(2) Sales plan implementation: This process puts the tasks specified during formulation into practice. The three major tasks involved in implementing a sales plan are salesforce recruitment and selection, salesforce training, and salesforce motivation and compensation.
(3) Salesforce evaluation: The evaluation function assesses how effective salespeople were in meeting sales objectives and following company policies. Quantitative measures such as selling expenses and sales calls, and behavioral measures such as product knowledge and communication skills, are frequently used. See Figure 21-4.