Assignment Part 1:
1. Of the social media platforms that you have used, which one do you think is the most valuable to salespeople? Explain your answer.
2. Think about products you have purchased over the last five years. Name three of them for which a salesperson was especially important or valuable to your purchase. What is it about those products that made the salesperson more important?
3. If you were to begin a career in sales following graduation, what benefits would you see in starting in an inside-sales position? How might experiences gained in this position benefit you in the future?
4. Lead a discussion on how each alternative would impact the individuals involved. Here is an example to generate discussion:
Carlos works for ABC company selling expensive computer software and multi-year service packages. You have been pursuing this account for years and finally, ABC company has agreed to do business with your company and are prepared to sign a 10 million Cdn dollar contract over a 3-year period. By the way, this contract will pay Carlos a $100,000 sales commission up front. ABC has included a proviso in the contract that specifies that you will be their "account manager for the next 2 years." Meanwhile, you have been accepted into an MBA program at a prestigious university in England, which will force you to move to London for the next 3 years. You have no intentions of passing up the opportunity to attend this university.
- What would you do?
- Would you tell your employer you will be leaving in 6 months for England?
- Would you tell the truth to ABC?
- Would you return your commission?
- What will happen if you tell your manager you are leaving in 6 months, and he/she tells you to not tell ABC company?
Assignment Part 2: How should sales manager promote and enforce ethical practices? Describe some ethical situational that sales managers may face in dealing with salespeople?