A diagnostic study of sales managers' efficiency

The importance of the sales manager to industrial marketing organizations has long been recognized. Consequently, much attention has been directed to alternative approaches for evaluating his performance. Yet, effective evaluation requires being able to suggest approaches to improve one's performance. In order to recommend corrective actions and diagnose performance problems, an understanding of the operating environment is necessary. Little understanding exists, however, on how variables in the sales manager's environment are interrelated. The focus of this study is an empirical identification of the interrelationships of variables in the sales manager's environment. This approach leads to diagnostic models of the sales manager's role along three dimensions: (1) Over-all performance; (2) administrative responsibilities; and (3) personal selling. Data from one division of a large industrial chemical company are utilized in this investigation. Information was gathered from internal records and questionnaires to the sales managers. Significant empirical results are found along the three dimensions of the sales manager's job. The managerial implications of the findings are reviewed in depth.