The functions performed by sales managers include planning, recruiting, training,
budgeting, developing compensation plans, and assessing sales force productivity.
A majority of the states have passed legislation establishing a cooling-off period during
which the consumer may void a contract to purchase goods and services.
The six parts of the presale presentation plan checklist represent new additions to the
sales training literature.
Ethical standards tend to filter down from the top of a business organization.
The product selection process is often referred to as “product configuration.”
Most people employed in the fast-paced business world, which is constantly changing,
will adopt or discard values quickly.
Which is true of doing business in Belgium?
A) Speaking Dutch will help you in the Flanders area.
B) Speaking French will help you north of Brussels.
C) One selling strategy will work for the entire country.
D) Dutch is spoken in the Wallonia area in the south of the country.
E) Belgians prefer to communicate in business English.
Aspen Stewart is one of five sales managers at a sports equipment company. She and
the other sales managers are under pressure from management to keep their teams of
sales representatives motivated and hitting their sales quotas. Because of that, Aspen
has studied psychology and motivation, and is always looking for better ways to
motivate her team.
Each year, Aspen and the other sales managers meet with the director of sales to
reevaluate the compensation plan for sales representatives. Last year they decided that
the current compensation plan was tempting the sales representatives to compete too
hard with each other and cross ethical lines. To maintain some healthy competition,
provide employees with direct financial security, and encourage the sales
representatives to act in the company spirit, a ________ compensation plan would be
most appropriate.
A) straight commission
B) commission with a guaranteed salary
C) fixed salary
D) bonus with a straight commission
E) straight salary
An effective and practical way to minimize communication-style bias is to:
A) choose customers based on their communication styles
B) write presentation materials that appeal to all communication styles
C) send trained communicators to talk to customers with unfamiliar styles
D) adapt your style to the way the customer communicates
E) focus more on the content of sales presentations than on message delivery
Which compensation plan would appeal to a salesperson who likes the idea of “pay for
performance,” but also likes some job security?
A) guaranteed salary
B) straight salary
C) fixed salary plus bonus
D) straight commission plan
E) commission plan with a draw provision
Johan Yee has been a sales representative at a medium-sized textbook publishing house
for five years. He has just been promoted by the sales director of his company to sales
manager of a new territory. As sales manager, he is tasked with hiring and training three
new sales representatives for his team.
Johan crafts a descriptive ad and receives hundreds of resumes in response. He reads
through them and chooses the 20 best candidates. To further screen candidates, he
invites those 20 to take a test that profiles their skills. What is the best advice to give
Johan about testing?
A) Rely solely on predictive assessment instruments which are more reliable than
quantitative interviews.
B) Conduct testing online to ensure that candidates possess the technical skills needed
for the position.
C) Use test scores to predict a candidate’s verbal and nonverbal communication skills
which are necessary in sales.
D) Provide candidates with multiple tests to ensure that results are both valid and
reliable predictors of sales success.
E) Use test results in conjunction with information obtained from the personal interview
and reference checks.
What is the LEAST likely result of a salesperson who exhibits consultative
problem-solving skills?
A) increased customer satisfaction
B) increased number of closed sales
C) increased business referrals
D) decreased transactional sales
E) decreased order cancellations
When a salesperson asks a customer to prepare a note or letter of introduction that can
be delivered to the potential customer, this person is using which prospecting method?
A) networking
B) mail inquiry
C) cold canvass
D) referral
E) trade show
Salespeople who love their products, and possess vast product knowledge, sometimes
overload their customers with product data that is neither wanted nor needed. Which
term best describes this practice?
A) product integration
B) win-win selling
C) customer overload
D) feature dumping
E) solution selling
Mario Cortez is preparing a sales presentation for a buying team made up of health care
personnel. It is most important that he:
A) recognize that printed documents provide the only credible form of proof for the
audience
B) understand that communication via the spoken word alone is very difficult
C) conduct the demonstration at a neutral location
D) develop a highly structured demonstration to save time
E) save all the questions for the end of the presentation
Alana Pierce is the director of Membership Programs for the Tammerline Zoo. She
develops the programs and sells them to zoo visitors. The programs are tiered and
include discounts and special perks for members.
In addition to free events for members only, Alana works with the zookeepers to create
paid members-only events, such as marine mammal feeding sessions. This most likely
creates which of the following?
A) greater loyalty of members to the zookeepers
B) a revenue stream for the zookeepers
C) a way to make members feel that they are doing something dangerous
D) bad feelings in members who have already paid the membership fee
E) increased member prestige plus the chance to upsell to members
Value creation investments are the highest in:
A) strategic alliance sales
B) transactional sales
C) generic sales
D) consultative sales
E) collaborative sales
Victor Craig is sales director for a software company selling diagnostic software to
automotive repair shops all across the country. He has been with the company for 14
months and manages a staff of six sales representatives. Victor also covers a four-state
territory himself. On Monday the CEO of the company calls Victor into his office and
states that management is dissatisfied with Victor’s performance as sales director. Victor
has 90 days to turn his performance around, or he will be fired.
Management sends Victor to a workshop about coaching employees to success. At the
workshop, Victor learns that the first step in the coaching process is to:
A) appeal to the salesperson’s emotions by sharing personal experiences
B) allow the salesperson to suggest ideas for improving performance
C) enable a salesperson to admit that a performance problem exists
D) create and implement a new presentation style for the salesperson
E) observe and assess employee performance during actual sales calls
Salespeople should be confident at the time of the close if they can answer “yes” to all
of the following questions EXCEPT:
A) Do you believe in your product?
B) Do you believe in your company?
C) Do you believe in yourself?
D) Are you ready to give discounts if they are needed?
E) Have you identified a solution to the customer’s problem?
A customer complaint should most likely be viewed as a(n):
A) lost sale in the future due to customer frustration and anger
B) opportunity to prove the firm’s commitment to service
C) problem that will require attention in the future
D) issue associated with a single department
E) misperception on the part of the customer
Which of the following is the best way of speaking to customers?
A) very quickly
B) very slowly
C) with energy
D) with little feeling
E) with a strong accent
Braeden Innovations is a company that sells database systems and software integration
packages to schools and universities. Jameson Kilpatrick is a field sales representative
with Braeden Innovations. As a field sales representative, he makes sales presentations
in person and contacts clients and prospects by phone, email, text, and in person. He
enjoys the variety of his daily schedule, but is occasionally overwhelmed by the amount
of travel he must do.
Since Jameson flies to many of his sales calls, it is far more efficient, from a time and
expense standpoint, to schedule multiple calls in the same airplane trip. Once Jameson
develops a routing plan for a specific trip, he should then:
A) complete a travel expense report to ensure reimbursement
B) develop the same presentation for all customers in the area
C) notify customers of his anticipated arrival time
D) focus on visiting small accounts in the area
E) plan as many cold calls as possible
Women’s swimwear designer Meli Kinaua’a designs high-end swimsuits. The suits are
sexy in style, but fit a wide variety of body shapes and sizes, which is unusual in the
high-end market. Sales director Jeannie Park sells the suits to boutiques at exclusive
resorts and hotels. These boutiques usually carry other high-end swimsuit lines.
Which of the following is a survey question Jeannie could ask a boutique buyer?
A) Can we arrange delivery for next Wednesday?
B) Are the limited sizes of the other swimsuits you carry affecting sales?
C) What are the most common swimsuit sizes sold to guests at the resort?
D) Is it correct that the swimsuit lines you currently stock do not appeal to older
women?
E) What if we could give you a line to sell that is luxurious but also looks as good on
older and bigger women as it does on smaller women?