An action research to increase opportunities and new customers of sales executives

• Main Author: Cuerda, Harold L.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2019
• Subjects: Sales executives; Sales management; Customer relations; Business
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/7027
• Institution: De La Salle University

This Action Research paper illustrates how a Sales Department in a logistic Company was able to increase the number of new accounts in the company in a given month and consistently by tackling the many issues that restricts them from achieving more. On the surface the issues identified were the low numbers of new accounts, and low number of prospects being attended in a given time, problems in the Salespersons volume of work, not having the right tools to expedite the sales process, and having a long list of functions in the sales process that make things difficult and tedious for the Salesperson. To sum it, all of the above are all problems that are interconnected to each other but were stemming out from the main issue which is the need to revise the roles of Sales and divide them into two groups.In this action research we applied different management principles such as Division of Work under Henry Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management and Frederick Taylor’s careful selection and proper training of staff to ensure maximum efficiency on the job. We also took cues to change management approaches such Lewin’s Change Management model, and the practice of jointly collaborating in this Action Research to realize and decide on the root cause of those issues mentioned (which is the need to specialise and divide Sales into two groups). Here we planned and implemented the necessary changes to the organization and the new functions of those in Sales in the first cycle. In the 2nd cycle the group moved to reinforce these measures by adding more updated measures to now solidify the change, improve results and ultimately help the organization achieve consistent increase on the no. of new customers closed/signed in a month. Some of the other practical findings in the research paper are the comments throughout the stages of the action research given by the collaborators. These showcased the positive feedback , increased morale or satisfaction from their jobs in relation to the action research taken, real work experiences and issues in the realm of a sales role in a Logistics service company. I find that their relatability to similar positions in other industries would prove highly valuable to many.