Definition
A sales call is a meeting between a customer and a salesperson who engages in selling.
A canvasser or house-to-house salesperson is one who is primarily engaged in qualifying prospective customers or making sales directly to ultimate consumers in their homes.
Call frequency is the number of sales calls per time period made on a particular customer. The call frequencies assigned to customers are used by salespeople to plan their own route and sales call schedules.
A call report is a salesperson’s report of a sales call made on a customer.
A call system is a system of equalizing sales opportunities among salespeople—e.g., some stores rotate salespeople, giving each an equal opportunity to meet arriving customers.
An activity goal is the behavioral objective for salespeople, such as the number of calls made or number of displays set up in a day.
Sales Call Allocation Grid
An activity quota focuses on the activities in which sales representatives are supposed to engage. Activity quotas focus on a salesperson’s efforts rather than the sales volume outcomes of these activities. Examples of activity quotas include number of letters to potential accounts, number of product demonstrations, number of calls on new accounts, and number of submitted proposals.
A sales call allocation grid is used to classify customers and determine the sales effort to direct toward them. The dimensions are the strength of the firm’s position with the customer and the customer’s sales potential.
References
- American Marketing Association, AMA Dictionary.