Sales and Distribution Management : An Indian Perspective

Contents: Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction. I. Marketing and retail environment: 2. Marketing: consumer decision process. 3. Economic development and selling environment. 4. Shopping environment in India. 5. Retail profiling. 6. Retail management practices. II. Strategic decisions in sales and distribution management: 7. Selling strategy--interface between advertising, sales force and channel. 8. Channel design. 9. Internet as an alternate channel. 10. Selling style and service orientation. III. Operational decisions in channel management: 11. Channel member selection and appointment. 12. Channel commitment. 13. Appraisal of channel members. 14. Channel conflict. 15. Channel management system. 16. Channel evaluation. IV. Operational decisions of sales management: 17. Sales force recruitment. 18. Territory design. 19. Sales force motivation. 20. Sales force targets and appraisal. Appendix: rural distribution emerging formats. References. Author index. Subject index.

"Though India has become a lucrative market for various companies, the unique characteristics of its market throw up a variety of challenges. Sales and Distribution Management: an Indian Perspective aims to understand these challenges.

Building on an understanding of the consumer decision process, the book defines the roles of marketing and selling strategies. Second, adopting a customer-centric approach to sales and distribution management, the book deals with making strategic decisions keeping the end consumer in mind and making operational decisions keeping the channel member and the sales force in focus. It highlights the importance of behavioural transactions in completing a sale and also discusses the service orientation required for selling different products.

With its unique approach, generalized frameworks, elaborate research and extensive data analysis, this book will be of immense value to sales and distribution professionals of the Indian corporate sector and marketing departments of national and multinational companies in India. It is a highly recommended reading for students and teachers in Indian business schools studying sales management and distribution management."