What can you learn from John Smith from the sales report reflected in the table?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The sales manager can learn many things about rep John Smith from this table. Total sales increased every year (line 3 ). This does not necessarily mean Smith is doing a better job. The product breakdown shows he has been able to push the sales of product B further than the sales of product A (lines 1 and 2 ), though A is more profitable for the company. Given his quotas for the two products (lines 4 and 5 ), Smith could be increasing product B sales at the expense of product A sales. Although he increased total sales by $1,100 between 2013 and 2014 (line 3 ), gross profits on total sales actually decreased by $580 (line 8 ).

Sales expense (line 9 ) shows a steady increase, though total expense as a percentage of total sales seems to be under control (line 10 ). The upward trend in total dollar expense does not seem to be explained by any increase in the number of calls (line 11 ), though it might be related to success in acquiring new customers (line 14 ). Perhaps in prospecting for new customers, this rep is neglecting present customers, as indicated by an upward trend in the annual number of lost accounts (line 15 ). The last two lines show the level and trend in sales and gross profits per customer. These figures become more meaningful when compared with overall company averages. If Smith's average gross profit per customer is lower than the company's average, he could be concentrating on the wrong customers or not spending enough time with each customer. A review of annual number of calls (line 11 ) shows he might be making fewer annual calls than the average salesperson. If distances in the territory are similar to those in other territories, he might not be putting in a full workday, might be poor at sales planning and routing, or might be spending too much time with certain accounts.