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A Study of Sales Operations

Author

Listed:
  • Arthur A. Brown

    (Arthur D. Little, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts)

  • Frank T. Hulswit

    (Arthur D. Little, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts)

  • John D. Kettelle

    (Arthur D. Little, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts)

Abstract

This is a case study of sales operations for a client, paraphrased as a printing company, it begins with a market survey revealing a strong concentration of business among larger customers, and a tendency for individual customers to concentrate their business with a single printer. These results lead to the execution of an experiment to determine customer responses to various levels of effort. The experiment shows how much effort should be assigned to get customers, and how much to hold customers. The effort required, and the probabilities of success, determine the proper allocation of accounts to salesmen. By referring to the graph of customer size distribution, sizes of sales forces resulting from various allowed percentages for sales expense are derived. In addition, one method is presented for evaluating the expected profits from improved customer service.

Suggested Citation

  • Arthur A. Brown & Frank T. Hulswit & John D. Kettelle, 1956. "A Study of Sales Operations," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 4(3), pages 296-308, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:4:y:1956:i:3:p:296-308
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.4.3.296
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