Grace Hart had established herself as an exceptional salesperson at Digital Medical Instruments (DMI). Only seven years out of college, she had become a sales manager at DMI; then Medical Imaging Technologies (MIT) sought her out to become one of five regional sales managers. MIT was a much larger company than DMI, and Grace knew this was a great opportunity. After several weeks of considering all the options, she took the job at MIT.

She faced several challenges as she arrived for her first day at MIT. Although she had experience in medical imaging equipment, she was not familiar with the specifics of MIT’s product line or customers. More significant, Grace did not know many of MIT’s sales force, including the 60 salespeople or the three district sales managers in her region. Sales in this region had not been keeping pace with the growth in other parts of the country, and senior management at MIT believed it was time for major changes. They had passed over the district sales managers and gone outside the company to hire Grace.

Grace is considering her first moves at MIT. She knows there is much to learn, and she also knows senior management is expecting sales to increase in her region. As “the new kid on the block,” she knows that everyone will be evaluating her. People will be watching to assess her strengths and weaknesses. Salespeople and managers want to know what kind of boss Grace will be. Senior management expects things to improve in the region quickly and have given Grace a great deal of latitude to make whatever changes she feels are necessary. Much is riding on how Grace handles this new job. Her ability to manage the sales force effectively is critical to her success.

Questions

1. You are Grace Hart. What are the first three things you would want to learn about the sales environment at MIT?

2. Consider the elements of sales force management talked about in this chapter. What area of sales management do you think would be most difficult for Grace to learn about as “the new kid on the block”?

3. What advice would you give to Grace on her first day at MIT?