Marketing Management, 16th Edition

Sales Force Structure

The sales force strategy also has implications for its structure. A company that sells one product line to one industry with customers in many locations would organize its sales force around geographic territories. On the other hand, a company that sells many products to customers with diverse needs might organize its sales force around specific products, services, or customer needs.

Some companies need a more complex structure and adopt some combination of four types of sales force: a strategic market sales force assigned to major accounts (see “Marketing Insight: Major Account Management”), a geographic sales force calling on customers in different territories, a distributor sales force calling on and coaching distributors, ...