Dirección de ventas y administración comercial
Building and running a sales engine
Sales direction starts with structure: territorial (simple, low cost, good for broad similar markets), product (complex lines), customer or market-based (key accounts, channels), and hybrid/matrix forms. Territory design balances potential, workload and travel; the workload method sizes the force from accounts × call frequency × call time ÷ selling time available. Quotas translate strategy into targets: volume, profit, activity or new-account quotas, set from territory potential, achievable but demanding, and revised when the market moves. Compensation mixes salary (security, relationship and team selling, non-selling duties) with commission and bonus (short-term drive, transactional selling). Management also covers recruitment profiles, training, field coaching, motivation, and formal evaluation through variance analysis, ride-alongs and CRM dashboards.
The sales process is usually prospecting, pre-approach, presentation, objection handling, close and follow-up. Forecasts come from pipelines, historical ratios, judgment or regression - and must not be confused with quotas. Core metrics: conversion rate, win rate, average deal size, sales-cycle length, calls per day, cost per call, customer acquisition cost, retention and share of wallet.
Traps. A forecast is an estimate; a quota is an assigned target. Commission-only pay undermines long, complex, service-heavy cycles. Activity metrics (calls) are not outcomes (margin). Equal-potential territories are not always equal-workload territories. High revenue with poor margin still fails a profit quota.
Worked example. A rep costs 720,000 a year including expenses; average gross margin per closed deal is 24,000. Break-even is 720,000 ÷ 24,000 = 30 deals. At 25 deals the territory loses 120,000 before any growth contribution.
Key points
- Structure follows strategy: territory, product, customer, hybrid.
- Size the force with the workload method.
- Forecast ≠ quota; a quota must be reachable.
- Pay mix shapes selling behaviour.
- Track conversion, cycle time, CAC and margin.