# data[].attributes.body
1. Discuss the roles of a sales force.

Generating income and revenue are the primary roles of the sales force. A sales team must work together to increase brand awareness and drive sales forward. Small businesses hiring salespeople for the first time must overcome the challenges of finding a cohesive team to work well together.

2. List the steps involved in managing a sales force.

1) designing sales force strategy and structure

In designing a sales force, sales management must address various issues, including what type of sales force structure will work best ( territorial, product, customer, or complex structure), sales force size, who will be involved in selling, and how various sales and sales- support people will work together ( inside or outside sales forces and team selling).

2) recruiting and selecting

Salespeople must be recruited and selected carefully. In recruiting salespeople, a company may look to the job duties and the characteristics of its most successful salespeople to suggest the traits it wants in new salespeople. It must then look for applicants through recommendations of current salespeople, ads, and the Internet and other social networks, as well as college recruitment/ placement centers.

3) training

After the selection process is complete, training programs familiarize new salespeople not only with the art of selling but also with the company's history, its products and policies, and the characteristics of its customers and competitors

4) compensating

The sales force compensation system helps to reward, motivate, and direct salespeople.

5) supervising

all salespeople need supervision, and many need continuous encouragement because they must make many decisions and face many frustrations.

6) evaluating salespeople and sales force performance

Periodically, the company must evaluate their performance to help them do a better job. In evaluating salespeople, the company relies on information gathered from sales reports, personal observations, customer surveys, and conversations with other salespeople.

3. Explain the personal selling process.

Selling involves a seven-step process: prospecting and qualifying, pre approach, approach, presentation and demonstration, handling objections, closing, and follow-up. These steps help marketers close a specific sale and, as such, are transaction-oriented. However, a seller's dealings with customers should be guided by the larger concept of relationship marketing. The company's sales force should help to orchestrate a whole company effort to develop profitable long-term relationships with key customers based on superior customer value and satisfaction.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Gather evidences (i.e., sales promotional materials, websites, etc) from printed newspaper/magazine and/or online sources of the selected company.
2. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the company’s sales promotion and direct marketing strategies.
3. Recommend how the company could improve their sales promotion and direct marketing strategies.

# data[].attributes.body
Advantages

Focusing on product and price elements of the marketing mix. Specifically, IKEA attempts to offer the greatest range of products for the lowest cost. Along with product and price, additional elements of marketing mix, also known as 7Ps of marketing include place, promotion, process, people and physical evidence.

Using mono-segment and adaptive types of product positioning. The furniture retailer targets cost-conscious customer segment that prefers to get value for money they pay. Accordingly, IKEA has adapted the lowest costs of its products along with the widest range as the unique selling proposition of the brand.

Integrating several channels of marketing communication such as print and media advertising, sales promotions, events and experiences, public relations and direct marketing. Specifically, the furniture giant derives the maximum benefits from print and media advertising and direct marketing.

Effectively applying product placement marketing technique. Movies such as Fight Club, Cash Back, 500 Days of Summer and TV programs such as 30 Rock: Blind Date, Being Human (UK): Ghost Town and Little Britain can be mentioned as the most notable cases of product placement by IKEA.

Disadvantages

Ikea's competitive priorities are price and design. It is successful today because of its low price strategy.

# data[].attributes.body
Social Media Promotion. For example, reward the most loyal fans by giving them limited edition IKEA gifts or bundles.

Keep up with the latest trends to make a creative content post to go viral on social media platform.