Strategic Sales Management | Salesforce Design and Managerial Challenges | 50+ MCQ with Answers
1. The primary objective of salesforce design is to:
A. Reduce product complexity
B. Allocate sales resources efficiently
C. Increase fixed salaries
D. Eliminate customer interactions
✅ Answer: B. Allocate sales resources efficiently
2. Salesforce design decisions typically involve:
A. Choosing logo colors
B. Determining roles, responsibilities, and structure
C. Modifying HR policies
D. Managing supply chain networks
✅ Answer: B. Determining roles, responsibilities, and structure
3. A well-designed salesforce helps improve:
A. Product defects
B. Market coverage and customer reach
C. Manufacturing turnaround time
D. Employee turnover
✅ Answer: B. Market coverage and customer reach
4. The first step in designing a salesforce is:
A. Defining training modules
B. Analyzing customer needs and buying process
C. Creating compensation plans
D. Setting annual quotas
✅ Answer: B. Analyzing customer needs and buying process
5. Role ambiguity in a salesforce often leads to:
A. Improved performance
B. Lower stress levels
C. Reduced productivity and confusion
D. Higher loyalty
✅ Answer: C. Reduced productivity and confusion
6. Role conflict occurs when:
A. A salesperson is underpaid
B. Expectations from different managers contradict
C. CRM adoption is too high
D. Customers are very satisfied
✅ Answer: B. Expectations from different managers contradict
7. Salesforce size is influenced primarily by:
A. Office rent
B. Workload and market opportunity
C. Number of competitors
D. Historical brand value
✅ Answer: B. Workload and market opportunity
8. Sales potential refers to:
A. The maximum salary a rep can earn
B. The expected revenue from a given market
C. Customer complaints
D. Product warranty value
✅ Answer: B. The expected revenue from a given market
9. Workload approach to salesforce sizing calculates:
A. Number of territories
B. Number of salespeople needed based on customer call requirements
C. Sales forecast accuracy
D. Salary increments
✅ Answer: B. Number of salespeople needed based on customer call requirements
10. A major managerial challenge in sales teams is:
A. Excessive product training
B. High autonomy coupled with high performance pressure
C. Overinvolvement of marketing
D. Low customer engagement
✅ Answer: B. High autonomy coupled with high performance pressure
11. Coaching is essential for managers because:
A. It increases fixed compensation
B. It supports salesperson development and skill improvement
C. It reduces customer complaints
D. It replaces training
✅ Answer: B. It supports salesperson development and skill improvement
12. A key challenge in evaluating salespeople is:
A. Too much cooperation
B. Distinguishing effort from market conditions
C. Lack of CRM tools
D. High salary costs
✅ Answer: B. Distinguishing effort from market conditions
13. Objective performance metrics include:
A. Customer opinions
B. Sales volume and revenue
C. Perceived effort
D. Relationship quality
✅ Answer: B. Sales volume and revenue
14. Subjective performance evaluations are useful for:
A. Measuring sales numbers
B. Understanding customer relationship quality
C. Calculating incentive payouts
D. Determining lead conversion ratios
✅ Answer: B. Understanding customer relationship quality
15. A core principle of salesforce deployment is:
A. Assign more resources to low-potential areas
B. Match salesperson capabilities with market opportunity
C. Eliminate market segmentation
D. Reduce customer segmentation
✅ Answer: B. Match salesperson capabilities with market opportunity
16. If too many salespeople are hired, the company risks:
A. Undercoverage
B. Overcoverage and reduced profitability
C. Higher customer retention
D. Increased specialization
✅ Answer: B. Overcoverage and reduced profitability
17. Sales territories should be designed based on:
A. Political boundaries only
B. Equal geographic size
C. Equal opportunity or workload
D. Random allocation
✅ Answer: C. Equal opportunity or workload
18. A misaligned sales territory design may cause:
A. Better forecasting
B. Uneven revenue distribution
C. Reduced role conflict
D. Higher bonus payouts
✅ Answer: B. Uneven revenue distribution
19. Salesforce control systems aim to:
A. Monitor and guide salesperson behavior
B. Increase fixed salaries
C. Eliminate sales autonomy
D. Reduce customer interactions
✅ Answer: A. Monitor and guide salesperson behavior
20. Outcome-based control systems evaluate:
A. Revenue and performance metrics
B. Communication style
C. Selling behaviors
D. Number of CRM entries
✅ Answer: A. Revenue and performance metrics
21. Behavior-based control systems focus on:
A. Short-term output
B. Long-term salesperson development and activities
C. Customer complaints
D. Product features
✅ Answer: B. Long-term salesperson development and activities
22. A major drawback of outcome-based control is:
A. Higher transparency
B. Low risk for the salesperson
C. High stress and risk for salesperson
D. High cost for the company
✅ Answer: C. High stress and risk for salesperson
23. Behavior-based control requires:
A. Minimal supervision
B. High managerial involvement and coaching
C. Lower training cost
D. Higher commission payouts
✅ Answer: B. High managerial involvement and coaching
24. The biggest disadvantage of behavior control systems is:
A. Harder to monitor
B. Lack of reliability
C. High managerial cost and time
D. No effect on sales
✅ Answer: C. High managerial cost and time
25. Which type of control provides the most autonomy to the salesperson?
A. Behavior-based control
B. Outcome-based control
C. Hybrid control
D. Non-supervisory control
✅ Answer: B. Outcome-based control
26. Hybrid control systems combine:
A. HR and marketing
B. Outcome and behavior-based controls
C. Market share and cost leadership
D. Digital and offline promotions
✅ Answer: B. Outcome and behavior-based controls
27. A hybrid control system is useful when:
A. The selling environment is stable
B. Both outcomes and behaviors matter
C. Only revenue matters
D. Managers want minimal involvement
✅ Answer: B. Both outcomes and behaviors matter
28. A primary driver of salesperson motivation is:
A. Fixed salary
B. Recognition and incentives
C. Product warranties
D. Social media presence
✅ Answer: B. Recognition and incentives
29. The selection of salespeople requires evaluating:
A. Customer churn
B. Skills, personality, and cultural fit
C. Advertising intensity
D. Product design
✅ Answer: B. Skills, personality, and cultural fit
30. Which recruitment method provides the highest-quality candidates?
A. Walk-ins
B. Employee referrals
C. Newspaper advertisements
D. Mass public hiring
✅ Answer: B. Employee referrals
31. Socialization in salesforce management refers to:
A. Entertaining clients
B. Integrating new hires into organizational culture
C. Team outings
D. Customer satisfaction events
✅ Answer: B. Integrating new hires into organizational culture
32. A challenge in sales training is:
A. Lack of interest from salespeople
B. Ensuring real-world applicability
C. Overemphasis on digital tools
D. Too many training budgets
✅ Answer: B. Ensuring real-world applicability
33. Poor sales onboarding leads to:
A. Higher quota achievement
B. Faster skill development
C. Confusion and slow productivity
D. Higher long-term retention
✅ Answer: C. Confusion and slow productivity
34. A well-designed compensation plan should:
A. Reward all behaviors equally
B. Align salesperson incentives with company goals
C. Focus only on fixed pay
D. Eliminate commissions
✅ Answer: B. Align salesperson incentives with company goals
35. A common challenge in sales forecasting is:
A. Too much market data
B. Inaccurate sales pipeline visibility
C. Overly complex compensation
D. Limited CRM tools
✅ Answer: B. Inaccurate sales pipeline visibility
36. The workload approach assumes:
A. All customers need the same level of interaction
B. Salespeople differ greatly in efficiency
C. Customer call frequency and duration can be planned
D. Market potential cannot be measured
✅ Answer: C. Customer call frequency and duration can be planned
37. An advantage of the incremental approach for salesforce sizing is:
A. Simple, intuitive decision-making
B. Extremely precise mathematical modeling
C. Eliminates cost management
D. Reduces competition
✅ Answer: A. Simple, intuitive decision-making
38. Which is a drawback of the incremental approach?
A. Too mathematical
B. Difficult to estimate incremental profit
C. Too much data required
D. No link to revenue
✅ Answer: B. Difficult to estimate incremental profit
39. Salesforce turnover typically results in:
A. Lower training cost
B. Lost relationships and reduced revenue
C. Higher product demand
D. Increased stability
✅ Answer: B. Lost relationships and reduced revenue
40. Ethical challenges in sales arise mainly due to:
A. High competition and pressure
B. Transparent processes
C. Strong customer policies
D. Behavior control systems
✅ Answer: A. High competition and pressure
41. A territory with too much potential often causes:
A. Underperformance due to overload
B. Higher cost efficiency
C. Strong work-life balance
D. Reduced customer contact
✅ Answer: A. Underperformance due to overload
42. A territory with very low potential may lead to:
A. Overachievement
B. Salesperson demotivation
C. High customer satisfaction
D. Increased innovation
✅ Answer: B. Salesperson demotivation
43. A key challenge in salesforce leadership is:
A. Overtraining salespeople
B. Balancing short-term numbers with long-term development
C. Avoiding customer interactions
D. Eliminating CRM usage
✅ Answer: B. Balancing short-term numbers with long-term development
44. Job stress in sales often stems from:
A. Lack of customer interest
B. High-performance pressure
C. Too much job security
D. Inadequate competition
✅ Answer: B. High-performance pressure
45. One way managers reduce salesperson burnout is:
A. Increasing quotas
B. Providing support and coaching
C. Reducing territories randomly
D. Eliminating incentives
✅ Answer: B. Providing support and coaching
46. A company should redesign its salesforce when:
A. Sales are stable
B. Market conditions or products change
C. Competitors reduce prices
D. CRM systems fail
✅ Answer: B. Market conditions or products change
47. A key indicator of poor salesforce design is:
A. High customer satisfaction
B. Uneven workload distribution
C. Strong pipeline visibility
D. Effective coaching
✅ Answer: B. Uneven workload distribution
48. Salesperson–customer fit matters because:
A. Customers judge personality and trust
B. CRM requires it
C. It increases fixed salary
D. It reduces pipeline size
✅ Answer: A. Customers judge personality and trust
49. Which salesperson trait strongly predicts success?
A. Introversion
B. Resourcefulness and resilience
C. Lack of discipline
D. Dependence on managers
✅ Answer: B. Resourcefulness and resilience
50. A major managerial responsibility is:
A. Eliminating product variants
B. Monitoring and guiding salesperson performance
C. Creating advertisements
D. Managing warehouses
✅ Answer: B. Monitoring and guiding salesperson performance
51. Control systems in sales are designed to:
A. Decrease revenue
B. Ensure alignment with organizational goals
C. Reduce customer interactions
D. Increase salesperson risk
✅ Answer: B. Ensure alignment with organizational goals
52. The most balanced and widely used control system is:
A. Behavior control
B. Outcome control
C. Hybrid control
D. No control
✅ Answer: C. Hybrid control
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