SALES REPORTS &

DOCUMENTATION
FOR
BCOM (SEC 2)

MS. SAHER SAYED

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
SHAHEED BHAGAT SINGH COLLEGE
TOPICS COVERED
 SALES REPORTS
 Meaning of sales report
 Purposes of sales report
 Types of sales report
 Essentials of a good sales report

 SALES MANUAL
Meaning of sales manual
Contents of sales manual
Process of writing sales manual
Essentials of good sales manual

 ORDER BOOK
 CASH MEMO
 TOUR DIARY
 ETHICAL ASPECT OF SELLING
MEANING OF SALES REPORT

A document in which information is collected in a

systematic manner for a specific purpose is known
as a sales report. It may contain the following
information.
 Details of the sales person and the company.

 Details of the customer or prospects.

 Details about products sold.

 Response to the products.

 Date and time of making the report.

 Cost of goods sold

PURPOSE OF MAKING A SALES REPORT

 To Evaluate The Performance Of Sales Person.

 To Judge The Degree Of Customer Satisfaction.

 To Know The Activities Of Competitors.

 To Understand The Problems Faced By

Salesperson.
 To Identify Changes In Market Condition.

 To Decide Sales Policies And Programmes.

 To Expand Sales Territories And Sales Quotas.

 To Control Selling Expenses.

 TYPES OF SALES REPORTS
 Progress/Call report: It is a weekly/monthly report made by
every sales person which has information regarding the calls
made. These contain all the important information like the order,
competitive brands, best time to call customer or commitments
made by customer/prospect.
 Sales work plan report: This report submitted by sales
person is in regard to future work for upcoming week/month. It
contains details about accounts to be called, matters to be
discussed. Future travelling programmes and a lot more. The
main reason to prepare this report is to plan and schedule a sales
persons activities and keep the sales manager updated about the
whereabouts. Specimen table below

Day Prospect details Place Purpose of visit

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
 Expense report: Salespersons are reimbursed for all
the expenses they incur during the sales process.
Hence they submit this expense report
weekly/monthly. Such reports help in controlling the
amount and nature of expenses.
 New Business Report: This report specifically
contains details about new leads/prospects during
a specific period. It helps management in judging
the efficiency of the salesmen as well as it
inspires the sales person to develop new leads. It
might also be called an activity report.
 Loss Sales Report : This report is maintained as
a record of customers lost during a given period.
It also mentions the reason to loss of customer
which could help management in preventing
future loss of sale and also in training sales
person, product improvement and customer
service.
 Complaints and Adjustments Report: This
report records the complaints received from
customers and the steps taken for their redressal.
The reason to complain and cost of adjustment
are also mentioned.
ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD SALES REPORT
A good sales report should be

 Clear
 Concise

 Complete

 Correct or accurate
 SALES MANUAL
It is a document prepared to guide the sales person in the
selling process. It informs and educate sales person about the
key benefit, unique advantages, how to sell the product and its
competition.

CONTENTS OF SALES MANUAL

Contact information: Includes phone numbers and email
address where sales person can get additional information
about the product.

Selecting strategies: These include target market, market size,

sales cycle, ideal customer profile, list of current customers and
references.

Products and demonstration: Product’s positioning, it’s

position in the product line, key features and benefits,
highlights, demonstrations, most common customer questions.
Competition: States products, pricing, strengths,
weaknesses and strategy of key competitors.
Pricing: Includes pricing, ordering etc.

Collateral: Data sheets, pamphlets, brochure and

white papers.
Sales presentation: Video or online presentation is
always useful.
Glossary: Terms and acronyms associated with the
product.
Index: If the sales manual is lengthy, indexing is
required.
Reference material: List of reference for more
product information, like a company website.
SALES MANUAL WRITING PROCESS
• Gather all associated material including copy of product, datasheet,
. presentation, market requirement, documents and all

• Determine which marketing information needs updating or a new one

. has to be created

• Spend time with product managers who has done sales calls and
knows the product well and get relevant information. Role plays can
.
be done
• Spend time with seasoned sales representatives to know where they
have been successful

• Spend time with new sale representatives and ask how they feel

• Write a first draft of all material, interactively reviewing sections as

they are completed with the appropriate product manager

• Have one or two sales people review the document for completeness

• Review the draft with product manager and other appropriate people

• Write final draft and distribute

 ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD SALES MANUAL
1. Eye catching: Sales persons rarely have the time to go
through the whole manual hence it should be easy to
find information. Headings should be clear, diagrams
and illustrations should be used to summarize.
2. Concise: The length of sales manual depends on target
audience. For channel sales people, one or two pages is
best.
3. Pronunciation: A new sales person may be unaware of
buzz words of the industry. Whenever necessary give a
glossary of terms.
4. Well marked customer sections: Sales people often copy
parts of sales manual and give them to customers.
Sections meant for customers should be clearly marked.
5. Consistent updates: Update your sales manual regularly.
Keep the sales person aware of developments.
 ORDER BOOK
An order book is a business's list of open, unshipped,
customer orders, normally time-phased and valued at actual
individual order prices. This is also referred to as sales order
book.
This book contains the details of sales order, the seller and
vendors name, sales order number, voucher number, voucher
type, order reference number, order amount etc.

Xyz corporations ltd.

Order book
Date of order Name & address of Particular of Date of
customer goods delivery
CASH MEMO
If goods are sold in cash, the seller prepares a cash memo. In
case of credit sales an invoice is prepared. But the contents of
both remain same.
A cash memo usually contain the following:

Name and address of supplier

Name and address of purchaser
Serial number & date
Customer/purchase order number
Description of goods
Rates and total amount
Discount
Tax details
Total amount in words and figures.

It is different from cash receipt as the later is an

acknowledgement of cash received. Cash memo is a proof of
goods sold and cash received by seller.
TOUR DIARY
A tour diary is a small book maintained by sales
person containing the details of sales tours made
by him/her during a given period. It helps the sales
person to report about the efforts made by him/her.
It may contain the following information:
Names of places visited(cities/states/country)

Dates on which visit is made

Mode of transport used

Expenses incurred on travel

Names and details of prospective customer

Result of visits in terms of order, feedback etc.

 ETHICAL ASPECT OF SELLING
Ethics is a set of moral principles. These prescribe what is
right and wrong. In order to achieve sales targets, sales
people are often tempted to adopt unethical practices.
Lying on sales call, selling products that customer don’t
need, cheating on selling expenses are common unethical
practices.
Some ethical concerns in sales management are

1. Gifts: Gifting to customers is a common practice in

sales on specials occasions like festivals. But if gifts are
way beyond expectations it is likely to be unethical. In
order to avoid unethical gifting, sales people should follow
some guidelines
(a)Follow the gifting policy of your company.
(b)Keep the value of gifts low.
(c)Do not give gifts to the spouses of customers.
(d)Never give gift before customer makes a purchase.
There is a thin line of difference between gifts and bribery.
Whereas giving gifts as per industry standard is ethical,
bribery is very unethical. Hence company should keep in
mind the following while setting parameters for gifting:

 What is the purpose of gifting

 What part does it play in the overall approach to
sales ?
 How should gifts be dispensed?
 How is the gift likely to affect the buyer on
his/her buying decision?
 What, if any, are the customer’s policies on
acceptance of gratuities ?
 Does the gift have the potential of compromising
the professional image and behavior of customer
?
2. Sales puffery or misrepresentation: sometimes
salespeople exaggerate the quality of product or
service or make false claims just to close a sale.
Similarly, sales people might sell a higher priced
product when a lower priced product could have
satisfied the customer’s need. If a sales
representative pushes for a costlier medicine
despite of a cheaper alternate for the same illness,
he may do so with collusion with some doctors, it
would be puffery. Misrepresentation could be of
three types, it is a neglect if it is made without
reasonable grounds for it’s belief. It would be
innocent if there are reasonable grounds for its
belief. It is fraudulent if the sales person knows it
is false.
3. Entertainment: Entertaining customers is a part of
sales promotion. Some sales managers and
salespersons misuse the money meant for this
purpose. They must follow these guidelines while
entertaining customers at the cost of the company:
 Keep in mind the business potential
 Entertainment to build long-term relationship rather than one
order
 Be sensitive towards customers attitudes towards the type of
entertainment
4. Damaged merchandise: It is unethical on the part
of sales person to give credit for damaged goods when
no damage has taken place.
5. Inflated expenses: It is unethical on part of sales
person to overcharge the company for travelling or
hotel expenses or lodging.
6. Take away customer: It is unethical on part of sales
manager to take away customer of old employer while
shifting to a new employer.
7. Anticompetitive practices : In order to push sales
against strong competition, sales people may engage in
illegal acts such as unfair trade practices.
8. Sabotaging competitors: Reducing the shelf facing of
competition products and replacing them with your own
products without the store owner’s permission.
Spreading false and damaging rumors about
competitors is also unethical.
9. Misselling : It is a sales persons attempt to convince a
customer to buy a product/service that is not
appropriate for the buyer. A financial advisor selling a
high risk investment scheme to a risk adverse investor.
10. High pressure selling : A salesperson’s extremely
aggressive behavior to convince a customer to buy
disregarding the customer’s ability to pay or need is
called high pressure selling.
11. Unlicensed selling : Selling without the prescribed
government approval is unethical as well as illegal.
UNETHICAL PRACTICES
 Bribery: Gifts from outside vendors, money under the table,
questionable commission and rebates.
 Fairness: Manipulation of others, conflict between company and
family, inducing customers to use service not needed.
 Honesty: Misrepresenting service and capabilities, lying to
customers to obtain orders.
 Price: Differential pricing, meeting competitor‘s prices, charging
higher prices than firms with similar products while claiming
superiority.
 Product: Products that do not benefit customers, copyright
infringements, product safety, exaggerated performance claims.
 Personnel: Hiring, firing, employee evaluation
 Confidentiality: Temptation to use or obtain classified, secret or
competitive information.
 Advertising: Misleading customers, crossing the line between
puffery and the misleading.
 Manipulation of data: Distortion, falsifying figures or misusing
statistics or information.
 Purchasing: Reciprocity in selection.
 CONSEQUENCES OF UNETHICAL SELLING
 The company may face legal issues
 Customers may not trust the company and stop purchasing
its products.
 The sales and profits of the company may decline.
 The unethical behavior of just one salesperson can
undermine the reputation of the company.

CAUSES OF UNETHICAL SELLING

 Pressure to achieve Sales quota sometimes resort to
questionable practices to accomplish the target.
 Threat to job in case of failing to achieve the quota.
 Lack of training to sales person
 Minimum support to sales person for their job
 Sometimes companies assumes sales person know how to
sell. They may need training and greater prospecting.
 The association of unethical superiors might influence the
behavior of new hires or juniors.
MEASURES TO IMPROVE ETHICS IN
SELLING

 Include ethics in training programs.

 Ensure sales manager provides instruction,
assistance and support to sales field force.
 Hire people with right attitude in addition to
selling skills.
 Do not threaten salesperson who fail to achieve
sales quota.
 Set a code of ethics for sales and other staff.
 Create an ethical culture and communicate its
importance to all.
 Define what is ethical selling and how to ensure
it.
IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN SELLING
 Salespersons are the face of company.
 Customers judge a company’s ethical standards
from the behavior of its sales force.
 Ethical selling builds trust with customer which
in turn brings repeat sales and creates brand
loyalty.
 Ethical behavior of sales force is essential for
relationship selling.
 A company will not face legal issues in case its
sales staff behaves ethically.
 By following ethical standards sales force can
improve the public image and reputation of the
company.