"Sorry to be so late, Dick," he told Richard Stein, the district sales manager, as he sat down. "Stanley Hollingsworth and his staff left on Flight 62 for Phoenix and I couldn't get away any sooner." The sales manager nodded and smiled, knowing that when Stanley Hollingsworth took a dozen top staff members anywhere for a meeting, he expected red carpet treatment and that Henry would be on hand to see that their reservations were in order.
"That's our most important Boston account," Stein said. "I guess you've been servicing them for over twenty-five years. Keep up the good work; we can't afford to lose their business to anyone else!"
Sales Representatives
Several men and women were meeting in the airline's offices on Boston's State Street. In addition to the manager there were Mary Minton, Sally Ramirez, and Henry Van Orsdale, the passenger sales representatives; Tom Paulus, the freight sales representative; and Eugene Logan, the agency representative. This particular office is responsible for sales in the Boston area as well as all of Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, a territory Logan Airport covered. On the road five days a week, a salesperson calls at every travel agency in the four states, except Boston, making the rounds about three times a year. He is the company representative the head of a travel agency would contact if there were problems; he is the one who urges agencies to book their business on his airline rather than with competitors; and he is the one who sees to it that the important agencies that give him the most business have access to special reservations people who handle their requests. He enjoys his job because he is his own boss and not tied down to an office.
Each of the three passenger representatives is assigned a number of large companies or organizations known as "accounts" to be called on regularly. In some companies a transportation or traffic manager handles all requests for air reservations. In these cases the airline sales representative needs to contact only one person, but in those firms that have no traffic manager, it may be necessary to keep in touch with the executives' secretaries as well as some management personnel in order to make certain of keeping in contact and keeping their patronage.
Tom Paulo's task is a bit more difficult because he is the only air freight salesman in the region and there is a lot to do. He calls regularly on the major shippers in the Boston area, visits new companies that might use the airline's air freight service, and is available to help expedite an emergency shipment, trace a lost shipment, or soothe an irate customer if an airplane is delayed for some reason. He likes his job because he enjoys working with people and finds it challenging to try and discover ways that air freight can be used to save a company's money.
Mary Minton started her career after college as a reservations agent. She then won promotion to the ticket counter and eventually became a passenger service representative. Mr. Stein had noticed how profession-ally this efficient woman handled difficult situations, and when there was an opening on the sales staff him offered her the job. Customers discovered that she was knowledgeable and helpful and soon welcomed her visits.
As a sales representative it is her responsibility to call on prospective customers (mostly large companies) to stimulate business and vacation travel, to explain the advantages of her airline's service for travel and shipping freight, to tell about new promotional fares and services, and to offer her assistance in handling difficult reservations or even making occasional hotel reservations. She also keeps in touch with certain travel agencies in Boston as well as larger charitable and educational institutions that use the airline's service. She and the other two sales representatives share responsibility for making frequent visits at the offices of other airlines in order to remind them that each should sell the other's service whenever possible. This can be done whenever a passenger wants to take a trip that involves travel over several airlines.
At one time experience working in reservations or ticket offices was necessary to qualify for the job of sales representative. While reservations or ticket agents occasionally still win promotion to the sales force, many airlines are now looking for men and women who have college degrees with courses in air transportation management. It is also helpful to have studied psychology, public speaking, and sales techniques. On-the-job training may be given and some airlines hire college students during summer vacation periods for training, and then appoint them as "campus representatives" on their return to college. In this post they contact faculty members and students to tell them about the airline's services and special holiday trip offers. These part-time jobs sometimes lead to full-time positions after graduation from college.
The sales department of an airline is unlike that of most companies. Many salespeople for manufacturers, for example, are paid commissions on what they sell, or they may receive a salary plus commissions. Airline sales representatives have a different situation, however. They do not sell tickets and they rarely handle reservations themselves but instead concentrate their efforts on influencing customers to patronize their airline. It would be impossible to trace actual sales to their efforts, since most airline seats are sold over the telephone, at ticket offices, or through travel agents. For this reason airline sales representatives receive a straight salary.
It is the responsibility of the sales department to see that the company's airplane seats and cargo space on every flight are filled with bodies and freight. Space, be it an airplane seat or the cargo hold in the lower part of the fuselage, is a "perishable" commodity. A company that makes toothbrushes can keep the brushes in its warehouse until its sales personnel write orders for them. In the airline business, though, once a plane leaves the terminal, every unoccupied seat is empty space that must be carried to the next stop. On a transcontinental flight where the fare is $500, for example, twenty empty seats represent a loss of $10,000 worth of potential revenue, money that will not be recovered because that flight can never be flown again.
SALES ADMINISTRATION
The administrative office of the sales department directs the overall operation of the department, plans the sales programs, and makes certain they are followed by all sales offices. There may be several directors of sales divisions who work under the vice president of sales. Each director probably has a small staff of assistants and specialists.
One of the most important events in a sales department is the annual sales meeting when all of the division directors present their programs for the coming year together with the sales' goals and expected sales increases. Sometimes a company-wide sales meeting is held in a resort or convention center where all the city, district, and regional sales managers gather for a two- or three-day meeting that is a combination pep, planning, and socializing session. Some companies shun holding a large meeting and have "road companies" that take the sales meeting to each of the regions rather than bring everyone to one place. These programs can be very impressive as the president and other top executives lead off the program with short speeches followed by elaborate presentations given by each of the division directors. How really worthwhile these yearly rituals are is open to question, but most companies evidently believe that they are necessary in order to stimulate the selling effort and set goals for the year.
Airline sales representatives have a different situation, however. They do not sell tickets and they rarely handle reservations themselves but instead concentrate their efforts on influencing customers to patronize their airline. It would be impossible to trace actual sales to their efforts, since most airline seats are sold over the telephone, at ticket offices, or through travel agents. For this reason airline sales representatives receive a straight salary.
