Sales Force

persons responsible for selling products or services via direct contact with the customer. Sales force members may be paid a fixed salary regardless of sales volume or may receive a small base salary plus commissions calculated as a percentage of revenue sold. Non-commissioned sales forces are appropriate when selling requires the involvement of a team of individuals or when there is an extremely long sales cycle. For example, some complex industrial services may require several years of effort before the prospect is sold. Salespeople may be full-time employees of the seller or may be independent, nonexclusive agents. Member of the sales force are assigned a sales territory that may be segmented by exclusive or nonexclusive geographic or market segments, product or product lines, or by specific customers or prospects.