Effective Allocation of Sales Resources

Beginning in 1976 the Bell Telephone System's national sales effort was supported by a computer-based system. This system identified specific business enterprises to be contacted directly by the Bell System account representatives as well as those businesses with appropriate potential sales levels to be included in the corporate national direct marketing program. In addition to increases in the sales rate and average revenue per sale, this systematic approach to account qualification has allowed a formal tracking program to be implemented. In the initial two years of system operation, a conservative estimate of the revenue generated is 15 million dollars. The method is quite general and could be applied to the sale of many industrial products.