Abstract
Effective sales management practices are essential for driving organizational competitiveness and achieving sales excellence. In industrial contexts, strategic alignment in planning, organizing, guiding, and controlling plays a critical role in enhancing sales performance. This study examined the relationship between sales management styles and their effectiveness in achieving sales excellence in a large manufacturing company in Eastern, China. Adopting a descriptive–correlational design, data were gathered from 310 purposively selected staff, supervisors, and managers using a researcher-constructed questionnaire. Results showed that among the sales management styles, planning had the highest rating (M = 3.45, SD = 0.52), particularly in sales territory and account planning, while guiding had the lowest (M = 3.21, SD = 0.57). In terms of effectiveness, sales strategies ranked highest (M = 3.47, SD = 0.54), followed by sales objectives (M = 3.39, SD = 0.56) and sales actions (M = 3.34, SD = 0.55). Pearson correlation analysis indicated a significant positive relationship between sales management styles and effectiveness (r = 0.682, p < .001). These findings underscore the importance of targeted training and systematic performance monitoring to optimize sales outcomes, providing valuable insights for corporate education, organizational development, and managerial practice.
