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The University of Kansas School of Business will be hosting the third Enhancing Sales Force Productivity conference Friday April 23 through Sunday April 25 at the KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park, Kan. The conference will cover research conducted by practitioners and scholars in sales and marketing. A keynote address by American Century Investment’s Chief Marketing Officer Mark Killen will kickoff the event on Friday at 6 p.m.

"Interest in increasing sales force productivity through combining marketing and sales efforts is growing," Associate Professor and conference co-chair Kissan Joseph said. "Both departments work together in well-running businesses."

Joseph said finding ways to get more out of sales force investments is imperative in today’s business climate. He estimated American businesses spend approximately $250 billion on advertising communication each year, but he was quick to note that businesses spend three times that much money on sales communication annually. "The average sales call costs hundreds of dollars," Joseph said, "so you better make sure it’s spent on activities that will have high return on investment."

National universities from the Pacific Northwest to the upper East Coast as well as international universities from Germany and Australia are involved in this year’s conference. "It’s good that the conference is diverse because the sales function cuts across the globe," Joseph said.

As the School of Business Stockton Faculty Fellow, Joseph has been involved in the conference since it started in 2006. He said it is important for the School to have a hand in sales conferences because a lot of business graduates go into careers that involve sales. This type of involvement is also consistent with KU’s reputation as a research institution.

Joseph has been at the School since 1993 were he teaches courses on sales force management as well as conducts research on the design of compensation contracts and price-delegation in sales organizations.