Therefore, an effective method of supervision, direction and control of the sales force is extremely important in order to secure the most productive and economical performance from them. The establishment of sales territories and sales quotas are the specific control devices by which the sales manager exercises control on the salesmen. Control is the process of trying to achieve conformity between goals and actions. Controlling is an act of checking and verifying an act to know whether everything is taking place in accordance with the predetermined plan. In other words, control covers the direction and guidance towards securing desired objectives. To M.C.

Niles, ‘controlling is maintaining of a balance in activities directed towards a goal or a set of goals.’ Therefore, control consists of the steps taken to ensure that the performance of the organisation conforms to the plans. The process of control consists of a few steps, namely (i) Establishing standards or measures for performance, (ii) Measuring and recording of actual performance (iii) Comparing actual with the planned measures to find out the deviations, if any, and (iv) Taking corrective measures, if needed.

Thus, control is one of the important ingredients for the success of the sales department.