Background
Eleven months ago, two marine equipment manufacturers, Baines and Boyle, joined together to form a large company called Baines and Boyle Marine (BBM). BBM’s new sales team was made up of representatives of both companies. It was led by Baines’s Sales Manager, and Boyle’s Sales Manager became his deputy.
At the end of the first year, it has become clear that the two groups of sales representatives have very different aims, beliefs and ways of working. These are summarised below.
Baines Sales Representatives/Reps
- They are ambitious and very competitive. They are mainly interested in increasing their basic salary and comission. They think the company’s main aim is to maximise profit. If they do that, the company will be profitable.
- They promise their customers early delivery dates, but the company often cannot meet the dates and the customers complain.
- They send in short sales reports which are often late and incomplete. they usually forget to send written follow-up when customers place an order.
- They are happy with the present system of payment: low basic salary, high commission.
- they keep information about customers to themselves, rather than sharing it with their colleagues.
- They are aggressive when selling and put pressure on customers to buy. For example, they often offer expensive gifts to customers to build up loyalty and to persuade them to place an order. They say that BBM’s products are the best in the world.
Boyle Sales Representatives/Reps
- They believe in working as a team and supporting each other. They think the company’s aim is to keep the customer happy and to build up good customer relations. If they do that, the company will be profitable.
- They believe that the company should always meet its delivery dates. Therefore they do not promise customers very early delivery.
- They send in well-written, informative reports on or before the deadline. They always provide written follow-up when a customer places an order.
- They would like a higher basic salary and a bonus paid to the team if they exceed their monthly sales target.
- They believe that staff should co-operate at all times and share information about customers with each other. This is the best way to maximise sales.
- Their sales approach is to build up customer loyalty by gaining their trust. They do no put pressure on customers to buy. They let the customer decide if the product is suitable. They do not believe in giving expensive gifts to customers. Gifts should never exceed €30 in value, in their opinion.
Task
The Sales Manager and Deputy Sales Manager decide to hold a meeting with representative of both groups. The purpose of the meeting is to decide what actions to take so that the sales representatives work together more effectively.
- Divide into groups:
- Read your role cards and prepare for the meeting. Use the agenda as a guide for the meeting. It will be led by the Sales Manager and the Deputy Sales manager.
- Form new groups with people from groups A, B, C and D. Have a meeting and decide what actions you should take to improve the effectiveness of the sales team.
Agenda
- Relations between sales representatives
- Delivery dates
- Reports
- Payment system
- Sharing information
- Customer loyalty
Writing
Unlock full access by logging in. Registered users can explore the entire lesson and more.