Problems Faced by Pat Waller - Case Study Example

?Case Study Table of Contents Problems Faced by Pat Waller 3 Cause of the Problems Faced by Pat Waller 4 Steps Pat Waller Should Take to Solve the Problems 6 References 10 Bibliography 11 Problems Faced by Pat Waller An organisation has to tackle problems of varied nature in their daily activities in order to sustain in the market. The major problem that was faced by Pat Waller in Valley Winery was related to the turnover of the sales representative in San Francisco region. There have been sales in the region that had the potential to increase the revenues. The problem was of retention of the sales force. Every year Pat Waller needed to recruit sales representatives. The turnover of the employees and new recruitments did not increase the sales volume. Despite the recruitment of new sales representative employees, the sales volume remained constant. There was problem in the channel of distribution related to the retention of sales representatives, which was under the control of Valley Winery. When Valley Winery took over the distributor, old sales representative did not stay back and Pat Waller needed to recruit fresh sales representative for that particular distribution channel. With the recruitment of new sales representatives, there were costs associated with it. It also included cost of hiring the employees, consultancy fees for new candidates and training cost. The recruitment cost had to be incurred by the organization every year and the training cost also increased. The problem perceived by Pat Waller was related to the hiring process. Pat Waller thought that the hiring process was not appropriate as it was a lengthy process and was also complicated in nature. This lowered the level of recruitment of potential sales representatives. Cause of the Problems Faced by Pat Waller The cause behind high sales representative turnover was due to multifarious factors. The basic reason for the turnover was inefficient management of sales forces. Pat Waller was not able to manage the sales personnel efficiently which led to huge turnover. Sales persons remain in the organization only when they are rewarded appropriately based upon their performance. Most of them accept monetary reward, but there are also many who accept non-monetary rewards such as reorganization, promotion and other related activities of rewarding system. There was absence of such rewarding system in Valley Winery. There were three groups of sales personnel and they had different kinds of system of pay and incentives. The direct sales personnel were not rewarded, only 6% commissions were paid on sales. Sales personnel who generated highest sales were also provided the same facility of commission pay. This is the reason they shifted to another company or another sector. The unethical practice of Valley Winery in the matter of visual merchandise displayed techniques that were not suitable to the sales personnel or they did not accept it. In addition, it was either against their ethics or there was contradiction between the company and sales personnel ethics. The spray technique on competitors merchandise to decrease their sales was unethical practice. The sales representatives required to perform such activities that might not be ethical to that particular sales representative. The recruitment did not assist in increasing the sales volume because there was more turnover and the recruitment had just replaced the personnel. There was actually no increase in the workforce capacity and it was not expected that there would be huge increase in volumes of sales with the fresh sales representative. The decision of forward integration was not appropriate as the sales representative did not remain in the company. This also affected the control related to the distribution channel. These aspects increased the burden of new recruitment and also training them for that particular distribution channel. The cost of hiring and training the employees for sales was more. The hiring cost was part of the budget every year. This increased the cost and to minimize the cost the sales were to be improved. This created a pressure upon the sales personnel. The sales personnel had not only the responsibility for sales but there were many activities that had to be undertaken by them, which became a burden for them. The pressures of work load seemed to be more than the payment paid to them. This forced the employees to shift towards the competitors and move to another sector. The process of hiring was not appropriately designed. The policy was not to recruit sales representative from the competitors and customers. In general practice, mostly Human Resource Department tries to hunt for the employees of competitors with better package that provides various advantages to the company and assists in increasing the sales volumes. Steps Pat Waller Should Take to Solve the Problems For efficient management of sales and sales personnel, there should be a standardized sales process. Solution selling process needs to be implemented. This process of sales is widely used in numerous companies in recent times and is known as total ‘end-to-end sales processes’. The solution sales process focuses upon what needs to be done and the ways of achieving them. The process involves a philosophy, sales management system and methodology with a map. This develops the solution selling technique as a systematic approach with appropriate management technique involved in it that assist to achieve the company’s objectives with regards to sales and performance (Eades, K. M. “The New Solution Selling: The Revolutionary Sales Process That Is Changing the Way People Sell”). This approach of selling technique should be adopted and implemented by Pat Waller. The sales management system involved in the solution selling technique will provide maximum benefit. This is because the solution selling process offers the sales personnel and sales management with a procedure that explores the maximum benefit through analysis of quality opportunities, pipelines of sales and development of skills. This results in increase in the level of efficiency of sales and develops predictability for sales. It also leads to enhanced performance of sales culture (Eades, K. M. “The New Solution Selling: The Revolutionary Sales Process That Is Changing the Way People Sell”). Pat Waller should implement ‘strategic reward system’. Organizations try to control and retain the employees. However, this is considered to be a difficult task for the management. Through the implementation of strategic reward system it will assist in increasing the level of performance as the reward system is directly related to the performance. Pat Waller needs to align the performance standards with the reward system so that it becomes clear for the sales personnel to attain the objectives and the rewards attached to it. The reward may be in form of pay or incentives that will motivate the sales personnel to be loyal to Valley Winery and enhance their performance for sales in order to receive rewards. This will ultimately affect the volume of sales with similar sales workforce group (Hill, C & Jones, G. “Strategic Management”). Pat Waller should develop code of ethics and its practices. Unethical practice or difference in ethical behavior should be stopped and a standard ethical practice should be implemented. The code of ethical practice will clearly develop an understanding of the ethical values of Valley Winery and its practices. This will help to curtail misinterpretation and improve understanding between sales representatives and management in order to achieve the expected results (Munsch & Tademy, “Code of Business Ethics and Conduct”). The forward integration decision was related to the distribution system. Valley Winery is using direct as well as indirect distribution channels in order to stimulate the volume of sales. They are using the technique of ‘full forward integration’ that sells directly to the customers and also use the indirect way through intermediaries. Pat Waller should treat the distribution channel partners as their customers. These intermediaries provide revenues to the business. Pat Waller should introduce promotional offering for the distribution channels to boost the sales volumes. Pat Waller should appropriately segment the distribution channels into different categories according to their performance of different functions and their requirements. This will help to create systematic structure to manage all distribution channels efficiently and stimulate the volume of sales. The strategic industry alliance can be implemented by Pat Waller to deliver customers' demand for different choices with volume prices (Allen, “Growing and Managing a Small Business”). Pat Waller needs to enhance the hiring process in order to increase the efficiency of the process with fewer complications involved in it. To make it easier and less complicated for hiring, online application procedure can be implemented. This way the candidates can directly contact Valley Winery instead of going through the process of consultancies. This process will save time as well as cost. The cost of hiring can be minimized through the online procedure. This process of online application will assist the hiring management and Pat Waller to scrutinize the CVs of applicants and develop CV bank for future requirement. The online hiring solution will slash down the cost of hiring and add value to the revenues that might be used in other activities such as rewarding employees. Pat Waller should develop a well-crafted plan for career development for the sales personnel. The ‘future oriented job description’ will not only be able to attract candidates for the job but will also be able to retain sales personnel in order to move towards the desired position in the organization (USCSB, “How to Improve Your Hiring Practices”). In order to attract top candidates, Pat Waller should analyze wine industries’ salary packages and information that are related to incentives and reward systems. This will assist Pat Waller to develop competitive salary that will not only attract new candidates but will also attract experienced sales personnel. This will provide opportunities for the company to acquire knowledgeable and talented personnel, which will in turn help to increase the sales volumes and generate more revenues (USCSB, “How to Improve Your Hiring Practices”). Pat Waller should be able to strengthen the marketing communication. The marketing communication should be able to reflect the benefits that are provided. According to the target market and its requirement, the marketing communication needs to be developed for the sales personnel. This will develop clear understanding for the attainment of the objectives of Valley Winery. The online sales strategy can increase the sales volume and generate revenues for Valley Winery. Pat Waller should develop the concept of online sales and delivery system with efficient sales management team in order to ensure the strategy is ongoing process and generate revenues. Valley Winery does not follow the policy of recruiting sales personnel from the competitors and customers. Pat Waller should therefore identify the advantages of hiring experienced top sales personnel since they have the potential to increase the sales volume. However, to acquire the top sales personnel, Pat Waller needs to convince the management for such strategies in order to enhance the performance of sales and generate more revenues. References Allen, Kathleen. R. “Growing and Managing a Small Business”. March 26, 2011. Andrews University, 2011. Eades, Keith. M. The New Solution Selling: The Revolutionary Sales Process That Is Changing the Way People Sell McGraw-Hill Professional, 2004. Hill, Charles & Jones, Gareth. Strategic Management. Cengage Learning, 2009. Munsch, Dan & Tademy, Everett. “Code of Business Ethics and Conduct”. March 26, 2011. Carnegie Mellon University, 2011. USCSB. “How to Improve Your Hiring Practices”. March 26, 2011. Human Resources, 2011. Bibliography Churchill, Gilbert A. & Et. Al. Sales Force Management: Planning, Implementation, And Control Irwin, 1990. Johnston, Mark & Marshall, Greg. Sales Force Management McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2011. Read More

 

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