Sales and Distribution Management - Coursework Example

Management Sales and Distribution Management Management is an essential element, which must be considered to carry on the business activities. Sales and distribution also need management for a brilliant performance. A person must know about the way he/ she should carry on the work. They should manage time and must make use of the available resources to carry on the work with high performances. They should make outlines of their work about how they will manage time, with whom will they work and how will they work. A person should recognize all these points and must allocate different time to different resources. If the time and resources are well managed and the working relation between the team members is good then the company can perform well in sales and distribution and can cater their desired target market. Sales and distribution is not an easy task as there are many competitors in the market that are waiting to get the opportunity to prove that their product is the best in the market (Panda et al., 2005). The management of the company needs to determine who is the right person to carry on these responsibilities to market and sell the products? Selling and distribution are always effective when the deal is communicated personally from one person to another. In the given case study, which was related to a new employee, her responsibilities and tasks and the way she will be performing her duties (Gupta, 2009). Rosina (new employee) gathered a few points, which were about the things that she knew about pet specialty stores. Rosina earlier worked with one of the leading suppliers of pet foods in Australia as a sales rep. She had firsthand knowledge about the market in which the firm supplied their products. She had three years of experience and was aware of the market trends in which the products were supplied. Rosina was a part of pet foods market and knew about the stores, which were involved in the sales of best pet foods. She managed to figure out the amount of stock these stores have with them and the wide range of different product they keep satisfying their customers. She figured out about the operating activities of the store, which is different from supermarkets and the number of customers that come for the purchase of goods in the market. Rosina collected all the information through her experience in the same business of pet food and her personal contacts from the previous job. This list of information can help Rosina to carry on with her in ease. Rosina obtains the information about the differentiation between the pet stores and supermarkets through her experience as she was working in the same field previously. Rosina knew about the market information because she worked as a sales rep and had good knowledge about her work (Dutta, 2011). The moment Rosina settled down with an hour-long meeting with her boss, and she started jotting down some points that might help her with her work and the things she needs to know about her job. She wanted to obtain the knowledge over some points that she listed down. At first she wanted to figure out about the range of pet food that her company will be producing. Rosina has to gather information about the range their company plans to make and also gather information from the pet specialty stores about the accessories that are mostly purchased by the pet owners so that her company should look forward to produce such accessories. The location of the store is very important as some specialty stores has more customers than other, and it is her duty to locate those stores so that supply in those stores should be high. She can call the specialty store to find out their turnover and manage her work accordingly. The management of the supply of the product is very important and who is the responsible person to provide the given amount of product at the right time. Rosina should ask her boss Melissa about the questions relating to ownership/ management and also about the turnover the company expects from her. It is the duty of her boss to define a target to her so she can achieve it, which will be highly motivational for her. Rosina must gather information from the pet specialty stores about the profit of the stores and that of the firm so she can distribute the product accordingly. In order to find about the profit, the storeowners take she needs to communicate with the previous team to find out about them. The reason to find about this information through the team is because communication is more effective when it is done personally (Forsyth, 2013). Rosina also needs to know about the latest trends to promote the product and must be updated with the knowledge of promotional activities. The promotion of the product is very necessary as the customers must be aware of the qualities of the product. Rosina can find out about the new store opening from the team that is previously working with the company. The team can inform her about the opening of new stores in the market by surveying the market and from gathering information from the stores about their competitors. It is not a very difficult task, but Rosina must know with whom she must ask to get the best knowledge. Time management is essential to complete any task. The tasks should be managed according to the time. If the nature of the job is such that a person has to carry out different function, he or she needs to divide the different functions of his work. The work must be divided, and the tasks must be completed in the allocated time (Levin, 2007). Rosina must divide the function of her work in a different segment. She needs to give time in searching for the new stores, what type of product the customers are interested in buying from the new stores and the ways to promote the products of her company (Kotler & Keller, 2011). Most of the work of Rosina depends upon the calls she needs to make to the head office, administration and for sales. The calls to head office and administration are considered to be non-selling activities, and the calls for the purpose of selling the products are considered to be selling activities. Rosina can achieve good performance if she manages her time for both the activities. High performance can be achieved if she gives more time to selling activities. Rosina should allocate around 55 – 60 % of her time to selling activities. Rosina must minimize her time for non-selling activities so that more profit generating activities can be carried on. She must be strong at her management and must make sure that the work with them must be efficient so that she can get more time with selling activities. The selling activities generate more profit, and it will be easy for her to achieve her assigned target (Hutt & Speh, 2012). Merchandising is lso very important part of sales. The display of merchandise is very important as it attracts customers to it, which helps in increasing the sale. Rosina must start working with the current team because they are already working for the company and might be more helpful than a new team. The current team members know many pet specialty stores and can easily access the market the company looks forward to. The current team members can find a better place to display the product as an attractive display helps to attract the customers (Aaker & McLoughlin, 2010). Rosina might find it difficult to work with the current team at first because both Rosina and the current team will take time to adjust to each other. In few days, both will be able to work along efficiently, which will increase the sales of the product. There are many cons of hiring a new time as hiring new team members will cause waste of time, resources and will have a monetary impact as well. The new team members will also need to understand and create a relation with the pet specialty stores, which will also be wastage of time. The new team members will have to struggle hard in placing the product at a place, which is more attractive to the customers (Hayes, 1997). In deciding between the working with the current team members or new team, it is more suitable to work with the current team as the team has experience about their job; they understand the product and can even get to display the product in the store at a more attractive way. More than that, they do not have cons, which the new teams have like wastage of time and resources. It is advisable for Rosina to work along with the current team members so that high performance can be achieved, and more sales can be done. The firms marketing must be used to enhance the sales of the company as it can be useful in increasing the sales. The company has previously developed a place in the market, which makes it easier for Rosina to accomplish her task of introducing the new products of that company in the market. The current team members will also help her in doing so as they are in direct contact with the pet specialty stores. She can also contribute in increasing the sales by promotional activities; the promotional activities are a part of marketing to increase the knowledge of the customers about the new products and to attract them for the sales of the products (Sandhusen, 2000). Rosina can also make telephone sales as she has been in a similar business for the past three years. She was a territory rep and has had good relations with the pet specialty stores. She can use her previous contact, which may increase the sales of the company and help her in achieving the desired target. She must be well aware of the product and its pricing as while communicating through telephone one must attract the customer towards its product. Customer service department is very important in increasing the sales of any product. The customers notice the customer service department and if it is well equipped with all the necessities it will attract the customers to purchase the product (Brunacini, 1996). Customer service is very necessary as the customer feels special if extra time is given to the customer. It also helps in increasing the sales as the person tends to purchase a product with which he/ she can attain maximum satisfaction (Gibson, 2007). In order to apply all the techniques to carry on the work efficiently, it requires organizing and maintaining reports for herself and merchandiser. The report needs to have the plans of the task, which she needs for her self-assessment. Rosina must organize her work so she can perform her duties in an effective manner (Schermerhorn Jr, 2009). She also needs to maintain a report for the merchandiser who will help her in finding out the needs of the merchandiser and customers. She can collect data and reviews of the customers to find out about the quality of the product, and the accessories customers are more interested in purchasing. The need of the customer is more important as their feedback is essential for the growth of the organization. By organizing the reports everything, which needs to be delivered to the customer, will be available and help Rosina in carrying out her duty. It can be concluded that management is very important part of any work. It helps a person to get organized and work in a manner, which can be fruitful for the business as well as help a person in achieving the target of sales. Marketing, selling and distribution also require management to work in an effective an efficient manner. Time management is important in completing the tasks, and it also informs how much time should be utilized in different activities, and what activities can increase the sales of the product. List of References Aaker, D.A. & McLoughlin, D., 2010. Strategic Market Management: Global Perspectives. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Brunacini, A.V., 1996. Essentials of Fire Department Customer Service. Oklahoma: Fire Protection Publications. Dutta, B., 2011. Sales and Distribution Management. 1st ed. New Delhi: I. K. International Pvt Ltd. Forsyth, P., 2013. Successful Time Management. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Kogan Page Publishers. Gibson, P., 2007. The World of Customer Service. 2nd ed. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Gupta, S.L., 2009. Sales and Distribution Management. 1st ed. New Delhi: Excel Books India. Hayes, N., 1997. Successful team management. Stamford: International Thomson Business Press. Hutt, M. & Speh, T., 2012. Business Marketing Management: B2B. 11th ed. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Kotler, P. & Keller, K.L., 2011. Marketing Management. 14th ed. New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Levin, P., 2007. Skilful Time Management. New York: McGraw-Hill International. Panda, T.K., Panda, T.K. & Sahadev, S., 2005. Sales and Distribution Management. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sandhusen, R., 2000. Marketing. New York: Barrons Educational Series. Schermerhorn Jr, J.R., 2009. Exploring Management. 2nd ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Read More