Business Strategy That Shering-Plough HealthCare Products Inc Should Adopt - Case Study Example

Schering-Plough Healthcare Products by Student’s name Code+ course name Professor’s name University name City, State Date Schering-Plough HealthCare Products Inc. Schering-Plough HealthCare Products Inc. (SPHP), having expanded its product line by developing pocket sized Coppertone sun blocks sprays and sticks, had the strategy of expanding its market significantly. The company acted on this decision after market research studies proved that people were becoming aware of the dangers, which are caused by excessive exposure of the skin, to the sun (Tawrell 2006). The research also proved that many of the consumers needed to not only use the sun block products on the beach, but also when undergoing daily activities. The company however, needs to look at the most effective approach of training its sales staff, to promote the newly repackaged Coppertone products to consumers. This essay will explore the most appropriate business strategy, which the company should adopt and how the company will train the sales staff, on the implementation of the business strategy effectively. SPHP should adopt the product differentiation marketing strategy, to promote Coppertone sun block sticks and sprays. This marketing strategy requires the products to have unique features, which sets them aside from other products and gives them competitive advantage (Keillor 2013). It is applicable in this case because the repackaged Coppertone products have a superior quality, to that of other competitors and their earlier packages. The superior quality of the repackaged products, which is the ability to fit in consumers’ purses, pockets and gym bags, makes it easy for consumers to carry them everywhere, daily. When the company uses this marketing strategy, its market will expand significantly because the previous customers will be retained and new customers attained. This marketing strategy is the most appropriate way of marketing the products because it focuses on the features of the products, which other products of the same category does not have (Keillor 2013). The company will be assured of more profits because the products are higher than the competitive norm. Product differentiation strategy does not only concentrate on the profitability of the products, but also the products attributes, which are most desired by customers (Hanan 2011). The company will therefore, promote its products, by focusing on the need of consumers, to have products they can carry around easily. This gives their products a competitive advantage, and therefore, to build the company’s brand loyalty, the sales staff needs to be trained on how to promote them, using product differentiation marketing strategy (Keillor 2013). The training the staff receives will have great implications on the sales of the product. The first implication is that the staff will have product knowledge, which will then lead to more sales for the company (Hanan 2011). This is valuable because they will show the customers how the products will address their needs. They will also learn the different techniques they can use, to present the products to consumers. The staff will have great communication skills, which will help them to adapt to different customers, to present an effective sales presentation to them. During the training, the sales staff will learn more about the products, and therefore, their enthusiasm about the product will be boosted (Hanan 2011). They will believe truly that the product is the best solution for avoiding sunburns. This is an important type of marketing skill because when the customers see the sales person completely enthusiastic about the products, any uncertainty they may have about the products being inferior, will be removed. The sales staff will become confident about the product because they are educated about its benefits. They will use that confidence to convince any customer who is not committed to completing a sale (Hess 2005). During training, the customers will practically use the products, therefore, experiencing the benefits they have, over the competitor products. This will help the sales staff to counter any objectives that customers may present, regarding the products. The sales people will have learnt facts about the products, gained from using them and will be able to differentiate them from products sold by competitors. Furthermore, they will have learnt the pricing structure of the newly packaged products, the colors, styles and models available, history of the product, how the products can be distributed and how they are delivered. There are various ways of determining whether the sales staff has the necessary understanding on the dangers of daily exposure to the sun, to promote the product successfully. The first way would be to create questionnaires for the staff, about the dangers of long exposure to the sun. For example, they could be asked to fill the outdoor activities they had previously involved themselves, which exposed them to the sun for long and how they were affected. They could be asked to practice consultative selling, with some of them posing as customers and others as consultants (Hanan 2011). The consultants will identify the needs of the customers, for example, point out that the customer is spending a lot of time exposed to the sun and the effects that practice can have, on him. The consultant will then point out evidence of sunburns and suggest to the customer, the most appropriate products to use and how they provide solutions to meet those needs. Practicing consultative selling will help in determining if the sales person has knowledge about the problem he is hoping to solve with the products (Hess 2005). It will also help to decide if he has a natural intuition to help solve the customer’s problem. Another effective way would be to check how prepared the staff are, in promoting the product. They could be required to identify their target clients and determine what would motivate them to buy and use the products. If the target clients are in need of sun block products that they can carry everywhere and apply anytime, the sales people will be required to identify the various techniques of convincing them that the products are convenient because of their small sizes. Finally, one can determine if the sales stuff understands the dangers of daily exposure to the sun, by having them participate in the learning process. They are encouraged to participate in the discussions, point out what they have learnt and tell stories, which reflect the problems the product will solve, the product itself and the target market (Hanan 2011). Rationale of the design of a lesson plan The chosen lesson plan will be very effective in its purpose of preparing the sales staff to promote the product. The grounds of using this design of the lesson plan, is to allocate enough time for every member of the sales staff, to be included in all the activities, in the lesson plan (Hess 2005). The lesson plan is designed in a way that there are enough Coppertone sun block lotions in bottles, and Coppertone sun block sprays and sticks. The intention is for each learner to get at least one of the above named products so that they can compare them (Hess 2005). This will motivate them to concentrate and be involved in all the activities the trainer asks them to do. The lesson plan will enable learners to communicate freely, in the training session and offer each other assistance, regarding the difference in the features of the products (Hess 2005). They are then given time to reflect on what they have learnt in the session and how convinced they are, of the convenience and benefits of the newly packaged products. This is essential because if they believe that the products are very effective and convenient for carrying around, they will be able to convince customers to buy them, therefore, increasing the sales (Keillor 2013). According to the lesson plan, the trainer is able to base his training methods on research done by the company, on who the customers of the products are, why they will opt for the repackaged products and how it will expand its market (Keillor 2013). By basing the lesson plan on the research done by the company, the sales staff will become confident in their jobs because they know their target clients. The design of the lesson plan will help the sales staff members to transfer the new knowledge they learnt, to their jobs. This is because it will enable them to have firsthand experience of using the products, and therefore, they will be confident in convincing the clients to use it. The lesson plan also enables them to practice consultative selling, which will help them in answering the customers’ questions and solving their problems. By practicing consultative selling, they will learn how to identify the needs of various customers and suggest to them the kinds of products they can use and how it can solve their problems (Hanan 2011). The lesson plan will also enable them to learn about the competitive advantage of the product, therefore, gaining knowledge on how the advantage will increase their sales by certain rates. This will motivate them to be committed to their work, so that they can earn more. The training session can be formatively evaluated, during and after the implementation of the marketing strategy (Hess 2005). It is achieved by determining how the sales people use the concepts and marketing theories learnt during training. The sales they make will reflect how successful the training was. It can also be formatively evaluated, by getting feedback from customers. They will be encouraged to respond on the information the staff passed to them about the products and the results they got from using them. The results can be related to the information they had been given, and therefore, it will be easy to know if the training session was successful (Hess 2005). In conclusion, Schering-Plough HealthCare Products Inc. (SPHP) should adopt the product differentiation marketing strategy, to promote its repackaged pocket-sized Coppertone sun block products. This will be the most appropriate type of marketing strategy because it will focus on the developed attributes of the new products. It will not only create awareness of the convenience of the product, but will also increase the company’s profits greatly. The company, however, needs to train its staff on how to promote the products using the marketing strategy. The training the sales staff gets will be very important in convincing the customers about its benefits and responding to their objections. It will also enable them to identify the type of customers according to their varying needs. Reference list Keillor, BD, 2013, Marketing in the 21st century and beyond: Timeless strategies for success, Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger. Tawrell, P, 2006, Camping & wilderness survival: The ultimate outdoors book, Lebanon, NH: Paul Tawrell. Hess, RT, 2005, Excellence, equity, and efficiency: How principals and policymakers can survive the triangle of tension, Lanham, Md: ScarecrowEducation. Hanan, 2011, Consultative selling: The Hanan formula for high-margin sales at high levels, New York: AMACOM. Read More