sales management (salm) : sales management 1 - imm
Page 1 of 8
ASSIGNMENT 2ND SEMESTER : SALES MANAGEMENT (SALM) : SALES MANAGEMENT 1 (SAM101) STUDY UNITS COVERED
: STUDY UNIT 1 (SECTIONS 1-4) : STUDY UNIT 2 (SECTIONS 5-6)
DUE DATE
: 3:00 p.m. 20 AUGUST 2013
TOTAL MARKS MATERIAL SUPPLIED
: 100 : Creekside Outdoor Gear : National Agri- Products Company : Strong Point Financial Services
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES FOR COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS The complete ‘Instructions to Students for Completing and Submitting Assignments’ must be collected from any IMM GSM office, the relevant Additional Tuition Centre or can be downloaded from the IMM GSM website. It is essential that the complete instructions be studied prior to commencing your assignment. The following points highlight only a few important notes. 1) You are required to submit ONE assignment per subject. 2) The assignment will contribute 20% towards the final examination mark, and the other 80% will be contributed by the examination, however, the examination papers will count out of 100%. 3) Although your assignment will contribute towards your final examination mark, you do not have to earn credits for admission to the examinations; you are automatically accepted on registering for the exam. 4) Number all the pages of your assignment (e.g. page 1 of 4) and write your name and surname, student number and subject at the top of each page. 5) The IMM GSM requires assignments to be presented in a typed format, on plain A4 paper. Students who exceed the word limit may find that only part of the submitted assignment will be marked. 6) A separate assignment cover, which is provided by the IMM GSM, must be attached to the front of each assignment. 7) Retain a copy of each assignment before submitting, in case the original does not reach the IMM GSM. 8) The assignment due date refers to the day up to which assignments will be accepted for marking purposes. The deadline is 3:00 p.m. on 20 August 2013. Late assignments will be accepted, but 25 marks will be deducted from the maximum mark, if received after 3:00 p.m. on 20 August 2013 and up to 5:00 p.m. the following day, after which no assignments will be accepted. 9) If you fail to follow these instructions carefully, the IMM Graduate School of Marketing cannot accept responsibility for the return of the assignment. It may even result in your assignment not being marked. Results will be available on the IMM GSM website, www.immgsm.ac.za, on Friday 4 October 2013.
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 2 of 8
Prescribed textbook: Connett, B.I., Abratt, R. and Cant, M., 2010. Sales Management. 3rd ed. Heinemann. Answer ALL the questions QUESTION 1 (Case study – Creekside Outdoor Gear)
[25]
Read the case study, Creekside Outdoor Gear (attached at the end of the paper) and answer the following two (2) questions. 1.1
Identify and explain six (6) of the internal and external environmental factors that are affecting Creekside Outdoor Gear’s business and the decisions that Joe faces. Motivate your answer. (12)
1.2
If Joe interviewed two different candidates for a sales position, one who has been using a transactional approach to selling and the other who has been using a relationship selling approach, how would he recognise the difference between the two and which selling approach will be most appropriate for his movement to the Western Cape? Motivate your answer. (13)
QUESTION 2 2.1
[25]
According to law there are a number of unlawful business practices. The most significant are as follows: Collusion (2) Restraint of trade (2) Reciprocity (2) Competitor obstruction (2) Competitor defamation (2) Price discrimination. (3) Give one practical example of each to illustrate the above-mentioned unlawful business practices. Use the Internet to identify such examples.
2.2
Choose a product and explain how you would sell it using the Features, Advantages and Benefits (FAB) methodology. (Note: Students who use any examples from either the textbook or the learner guide will get zero marks for this question.) (12)
QUESTION 3 3.1
[40]
Read the case study about National Agri-Products Company (attached at the end of the paper) and answer the following question: (18) What are the primary needs of each member of the buying centre and how much influence do you expect each member of the buying centre will have on the final decision?
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 3 of 8
3.2
Read the case study about Strong Point Financial Services (attached at the end of the paper) and answer the following three questions about it: 3.2.1 Which methods of prospecting has Rafael decided to use? Are they the most appropriate for his situation? Motivate your answer. (7) 3.2.2 As Rafael continues to develop his client base, what other sources of prospects do you recommend he try? Why do you think these methods may be successful for him? (8) 3.2.3 Assume you are Rafael’s mentor, John Green. What recommendations would you make to help Rafael get the most out of his prospecting efforts? (7)
PRESENTATION
[10] ASSIGNMENT TOTAL: 100
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 4 of 8
Creekside Outdoor Gear Creekside Outdoor Gear is a Durban-based company that produces and markets clothing sold exclusively in retail stores specialising in apparel for outdoor enthusiasts. The product line includes shirts, pants, jackets, ski-suit bibs and jackets, hats, gloves, and underwear. The stores also sell equipment for mountain climbing, kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, canoeing, and hiking, items for which Creekside's products are a natural complement. Creekside is known throughout Kwa-Zulu Natal for high quality. Joe Edwards, Creekside's founder and owner, often tells his employees, "If you provide a quality product, people will want to buy it from you." However, Joe is beginning to detect some changes in his business and is wondering how those changes will affect his company. One change that Joe has noticed is that the customers visiting the retailers that carry his products look younger and younger. As a member of the baby boomer generation, Joe realisis that his peers are getting older. The group of customers that has spurred his company's growth since its founding in 1978 will likely be a smaller piece of his business in the future. Joe has also noticed the growth in extreme sports. Not only are the people who participate in these sports youngsters, but they also have unusual (to Joe) buying habits. They seem to want what Joe would describe as a sloppy look and attractive colour schemes at the same time. Such customer desires take advantage of new, high-tech materials that provide greater warmth with lighter materials, which support the increased mobility needed to participate in extreme sports. Joe has never used these new materials and he wonders how they would work in his production process. Finally, Joe is concerned about the buying power of this new group of potential customers. Do people in their late teens and early 20s have enough income to purchase Joe's products, which typically command premium prices? Another concern is geographic expansion. To help offset the impact of some of the trends described above; Joe would like to sell his products in stores in the Western Cape Province. However, Joe has always been a regional producer, and such an expansion will require a significant investment. Establishing distribution channels and developing relationships with buyers is both expensive and time consuming. Furthermore, Joe doesn't employ a sales force. His operating philosophy has always been that a good product will sell itself. Consequently, he's wondering how best to represent his product to outdoor store buyers in the Western Cape. One factor that keeps weighing on Joe's mind as he thinks about these issues is that he believes in developing relationships with his retail partners. Joe has read some information about transactional selling and relationship selling, but he's not at all sure how either one of these methods is actually implemented. Nor does he know how to decide which method of selling will better meet his objectives for sales in the Western Cape. Needless to say, Joe has much to consider as he decides whether or not to pursue expansion. If he does decide to expand, he needs to determine how best to set up his sales force. (Adapted from: Johnston, M.W. & Marshall, G.W., 2010. Relationship Selling. 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill, pp. 26-27)
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 5 of 8
National Agri- Products Company Sue Wilson, purchasing manager for the Humboldt, Tennessee, plant of National Agri-Products Company, is back in her office reviewing her notes from a meeting she just finished with Tom Roberts, Vicki Sievers, and Greg Runyon. Tom is the plant manager of the Humboldt plant, Vicki is the plant engineer, and Greg the production manager. The four met for the last hour to discuss the equipment National needs to buy to complete expansion of the Humboldt plant. National Agri-Products Company produces various agricultural products at its four manufacturing locations throughout the Midwest. The Humboldt plant was built seven years ago to produce cornstarch and dextrose for use as food ingredients. Five and a half years after the plant was completed, upper management decided to expand it to produce corn syrup, which is an ingredient in soft drinks, candy, and various baked goods. Humboldt will be the second National Agri-Products Company plant with the capability to produce corn syrup. As Sue reviews her notes, she notices that Tom, Vicki, and Greg have various requirements for the equipment that would be needed to produce the corn syrup. During the meeting, Tom said it was very important to "get everything right" in completing this project. The company already had invested a lot of money in the expansion, and Tom didn't want to risk that investment by installing equipment that would produce syrup inferior to National's standards. Tom said that although he expected to be consulted when needed, he thought Vicki and Greg could handle this assignment without his daily input. Vicki knew that quality equipment would be needed to produce high-quality corn syrup. She wondered if the plant could meet the deadline National's home office had given of producing corn syrup in six months. Vicki said she was already working on equipment specifications and she would get them to Sue as soon as possible. Greg's main concern was producing the corn syrup efficiently and making sure his maintenance people could "keep the stuff running." Both Vicki and Greg asked Sue to let them know when she had more information about potential suppliers. After reviewing these notes, Sue knew this was going to be a big job. She has no direct experience buying equipment to produce this type of product line. She decided to call Vijay Sethi, National's VP of purchasing, to discuss a few options. Vijay reminded Sue that National's policy is to get three bids on purchases of this amount and suggested that she start with the storage tanks and tubing since they are the most time-consuming items to fabricate. Vijay also gave Sue the number of Larry McDermott, a salesperson for New Products Steel Company, as a potential supplier. Finally, Vijay asked Sue to keep him up to date on progress, as this was the most expensive expansion project the company was undertaking this year. After talking with Vijay, Sue decided to call Larry McDermott.
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 6 of 8
LARRY: "Larry McDermott, New Products Steel. May I help you?" SUE: "Larry, this is Sue Wilson at the Humboldt, Tennessee, and plant of National Agri-Products Company. Vijay Sethi gave me your name as a potential bidder on the stainless-steel tanks and tubing we are installing for our new corn syrup product line." LARRY: "I'll certainly be glad to help you out with that, Sue. As you may know, we provided similar equipment for your Hawarden, Iowa, plant when they added the corn syrup line there. We worked with Jim. Fisher in Hawarden." SUE: "I didn't know that but I'll certainly give Jim a call. Anyway, our plant engineer will have specs on the equipment available early next week. When can you come in to go over them?" LARRY: "Next Wednesday around 2:00 looks good to me. How does that sound?" SUE: "Great. I'll get our team assembled here and we'll look forward to meeting you next Wednesday." (Source: Johnston, M.W. & Marshall, G.W., 2010. Relationship Selling. 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill, pp. 67-69)
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 7 of 8
Strong Point Financial Services Rafael Sanchez is about to begin his career as a financial investment representative with Strong Point Financial Services, a national company specialising in investment opportunities for individuals. Strong Point provides its customers with the ability to trade and own individual stocks and bonds. It also helps them manage Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and 401(k) accounts. Strong Point emphasises a conservative investment philosophy of "buy and hold" and seeks clients who h ave the same philosophy. It differs from investment firms that encourage account holders to execute stock or bond trades often, thus creating commissions for the investment representative. The target market for Strong Point includes small business owners, empty nesters (people whose children have grown up and left home), two-income households with no children, and retired people. Strong Point's investment reps have had much success targeting this group of customers, and Rafael is eager to get started. Rafael has just finished a sevenweek training program for Strong Point's new investment representatives. He learned about the products and services Strong Point provides, who is included in the company's target market, how to identify potential customers, and how to represent and sell financial services. Now that Rafael is back in his companyassigned territory of southeast San Diego, he has been assigned a company mentor to help him through his first two years of employment with the company. Rafael's mentor, John Green, has been with the company for 11 years and has been extremely successful. In their first meeting, Rafael and John discuss how Rafael can begin to develop a list of prospects that will generate some clients for his new investment practice. JOHN: "Rafael, what do you plan to do to begin generating clients for your business?"
RAFAEL: "Well, at training, they said there is no substitute for knocking on doors and introducing myself to people. I'll start doing that tomorrow. I already have a couple of neighborhoods picked out — places where a lot of retired people live." JOHN: "That sounds like a good idea, and it looks as though you've picked the right neighborhoods. How many prospects do you plan to see in a day?" RAFAEL: "I want to make at least 20 contacts, which as you know means getting their name, address, and phone number so I can follow up with them later. If I can get other information, such as whether they are already invested in the stock market or what their investment philosophy is, that will be great. But right now, I'll settle for an OK to contact them later with information about a potential investment in which they may be interested. If I reach my goal of 20 contacts per day, by the end of four weeks I'll have 400 names and addresses in my database. It'll require a lot of work and shoe leather, but I got into this business to be successful and that's what I plan to be." JOHN: "That sounds great. What else do you have planned?"
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 8 of 8
RAFAEL: "Well, I've contacted the local chamber of commerce. They keep a listing of all businesses owned by individuals and a separate list of businesses employing fewer than 50 people. I figure this will be a good source of information to begin targeting small business owners. They're sending me the lists and I should have them by the end of the week. Another thing I’m considering is having a booth at the local home show— you know, the one where home builders and building products suppliers display their home plans and products. I hear they get a big attendance at the show and I should be able to make some contacts there. What do you think?" JOHN: "Those both sound like great ideas, especially the chamber of commerce lists. I'm not sure what your success will be at the home show, but it’s worth a shot. In a couple of months you should consider putting on a seminar on one of the topics the company has provided, such as the difference between stock and bond investing. The last person I mentored, Maria Santiago, found that many of her current clients were people who had attended one of her seminars." RAFAEL: "Thanks for the tip. I'll keep the seminar idea in mind and start thinking about an appropriate topic. As you can tell, I'm eager to get started." JOHN: "That's great. I'll touch base with you later in the week to see how things are going. Good luck." (Source: Johnston, M.W. & Marshall, G.W., 2010. Relationship Selling. 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill, pp. 158-159)
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
ASSIGNMENT 2ND SEMESTER : SALES MANAGEMENT (SALM) : SALES MANAGEMENT 1 (SAM101) STUDY UNITS COVERED
: STUDY UNIT 1 (SECTIONS 1-4) : STUDY UNIT 2 (SECTIONS 5-6)
DUE DATE
: 3:00 p.m. 20 AUGUST 2013
TOTAL MARKS MATERIAL SUPPLIED
: 100 : Creekside Outdoor Gear : National Agri- Products Company : Strong Point Financial Services
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES FOR COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS The complete ‘Instructions to Students for Completing and Submitting Assignments’ must be collected from any IMM GSM office, the relevant Additional Tuition Centre or can be downloaded from the IMM GSM website. It is essential that the complete instructions be studied prior to commencing your assignment. The following points highlight only a few important notes. 1) You are required to submit ONE assignment per subject. 2) The assignment will contribute 20% towards the final examination mark, and the other 80% will be contributed by the examination, however, the examination papers will count out of 100%. 3) Although your assignment will contribute towards your final examination mark, you do not have to earn credits for admission to the examinations; you are automatically accepted on registering for the exam. 4) Number all the pages of your assignment (e.g. page 1 of 4) and write your name and surname, student number and subject at the top of each page. 5) The IMM GSM requires assignments to be presented in a typed format, on plain A4 paper. Students who exceed the word limit may find that only part of the submitted assignment will be marked. 6) A separate assignment cover, which is provided by the IMM GSM, must be attached to the front of each assignment. 7) Retain a copy of each assignment before submitting, in case the original does not reach the IMM GSM. 8) The assignment due date refers to the day up to which assignments will be accepted for marking purposes. The deadline is 3:00 p.m. on 20 August 2013. Late assignments will be accepted, but 25 marks will be deducted from the maximum mark, if received after 3:00 p.m. on 20 August 2013 and up to 5:00 p.m. the following day, after which no assignments will be accepted. 9) If you fail to follow these instructions carefully, the IMM Graduate School of Marketing cannot accept responsibility for the return of the assignment. It may even result in your assignment not being marked. Results will be available on the IMM GSM website, www.immgsm.ac.za, on Friday 4 October 2013.
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 2 of 8
Prescribed textbook: Connett, B.I., Abratt, R. and Cant, M., 2010. Sales Management. 3rd ed. Heinemann. Answer ALL the questions QUESTION 1 (Case study – Creekside Outdoor Gear)
[25]
Read the case study, Creekside Outdoor Gear (attached at the end of the paper) and answer the following two (2) questions. 1.1
Identify and explain six (6) of the internal and external environmental factors that are affecting Creekside Outdoor Gear’s business and the decisions that Joe faces. Motivate your answer. (12)
1.2
If Joe interviewed two different candidates for a sales position, one who has been using a transactional approach to selling and the other who has been using a relationship selling approach, how would he recognise the difference between the two and which selling approach will be most appropriate for his movement to the Western Cape? Motivate your answer. (13)
QUESTION 2 2.1
[25]
According to law there are a number of unlawful business practices. The most significant are as follows: Collusion (2) Restraint of trade (2) Reciprocity (2) Competitor obstruction (2) Competitor defamation (2) Price discrimination. (3) Give one practical example of each to illustrate the above-mentioned unlawful business practices. Use the Internet to identify such examples.
2.2
Choose a product and explain how you would sell it using the Features, Advantages and Benefits (FAB) methodology. (Note: Students who use any examples from either the textbook or the learner guide will get zero marks for this question.) (12)
QUESTION 3 3.1
[40]
Read the case study about National Agri-Products Company (attached at the end of the paper) and answer the following question: (18) What are the primary needs of each member of the buying centre and how much influence do you expect each member of the buying centre will have on the final decision?
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 3 of 8
3.2
Read the case study about Strong Point Financial Services (attached at the end of the paper) and answer the following three questions about it: 3.2.1 Which methods of prospecting has Rafael decided to use? Are they the most appropriate for his situation? Motivate your answer. (7) 3.2.2 As Rafael continues to develop his client base, what other sources of prospects do you recommend he try? Why do you think these methods may be successful for him? (8) 3.2.3 Assume you are Rafael’s mentor, John Green. What recommendations would you make to help Rafael get the most out of his prospecting efforts? (7)
PRESENTATION
[10] ASSIGNMENT TOTAL: 100
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 4 of 8
Creekside Outdoor Gear Creekside Outdoor Gear is a Durban-based company that produces and markets clothing sold exclusively in retail stores specialising in apparel for outdoor enthusiasts. The product line includes shirts, pants, jackets, ski-suit bibs and jackets, hats, gloves, and underwear. The stores also sell equipment for mountain climbing, kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, canoeing, and hiking, items for which Creekside's products are a natural complement. Creekside is known throughout Kwa-Zulu Natal for high quality. Joe Edwards, Creekside's founder and owner, often tells his employees, "If you provide a quality product, people will want to buy it from you." However, Joe is beginning to detect some changes in his business and is wondering how those changes will affect his company. One change that Joe has noticed is that the customers visiting the retailers that carry his products look younger and younger. As a member of the baby boomer generation, Joe realisis that his peers are getting older. The group of customers that has spurred his company's growth since its founding in 1978 will likely be a smaller piece of his business in the future. Joe has also noticed the growth in extreme sports. Not only are the people who participate in these sports youngsters, but they also have unusual (to Joe) buying habits. They seem to want what Joe would describe as a sloppy look and attractive colour schemes at the same time. Such customer desires take advantage of new, high-tech materials that provide greater warmth with lighter materials, which support the increased mobility needed to participate in extreme sports. Joe has never used these new materials and he wonders how they would work in his production process. Finally, Joe is concerned about the buying power of this new group of potential customers. Do people in their late teens and early 20s have enough income to purchase Joe's products, which typically command premium prices? Another concern is geographic expansion. To help offset the impact of some of the trends described above; Joe would like to sell his products in stores in the Western Cape Province. However, Joe has always been a regional producer, and such an expansion will require a significant investment. Establishing distribution channels and developing relationships with buyers is both expensive and time consuming. Furthermore, Joe doesn't employ a sales force. His operating philosophy has always been that a good product will sell itself. Consequently, he's wondering how best to represent his product to outdoor store buyers in the Western Cape. One factor that keeps weighing on Joe's mind as he thinks about these issues is that he believes in developing relationships with his retail partners. Joe has read some information about transactional selling and relationship selling, but he's not at all sure how either one of these methods is actually implemented. Nor does he know how to decide which method of selling will better meet his objectives for sales in the Western Cape. Needless to say, Joe has much to consider as he decides whether or not to pursue expansion. If he does decide to expand, he needs to determine how best to set up his sales force. (Adapted from: Johnston, M.W. & Marshall, G.W., 2010. Relationship Selling. 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill, pp. 26-27)
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 5 of 8
National Agri- Products Company Sue Wilson, purchasing manager for the Humboldt, Tennessee, plant of National Agri-Products Company, is back in her office reviewing her notes from a meeting she just finished with Tom Roberts, Vicki Sievers, and Greg Runyon. Tom is the plant manager of the Humboldt plant, Vicki is the plant engineer, and Greg the production manager. The four met for the last hour to discuss the equipment National needs to buy to complete expansion of the Humboldt plant. National Agri-Products Company produces various agricultural products at its four manufacturing locations throughout the Midwest. The Humboldt plant was built seven years ago to produce cornstarch and dextrose for use as food ingredients. Five and a half years after the plant was completed, upper management decided to expand it to produce corn syrup, which is an ingredient in soft drinks, candy, and various baked goods. Humboldt will be the second National Agri-Products Company plant with the capability to produce corn syrup. As Sue reviews her notes, she notices that Tom, Vicki, and Greg have various requirements for the equipment that would be needed to produce the corn syrup. During the meeting, Tom said it was very important to "get everything right" in completing this project. The company already had invested a lot of money in the expansion, and Tom didn't want to risk that investment by installing equipment that would produce syrup inferior to National's standards. Tom said that although he expected to be consulted when needed, he thought Vicki and Greg could handle this assignment without his daily input. Vicki knew that quality equipment would be needed to produce high-quality corn syrup. She wondered if the plant could meet the deadline National's home office had given of producing corn syrup in six months. Vicki said she was already working on equipment specifications and she would get them to Sue as soon as possible. Greg's main concern was producing the corn syrup efficiently and making sure his maintenance people could "keep the stuff running." Both Vicki and Greg asked Sue to let them know when she had more information about potential suppliers. After reviewing these notes, Sue knew this was going to be a big job. She has no direct experience buying equipment to produce this type of product line. She decided to call Vijay Sethi, National's VP of purchasing, to discuss a few options. Vijay reminded Sue that National's policy is to get three bids on purchases of this amount and suggested that she start with the storage tanks and tubing since they are the most time-consuming items to fabricate. Vijay also gave Sue the number of Larry McDermott, a salesperson for New Products Steel Company, as a potential supplier. Finally, Vijay asked Sue to keep him up to date on progress, as this was the most expensive expansion project the company was undertaking this year. After talking with Vijay, Sue decided to call Larry McDermott.
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 6 of 8
LARRY: "Larry McDermott, New Products Steel. May I help you?" SUE: "Larry, this is Sue Wilson at the Humboldt, Tennessee, and plant of National Agri-Products Company. Vijay Sethi gave me your name as a potential bidder on the stainless-steel tanks and tubing we are installing for our new corn syrup product line." LARRY: "I'll certainly be glad to help you out with that, Sue. As you may know, we provided similar equipment for your Hawarden, Iowa, plant when they added the corn syrup line there. We worked with Jim. Fisher in Hawarden." SUE: "I didn't know that but I'll certainly give Jim a call. Anyway, our plant engineer will have specs on the equipment available early next week. When can you come in to go over them?" LARRY: "Next Wednesday around 2:00 looks good to me. How does that sound?" SUE: "Great. I'll get our team assembled here and we'll look forward to meeting you next Wednesday." (Source: Johnston, M.W. & Marshall, G.W., 2010. Relationship Selling. 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill, pp. 67-69)
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 7 of 8
Strong Point Financial Services Rafael Sanchez is about to begin his career as a financial investment representative with Strong Point Financial Services, a national company specialising in investment opportunities for individuals. Strong Point provides its customers with the ability to trade and own individual stocks and bonds. It also helps them manage Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and 401(k) accounts. Strong Point emphasises a conservative investment philosophy of "buy and hold" and seeks clients who h ave the same philosophy. It differs from investment firms that encourage account holders to execute stock or bond trades often, thus creating commissions for the investment representative. The target market for Strong Point includes small business owners, empty nesters (people whose children have grown up and left home), two-income households with no children, and retired people. Strong Point's investment reps have had much success targeting this group of customers, and Rafael is eager to get started. Rafael has just finished a sevenweek training program for Strong Point's new investment representatives. He learned about the products and services Strong Point provides, who is included in the company's target market, how to identify potential customers, and how to represent and sell financial services. Now that Rafael is back in his companyassigned territory of southeast San Diego, he has been assigned a company mentor to help him through his first two years of employment with the company. Rafael's mentor, John Green, has been with the company for 11 years and has been extremely successful. In their first meeting, Rafael and John discuss how Rafael can begin to develop a list of prospects that will generate some clients for his new investment practice. JOHN: "Rafael, what do you plan to do to begin generating clients for your business?"
RAFAEL: "Well, at training, they said there is no substitute for knocking on doors and introducing myself to people. I'll start doing that tomorrow. I already have a couple of neighborhoods picked out — places where a lot of retired people live." JOHN: "That sounds like a good idea, and it looks as though you've picked the right neighborhoods. How many prospects do you plan to see in a day?" RAFAEL: "I want to make at least 20 contacts, which as you know means getting their name, address, and phone number so I can follow up with them later. If I can get other information, such as whether they are already invested in the stock market or what their investment philosophy is, that will be great. But right now, I'll settle for an OK to contact them later with information about a potential investment in which they may be interested. If I reach my goal of 20 contacts per day, by the end of four weeks I'll have 400 names and addresses in my database. It'll require a lot of work and shoe leather, but I got into this business to be successful and that's what I plan to be." JOHN: "That sounds great. What else do you have planned?"
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
Page 8 of 8
RAFAEL: "Well, I've contacted the local chamber of commerce. They keep a listing of all businesses owned by individuals and a separate list of businesses employing fewer than 50 people. I figure this will be a good source of information to begin targeting small business owners. They're sending me the lists and I should have them by the end of the week. Another thing I’m considering is having a booth at the local home show— you know, the one where home builders and building products suppliers display their home plans and products. I hear they get a big attendance at the show and I should be able to make some contacts there. What do you think?" JOHN: "Those both sound like great ideas, especially the chamber of commerce lists. I'm not sure what your success will be at the home show, but it’s worth a shot. In a couple of months you should consider putting on a seminar on one of the topics the company has provided, such as the difference between stock and bond investing. The last person I mentored, Maria Santiago, found that many of her current clients were people who had attended one of her seminars." RAFAEL: "Thanks for the tip. I'll keep the seminar idea in mind and start thinking about an appropriate topic. As you can tell, I'm eager to get started." JOHN: "That's great. I'll touch base with you later in the week to see how things are going. Good luck." (Source: Johnston, M.W. & Marshall, G.W., 2010. Relationship Selling. 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill, pp. 158-159)
Assignment 2nd Semester 2013
© IMM Graduate School of Marketing SALM / SAM101
