Assume you sell plumbing supplies via a distributor that sells to retailers. Wha

Question

Assume you sell plumbing supplies via a distributor that sells to retailers. What can you, as the manufacturer’s sales representative, do to shorten the distributor’s sales cycle? To improve its conversions Assume you are the distributor and you have five salespeople working for you. Two call on plumbing companies and large construction companies at job sites, whereas the other three work as salespeople in your warehouse to handle walk-in customers. What can you do with marketing to shorten the sales cycle of each group? How might your efforts affect the performance each group differently?

Explanation / Answer

The first step I will take is to reduce sales men working at warehouse from three to two and have three personnels for client visits. This will enable a larger coverage of market and more visits to prospetive customer and companies. Marketing is all about making efforts as much as possible with uncertain returns. Hence the larger coverage, visits and penetration will create additional queries which may result in better footfall for the company. The conversion rate may increase due to increased queries.

The warehouse team will need to work a bit more hard due to its reduced work force from three to two. However, the customers at the warehouse would be willing to wait additional time as they know its not an FMCG outlet but an outlet from where they purchase products based on desired specifications. This takes time and customers are not likely to move out to another plumbing store in a huff.

The reduced manpower at the warehouse therefore will not have a significant impact on sales whereas an additional sales person visiting clients and generating more queries may increase the conversion rate.

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