The Jones Company was trying to decide whether to continue using independent sal

Question

The Jones Company was trying to decide whether to continue using independent sales            reps or to replace them with company salespeople. The firm produced a line of ceramic     dinnerware that was sold by 15 rep organizations employing 55 sales people to contact    12,100 retail stores. Management felt that the reps were not giving Jones’s dinnerware         enough attention, particularly in the large department stores. Annual sales of Jones         Company were $5.5 million. The company liked to have its retail accounts contacted        every six weeks. The reps were paid 10 percent of sales, although 12 percent was typical     for this type of merchandise in other firms. (a) Compare the advantages and           disadvantages of independent reps with those of company salespeople. (b) How many company sales people would be needed to call on the retail accounts (you may need to      make some assumptions)? (c) Should Jones switch to company salespeople? Why should             or should not? Explain. (d) In either case (i.e., own sales people or independent reps),       what should the management do to improve the performance of the sales people? Explain             in detail.

Explanation / Answer

a) The advantages of having company salespeople is : -

The disadvantage of having company salespeople is ;

The advantages of having independent sales reps is :

The disadvantage of having independent sales rep is : -

b) The number of company sales people that would be needed to call on the retail accounts will be approximately 60 sales people.

c) Jones should switch to company sales people to improve the sales performance as independent reps may not be performimg as per the company's expectations.

d) In either case the company should have a marketing strategy to monitor the performance of company sales people or independent reps . The company should roll out an incentive plan to motivate the sales personnel and to help achieve the targets set by the company . The sales reps performance should be periodically reviewed and any deviations should be corrected to align with the marketing goals.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse T
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.