3038MKT Sales and Negotiation

3038MKT Individual Case Study - Task Description

Title: Development of sales strategy and management plan

Type: Individual Assignment - Report

Learning Outcomes Assessed: 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5

Marked out of: 40

Word limit: 2,000 words (+/- 10%)

Submission: Turnitin ONLY

The 3038MKT Individual Case Study has been acted as a replacement of an exam. Therefore, students, tutors and markers MUST follow the below details strictly.

This report is an individual assignment (maximum 2,000 words report format). The 2,000 words (+/- 10%) is including all texts, table, figure, introduction, conclusion, and appendix. The maximum words excluding title page, table of content, in-text references, references at the end of the report, and executive summary. No table and figure can be in an image form. All reports must pass text matching report at the FINAL Assignment Submission Point.

To do:

You are a sales manager of a chosen company. Your task is to conduct an analysis of the current situation of the company and industry, and on this basis, to develop sales strategy and management plan (recommendations) utilising appropriate Sales Approach and Management.

Students are required to choose ONE company to work on in this assignment out of the following five choices.

1. Bonds
2. Louis Vuitton
3. Samsung
4. IKEA
5. Adidas

Please note that this is not a new product development assignment. Therefore, students will be looking at the current products/services that are offering by the chosen company. Therefore, the recommendations MUST be link to a new Sales Approach and Management. Having said that, students can link their recommendations to a product development if it has something to do with Sales Approach and Management.

The structure of the report must contain the following key sections:

1. Title Page (Not included in the word count)

2. Executive summary (approximately 1 - 2 pages) (Not included in the word count)

• Summary of findings or significant information from all sections

3. Introduction

• What is this report about?
• Structure of the report

4. Background Analysis Part A (Industry, Competitor and Consumer)

4.1 Industry Analysis: 

Firstly, you should gather information on the industry as a whole. For example:

• What is the size of the industry?
• What are the recent trends in the industry?
• What is the industry potential? E.g. Growth rate, industry life cycle, etc.
• Any information about the industry that could be useful for your decision-making

4.2 Competitor Analysis: 

Now you need to determine who are the main competitors in the industry. For example:

• Who are the key players?
• How do the main competitors differentiate themselves in the marketplace, i.e. what is their positioning strategy?
• What are the most common forms of Sales Approaches among the main competitors

4.3 Consumer Analysis: 

Now you need to provide a description of the consumer market associated with the product category. For example:

• Who are they? (e.g. their demographic, psychographic, geographic and behavioural characteristics)
• What are the issues facing consumers of this product category?
• What are the factors important to consumers when making the purchase/consumption decisions in this market?
• Are they influenced by others? Do they make the purchases themselves?
• Are there particular consumer needs not being met in the current marketplace?

5. Background Analysis Part B (Sales Approach and Sales Management)

5.1 Sales Approach Analysis:

This section should include the following points:

• Strengths and weaknesses of the current Sales Approach of your chosen company.
• The focus of the current Sales Approach and the company’s profitability because of this approach.
• Sales Approach (including but not limited to Consumer Roles in the Buying Process, Consumer Decision-Making Process, Sales Cycle, Sales Tactics and Influences (B2C), Sales Tactics and Influences (B2B), Direct Selling, Cross Selling and Up Selling, Customer Strategy, Account Management, Sales Methodology).

5.2 Sales Management Analysis:

This section should include the following points:

• Strengths and weaknesses of the current Sales Management strategy of your chosen company.
• The focus of the current Sales Management strategy and the company’s profitability because of this strategy.
• Sales Management (including but not limited to Sales Force Management, Salesforce Motivation, Sales Force Structures, Independent Agents, Inside Sales and Outside Sale, Sales Management Planning, Sales Forecasting, Sales Results and Evaluation, Recruiting Sales Personnel, Design Sales Personnel, Performance Management, Sales Force Automation, Customer Relationship Management).

6. Recommendations

• This section is where you build on the Background Analysis sections. You need to list at least FOUR market opportunities that your company could take advantage of, improve or adapt.
• The Recommendation section is what, how, and why are you going to address the FOUR opportunities.
• Try to justify your arguments by citing or mentioning a similar approach from another company. Also, you could describe some of the possible or potential benefits and costs for each of the recommendation.
• Please analyse the costs and benefits associated with the FOUR recommendations.
• Please support your arguments with research-based evidence from business and academic sources where appropriate
• You could use a brief, but meaningful table to describe some of the opportunities and issues. You can also list, rank and explain why they are essential to look at by your company.
• Students who do not link their recommendations to the Sales Approach and Management, will be marked down accordingly.

Some suggested topics for this section are (but not limited to):

• Pull and Push strategy
• Direct selling, Cross-selling or Up-selling
• Sales Methodology
• Sales Force Structures
• Sales Strategy
• Recruiting Sales Personnel
• Sales Force Management

7. Conclusion

• Summary of the key issues, opportunities and recommendations

8. References (Not included in the word count)

A reference list should be included. A minimum of 10 references is expected. References should include a good mix of business and academic sources. You must use the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style. There is an APA referencing guide included under the assessment details folder on Learning@Griffith.