Respond to 2 Colleagues Wk 3 Assignment 1-2 paragraphs each Colleague

Poor Process

Structure

Baria Planning Solutions (BPS) had been unsuccessful meeting sales targets for 2010. Two of the key contributing factors were the organizational structure of the company along with the solution-selling model. BPS had trouble dealing with increased workloads due to staffing issues. As a result, it made the company unproductive. Another downfall of this way of operating was the fact that the sales support team constantly fell short of expectations that were expected of the team. Renewal rates were down as well as the win rate of new contracts. Competition arose within the market and team could not keep up and as a result business was lost.

As a recommendation BPS should consider hiring more employees to address the staffing issue. This would allow them to execute more efficiently. Also focus on employee satisfaction. The morale within the company is not the best. When employees feel a sense of satisfaction, they tend to give 110% which is ideal in this industry. The project management process should also be taken into consideration for improvement. An emphasis needs to be put on hitting deadlines and things of that nature to meet customer demand. When you can achieve this, you have better customer service and quality, which boosts your reputation. The better you are at this process will increase you win rate of new contracts and help with contract renewals. In system thinking, companies are required to put together all their organizational potential in order to be able to attain a collective positive outcome of success (Meadows, 2008).

References

Wheelwright, S. C., & Schmidt, W. (2011). Baria Planning Solutions, Inc.: Fixing the sales process [Case study]. HBS Case 4568.Boston, MA: Harvard Business School. Retrieved from https://hbsp.harvard.edu/tu/c268b54e

Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green. (Chapter 2, “A Brief Visit to the Systems Zoo”) (pp. 35–72)

2nd Colleague to respond to:

Baria’s sales team has had a bad year which has negatively affected the reputation of the company. “Of the 271 qualified new sales opportunities that arose in calendar year 2010, our win rate is now projected to be a dismal 15.5%. We had originally forecast a win rate of 17.5%,” (Wheelwright & Schmidt, 2011). This will create a lost in forecasted sales over the next 3 years and with the renewal rate dropping from 92% to 84%. The sales group is directing their lost of opportunities to the lack of support from the sales support group due to lack of organization dealing with multiple divisions which affected the sales team selling opportunities.

One of the solutions that was presented was that the sales support team needed to be divided so that individuals could focus on one division. This allows for the team to become experts in one area of the business instead of trying to learn all the different divisions. The sales team believes this will make their support team more efficient. “Having an industry focus allowed BPS to distinguish itself from other midsized competitors through a deeper understanding of industry-centric issues, and put the firm at parity with small single-industry and large diversified competitors,” (Wheelwright & Schmidt, 2011). Being industry-driven will also allow more time for the sales support team to be able to focus on completing tasks in a timely manner because they won’t feel that they are over worked.

Other solutions that could help Baria get back to a better standing with future customers is by changing their sales process to solution selling which includes providing proposals to customers prior to agreeing to a contract. “The solution-selling process required the Sales Support team to devote substantial upfront effort to develop a proposal,” (Wheelwright & Schmidt, 2011).

Reference

Wheelwright, S. C., & Schmidt, W. (2011). Baria Planning Solutions, Inc.: Fixing the sales process [Case study]. HBS Case 4568. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.

Lost of Potential Sales

Adopt new Solution Selling Process

Desired Annual Revenue

Lost Revenue Gap

Process needed to include promised cost reductions and performance improvements to make them more appealing

Sales process for selling needed to adopt a change to provide cost proposals pre-contractual stage

Sales support team will have the time to focus on completing tasks in a timely manner

Every sales support should be an expert in the industry the work in

Sales support team needs to be divided up so they are industry-focused

Sales support team not able to provide enough support

Competitors pricing was better

Customers sign 3 year contracts with competitors

Renewal Rates dropped from 92% to 84%

New Sales Opportunities Lost. Win rate went from 17.5% to 15.5%.

Baria Forecasted Sales Productivity Lost