Case Study

BBA 3221

with,,.such :an account,. thus,,, becoming moJe knolvledgeable about ttre accouhi's,business and better a,ble to orovide techniCal assistance- and ia""ti$ sellins op-po#*u*.;,i3l tuil1line sales ' would strength"" Hanover-Bates's',icorrpetitive positiorr by redueing the, likelihbod of':hccorrnt;, losSl.to other platihg chemical suppliers (a prob-

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tm mat e*tea in multipt*supdier sitqatibns), The national,:sales manageris 1998 sales;:,,

progqq4, had also, incld.ed the :following. ac-,' count,call::frbquency guidel,ines: :*d, accounts (ma- jor, aCcotints gerrerating..$24,000 or ,mote in yearly salesF d eallsiipef month; B accoqls' (meitiumrsized accounts geneiating',,$12,000, to $zg,ggg in yearly,salesl-'.o' 6sfl prer month; C acqqltnts (s;au adcountS,, generating :less't!an $\Z;OOO vearly in salesp,11e,,call every two months, Thb,iaccount call ffiuency gurdelines were developed by,the national sales man4ger aftei discussions'with the:; district managers. fhe nationd sales manaeeii'iitd beerr cottc".tned hborr[ ttre optimum alloeation, of sales ;efforts,to accounis, and felt that the guidelipes :wouldi,in- cre.ase.,i.*he efficiency of', the company's sales :fo attfroueh not.all of theiaiitrict sales man- agens agr@ with:this eonclusion.

.,.,:.*##'**W[*.X,iiiiLL ;[ffi;*ll.ii,:.,.'i.].... $4. ;....:,,

ment, he had been faced with the lbcklbf an i""itiUta q"alifi ed reptacement; : Although moit ot.tfre sales representatives

had,;assumed Hank Carver,*ould $et the dis- triat manager's job; he had,o-ebn passed ower in part necause he *ould...bb 65 fui three,,yeq1s. The national sales managei had not want€d to fade ttre same:::replacement problem again in thrre€ years and'had w4nted,someone in the poiition ;h";;; t;iAi" riterv to be respon'i* to.it'u eompany'rs sales plans and policies, The appoint- ment of Jim Spr.igug, as district manager had caused considerhble taUr" not only in,ithe district Uui also at cotporatt headquarters. In fact, the national sil'es maqager had *arned Jim that "a lot of peoplb are expecting you to fall,,,on ,Your face.lbey don't think you have the experience to' handle the job, ana in partieriar, to manage and motivate a gr.oup of sales repieseotatives most of w-hom are lonsideiably -otdei and,mor'b

expe- ,rienced than you." The national sales-managei had:concluded by saying; ..I think you can han- rlle the job, Jim,,-l think-.you can manage those sales reps and improve tle districf;'piont per- fod#Cl; and I'm depending on y,ou to do bottr."

nate";i,ffiorate s+es ,;m$..f4at Ji$ ,Spiague's ,, ,. i. p,ralu#te tt "

p*rfo"mar." of tn" rrortfr""r1ft, PrTecTsor

a$ino.*{i:ast,gjFtric:l".*'ll,*T?gfr district in comparison'' wift.. the oth# bag,not been oneii9l-tnerc9'mp-aqys netl!{ orst{tcut:'.' HanoveruBtt t sit"* districts. .'i' :,," ,:, sales:::mtnas€fs:}lrsattrtudetow'afdt'ne-'sales' " r ,, ::,, :: '--::' :: - "fas:,"na ""*b*r-S

ofihe,,.naUonil safes'-""- ,,!. What';,are,thb weak sp-ots in the northeast 'ager had'U*l-;n" ;i ;d""1u4t comfU""C" ,. distriCtlsperformance? : ,,

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rather than,aeAe ie and iuppo*. $fte-n the, ,,' S. Whatshould,inanagement do to improve ar., naUonal salbs mr*qger succeeded in peiSua{ry . eas of poor pgrformance in the norttreast Jimslregue'Jpi"aeiessorto.takeearlyretire-..idistriet?'...i....

E al@ngSales Per{ormance ,. g; Sep;-b*r i8,,2002, I\4r,.lorro'r"", uila,pi"r- ident bf agricultural::Siles;twru be'oresent g hi$:i$e$lg,,Cq.,ggi${d;iD=eale4*I,gqS$Ung-.PJffi rffi Evaluation Program' to'iha..,piesidCnt. of Chem - Grow,;Inc.,Mr.William J.osep-h,',,,,,,,,iii,,,.

Companf lli'Ctory .:'ii: i,,

ChemGrow is one,bf,the largest fe"til'ze-r manu- facturers iu.the wo;la. It is basic in',phosphate rock andlrnanUfa*ures phosphoric acid, anhy' drous ammonia, and othei,'.mixed fertilizer products. In.the past 1-0 year$,:the compa-n1s

fUig ia*" ;;:d"+"loped by Willi D, Peliiebr:rlt, Jr., of tfre Univeleity of No*ti Carotine at Ctlapet Hfll and Kevin McNeilly of Miami Unive.sity. Th!$ciise is eopyrtgbt€d,bt tha anthore and ie rbprinted her-ei with theii permiseion. . .: