Profile of an International Salesperson

Many companies send their salespersons to explore the international opportunities. Although sending salespersons to different foreign markets is a costly process, but it is still economical than establishing a full oper­ation in a foreign country. The salespersons in the international markets must have all the requisites of a successful salesperson in the domestic market.

Documents in International Trade

The sale of products in the international markets poses different chal­lenges to the marketers. Here, the customers and the selling companies are usually located in the various countries, and the supply of products is usually facilitated through third-party logistics partners. Hence, both the buyer and the seller need to perform their respective obligations as

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The Banner Company: Integrated Food Products Company – Solicitation of New Accounts

The Banner Company—which had annual sales in excess of $800 million— processes and distributes lines of dairy products, foodstuffs, and specialties such as glues and animal food supplements. These lines were marketed throughout the United States and Canada by five separate sales organi­zations departmentalized by products. Each of these sales organizations was further divided

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Diamond Pump: A Manufacturer of Industrial Pumps – Sales Manager Performance

Homer Castleberry had held the job of vice-president of sales at Diamond Pump for five years. Lately he had had the feeling he was running on an endless treadmill, never getting anywhere. Returning from an extended trip visiting seven sales agents in the western states, a postponement of an eighth visit found him with

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Hillman Products Company: Manufacturer of Power Tools – Distributor-Dealer Problems

James Weston, director of sales and marketing for Hillman Products Com­pany, Springfield, Massachusetts, faced the problem of taking action to improve the company’s distributor and dealer relationships, which had steadily worsened. The effect of the worsening relationships was reflected in the latest sales report, which recorded a 12 percent sales decline during the past

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Sonton Pharmaceuticals: Managing a Difficult Distributor

Sonton Pharmaceuticals Private Limited (Sonton) is a growing pharma­ceutical company in India with a wide range of pharmaceutical products. Sonton boasts a line of 26 brands, including painkillers, diabetic, gastropa- thy, neuropathy, and cardiac products. Sonton’s logistics management was like that of any other pharmaceutical company in India: the manufactured pharmaceutical products went to

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Delphic Corporation: Manufacturer of Appliances and Electronic Equipment – Distributor-Dealer Sales Training

The Delphic Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri, was a leader in the electronics and appliance fields. Its exclusive business was the design, manufacture, sale, and, for large jobs, installation of this equipment. The Modern Kitchen Division manufactured a broad line of kitchen cabinets, dishwashers, and garbage disposals for residential use. These products were sold throughout

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Reasons for Studying Retailing

To appreciate the role of retailing and the range of retailing activities, let’s view it from three perspectives: Suppose we manage a manufacturing firm that makes cosmetics. How should we sell these items? We could distribute via big chains such as Sephora or small neighborhood stores, have our own sales force visit people in

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The Special Characteristics of Retailing

Three factors that most differentiate retailing from other types of business are noted in Figure 1-8 and discussed here. Each factor imposes unique requirements on retail firms. The average amount of a sales transaction for retailers is much less than for manufacturers. The average sales per customer transaction in retailing is low. The average

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The Home Depot Corporation: Successfully Navigating the Omnichannel Landscape

1. COMPANY BACKGROUND Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement retail chain and the ninth largest retailer globally in terms of revenues. It was established in 1978 by Bernie Marcus (a pharmacist by training), Arthur Blank (educated as an accountant), Ken Langone (an investment banker), and Pat Farrah (who had a merchandising background).

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The Retailing Concept

As just described, Home Depot has a sincere long-term desire to please customers. It uses a customer-centered, chainwide approach to strategy development and implementation, is value- driven, and has clear goals. Together, these four principles form the retailing concept (depicted in Figure 1-9), which should be understood and applied by all retailers: Customer orientation.

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Value and the Value Chain

A channel of distribution involves multiple parties: manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, and cus­tomer. These parties are most apt to be satisfied with their interactions when they have similar beliefs about the value provided and received, and they agree on the appropriate payment for that level of value. From the perspective of the manufacturer, wholesaler, and

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Retailer Relationships

In Chapter 1, we introduced the concept of relationship retailing, whereby retailers seek to form and maintain long-term bonds with customers, rather than act as if each sales transaction is a new encounter with them. For relationship retailing to work, enduring value-driven relationships are needed with other channel members, as well as with customers.

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The Differences in Relationship Building Between Goods and Service Retailers

Consumer interest in services makes it crucial to understand the differences in relationship building between retailers that market services and those that market goods. This applies to store-based and nonstore-based firms, those offering only goods or services, and those offering goods and services. Goods retailing focuses on the sale of tangible (physical) products. Service

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Technology and Relationships in Retailing

Technology is beneficial to retailing relationships if it facilitates a better communication flow between retailers and their customers, as well as between retailers and their suppliers, and there are faster, more dependable transactions. These two points are key in studying technology and its impact on relationships in retailing: In each firm, the roles of

Ethical Performance and Relationships in Retailing

Ethical challenges fall into three interconnected categories: Ethics relates to the retailer’s moral principles and values. Social responsibility involves acts benefiting society. Consumerism entails protecting consumer rights. “Good” behavior depends not only on the retailer but also on the expectations of the community in which it does business. Throughout our book, “Ethics in Retailing”

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Planning for the Unique Aspects of Service Retailing

We present this appendix because service retailing in the United States and around the world is growing steadily and represents a large portion of overall retailing. U.S consumers spend 60 percent of their after-tax income on such services as travel, recreation, personal care, education, medical care, and housing. Over 84 percent of the labor

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Retailing Situation Analysis

Situation analysis is a candid evaluation of the opportunities and threats facing a prospective or existing retailer. It seeks to answer two general questions: What is the firm’s current status? In which direction should it be heading? Situation analysis means being guided by an organizational mission, evaluating ownership and management options, and outlining the

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Retailing Objectives

After situation analysis, a retailer sets objectives, the long-run and short-run performance targets it hopes to attain. This helps in strategy and translates the organizational mission into action. A firm can pursue goals related to one or more of these areas: sales, profit, satisfaction of publics, and image. Some retailers strive to achieve all

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Identification of Consumer Characteristics and Needs

The customer group sought by a retailer is called the target market. In selecting its target market, a firm may use one of three techniques: mass marketing, selling goods and services to a broad spectrum of consumers; concentrated marketing, zeroing in on one specific group; or differ­entiated marketing, aiming at two or more distinct

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