Chapter 15

Case 15.1: Indian Engineering Ltd (IEL):

Problem definition:
IEL is a 40 year old engineering company with a turnover of over Rs 700 Cr. Sales and market
shares are sagging in the last few years and the blame is on the sales team. The sales team
points out many lapses from other functions which is affecting their performance and morale.
Question 1:
It is reasonable to expect the sales team to be responsible for sales and market share losses.
The first step is to make the products technically contemporary and competitive. This will reduce
the time spent on order taking and collections which can be fruitfully utilized to spend more time
with customers in the field.
Sales team also requires training on soft skills regularly and support of a robust IT system for
handling data and generating reports.
Question 2:
Production should action orders / indents from the sales team as per a schedule so that sales can
promise and deliver as per commitments. Sales people also would then need to spend less time
on chasing dispatches of orders booked.
The role of the distribution partners is to extend to getting orders and servicing them. Achieving
targets will only earn them incentives and not otherwise.
The entire logistics planning process can be based on forecasts converted into materials planning,
production planning and dispatch planning. Sales will then have the responsibility of giving
accurate and timely forecasts and working on inventory norms where applicable.

Lessons learnt:

• Sales and marketing cannot effectively fight competition if the products are not
contemporary.

• Maximum time of the sales team has to be spent meeting customers, developing business
and delivering service.

• Business has to be IT enabled to reduce time spent on paperwork.

• Service functions like production and logistics have to deliver a high level of service to their
first customer – the company sales or marketing team.
Case 15.2: Teekha Spices Ltd Case:

Problem definition:
Teekha is in business for over 50 years and their spices are a house-hold name. They have over
1000 stockists. Their branded rice business has not done well in the last two years. They are not
sure if they should continue in the business or exit it. They need some action plans if they have to
continue the rice business.
Question 1:
The product has to be ‘right’ in terms of quality, price and consumer benefits. Success in one
product group (in this case spices) does not automatically guarantee success in another product.
The channel partners cannot be taken for granted and need to be gently ‘persuaded’ to make a
success of a new product. Top management has to be serious about any biz it gets into.
Question 2:
Focus on rice quality. Buying after proper testing and selling only old rice – may need investment
in working capital
High-light excellent quality and train sales team and stockists in selling methods for rice.
Fortunately the products are complimentary and can be sold in the same kind of outlets
Stockists in A and B category markets should be told firmly that selling rice and making it a
success is part of their responsibility. They will have to consistently achieve secondary sales
targets for 6 months.
The sales team will support them. In addition, marketing efforts like advertising and promotions will
happen.
Question 3:
TSL should not exit the rice business. The product is complimentary to spices – same outlets,
same consumers and use in the kitchen. The biz has got enormous potential. After getting the
quality right, it should re-launch rice with a clear strategy in terms of coverage and targets.

Lessons learnt:

• Entering a new business on the sheer performance of the distribution network on existing
products may not always work

• The distribution network and the sales team need to be taken into confidence before
launching such new initiatives. The effort has to be planned with them.

• The product has to be of the highest quality before hitting the market – other-wise the sales
team or the channels will not put their heart into selling it.

• Top management has to be serious about any business it gets into.

Case 15.3: Aswin Healthcare Ltd (AHL) Case:

Problem definition:
AHL has over 600 distributors, 4 RMs, 15 ASMs and 150 PSRs. Their customers include hospitals,
nursing homes, chemists, labs and general stores. As the manner of working and working hours of
the customers vary, the GSM has decided to change the customer mix of the 100 PSRs in the
major cities. You are to comment on the soundness of the proposal in ensuring better customer
service.
Question 1 & 4:
The suggested route of breaking up the list of customers to be called upon by the PSRs is in the
right direction.
However, there is a small flaw in the proposal. The groups of PSRs has to be divided into 2 groups
and not into 3.
The two groups of PSRs will be:
• PSRs in group 1 will call on doctors and chemists as these two customers are related.
Moreover, the time utilization for these two types of customers is complimentary. Unless the same
group meets doctors and chemists, it is not possible to keep track of what doctors are prescribing
and which chemist is honouring these prescriptions.
• PSRs in group 2 will only call on hospitals, nursing homes and labs as all of them have the
same manner of dealing with company reps. This group can also plan to use their time more
productively as they know the right time to contact the customers.
Question 2 & 3:
It really does not matter as to how many company salesmen a distributor has to deal with if it is
only 2 or 3.
With the suggested revised solution, the distributor has only two company salesmen to deal with.
The PSR for doctors and chemists is the same and can co-ordinate his work well.

Lessons learnt:
• Beat plans of salespeople and distributors should take into account the types of customers
to be covered. There should be no wasted time or criss-crossing in the territories.
• Beat plans are to be planned to maximize calls per day and the number of productive calls
out of these
Case 15.4: Gem Soaps and Detergents Ltd:

Problem definition:
The company has to decide on use of hand held devices in the field to capture data relating to
secondary sales and other parameters

GSDL has done well to systematically understand the field data capture systems used by major
FMCG companies in the same domain.

GSDL itself has a wide portfolio and a well- established and successful field network. Even in
terms of sheer numbers, the proposal to use Hand Held Devices to quickly and accurately capture
field data makes eminent sense.

The proposal will help the company planning process. It would also give more time to the
salespeople to enhance hard core selling efforts. These benefits cannot be quantified but can only
be experienced.

A consultant can provide details of the cost to the company per hand held device and the related
information processing software.

GSDL should try out this system in 2 different regions for about a month before a national roll-out.

Learning:

 It has become a necessity to use information technology support to speed up and

improve accuracy of collecting data from the field
 One of these systems is to use Personal Digital Assistants (hand held devices)
which are primarily Android phones