PAT HOWARD: It is Monday morning and your first day on the new job. You were del
ID: 343004 • Letter: P
Question
PAT HOWARD:
It is Monday morning and your first day on the new job. You were delighted to take a lateral transfer in your company because it meant that you and your family could return to Philadelphia, and be closer to your elderly parents. You are the sales manager of a specialized systems development group for a large, diversified multinational corporation. The representatives in your group do sales, interact with the engineering and design group and do some customer support for a number of custom-designed control systems. An individual sale is usually in the $20,000 - $60,000 range. Previously, you held a similar position in the Orlando branch of the company. Leslie Little, the previous sales manager, took early retirement. You have heard through the grapevine that Leslie wasn't meeting the sales projections, especially with regard to the new HX11 control system. The HX11 was the brainchild of the Division VP. In Orlando, you hadn't gotten much pressure to push the HX11 because few of the industries where it would be used were in your region. You are familiar with the product because one of your sales people had been able to make two sales. It is an ingenious device that uses a radically different approach. You think the VP might be right in thinking that "the HX11 is the future of the Division."
Last week, you had a chance to have dinner with Leslie Little, who explained that there had been a lot of turnover in the department recently, but didn't seem to know the reason. As a result, only 4 of the 6 positions were currently filled. Leslie gave you a perspective on each individual. Jan Perez has been the top (i.e., most productive) salesperson in the group for the past two years. Leslie said that Jan is confident about his/her abilities, and is the kind of person who believes that he/she can achieve difficult goals (and the rewards that come with them) by working hard. Fran Fulton has been in the group for a couple of years and has been an average performer. Fran seems uncomfortable with the inevitable conflicts that sometimes arise in a sales organization. Chris McBride, a new hire, is bright and personable but this is Chris' first direct sales position. Jamie Johnson often appears uncomfortable with the "high tech" aspects of the products and has trouble keeping up with the frequent changes in the product line. Jamie seems to feel that success as a sales rep depends more on product design, pricing, and marketing plans than on his/her own efforts. With only a few years to retirement, Jamie seems worried and a bit lost.
You know that all the people in your group will be in the office this morning for the District sales meeting. You had a chance to meet and speak informally (i.e., socially) with each of the sales representatives last evening at a company social event. At that time you told them you will be in the office early this morning and would like to speak with each sales representative individually for five minutes before the District sales meeting to begin to talk about work issues and concerns. You will have time to meet individually with three of your sales reps before the meeting. You want to motivate them toward better performance and, if necessary, influence them to push sales of the HX11. You have a few minutes to plan how you will interact with each one.
BEFORE YOU READ THE ROLES OF THE FOUR PEOPLE YOU ARE MEETING WITH COMPLETE THE WORKSHEET ON THE NEXT PAGE. AFTER YOU HAVE READ THE DIFFERENT ROLES ANSWER THE WORKSHEET AT THE END OF THIS HANDOUT.
PAT HOWARD
NOTE: Complete this worksheet before reading the roles for the individual employees.
Before you begin your meetings, complete the following concerning each of the subordinates with whom you will meet.
What do you plan to do when you meet with Jan Perez?
What do you plan to do when you meet with Fran Fulton?
What do you plan to do when you meet with Chris McBride?
What do you plan to do when you meet with Jamie Johnson?
PAT HOWARD:
It is Monday morning and your first day on the new job. You were delighted to take a lateral transfer in your company because it meant that you and your family could return to Philadelphia, and be closer to your elderly parents. You are the sales manager of a specialized systems development group for a large, diversified multinational corporation. The representatives in your group do sales, interact with the engineering and design group and do some customer support for a number of custom-designed control systems. An individual sale is usually in the $20,000 - $60,000 range. Previously, you held a similar position in the Orlando branch of the company. Leslie Little, the previous sales manager, took early retirement. You have heard through the grapevine that Leslie wasn't meeting the sales projections, especially with regard to the new HX11 control system. The HX11 was the brainchild of the Division VP. In Orlando, you hadn't gotten much pressure to push the HX11 because few of the industries where it would be used were in your region. You are familiar with the product because one of your sales people had been able to make two sales. It is an ingenious device that uses a radically different approach. You think the VP might be right in thinking that "the HX11 is the future of the Division."
Last week, you had a chance to have dinner with Leslie Little, who explained that there had been a lot of turnover in the department recently, but didn't seem to know the reason. As a result, only 4 of the 6 positions were currently filled. Leslie gave you a perspective on each individual. Jan Perez has been the top (i.e., most productive) salesperson in the group for the past two years. Leslie said that Jan is confident about his/her abilities, and is the kind of person who believes that he/she can achieve difficult goals (and the rewards that come with them) by working hard. Fran Fulton has been in the group for a couple of years and has been an average performer. Fran seems uncomfortable with the inevitable conflicts that sometimes arise in a sales organization. Chris McBride, a new hire, is bright and personable but this is Chris' first direct sales position. Jamie Johnson often appears uncomfortable with the "high tech" aspects of the products and has trouble keeping up with the frequent changes in the product line. Jamie seems to feel that success as a sales rep depends more on product design, pricing, and marketing plans than on his/her own efforts. With only a few years to retirement, Jamie seems worried and a bit lost.
You know that all the people in your group will be in the office this morning for the District sales meeting. You had a chance to meet and speak informally (i.e., socially) with each of the sales representatives last evening at a company social event. At that time you told them you will be in the office early this morning and would like to speak with each sales representative individually for five minutes before the District sales meeting to begin to talk about work issues and concerns. You will have time to meet individually with three of your sales reps before the meeting. You want to motivate them toward better performance and, if necessary, influence them to push sales of the HX11. You have a few minutes to plan how you will interact with each one.
BEFORE YOU READ THE ROLES OF THE FOUR PEOPLE YOU ARE MEETING WITH COMPLETE THE WORKSHEET ON THE NEXT PAGE. AFTER YOU HAVE READ THE DIFFERENT ROLES ANSWER THE WORKSHEET AT THE END OF THIS HANDOUT.
PAT HOWARD
NOTE: Complete this worksheet before reading the roles for the individual employees.
Before you begin your meetings, complete the following concerning each of the subordinates with whom you will meet.
What do you plan to do when you meet with Jan Perez?
What do you plan to do when you meet with Fran Fulton?
What do you plan to do when you meet with Chris McBride?
What do you plan to do when you meet with Jamie Johnson?
Explanation / Answer
Ans:-
Jan Perez has been top salesperson of the group from past 2 years. So it important to keep him motivated. As HX11 is the major focus of the compnay, it is important to know about his perspective on HX11. So I would plan to know about his understanding about HX11 product and how he approaches about its sales.
Fran Fulton is an average performer and worries from conflicts that arise in a sales organization. So I would like to know about the kind of conflicts he is concerned and how I can be helpful in helping him. Besides that I would also like to know about his customer sevice skills.
Since this is Chris McBride's first sales job, I would like to know about his perception of the sales job. He is also bright and personable so he can be used to interact with enginnering and design group individuals.
Jamie Johnson is unconfortable with hightech products and has few years left for retirement. I would like to discuss with Jamie that more than product, pricing and marketing activities, it is interpersonal skills that matters in sales domain. I would also discuss how HX11 can be the future of the compnay and it is necessary to know about the nuances of product to increase the sales.
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