MINICASE: WEST MIDLANDS RESTAURANT APPLIANCES West Midlands Restaurant Appliances (WMRA), headquartered in Birmingham, UK, sells large, industrial appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, and dishwashers to restaurants all over Great Britain. For several years, the company has been second in UK market share to industry leader Thames Restaurant Services, but it has been gaining share in recent years. WMRA is especially optimistic about catching Thames this year because of the rise of its star sales manager, David Epstein, an energetic 31-year-old who has been with the com- pany since he was 22. Epstein is popular with the sales staff, but he also is aggressive and demands high performance. One of his initiatives is to make all salespeople accountable by strictly evaluating performance using ratios as well as purely objective measures. In particu- lar, he has collected performance data for each of his seven sales representatives as follows: Previous Sales Sales Rep Current Current Quota Number of Number of Expenses Number of Number of Accounts Sales Orders Calls Days Worked Derek Francona Johnny Schilling Daphne Gellar Robert Smythe Jennifer McCarver Manuel Lopez Samantha Kerrey Erin McCloud 480,000 481,000 E575,000 1,100 750,000 576,000 745,000 765,000 735,000 665,000 775,000 780 1,970 1,020 1,650 1,730 1,790 9,300 12.300 7,500 11,000 11,300 883,000 613,000 1,300 1,800 1,650 1,700 235 223 228 835,000 1,600 657,000 1,150 850,000 1,350 850,000 1,300 825,000 1,400 720,000 1,600 875,000 1,700 852,000 230 232 860,000 835,000 670,000 925,000 11,500 10,800 12,800 1,750 1.750 1,550 1,850 220 960 200 1,910 225 Epstein would like to see an analysis of salesperson performance using the following ratios: sales growth, sales to quota, sales per account, average order, sales expense, calls per day, orders per call. Most of the salespeople are happy to be evaluated, but a few are dubious and fearful of the consequences. Robert Smythe, for one, feels that his territory, which includes some of the more rural areas in western England is more difficult to sell in because there are fewer restaurants and he has only been a salesperson for about a year. In addition, one of Derek Francona's largest customers recently went out of business, and he feels that his numbers slipped as a result. Both are close to quitting because they feel they are being evaluated unfairly. Epstein wants to beat Thames very badly this year and feels that improving salesperson performance is the key. Therefore, his performance evaluation system is of the importance. 2. What advice or guidance should Epstein give to each of the salespeople to improve performance?