marketing/selling

case 16.2 Morgan Machinery Bill Mann looked up, surprised to see his manager standing next to him. He had just hung up the phone after talking with Tyesha in Finance. "Um, did I get a little too loud?" he asked his sales manager, Amy Chester. "Why don't you come in my office and let's talk over what just happened," she replied, grimly. "What a day," he thought to himself. "First, the Texas Industries order gets delayed to the point where they want to cancel, then Finance wants me to get another form filled out, and now, the boss wants to talk over what just happened. Well, what just happened was I lost my temper, but Tyesha deserved it!" He sat down across the desk from Amy in her office, as she looked at him expectantly. "What just happened, Amy, is I have a hold on the Texas Industries order. I was on the phone with Tyesha in Finance, and she says that we need permission to do a credit check on them because of the size of the order and their payment plan. I'm sorry I lost my temper, but the reason is that I had to call her to find out. And I only called her because when I called Bud to find out why nothing had been shipped, he told me that Finance had it on hold." Bud Ramirez is the supply chain manager responsible for shipping out orders. "And to make matters worse, I had called Bud because Texas Industries called me wanting to know why it has taken two weeks so far and they still don't know when they'll get their equipment." Amy nodded, so Bill continued. "They were upset because nothing has been delivered yet, but I had told them lead times were only a week. Which is what I was told." "Yes, they are a week. So this all started with a credit check hold?" she asked. "What gets me is no one called or e-mailed me about it. Tyesha let it sit, and I had to call and ask about it. Amy, I'm tired of Finance playing games. It's as if the staff does everything they can to screw us up. Now Texas Industries is threatening to cancel the order if I can't get a machine to them by Friday, but I've got to call and say we need a credit check and it will be a week after that before I can ship the first machinel Do we want the business or what?" Amy sat silently for a moment, then began to speak in a soft voice, trying to lower the tension in the room. But she knew Bill wouldn't like what she had to say. "Sounds like you have a problem to me." Bill protested, "I have a problem? No, Morgan has a problem. It's just like trying to get paid. I can't get the company to pay the right commission. And service. Don't get me started on our so-called service department! The service staff never seem to want to fix my customers' machines!" Amy asked quietly, "Were you surprised by the credit check? Because you shouldn't be. That's standard operating procedure on any order of that size." Bill just scowled. Amy said quietly, "Listen, we have 12 reps here in this office. Of the 12 , I have only one who keeps having problems with people in corporate or at the distribution center or with the service department. So I've got two questions for you: How are you going to handle Texas Industries? And how are you going to fix your problems with everyone else?" Questions 1. How will you respond to Texas Industries? Write out exactly what you do/say. Then describe how your answer would change depending on whether Texas Industries is a new account or one you've done business with for a long time. 2. In the case above, Bill has mentioned three areas where he has problems: Finance (getting orders approved and processed), service (getting equipment serviced in a timely fashion), and sales administration (getting paid properly). Amy adds that he seems to have a problem with distribution as well. What should he do? Be specific; once you've identified a course of action, script it out. page 460 3. Amy and Bill met a week later to review his situation. He informed her that he met with everyone and what they want is fine for the most part. But he says he'll not be able to sell as much. For example, Lou Wong told Bill that he isn't doing a good job of training customers on equipment, resulting in more service calls. The technicians see the problem as one created by Bill, and so they're loathe to respond the same way for him as they do for other salespeople. Bill tells Amy that if he spends the time Lou wants in training, it means fewer sales calls and fewer sales. Bill has a point-he is usually at the top of the sales chart. What should Amy do