Sales Management Course

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Mephisto Products Ltd

'Yet another poor year,' reflected the senior executive of Mephisto Products. 'Profits down by 15 per cent, sales and turnover static in a market that was reckoned to be growing at a rate of some 20 per cent per annum. It cannot go on.' These were the thoughts of Jim Bullins, and he contended that the company would be out of busi- ness if the next year turned out to be as bad.

Jim Bullins had been senior executive at Mephisto for the past three years. In each of these years he had witnessed a decline in sales and profits. The company produced a range of technically sophisticated electromechanical control devices for industry. Mephisto's major customers were in the chemical processing industry. The products were fitted to the customer 's processing plant in order to provide safety and cut-out mechanisms, should anything untoward happen in the manufacturing process.

The products were sold through a UK salesforce of some 12 people. Each repre- sented a different area of the country and all were technically qualified mechanical or electrical engineers. Although some 95 per cent of Mephisto's sales were to the chemi- cal industry, there were many more applications for electromechanical control devices in a wide variety of industries.

The reason that sales were concentrated in just the one industry was historical, in that the firm's founder, James Watkinson, had some 30 years earlier married the daughter of the owner of a major detergent manufacturer. As an engineer, Watkinson had seen the potential for such devices in this type of manufacture and, with the aid of a small loan from his father-in-law, had commenced manufacture of such devices, initially for his father-in-law's company and later for wider application in the chemical industry. Watkinson had long since resigned from active participation in Mephisto Products, although he still held a financial interest. However, the philosophy that Watkinson had brought to the company was one which still pervaded business thinking at Mephisto.

The essence of this philosophy was centred on product and production excellence, backed by strong technical sales support. Watkinson believed that if the product was right, i.e. well designed and manufactured to the highest level of quality, there would be a market. Needless to say, such a product then needed selling (because customers were not necessarily aware that they had a need for such safety mechanisms) and salespeople were encouraged to use what may be described as high pressure salesmanship, pointing out the consequences of not having such mechanisms in a manufacturing plant. They there- fore tended to emphasise the negative aspects (of not having such devices) rather than the positive aspects (of how good they were, time saving in the case of plant breakdown, etc.). Needless to say, in Watkinson's day such products then needed selling and, even though sales were to industrial purchasers, it was felt that such selling techniques were justified. This philosophy still pertained and new salespeople were urged to remember that, unless they were pressed, most customers would not consider updating their control equipment.

Little advertising and sales promotion were carried out, although from time to time, when there was some spare cash, the company did purchase advertising space in the Chemical Processors' Quarterly. Pricing was done on a cost-plus basis, with total costs being calculated and a fixed percentage added to account for profits. Prices were thus fixed by the accounts department and sales had no say in how they were established.

Development and role of selling in marketing 43

This led to much dissent among the salespeople, who constantly argued that prices were not competitive and if they were cut, sales could be increased substantially.

Delivery times were slow compared with the average in the industry and there were few discounts for large order quantities, with the salesperson first having to clear such discounts with accounts before agreeing to such an arrangement. Again, Watkinson's old philosophy still prevailed: 'If they want the product badly enough, they will wait for it,' and 'Why offer discounts for large quantities - if they did not want that many they would not order them.'

During the previous five years, from being a relatively successful company, market share for Mephisto Products dropped substantially. The market became much more com- petitive with many new entrants, particularly from EU countries, coming into the UK market that had traditionally been supplied by UK manufacturers. Many of these mar- ket entrants had introduced new and updated products, drawing upon recent advances in electronics. These new products were seen by the market as being technically innova- tive, but the view taken by Mephisto management was that they were faddish and, once the novelty had worn off, customers would revert to Mephisto's superior products.

Unlike many of his colleagues, Jim Bullins was worried by developments over the past five years and felt there was a need for many changes. He was aware that the more successful new entrants to the industry had introduced a marketing philosophy into their operations. Compared with ten years ago in this type of business, it was now common practice for companies to appoint marketing managers. Furthermore, he knew from talking to other people in the industry that such companies considered sales to be an integral part of marketing. At a recent meeting with his senior staff, he mentioned to the sales manager the possibility of appointing a marketing director. The sales manager, who was shortly expecting to be made sales director, was scathing about the idea. His view was that marketing was suitable for a baked beans manufac- turer but not for a company engaged in the manufacture and sale of sophisticated control devices for the chemicals industry. He argued that Mephisto's customers would not be swayed by superficial advertising and marketing ploys.

Although Jim Bullins always took heed of advice from his senior managers, recent sales figures had convinced him that the time had now come to make some changes. He would start, he decided, by appointing a marketing manager. This person would have marketing experience, and most probably come from the chemical industry. The person appointed would have equal status to the sales manager, and ultimately either the new appointee or the existing sales manager would be promoted to the board of directors.

1) Criticise Mephisto Products' approach to sales and marketing

2) What general advice can you give to the company to make it more marketing orientated?