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Case Analysis
Jimmy D. Morgan
December 17, 2011
MAR-310 OL10-Principles of Sales
Mentors Name: Dr. John Mellon

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Introduction
The main purpose of this case study is to critically analyse what type of strategy the
manufacturing company will use when faced with the buying strategy of SmartLook. It digs
deep into the core of the company and its ability to join as a team and work on capturing the
attention of this potential customer in order to close the deal. This may take
several departments completing actions they are not normally accustom to, in order to make this
happen. In this case, analysis, the focus of the discussion will be the actions taken by the
manufacturing company.
Summary
This case presents a challenging sales situation that requires a higher level of sales
management in order to capitalize the deal with a new client. A company dealing with
manufacturing and marketing of apparels wants to materialize a deal with a cloth retailer known
as SmartLook. The retailer prefers to buy low price apparels but places high volume orders.
The case discusses two major issues related to trial orders, one deals with the quantity of orders
and another is concerned with the timing of delivery. To resolve these two issues, this case
discusses the importance of various relevant selling concepts and how the sales team of the
manufacturing company can use these concepts. These concepts and approaches consist of
concept of adaptive selling, opportunity management, principles of negotiation and resolving
concern and importance of a value added presentation.
Significance of adaptive selling
The adaptive selling practice is a part of personal selling concept. The concept of
adaptive selling can be defined, as a selling strategy that focuses on altering of sales behavior, as
per the requirement of customers and the specific situations. A good strategy enables a sales

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person to change and adapt their approach, in order to meet the customers requirement and
situations. The personal selling concept consists of five selling approaches that are known as
stimulus response, mental states, problem solving, need satisfaction, and consultative selling.
These approaches are based on the buyer's need and strategic priorities and the concept of
adaptive selling becomes vital in analyzing and strategically using them (Ingram, et. al., 2009,
p. 10).
In the context of the given case, we are supposed to use problem solving, need
satisfaction and consultative selling approaches. The case presents two basic problems, the first
one is related to the quantity of order and second one is concerned with the timing of delivery.
We will define the problem of our buyer and develop alternatives to address these two specific
problems. We must evaluate these alternatives in light of our organizational compatibility, and
then we can seek a selling decision.
Need satisfying approach would be helpful in this context. Our sales team must uncover
and confirm buyer needs. We should present a set of different alternatives that can effectively
match buyer needs and the best suitable alternative that should be used to materialize the deal.
The role of consultative selling would be most decisive in the given situations. The
objective of consultative selling is to meet customer's strategic goals by using product, services
and expertise of our organization. The use of this approach would enable us to perform three
important roles that are, strategic orchestrator, business consultant and a long-term friend. This
may require us to take advice of an expert on the issues and use of internal and external resources
of our organization, in order to meet the specific demands of buyers (Ingram, et. al., 2008, p. 6).
An impact of value-added presentation
A value-added presentation is the approach in the selling technique in which a

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salesperson tries to sale a product or service based on its inherent value. It provides more
flexibility and customization in the selling process. A buyer is always looking for a solution and
is more worthy and ready to pay premium prices for it. A salesperson has to be ready and able to
present their product and show the worth of their solution to the buyers problem.
Presentation is simply a kind of persuasion strategy required for value-added selling.
Presentation in most cases is face-to-face communication with the buyer. Main contents and
context of the message should be substance and style. Effectiveness and customization of the
message will determine the willingness of the buyer to choose the alternative presented by the
salesperson. There are three factors, which will determine the effectiveness of the presentation:
(i) it should reflect the buyer's personal definition of value,
(ii) advantage of salesperson and its organization perceived value, and
(iii)

performance value of the solution.

One of the best methods of adding value to the presentation is making the message

personalized. Personalized messages represent the solution, which reflects the buyer's definition
of value. Buyers should get the feeling that solution was designed based on their priorities. Other
things, which can add value to the presentation, are the use of analogies. By using the analogies
you ask buyers to make decisions similar to the ones they made in past. Next thing you may want
to include in presentation is the buyer's buzzwords of value. By incorporating those words, a
salesperson can reduce the psychological distance between them and the buyer. Last and most
important, customize the message as much as possible. It will help in creating long-term
relationship for the business (Reilly, 2003, p. 4).
Decisive roles of other departments
In this situation, the role of other departments other than marketing becomes crucial in

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building a long-term relationship with SmartLook. The most vital and expected assistance can be
identified and analyzed as follows:
Role of the Production and Operations Department:
In this situation, when we are supposed to meet a demand, respectively in a shorter
period, this department can help us in meeting the deadline through adjusting the production
schedule. Once we deliver the order, that was decided with the help of adaptive selling approach,
this would create a positive impact on the client and we can look for a high volume order from
SmartLook. The minimum time required to finish this order based on our existing facilities,
should be the primary discussion with this department.
Role of the Finance Department:
In this situation, the role of finance department would be very crucial, as SmartLook
prefers an economic price with large volume. The concept of cost accounting would be helpful in
determining and controlling the cost of our product.
Role of the Human Resources Department:
The human resource department can present an analysis upon the workforce requirement
in order to complete the task in accordance with the deadline date. It includes their observation
of whether the current workforce is adequate to complete the task or additional work force is
required.
Role of the Marketing Department:
Although, sale is a part of marketing, however in this particular situation, the marketing
department should play a role of strategic partner. The department should design and implement
a strategy that can match current requirements of SmartLook and once they become our
customer, we should use the concept of relationship marketing and make them our loyal

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customer.
Using the concept of Opportunity Management
The concept of opportunity management focuses on finding new customers or companies
for future sales. The purpose of this concept includes identification and determination of
potential customer and competitors. The management system also helps in defining sales efforts
with respect to budget and schedules. The concept of opportunity management can help us
through calculating the probability of sales, which further helps us in saving significant time and
money in closing the sale with SmartLook.
The concept also enables us in calculating the level of risk, while attempting to exploit
the opportunity with our client. We are supposed to identify and analyze the risks associated
with this opportunity in order to minimize our losses and maximize profits (Thomsett, 2002, p.
10).
Principles of Negotiation and its impact
Negotiation can be described as a process through which, two or more parties try to build
a consensus on the same issues and the involved parties have different objectives and interests. In
the context of our case, the negotiation skill of our team members would largely influence the
outcome of the deal. The principle of negotiation is concerned with three phases of negotiation
that are preparing for negotiation, during negotiation, and post negotiation.
Preparing for negotiation involves the issues that must be discussed in order to satisfy the
objectives and interest of involved parties. In the context of our case, it includes discussion
related to the quantity of order and timing of delivery. During the negotiation, we should develop
a plan, which satisfies both parties. We should evaluate our negotiation in terms of a
collaborative approach that best matches the interest and objectives of both the parties (Newby,

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1998, p. 9).
Buyer Concerns
These specific statements in our case basically, refer to the concern regarding quality,
price and available alternatives of the buyer. If a buyer says that we are concerned that you will
not be able to meet our quality requirements, it means he is focused on the quality of the product
more than any other attributes of the product. This kind of buyer is ready to pay for quality and
we must address his concern about quality. If a buyer makes a statement to the fact that, your
price is to high, this is a direct indicator that the buyer is price sensitive and his focus is the price
of the product rather than any other attributes. If the buyer states, either take this trial offer or we
will look for another manufacturer, this could be due to the number of alternative sellers he or
she has available for the same product or the order of quantity is very large and this can force any
supplier to compromise with the terms and conditions of the buyer.
Approaches to resolve buyer's concern
The concern of buyer has to be resolved in order to get positive response in terms of the
order or purchase decision. If a customer is concerned with the quality aspects of the product, we
can reassure them with the help of providing guarantee and warranty, and can assure them that
any issue related to quality will be taken with the highest priority and their objection would be
resolved as soon as possible.
The issue of price needs to be handled very aptly. We should acknowledge that although
our prices are relatively high, there are significant advantages of our product in order to assure
the customer that the price we are charging is appropriate. The third issue can be handled with
enlisting the advantage of our products and services with others in the same industry (Zolteners,
et. al., 2004, p. 4)

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Conclusion
The information regarding the manufacturing capacity of existing facilities can and
should have provided some advantage to the sales team through their negotiation with the clients
and thus helping with closing the sale. In addition, the information regarding the considerations
of new facilities could have enabled the sales team in evaluating the advantages and risks
through opportunity management.

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References
Ingram, et. al. (2008). Professional Selling: A Trust-Based Approach. Mason: Thomson South
Western.
Ingram, et. al. (2009). Sales Management: Analysis and Decision Making. New York: M. E.
Sharpe, Inc.
Newby, C. (1998). Sales strategies: negotiating and winning corporate deals. London: Kogan
Page Limited.
Reilly, T. (2003). Value-added selling: how to sell more profitably, confidently, and
professionally by competing on Value, not price. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Thompson, K. (2005). Sales automation done right: selling in the digital age. Canada: Sales
Ways Press.
Thomsett, M. C. (2002). Buy, Sell, Or Hold: Manage Your Portfolio for Maximum Gain. New
York: John Wiley & Sons.
Zolteners, et. al. (2004). Sales force design for strategic advantage. Wales: Creative Print &
Design.