Case Universal Control Corp.

Universal Control Corp. Background Universal Control Corp. is a leading supplier for process control systems and equipment used in a wide variety of production and distribution applications. You have taken a sales representative job with Universal, and having just completed training, you have been given a territory of your own. Your district manager has provided you with a list of accounts (on adjacent column) as well as several boxes of notes and files that had been assembled and used by your predecessor. These are the accounts currently buying your products. You are expected to build these accounts and add new accounts to the list as you increase your territory’s sales performance. You have summarized the account information into the summary set of account profiles, which follows. Account Name Account Opportunity Competitive Position Annual Number of Sales Calls Last Year Mueller Distribution Tri-State Specialties Birkey Paper Co. Normal Supply Darnell Aggregate Products Reinhart Chemicals ACCO Manufacturing Tri-State Manufacturing Ideal Engineering Terracon Lowry Foods SCS Industrial Lowell Services Bowels and Sons American Foundry Hewitt & Associates Bright Metals Inc. Decatur Estrusions King Chemicals Bear’s Steel Corp. Hoffman Pharmaceuticals Barlow & Clark Systems High Low Low Low Low Low High High Low high 30 20 26 12 21 High Low high High 26 23 High Low 28 Low High High High Low Low High Low High Low Low Low High Low High Low High High High Low Low High Low High High Low 11 25 26 27 18 21 22 16 22 14 22 20 20 Low High 18 Questions 1. Develop a portfolio classification of accounts and assess the allocation of sales calls your predecessor made over the past year. 2. What problems do you find with the previous allocation of calls on these accounts? 3. Based on your account classification analysis, suggest a new sales call allocation strategy that would make better use of your time in the territory. Role Play Situation: Read the provided Universal Control Corp. case material Characters: Zack Hanna, salesperson for Universal Control Corp. Gage Waits, district sales manager and Hanna’s immediate supervisor Scene: Location—Gage Waits’ office at Universal Control Corp. Action—Zack has just been assigned this territory and has completed an analysis of sales and customer files to profile the individual accounts and sales call allocation strategies utilized by the previous salesperson in the territory. Based on this information, Hanna has developed information responding to each of the three questions following the Universal Control Corp. case materials. This information includes a new sales call allocation strategy. Hanna is meeting with his sales manager to explain his new sales call allocation plan. As Hanna, complete the three questions previously listed. Using this information, role play your interaction with your sales manager, Gage Waits, as you discuss and explain (1) your analysis of the previous salesperson’s sales call allocation and (2) your new plans and how they will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your selling efforts in this territory. After completing the role play, address the following questions: 1. How might Hanna’s sales allocation plan be different if he had used single-factor analysis (ABC analysis) instead of portfolio analysis? 2. Develop a sales call allocation plan using single-factor analysis. Compare the results of Hanna’s portfolio analysis with the results of your single-factor analysis. Where and how are they different? 3. How might those differences translate into increased selling effectiveness and efficiency?