Mar 310 Final Project

Thomas Edison State College

Final Project

MAR 310

Instructor:  Dr. John Melton

As an experienced salesperson in the sales department of Xavier’s Apparel Manufacturing Company, I have a scheduled meeting at our facilities in two weeks with an executive group from Smart Look, a clothing retailer.  

Information I have at this point includes the fact that Smart Look likes to “buy low”, but normally places large orders.  However, we prefer to “sell high,” reflecting the quality of our product line. Also, we may have difficulty delivering huge orders unless we invests in new facilities.

The team Smart Look is sending includes three people:  the vice president of marketing, the purchasing manager, and a designer.  They are interested in developing a collection for next season and determining a price with our team.  They also want to place a trial order at the price that would be the same as for a large (bulk) order.  They will ask for delivery of the trial order to be made two weeks after you meet with them and agree on terms.  Two problems with this request are: (a) the trial order is well below the minimum quantity your company is willing to accept and (b) your company normally needs one month to fill a new order.

1. In preparation for my meeting with Smart Look I would first accept the realization that as sales person my team must be prepared to address and satisfy both the individual and collective concerns of each participant in a multi buyer situation. Manning, Reece and Ahearn 2010 recommends that the sales person attempt to identify the various buying influences. Our team is scheduled to meet with a buying team from Smart Look. Each person on that team may have the same collective goal of obtaining the product at the best possible price for their company will also come with their own individual needs that will need to be satisfied in order for us to be successful in securing this order. Using the adaptive selling approach would be warranted with...