Lawford Electric Company Essay

Critical SummaryThis sale was Lawfords to lose. Lawford galvanizing guilds ongoing, 8-year relationship with Bayfield Milling Company, coupled with the geographic proximity of the cardinal businesses, gave them a competitive advantage upon which they were unable to capitalize. The price tag of the require system for which Lawford prep ared a competitive bid represented to a greater extent than 17 years of Bayfields average annual purchases from Lawford. Sales calculate Robert Allens approach was simplistic and his notes suggest an assumption that the $871,000 sale would be a slam dunk, largely due to the factors mentioned in the opening paragraph. for each one of the three sentences which comprise Allens strategy reveals a flawed perception of his role. His strategy was centered only on key decision makers and his priorities were 1) accentuation benefits and 2) influencing the final specs (pg. 3), rather than utilizing an inquisitive, collaborative approach to gain a genuine understanding of customer needs.Allen bombarded his contacts at Bayfield with specs, benefits, and pamphlets and regarded as trivial several(prenominal) potentially significant interactions. He made unfounded assumptions and, as a pass on of his focus on influencing the process, missed opportunities to explore and adequately finish customer concerns. In addition, the number and frequency of calls and visits made by Allen to Bayfield see relatively low considering the size of the wither. Lawford galvanizing did not win this contract because they lacked sufficient information to provide an ideal solution.Problem StatementLawford Electric must ensure that its sales force has the procreation and support needful to close sales using an approach whereby customer needs are fully explored.Suggested AlternativesSustain QuandaryAdoption of this strategy is to maintain the spot quo at Lawford Electric.Elevate, Collaborate, and EvaluateAdoption of this strategy would see Lawford Electri c compound the saw, i.e. provide training which would elevate the sales skills of its managers and sales force. precaution and sales personnel would periodically analyze journal entries and perform collaborative, soft assessment of sales reps strategies, tactics, and results.Operation 86Adoption of this strategy would have Lawford Electric relieve Robert Allen and/or Fred Webster of their employment for letting this sale slip by dint of their fingers. ChoiceElevate, Collaborate, and EvaluateThis is the best option because it is most likely to break Lawfords sales process, improve customer relationships, and increase sales. Benefits of this approach imply the sharing of knowledge gained from collaborative analysis and the lessening of likelihood that expensive missteps will be repeated.Implementation1. Research and schedule sales training for staff.Estimated Time of Completion (ETC) 2 weeks2. Schedule monthly meetings with each salesperson to discuss activity, providing for hi gher frequency of meetings for high-ticket bids or otherwise freakish situations. ETC 2 days3. A. Select sample of past moorings from sales team.ETC afterward sales trainingB. Dissect and analyze 1 sample caseETC 1 weekC. Disseminate findings to all employees of Lawford Electric. ETC 3 daysD. duplicate with another caseConclusionLawford Electrics customer relationships and long revenue had likely been suffering as a direct result of the approach used in this case. Going forward, a focus on understanding customer needs will be integral to their success. extension1. Bayfields annual purchases from Lawford occasionally totaled as much as $50,000. Proposed price of system $871,000. 871,000/50,000 = 17.422. Examples include1.13.78 Allen assumed that Gibsons pretty mulish comment pertained to cost. It is noted on 11.13.78 that Lorenz, it turned out, was a stickler for worry to slim details.3.14.78 Upon learning of the Bayfield engineers downtime, Allen may have used this as a co ntingency to gain access to them. The original reason given for their unavailability, on 1.13.78, was that they were officious working on problems with the new line.5.30.78 Good-naturedly dismissed an issue brought to his attention by the foreman regarding instability of a Lawford regulator. This represents a lost fortune to create goodwill by discussing and working to address the issue.7.17.78 The last dickens sentences of this entry are potentially dangerous. Here, Allen made . 9.20.78 He notes that Lorenz asked very hardly a(prenominal) additional questions and seemed sold on the Lawford benefits. A lack of questions often indicates a lack of interest. The lack of questions is especially curious in this case, where the myriad technological details would seem to generate several questions and/or topics of discussion. 11.13.78 Allen finds out that Lorenz is a stickler for attention to small details, which contradicts his earlier assumption that cost was paramount.