On-Time Package Delivery

Case 2: On-Time Package Delivery Michael Bushmann Erika Thompson Jocelyn Russell Katlin Eason Mark Hogan MKT 452- Sales Management November 14, 2012 Overall, we felt that Wayne Jacobson – Senior Vice President of Sales performed his responsibilities very well. Furthermore, it was good to see that he was so vested into figuring out the problems of the company. Ultimately, the negative effects that were found could be detrimental to the sales personnel, but further – his position and the company as a whole. Jacobson conducted an effective job analysis by conversing with: current employees/sales staff, managers, and customers.Additionally, Jacobson calling upon local district managers before calling sales representatives or KAM’s displays that he is truly a â€Å"team member. † Now we would like to go into the problems, one-by- one, along with what we feel are respectable solutions for On-Time Package Delivery. Competition On-Time Pack Delivery is a niche com pany OTPD delivery services are specific to documents and small packages to be delivered quickly, reliably, and cost effective. Being the first intracity package delivery service to maximize technology gives them a great advantage.OPTD targets a condensed Market of 4 districts: Eastern U. S. cities- New York, Boston, Washington, and Philadelphia. UPS, FedEx, and U. S. Postal Service are considered competition to an extent. However, OPTD markets towards a portion of their customers (legal and consulting firms). â€Å"OTPD has carved out a niche by focusing on express intracity package delivery. † The condensed region gives OTPD no reason for decline in salesSolution: Solution: Ron Young founded OTPD as a solution to a problem and generated a business model of highly trained â€Å"delivery specialist† .The trained specialist, improved technology services, and great customer service in the package delivery business is what yielded a loyal customer base. REMEMBER: These at tributes have helped establish OTPD as a company. OTPD sales forces needs to refocus on customer service considering these attributes are what initially established loyal customers. Being OTPD was the first company to enter the specific market of quick reliable delivery services, this gives them an advantage. The company needs to refocus on their customer service strategy to remain established before more competitors enter the market.Competition within OTPD? Setting higher sales standards within the company will provoke the sales force to compete amongst them selves. Lack of competition within the company. Stimulated from– OTPD targeting only a 4% sales growth, when the national average is 8%, Why? OTPD sales force are given cell phones (unlimited use), laptops, company cars, and outrageous salaries. OPTD needs to focus on exceeding their sales goals before smaller companies similar to Gold Package Delivery Services quickly come about take over the small niche market. Solutio n: OTPD should consider removing some of the sales forces privileges.While cell phones and laptops are necessities for the delivery services, outrageous salaries and a company car should not be. Taking away a a company car and lowering salaries would trigger sales competition within the company. A company car should only be awarded to those who- reach a certain sales growth percentage establish new customers maintain a certain level of customer service, i. e. quick and reliable Role Perceptions Role Conflict Judy Billings was accused of lacking customer service by Clark, Burton, and Bowers, one of their largest customers, but it was contributed to unreasonable demands by her DM Dan Gunther.This is placing Judy in a position of the â€Å"person in the middle† where she has conflicting expectations of her responsibility To solve this problem the job roles need to be laid out clearly for each employee to understand. There should be no confusion when it comes to taking care of cu stomers. Salespeople should also meet with their cliental on a regular basis. This will reduce role conflict Training will also be a huge factor in solving this issue Role Ambiguity Lynn Attaway made the mistake of making a client wait for more than five hours when their package was promised within two hoursThis was contributed to lack of information concerning the changes to the Package Expedite Form (PEF) which was sent through email for employees to see Solutions Better communication throughout the work place from management down through all levels Training Weekly/monthly meetings where employees can learn and have a better understanding of new technology they will be working with. Mike Wagner recently visited First Call Medical Centers where he heard that Gold Package Delivery Services was offering similar services for a lower costCould not give them an answer as to why OTPD’s costs were so much higher Felt he did not have adequate information on the competition Solutions Mentoring Someone else’s insight would have been beneficial in this instance just so he wouldn’t seem so uninformed when talking with clients On the job training Closer supervision This will reduce role ambiguity Work-Family Conflict Problem Role Conflict: Some employees may become unsure about how they want to spend most of their time and what is most important. Employers should be concerned about their employees plateauing.Carol Klein, Key Account Manager in Philadelphia, â€Å"I find myself being torn between doing an outstanding job at the OTPD and being a mom to Alice. † Solution Activities that bring the employee’s work and home lives closer. One step to a solution would be to no longer give Sales Representatives cars, and to save that luxury for the D and upper level personnel. Instead of cars, OTPD could give sales representatives a card to put gas on and maybe even a stipend for car maintenance. This not only saves OTPD money, but it also gives sales representatives another level of incentives to work to achieve.Instead of buying all those cars, OTPD could use the money saved to have more family event and functions. Another idea would also be to have an in-house daycare facility. By having these functions, OTPD will be more of a family-friendly environment. Employees would feel like their family life and their work life would be able to blend together more. Training Each level of employee (key account managers, sales reps and district managers) need to be trained individually. Some employees are making mistakes which are leading to key accounts being dissatisfied:Example: Lynn Attaway, Key Account Manager, made the mistake with the Strawn, Night and Squires (SNS) client regarding the Package Expited Form (PEF). This all happened because Attaway was emailed the changes to the Package Expedited Form. Attaway said that she receives hundreds of emails every day and must have missed the email. I suspect that many other employee s missed the email too. Attaway said, â€Å"I get dozens of emails every day and that one must have slipped by me†. Emailing is NOT the way to train and educate employees about changes in the business.When a change like this is made to the way packages are sent out, a meeting must be called to discuss and learn the new changes. Mike Wagner, Sales Representative in Washington D. C. District also made remarks that suggested more adequate training is required. When Jacobson asked if Wagner needed more information on the competition in order to respond to questions he replied, â€Å"Yes, I did not have a good understanding of how our products compared with Golf Package Delivery† On-Time Package Delivery should designate one morning every 12 weeks to educating their employees about the competition and how it has changed.This is essential in order to be able to tell clients why OTPD’s products and services are superior. With our current report, we hope that OTPD imple ments many of our solutions to become the company that we once were. OTPD customers will love doing business with us as we deliver by: maximizing our technology, high level of customer service, and new innovations will lead to more loyal clients and customers. Furthermore, we will become the premier intra-city package delivery company in the eastern United States and beyond!