Lawford Electric Company Essay

Critical digestThis sale was Lawfords to lose. Lawford Electric Companys ongoing, 8-year relationship with Bayfield Milling Company, coupled with the geographic proximity of the two businesses, gave them a competitive advantage upon which they were unable to capitalize. The price tag of the drive system for which Lawford disposed(p) a competitive bid represented more than 17 years of Bayfields average yearly purchases from Lawford. Sales engineer Robert Allens come along 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. Each of the three sentences which comprise Allens dodging 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 accord of guest needs.Allen bom barded his contacts at Bayfield with specs, benefits, and pamphlets and regarded as trivial several potentially significant interactions. He made unfounded assumptions and, as a result of his focus on influencing the process, missed opportunities to explore and adequately place customer concerns. In addition, the number and frequency of calls and visits made by Allen to Bayfield seem relatively low considering the size of the contract. Lawford Electric did not win this contract because they lacked sufficient information to provide an ideal solution.Problem StatementLawford Electric moldiness ensure that its sales force has the grooming and support necessary to close sales using an approach whereby customer needs are fully explored.Suggested AlternativesSustain QuandaryAdoption of this strategy is to maintain the berth quo at Lawford Electric.Elevate, Collaborate, and EvaluateAdoption of this strategy would see Lawford Electric sharpen the saw, i.e. provide training which would el evate the sales skills of its managers and sales force. Management and sales personnel would periodically analyze journal entries and exercise collaborative, qualitative assessment of salespersons strategies, tactics, and results.Operation 86Adoption of this strategy would experience Lawford Electric relieve Robert Allen and/or Fred Webster of their employment for letting this sale slip through their fingers. ChoiceElevate, Collaborate, and EvaluateThis is the best option because it is near likely to improve Lawfords sales process, improve customer relationships, and increase sales. Benefits of this approach include the manduction of knowledge gained from collaborative analysis and the lessening of likelihood that costly missteps will be repeated.Implementation1. investigate and schedule sales training for staff.Estimated Time of Completion (ETC) 2 weeks2. Schedule monthly meetings with each salesperson to discuss activity, providing for higher frequency of meetings for high-t icket bids or otherwise abnormal situations. ETC 2 days3. A. recognise take of past illustrations from sales team.ETC After sales trainingB. Dissect and analyze 1 sample caseETC 1 weekC. Disseminate findings to all employees of Lawford Electric. ETC 3 daysD. Repeat with another caseConclusionLawford Electrics customer relationships and long-term 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.APPENDIX1. Bayfields annual purchases from Lawford occasionally add up 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 pragmatic comment pertained to cost. It is noted on 11.13.78 that Lorenz, it turned out, was a stickler for attention to small details.3.14.78 Upon learning of the Bayfield engineers downtime, Allen may have used this as a chance to gain access to them. The original reason given for their unavailability, on 1.13.78, was that they were busy working on problems with the new line.5.30.78 Good-naturedly dismissed an issue brought to his attention by the boss regarding instability of a Lawford regulator. This represents a lost opportunity to create goodwill by discussing and working to address the issue.7.17.78 The last two sentences of this entry are potentially dangerous. Here, Allen made . 9.20.78 He notes that Lorenz asked very few surplus questions and seemed sold on the Lawford benefits. A lack of questions often indicates a lack of interest. The lack of questions is especially gay in this case, where the myriad technical 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.