Evergreen Paper Company - WordPress.com · Melissa Boland Evergreen Paper Company c00162634 4...

Evergreen Paper Company

April 8

2014 Melissa Boland c00162634

Selling & Sales Management Mark Attride

Marketing

Cw838

Melissa Boland Evergreen Paper Company c00162634

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INSTITUTE of

TECHNOLOGY

CARLOW


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Evergreen Paper Company

Q1

a) Carry out an assessment of Evergreen’s current salesforce. Your assessment should

be supported by both quantitative and qualitative data and should include a profile

of each sales representative. These profiles should not extend to more than 400

words for each sales representative (50 marks)

Russell Hallbert: Longest member of staff. He is 54 and is seen as the star salesman,

adapts well to new ideas and well-liked by customers. Hallbert has the highest salary

in Evergreen earning 58000, also earning 38700 in commission which shows he is

well liked and a good salesman. These figures reflect his years of experience as a

salesman. These figures are also very impressive as he has the smallest territory size

in the team. It is a total payment of 96700 which is the highest amount on the team.

Hallbert had the least expenses in 2008 also (29800) therefore he is taking home

most money on the team, 76900. Although Hallbert is an asset to Evergreen

Company and a great salesman, he is not as appealing on paper as he has no

qualifications, however his past experiences as a textile salesman for ten years and

an accounts clerk for seven shows that his experience has stood to him and may be

better than any qualification. Hallbert is the second highest in the team to have

gained 258000 sales for Evergreen and it shows that he makes an effort with

customers as he has the third highest calls being made 1230. This shows interest and

effort from Hallbert. Hallbert does have the highest sales per call (172 in 2007 and

210 in 2008, both being the highest on the team) so it is evident that his calls are

effective at gaining sales. However he does have the second lowest amount of live

calls but due to having the lowest area, this is acceptable.

Frederick Jennings: He is 42 and joined Evergreen in 2003. He is an asset to the

company as he knows the technical side, moved across from the equipment

department which means he has a deeper understanding of the products. He is a

conscientious and systematic employee. Jennings earns 48000 which is the 5th

highest of the team; however he earned the third highest amount of commission

35850 which does mean he brings home the second highest amount of money from

his team. This indicates that Jennings is a good salesman as he earns the second

highest amount of commission, 35850. Jennings has the 4th lowest amount of

expenses due. He has a higher national certificate; his experience includes working in

the post office, teleprinter salesman, and equipment maintenance. His past

experiences definitely stands to him, having been the sales man for four years and

then having a greater insight into the technical end of the company for 16years. He is

the third highest in the team to have gained 239000 sales for Evergreen. However it


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shows that he has not made as much of an effort with the calls that he has made in

2007, now in 2008 having the second lowest 1168, a small discussion should be

raised with Jennings about this matter. Jennings has the largest amount of live

accounts on the team, 539 in 2007 and 509 in 2008, however he does have the most

potential live accounts on the team, 1060 but it is good to see that he is taking

advantage of this factor. Praise should be given to Jennings as his area is the fourth

largest so to have the most live accounts even though there’s areas over double and

triple the size is a great success. Being from the technical side of the company may

have affected his sales as he may have a more complex way of explaining things to

the customer in which they do not understand. Some selling approaches would be

advised.

Harold Bindon: He is 33 years of age and started working for Evergreen in 2001. He

is described as having a large territory area (the second biggest, 44.6 000sq km) even

with the large area he’s sales figures are coming along nicely as he is starting to find

his feet in the company. It is believed he is a very good salesman who presents

himself well and could go a long way in the company as he is still young and only

finding his feet. Although his area is one of the largest he is only earning third lowest

salary which seems unfair. However his commission is the third highest on the team

which shows he knows what he is doing and is working well with customers. Bindon

has the highest amount of expenses on the team 50100 in 2008 mainly because of

the large area he is expected to cover. This makes his take home pay 15300 which is

very little compared to his fellow salesmen and the area he is expected to cover.

However this does not affect Bindon’s eagerness to progress within Evergreen.

Bindon has been to college and has a B.A. in Geography, which in conclusion has

nothing to do with his current position in Evergreen. He joined as a sales trainee and

has no other experience. In 2007 Bindon brought in the third highest amount of

Sales for the company, in 2008 he kept this third position bringing in 156000 sales.

However in both 2007 and 2008, Bindon made the least amount of calls on the team.

This does show he is not making enough of an effort to call out to existing or new

customers to bring in more sales. This topic should be raised with Bindon. He does

have the second highest amount of live accounts in 2007 with 503 and kept his

current position in 2008 with 476, however it is a drop of 27 accounts, which may

continue to drop in 2009 this matter should be dealt with promptly before he loses

his second highest place for live accounts on the team. He does have the second

highest potential for live accounts so he has no excuse and should not be losing

customers as he also has the second largest area.

John Vereker: Being the younger member of the team, 29 and being the second last

employee to have joined Evergreen in 2005, Vereker is seen as having low sales and

lots of room for improvement. To no surprise, Vereker earns the least amount of


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salary on the team, 38000 in 2008 with the least amount of commission also 16800,

and the second highest amount of expenses of 38200 a year means he has a take

home pay of 16600, the second lowest. The expenses are explained for as Vereker

does in fact have the third highest area to cover (28.2 000sq km) on the team

however his sales are far from impressing. 98000 was the sales earned in 2007 which

was the second lowest on the team however there was not much between the

lowest and the second lowest (1000). 112000 being the lowest amount of sales

earned on the team in 2008 (Joint lowest with Anderson). Although this is 14000

extra sales earned than the previous year, it may show that the other sales rep is

improving more than Vereker. He has gone from earning second least amount of

sales to earning joint least. However the calls he has made shows effort from

Vereker as it is the second highest on the team, 1409 calls compared to last year

1290 calls and was the third highest. So it does show that Vereker is making a

greater effort than the previous year. So perhaps Vereker is trying but there is no

interest in his area from the Evergreen products. Vereker has no qualifications but

has experience being a head store man for three years and a dispatch clerk for three

years. Vereker has an average amount of live accounts in the two years however

with his large area he should have more accounts live.

Alan Prince: Prince is the oldest member of the salesforce with Evergreen (57). He

joined the team in 2006, being the last member of the team. He is known to be the

granddad of the team and will not be present in the company more than 5 years as

he will have to retire. He finds it hard to adapt new approaches. He is in the middle

of the road with bringing in 154000 sales in 2008 which is an increase from 2007

(which was also in the middle of the road). One thing to take into consideration is

that he was only in the company a year at this stage. It is evident that Prince does

not make that much calls to future and current customers being the fourth lowest in

2007 and the third lowest in 2008 which shows a drop within the year. Perhaps

Prince is getting disinterested in the company quicker than expected. Prince must

cover 13.0 (000sq km) which is the sixth highest on the team. Prince earns 49000 a

year which is the fourth highest on the team, he also earns the fourth highest

amount of commission and has the third lowest amount of expenses meaning his

take home money is an impressive 46100. Prince has no qualification but perhaps

the most valuable experience possible for the company, he has served 35 years as a

sales person which in essence is better than any qualification. Perhaps with this

impressive experience, Prince should be doing better in the company. Overall Prince

is going considerably average in all areas of the company.

Graham Anderson: Graham is 37 years of age joined the sales team of Evergreen in

1991. His personality is engaging and he is known to be a “go worker”. He is

technically competent and extremely conscientious, which are two very good traits


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for a salesman to have. However his sales results do not show the same results;

being the lowest on the team in 2007 at 97000 and joint lowest in 2008 at 112000,

although it is 15000 of an increase, this could be due to an increase in territory

population or it could be because of Andersons efforts to attract new customers and

for both years he has the highest amount of calls being made on the team, 1410 in

2007 and 1450 in 2008. Perhaps the excessive calls being made in 2007 has proven

effective for 2008 as he is 15000 up. He has the third smallest territory area so this

might impact why his sales is smaller. However less effort is required from Anderson

compared to the sales reps with a larger area so attracting new customers and

keeping remaining customers should be easier compared to the sales reps with a

larger area so attracting new customers and keeping remaining customers should be

easier compared to the sales reps with a larger area so attracting new customers and

keeping remaining customers should be easier. Anderson earns the third highest

salary 51000 but the lowest amount of commission 16800 (ineffective sales

approach towards customers) which makes his take home money equals 48400 as

he has the second lowest amount of expenses (due to his small territory size).

Anderson has a Bachelor in Technology and has had five years’ experience in

production scheduling. Anderson needs some training and selling approach tactics to

improve his performance.

John Randall: 48 years of age and joined Evergreen in 1991 also. He is known to have

a bright and cheerful personality but can be lazy and sometimes be a bit of a

troublemaker. His sales figures is an impressing 125000 in 2007, being fourth highest

however the sales figure dropped to the third lowest in 2008 earning 142000.

Although it is an increase of 17000, he has dropped to sixth best. The reasoning

behind the increase could be due to bigger population size or the state of the

economy; it may have no impact on Randall’s selling ability, as the whole teams sales

numbers have all increased. (This is evident as Randall has increased sales by 17000

and has lost his fourth position by two places within the sales team). Randall has

made the second least effort in the team in 2007 with only making 1163 calls to

customers, however it is evident that in 2008 he has made a little more of an effort

as he is third highest, making 1220 calls. Randall has the least amount of live

accounts in both years, 2007 198 and 2008 202. This would have to be dealt with as

soon as possible to increase these numbers. Randall covers an average territory area

of 7.3 (000sq km) within his team. Randall has no qualifications however he was

taken on as a clerk in original Evergreen in 1991 and three years later got appointed

to the sales department so he has been present with the company for many years.

He understands the culture of the company and how it works. Perhaps a talk with

Randall about company values, priorities and rules would be no harm to remind him

what the company expects from him and that he’s not just a number.


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Herbert Thompson: Herbert is one of the youngest members of the salesforce (33)

in Evergreen and joined in 2005, being the second last employee into the company.

He has the necessary material there to do exceptional but needs guidance from

manager about sales technique. He is seen as very interested and keen to prove

himself. His sales were 101000 in 2007 which was third lowest and 123000 in 2008

which was the second lowest. This is an increase of 22000 within the year.

Thompson made 1163 calls in 2007 which was the third lowest however by 2008 he

has improved dramatically by being the third highest on the team, making 1220 calls.

This shows he is trying to prove himself to the company as he is making more of an

effort with customers. Thompson has a B. Sc in Metallurgy and was a wallpaper sales

rep for four years so he has had experience as a sales rep which is good, and would

have had some knowledge of the paper industry. He was also a research technician

for two years which is also good experience as he has done some research about

customers and would have a greater understanding of customers. Thompson earns

the second lowest on the team, 40000 with the second lowest commission also,

1840 and his expenses are 32000, the fourth highest on the team, amounting his

take home pay to 26450. Herbert covers an average 15.4 (000sq km). Overall a bit of

training would not go astray to improve sales figures and improve his selling tactics

which would boost his commission.

Ian Campbell: Ian is 43 years old and joined Evergreen in 2001. He is seen as boring

and unexciting. It is believed that he will never be an outstanding salesman for

Evergreen. He plays chess at competition level as a hobby. Ian Campbell has a B.A. in

English and was a teacher for 12 years which has no direct relevance to his current

position. However it might work well with commission as he would have good

English skills (figure of speech) that he can directed towards existing and future

customers. He earns an average 50000 with an average commission of 21450 but he

has the third highest amount of expenses 33000 (due to having the largest territory

78.8 (000sq km). In 2007 he has the second lowest calls being made to existing and

future customers making 1088 calls which are totally unacceptable due to his large

area that he has to cover. In 2008 this increased slightly to fourth lowest, making

1135 calls, which is still very unimpressive. Because of his larger area Campbell

should be making more of an effort with customers and be making more calls out

due to the larger population. This could be the underlying problem with him.

Because of his larger area he should also have more live accounts whereas he only

has 317 in 2008 which is below average of 363. Campbell playing chess at a

competition level does highlight that he has a competitive streak in him, therefore

making it clear to Campbell his strengths and weaknesses may be necessary. Perhaps

having monthly targets and bonuses available may motivate Ian. Rekindling the

competitive streak in Campbell in a work manner is necessary.


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b) Do you think any sales representative should be removed? Explain your answer. (15

marks)

No I do not believe any of the sales representatives should be removed from the

company.

The sales reps do need some further training on;

The company values,

The company expectations,

The company products

Selling tactics,

Once this training is done, it will be evident who needs to go (If no improvements

from the members of staff) and who is staying. At the moment

The top sales men are; Hallbert, Jennings and Bindon. These three are the top

salesmen of Evergreen because they have the highest sales figures, live accounts

(according to their area sizes), gross margins for the company, and commission

attained which does indicate that they are effective salesmen. The only discussion

that needs to be had with these three men is the calls being made, that is the only

issue. Once this talk is had with the salesmen their sales figures should increase even

further. It is interesting to see that two of the men have had experience as salesmen

and have put that experience to good use (Hallbert and Jennings) and Bindon has

had no experience and is doing as equally well. He is fresh and eager to learn which

puts him within the top three salesmen within the company which is a great

achievement for the young man, as it shows he will grow within the company and

has great ambition. An interesting point is that Bindon has the highest amount of

expenses to pay out from all the salesmen making his take home pay the least

(15300) by a good bit, he is still eager to work for Evergreen and continue to show

his ability to sell.

Some of the sales reps need to become more up to with new selling approaches

through training and then if there is no change in improvement after the year they

should be let go and new, fresher sales people required.

The sales men that Evergreen need to keep their eye on includes; Anderson,

Thompson and Vereker. These salesmen are well below average in different areas.

These salesmen are young in the company being in their 30’s. Anderson is the

longest in the company (1991) compared to the other two (both 05). Since

Thompson and Vereker joined the company together perhaps the correct training

that year did not happen which meant they were both thrown into the deep end and

have not yet found their feet. Proper training on the industry and on selling tactics is

required for all three, as Anderson understands the technical side well he is

obviously using the incorrect selling approach and may be over complicating things

when explaining to customers. All three men are described as positive personalities

with a lot to learn. So although these are the salesmen that Evergreen should be


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keeping their eye on, I think with the correct training and with the time given to

them, their sales, commission, live accounts and salaries will grow. Correct guidance

and attention in these areas is required. It does show these reps are making efforts

as they have the highest, second highest and fourth highest amounts of calls being

made to customers, so with these guys, the potential and effort is there, it’s the

correct training missing.

The average salesmen; Prince, Randall and Campbell; these are the average

salesmen in Evergreen, middle of the road in each area. However these are

described as boring, uninterested, old, and lazy and troublemaker. These are not the

descriptions that a company would want their salesmen to resemble. I think they

have had the correct training and are just going into work to come out with a salary,

I do not think they care about the company or have much interest in their work and

this does show. I think once Anderson, Thompson and Vereker (the worst salesmen)

get their correct training they will have better sales figures than these three.

Although these average salesmen, Prince and Randall and Campbell are in the

middle of the company, playing it safe I do not think they have the same potential as

the others, therefore within the next year another assessment like this one will be

carried out and whoever is making no effort from this year after all their correct

training, time and effort spent on them should be removed from the company if no

improvement is being made. Prince, Randall and Campbell are old enough too, being

43, 57 and 48. With Prince’s previous experience shows he has had more experience

than any other sales rep and his figures and efforts should highlight this. The other

two sales reps have had no relevant experience to the job and this also shows.

Prince Randall and Campbell have the third, fourth and fifth lowest amount of calls

being made to customers, this is evident that not enough effort does be made by

them. These figures should be increased as all three have big enough territory sizes

which means their calls should be higher especially Campbell. He covers the whole of

Scotland which is the largest area within the nine and he has the fourth lowest

amount of calls being made out which is unacceptable. So this topic would have to

be raised at the appraisal. It shows lack of interest and effort from the men.

When also considering who should be let go (if anybody) at the next appraisal:

Recommendations:

It would be no harm to bring in young fresh faces to the company who will

have an interest in the company and ability to adapt new selling tactics etc.

Younger sales representatives as Evergreen can train them so they can use

the selling tactics they want them to use and retrain them through the years

to suit the economy/market/age of the customers. This would also form long

term relationships between the seller (reps) and the buyer (customers) as

they would get to know them throughout the years.


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Perhaps another suggestion is to hire women sales reps, it is all men now and

maybe some people would rather deal with women.

Having a good look into the location of the sales reps, it may not be their

fault that their sales are low; it could be due to the location.

Job description and person specification properly constructed when position

is available.

The following traits would be desired by Evergreen for their salespeople to

resemble: Lead an active social life who likes to keep their body active (shows

they have an ability to hold a conversation and have interests), No plan of

marital commitments and can show complete dedication to the job, young

and eager to learn, a qualification in business at least and has big plans to

build their own house or saving up for his future as this would show they

have good ambition in life and would be dedicated to the company as they

would need the money and would like to further their career within the

company. After all, these are the personality traits that Andrew Smythe has

and done so well in the company so quickly, therefore these are the type of

sales force wanted for Evergreen.

Q2

Based on analysis above, develop a specific plan of action to ensure an efficient and

effective sales-force for Evergreen Paper Company going forward. (1000 words

maximum) (35 marks)

The sales reps work alone, they have different territory potentials, have physical

disparities in their territories, face intense and varying competition therefore I have

created a 3 step process to boost sales and ensure that Evergreen have the most

effective and efficient salesforce with these factors in mind.

Step1: the initial training of the sales representatives. It would be two on-off

months, every Saturday, the salesmen would get paid overtime and petrol expenses,

and it is a 10 hour working day with one hour break which is 80 hours which is equal

to a two week course. The training in this course (7 out of the 8 weeks) would deal

with; the current economy and the relating selling tactics to deal with the paper

industry and all relevant selling techniques. Highlighting attitude of the sales reps;

they should have a “yes we can” attitude no matter what the odds are, being

confident with their product and what they are selling and this will come across to

the customer, the more confident the salesman is about the product, the more the

customer believes it. Taking responsibility of your results, if sales figures are down

explain why, the truth instead of blaming it on somebody else. Taking proactive

steps with customers and for the company. Stand by what you agreed to, sitting back


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and waiting for opportunities will not lead to a successful sales representative. The

nine men need to become fully aware of their strengths and weaknesses. This way

they can critique themselves and give praise/discipline where it is due which would

also make them more aware of where they are currently going wrong or what they

are doing right. All these things will be the outcome from the training they will

receive at Evergreen. They will also get a training day on the company

history/morale’s/values/products and to remind them that the company cares about

them and does appreciate the work they do (1 of the 8 weeks).

Step2: After three months, relook at the qualitative figures of the sales force and if

necessary change the locations, try putting the best reps into worst area for sales

and the worst reps into the areas that achieve better sales. It would become clear

whether it is the area or the salesmen. It would also be interesting to see if sales

boost or decline in them areas. For example Hallbert is one of the best salesmen and

also has the smallest territory size (Greater London 1.6 000sq km) will be placed in a

bigger area so it would be interesting to see if there is any decline/increase in the

sales. We would swap Prince and Hallbert’s areas (Princes area West Midlands 13.0

000sq km) for a few months until further analysis is done then to see if there is a

change in figures. Expenses would also have to be looked at to make sure they don’t

rise too much but if necessary, change their location permanently (If the salesforce

are being the most effective and efficient for the company). However Evergreen also

must consider this may break some long term buyer-seller relationships however if

sales have increased dramatically it would be worth it and the seller must build long

term relationships with customers in the new area. The main purpose of this action

is to highlight if it is the salesman that still isn’t improving after training or if it is the

area that is very hard to gather sales in. This would also show from the number of

calls that the rep is making; highlighting his effort.

Step3: Three months later if there is no change in sales, Evergreen should look into

the store location. Perhaps some stores are located in hard to find areas/quite

streets/up alley ways or based on high streets/busy towns/main shopping streets. It

would be a good idea to move the shops towards companies that buy Evergreen

products, for example industrial drawing offices. This would be convenient for them

and may increase sales. It would also be handy for these offices and may gain a

competitive advantage over competitors as the industrial drawing offices would no

longer need to pay delivery charges or have to wait for the products. It would be a

lot more convenient.

Each of the nine stores should create and maintain an online presence for their

store. There would be a main Evergreen website (www.Evergreen.com) and the

customer (online visitor) must click their area to look before they can look at

products as each area will have their own products displayed. Each sales rep will

http://www.evergreen.com/


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update the product/price list and deal with queries from the public. There will be a

comments box on the home page for customers to write reviews however only

Andrew will be able to control this. This will show what salesmen are making enough

of an effort for the company and would boost sales as there would now be an online

presence.

After the 2 months of training, three months of change of location and three months

store location it leaves four months for general improvement with the new action

steps. This way it would show if the sales force are being as efficient and effective for

Evergreen and if no real improvement, they should be let go. This three step action

process would also highlight to the workers what the company is all about, as they

may forgotten, it would highlight that the company care about them as they are

spending the time, effort and money to improve their training, commission, location

and overall career development. It will also be highlighted to the sales reps that

Evergreen appreciates what they are doing and have done for the company.

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