Introduction
Hart Hospital Equipment, Inc. manufactures and sells care medical equipment, surgicenters as well as emergency rescue teams. Hart’s philosophy is to develop very innovative products as well as excellent services. This has placed Hart in a strong position both in the monitor as well as in the defibrillator market.
Sales Force Strategy
Hart’s main vehicle for production is the field force. Hart’s sales force has proven to be among the best in the industry because of the high customer review in regards to product awareness, acceptance as well as the excellent quality services. This strategy has attracted customers as keeping them because of the services provides by the sales force (Agnihotri, 2010). Field force accounts for more than three-quarter of the Hart’s marketing budget. Journal advertisement, direct emails and conventions account for the rest of the disbursements. Hart’s sales force accounts for about 13% of the total sales, which is just two percentage points below the industry average.
Hart’s field force comprise of 93 sales representatives. 87 of these sales representatives have determined territories geographically while the remaining six cover only the national accounts. The structure of the field force is in such a way that the geographical-based sales representatives are accountable to the district managers. The district managers, in turn, report to the regional managers. There are three regions each comprising of 3 districts having 29 sales representatives. It is the duty of regional managers as well as the national accounts managers to report to the Vice President of the sales.
Hart’s boasts of a strong market share, good profits, as well as outstanding customer service. The monitor market needs improvement because of the increasing competition. The sales force in a step ahead when it comes to matters of servicing customers as well as creating the partnership. Hart’s sales force is trained very well with excellent communication skills especially when presenting current products. Hart sales strategy should invest more in training initiatives for new products as well in the recruitment of more sales representatives. More over there is the need to increase sales agents consisting of the government accounts with additional three district managers as well as 29 other sales representatives a larger percentage of the rescue team relies on government funding.
Sales force productivity drivers
Sales force productivity drivers do not only focus on market research, segmentation as well as assessment but also on the people and culture (Churchill, 1985). Focusing on the people as well as their culture ensures that they are well rounded on the material as well as their language. Solid productivity drivers allow for easy forecasting. In Salesforce productivity drivers Hart should ensure that recruitment is a priority this is because it is the highest expense that the company has to make (Zoltners et al, 2001). The selection must, therefore, be carefully well done.
Customer segmentation is one of the main Salesforce productivity drivers for Hart Hospital Equipment. Customer segmentation is done to identify the sales potential as well as the receiving higher return on investment. The approach helps to identify customers as well as their prospects. The system can help to narrow the right customers. The use of codes to identify customers saves time money as well. Furthermore, it helps the company to market the product properly using the different approach.
Customer segmentation is the most powerful tool that is used to narrow the customers depending on the behaviors as well as the needs. More so customer segmentation is vital in determining customer size as well as profitability which allows for better work balance and productivity.
Measuring productivity drivers
Measurement of productivity drivers should be based on both qualities as well as quantity (Shim, 2012). The qualitative point of view measures how competent the sales representative is as well as the impact caused when presenting a new product to the customer. The qualitative point of view is very important to the company because it creates constructive criticism. Furthermore, it exposes the strengths and weaknesses, which allows for improvement every time a sales representative is working with a district manager.
Qualitative analysis is also very important especially to managers. Qualitative analysis helps to increase manager’s confidentiality in matters of decision making if the data are objective and unbiased in any way. The qualitative analysis further helps to determine the competency of the sales force drivers. Qualitative and qualitative analysis provide a balance for the sales force driver measurement. It includes checking of the alignments, targeting, and compensation.
The territorial alignment is an economic strategy in creating efficiency and productivity. Territory alignment allows the sales representative to make calls for the current and new customers, provide better service as well as reduction of travelling costs. Account strategy development is the other measuring productivity of drivers. The strategy helps to assess the cost and benefits for the customer’s needs and profits. Also, the strategy helps when selecting for each segment the most beneficial strategy with the capacity of the sales force. Annual auditing is also a much-recommended practice because market can change drastically.
References
Agnihotri, R., & Rapp, A. (2010). Effective sales force automation and customer relationship management. [New York, N.Y.] (222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017): Business Expert Press.
Churchill, G., Ford, N., & Walker, O. (1985). Sales force management. Homewood, Ill.: R.D. Irwin.
Shim, J. (2012). Sales management. Cranbrook: Global Professional Publishing.
Zoltners, A., Sinha, P., & Zoltners, G. (2001). The complete guide to accelerating sales force performance. New York: AMACOM.
