Product Line
Due to the increased demand for natural beauty products in Thailand, Diva sales company was recently established to sale and distributes natural beauty products in Bangkok. The demand for natural skin care products has seen unprecedented increase over the past few years. The natural beauty products have gained immense popularity due to their high safety margins as compared to the synthetic products. The many side effects associated with synthetic beauty products have forced consumers to look for the natural alternatives. As a result, many leading brands have “come up with a range of natural care products and herbal treatments”. The Diva natural beauty products will source products from different manufacturers to distribute and sale them in Bangkok. The following is a plan on how the various sales activities will be carried out to establish and run a natural beauty products business in Bangkok, Thailand.
The consultative personnel selling process
The Diva natural beauty products will be sold using various methods. First, prices for the range of natural beauty products will be established by evaluating the cost of acquiring the products and the prices offered by the existing competitors in the market (Flybjerg, Skamris and Buhi 133). A catalog will be prepared and given to the sales representatives who will then go round to advertise and sale the products to various outlets. The sales will be instructed to use the ABC (Always be closing) approach in closing sales (Eric, Ford and Bornstein 12). This will ensure that they are constantly reminded of their objective of aiming to close sales.
Sales objectives
- Develop an efficient sales force within the first after launching the business
- To double the number of high potential customers in every two months in the initial year of establishing the natural beauty product sales business
- Identify and focus on the most requested products within the first six months after launching the business
- Gain a competitive advantage over other market players within the first year of business.
Before the natural beauty products are launched in the market, extensive market research will be conducted to identify; other market players, product preferences, the prevailing market conditions, the rules and regulations regarding the sale of beauty products in Thailand, labor costs and the general cost of running such a business. After all collection of all the above information, the company will embark on a market entry strategy that will ensure that it gains a sizable chunk of the market within the first six months. Many avenues will be explored, though the company will emphasize on price reduction and extensive advertising activities.
Developing and managing the sales force
Organizing the sales force
The sales force will provided with specific guidance on the responsibilities that are required of them. First, the sales personnel will be required to understand the value of natural beauty products in order to pass the same information to customers and clients (Flybjerg, Skamris and Buhi 140). Training sessions will be organized to ensure that the sales personnel are conversant with the range of natural beauty products being offered by the company.
Team selling will be encouraged so as to tap into all the strengths of different sale persons. Though competition among sales team can be beneficial to the company, they will be encouraged to keep in touch in order to motivate each other (Eric, Ford and Bornstein 25). Each individual in the sales team will be required to keep records on their actual sales in spreadsheets for evaluation. Follow up meetings will be held every week to determine the progress of the different members of the sales team (Flybjerg, Skamris and Buhi 142).
The sales team will be composed of highly energetic and motivated individuals who can represent the business in the best way possible (Eric, Ford and Bornstein45). The sales personnel will be required to establish good working relationships with each other, clients and customers. They will be required to have a prior knowledge of how to present, sale and close natural beauty products.
The packages for compensating the sales force will be competitively established in order to provide adequate incentive hem to give their best (Flybjerg, Skamris and Buhi 143). Compensation for the sales force will be established in relation to a number of factors. A standard performance level will be established and used to gauge the performance of the sales personnel to determine the base salary to be given. The company intends to offer higher pay rates to exemplary performers in order to retain them. The compensation package will however be more focused on commissions rather the salary for the purpose of motivating the sales people to spend more time selling and booking new orders (Flybjerg, Skamris and Buhi 143).
Performance assessment will be based on competence and behavior. The competence and assessment data will be recorded for every individual in the sales force and will be used to compare output between different individuals. The assessment data for the highest sales performer will be used benchmark and identify performance improvement opportunities for the rest of the team (Flybjerg, Skamris and Buhi 155). Sales persons who persistently show poor performance will be sacked from the company.
Sales Forecasting
Sales forecasting will be done using a two methods: first, the number of natural beauty products consumers will be approximated in specific locations, for instance within a radius of one mile. The number of competitors in the area will also be established. Then the amount of money they can spend annually will be estimated and divided among the companies doing the same business depending on the market share. Secondly, forecasting will be done according to the type of natural beauty products that are offered (Eric, Ford and Bornstein 57). The gross sales for every product per day will be established and multiplied by 30 to determine the monthly sales. Using this method, the revenues for every product will be easily established for a forecasted period of time.
Establishing sales territories
In order to establish sales territories, other companies that are dealing in the same natural beauty products in Bangkok will be identified at the beginning of the sales activity. Competition from the synthetic beauty products will also be evaluated. More importantly, the business atmosphere for natural beauty products will be evaluated, for instance, the differences in purchasing power. The sales representatives will be trained on how to build positive relationships with customers so as to ensure that come back to the Diva natural beauty products. Contacts will be established with retailers who are eager to sale our product rangers. A strategy will be developed to ensure that established customers are offered incentives that will make them come back with their friends or inform other people about us. An efficient contact system will be established and managed with our clients.
Budgeting and quotas
The budget for the natural beauty products business venture will be based on the total expenditures to be incurred in setting up the business, the operational costs and the income from projected sales. The budget for the revenue and expenses will be developed to the last detail in order to reflect the actual operations (Eric, Ford and Bornstein 67). The budget for the salaries will be based on a monthly wage paid to the workforce that will chiefly consist of sales personnel. Other major components of the expenditure budget will be: monthly lease for the rented premise; insurance quotas; expenses for utilities such as water and electricity; telephone expenses; transportation expenses (Flybjerg, Skamris and Buhi 145). The revenue from sales will be estimated by taking the forecasted sales of each unit in a given period of time.
The expenses will be controlled by the following activities: First by encouraging the sales personnel and other staff members to be cost effective; secondly, substantial amount of finances will be recovered by using cost effective means of transport to move the sales personnel from one place to another; the employees will be encouraged to work in teams in order to efficiently use available resources.
Leadership model
A bass leadership model will be adopted in the Diva natural beauty products sales. Using the bass leadership theory, emphasis will placed trait, crisis and learning. Thus as the leader of the natural beauty sales business I will be required to ensure that proper attitudes and behaviors are withheld in the sales force (Eric, Ford and Bornstein 102).
Works cited
Eric, Siegel, Brian Ford and Jay Bornstein. The Ernest and Young Business Plan Guide. New York: John Wiley , 2003. Print.
Flybjerg, Bent, Mette Skamris and Soren Buhi. “How accurate aredemand forecasts.” Journal of the American Planning Associations (2005): 71:131-146. Print.