PRESENTATION ON SPECTRUM BRANDS, INC.THE SALES FORCE DILEMMA By B. Ravi Theja Raju B. Sudir Kumar Reddy R. Shiva Shankar Swathy Sateesh V. Ajay Kumar V. Sunith Gupta V. Naresh ABOUT BOB FALCONI • Falconi had been involved in the battery business for 27 years, working his first 16 years with Duracell. • He completed his Executive MBA program at the Richard Ivey School of Business in 1990. • He left Duracell in 1995 for a new start-up battery company, Pure Energy Battery Corporation. • He left Pure Energy in 1999 to serve as country manager for Rayovac Canada. • Then taken on the role of vice-president of sales and marketing for Spectrum. present i. year 2009 .e. the Middle East. Europe. • Spectrum brands products were available in over one million stores throughout North America. Asia Pacific.SPECTRUM BRANDS INC. • Different Product Lines Consumer Battery Shaving & Grooming Products Lawn & Garden care Products Specialty Pets Supply . Latin America and Brazil. Africa. . Acquisitions of Spectrum Brands . ACQUISITION . Access to new retailers & ability to gain shelf space. Extended Brand Portfolio. Increased ability for each brand to compete within its given market. Purchasing Power & Operational Processes. 2nd in lawn & garden industries & Shaving & grooming industries 3rd in battery industry .BENEFITS OF ACQUISITIONS • • • • • Leverage Global Distribution Channels. • Position of Spectrum : – – – – 1st in aquatic supplies. CURRENT SALES FORCE STRUCTURE Robert Falconi VP Sales & Marketing 8 Rayovac/Remington Merged Sales People 30 Nu-Gro Separate Sales People Tetra/UPG Distributors 9 . .REAL ISSUES • To create a national sales force from the teams of the newly merged companies. • To immediately implement the plan to avoid disrupting the growth momentum of individual brands and maintain customer relationship. – No efficiency improvements by the use of sales representatives during slower seasonal periods.SALES FORCE OPTIONS Separate sales forces Advantages: – Greater degree of expertise. no expense reduction. – Maintenance of momentum of sales representatives & more focused sales force capable of better consumer services. Disadvantages: – No advantage out of synergies due to mergers. . – Less or no additional training. – Duplication of efforts by sales representatives. Advantages: – Consolidation of existing teams into a smaller unit. Disadvantages: – Difficulty in forming a efficient team. . – Additional training required.Merged Sales Force • Each representative is required to become an expert on all product lines & selling to their specified customers. . Advantages: – Well organized existing relationship with the retailers. Disadvantages: – High service cost almost 15% of the revenue. – Large scale group.Distributors • Provides sales & logistic services in exchange of commission. CASE .STUDY QUESTIONS . Assess the spectrum organization and each of the market in which the company now operates. What are the key elements from each industry about which Falconi should be concerned? Battery Market Shaving and Grooming Products Market Lawn and Garden Market Specialty Pet Supply Market .1. Given the market the company is operating in .2. what is the best structure for the sales force ? How did you decide? National sales Head for all Brands Product Wise Sales Head for different products Area Wise Sales Head Platform Team Managers . 3. What major problems might you encounter with your new sales force structure as it relates to both external factors( customers) and internal factors ( employee reactions ) ? Bigger Sales Force More expensive Co-ordination is required Increase in operations cost . Create an implementation plan for your new sales force structure.4. including how you will deal with the human issues involved? Observe the Sales Force of some Global Companies Appoint the National Sales Head Appoint Managers at Other Levels . Intensive Training at each domain Target Setting Execution Further Improvement in Sales Force . SUGGESTIONS • Can opt for combination of merged sales force & distributors. • To create “Platform Teams”. . business managers responsible for relationship with retailers & product experts support the managers during sales. THANK YOU .