Sales Management: Cloverfield Case Study

Introduction

Cloverleaf plc is an established UK-based supplier of bottling plant used in production lines to transport and fill bottles. One of the main strengths the organisation has is their technology. The technological benefit they have allows them to fill the bottles 10% quicker than their competitors with equal accuracy. Therefore this will save customers a lot of time and cost. Cloverleaf also discovered that their product was more reliable than any of their competitors. In addition, customers would benefit from further cost saving as the product was more reliable. Time wastage would be minimised for the buyer. This is a major competitive advantage for Cloverleaf over their competitors. Having a superior product than competitors should increase sales, if marketed and processed correctly.

Analysis

Cloverleaf failed expectations in the European market. With a potential 1000 customers only three units had been sold in two years, sales were low. So why was this?

Cloverleaf invested in sending five employees to Europe to drive sales. These included ones sales manager who was in charge of three sales people and a technical specialist. One sales person was placed in France the other in Germany and the third around the Benelux countries. The technical specialist was available to clear up any specific technical questions with potential customers.

One particular deal that was unsuccessful was with Commercial S.A.

Commercial S.A. is a Marseille based bottling company, who produce a number of key soft drink brands. They also have a reputation for technical excellence and innovation. Commercial S.A. required a new bottling line as a result of their expansion. This seemed like an ideal potential customer for Cloverleaf, as they provide a leading technical product that could be desired by Commercial S.A.

Commercial S.A. controllers purchases through a DMU. A decision making unit which compromises of a few selected senior employees