Sales and Operations Planning Analysis

This assignment delves into the critical role of Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) in enhancing manufacturing operational performance. It requires an analysis of various research papers and a case study exploring the alignment between sales and operations functions within a supply chain context. The goal is to understand how effective S&OP practices contribute to improved operational outcomes.

Sales Planning and Operations

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
LO 1.1 How personal selling supports promotion mix................................................................1
LO 1.2 Buyer behavior and decision making process in different situations..............................3
LO 1.3 Role of sales team in marketing strategy.........................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
LO 3.1 How sales strategies are developed in line with corporate objectives............................5
LO 3.2 Importance of recruitment and selection procedures......................................................7
LO 3.3 Role of motivation, remuneration and training in sales management.............................8
LO 3.4 How sales management organizes sales activity and sales output..................................9
LO 3.5 Use of database in effective sales management............................................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
LO 4.1 Sales plan for Makeup – Avon Color............................................................................11
LO 4.2 Investigating opportunities to sell internationally.........................................................13
LO 4.3 Investigating opportunities for using exhibitions or trade fairs....................................15
COCNLUSION..............................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Components of Promotion Mix........................................................................................2
Figure 2: BCG Matrix- Avon..........................................................................................................6
LIST OF TABES
Table 1: Sales Plan.........................................................................................................................12
Table 2: PESTLE Analysis............................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Selling is an integral part of working of a business organization. For an enterprise to be
successful, a lot of attention has to be paid towards selling aspect. It is important also from view
point that it is one of the areas where firm gets an opportunity to interact with customers and
build relations with them (Calvin, 2004). Today a lot of changes and developments have
happened in sales scenarios, mainly due to rise of internet based platforms like e-commerce. This
has forced companies to develop new ways to sell their products and/or services.
The present report consists of a sales plan that Avon, a leading cosmetics company.
Through discussions have been made in the report explaining concept of personal selling, how it
fits within company’s overall marketing strategy. Different selling stages also have been
explained in the report. A sales presentation for Avon has been made in the essay that essentially
aims at enabling company’s management to improve its sales performance and thus improve its
standing in the market. Additionally an analysis has been made in the report that explains ways
to develop sales strategies in accordance with the corporate objectives of Avon.
TASK 1
LO 1.1 How personal selling supports promotion mix
Promotion can be defined as a process of interacting and communicating with target
customers. Firms can reach out to the customers and inform them about products and/or services
offered. There are five main components of promotion: advertising, personal selling, direct
marketing, sales promotion, and public relations (Jobber and Lancaster, 2003). Personal selling
is a tool of promotion mix. For any company to use elements of promotion effectively in its
marketing strategy, then it has to pay a lot of attention to personal selling. It is a tool where a
company representative or sales person reaches out to and interact with the customers and
provides them information about products and/or services of the firm. Companies use it as a
method to build and maintain relations with customers as well as to understand their opinions.
1

Figure 1: Components of Promotion Mix
There are various types of personal selling techniques. It includes likes of personal and
impersonal communication, push-pull strategies, etc. The main objective of using personal
selling is two-fold. One of them is to build relations with target customers; while the other one is
to increase sales and improve efficiency of marketing strategy used by the firm (Schwartz, 2006).
Various studies and practical examples have proved that personal selling has a major role in
successful use of promotion mix and marketing tactics of an organization. Promotion mix works
at a larger level, while personal selling develops one-on-one relations with customers. This
means personal selling is a bridge between company and customers. Therefore impact that it has
on promotional mix is significant (Oliva and Watson, 2011).
A good promotion mix includes different elements of personal selling. For instance,
Avon, promotion mix uses both push and pull strategies to sell its cosmetic products to
customers. To ‘push’ the product, company provided incentives and bonuses to its existing sales
agents to hire more people and train them to sell the products. Similarly to attract the customers,
technique of door-to-door selling was used, where they had to visit the client and give a
demonstration of product(s) to them. This developed a positive image of company in the market
that eventually enabled it to build a large customer base and become one of the leading firms in
cosmetics industry (Grimson and Pyke, 2007).
2
Advertising Personal
Selling
Direct
Marketing
Sales
Promotion
Public
Relations

LO 1.2 Buyer behavior and decision making process in different situations
Understanding buyer behavior and decision making process of a customer is an integral
part of personal selling. A sales person must understand how people make decisions and the
various factors that affect their behavior while buying goods from them (Feng, D’Amours and
Beauregard, 2008). Essentially there are two different situations in which buyer behavior and
decision making process of the customers differ – repeat buy and new buy. People or the
customers would behave differently in different situations. Thus for sales people and marketing
manager at Avon it is important that they understand these circumstances as well as behavior and
decision making process used by the customers. Various factors influence buyer behavior. They
can be categorized as personal, social, psychological, cultural, environmental, etc. (Thomé and
et. al, 2012). For management at Avon it is important that they evaluate all these factors to
understand the way customers behave while making a purchase decision.
Cultural factors includes elements such as perception, learned values, needs and desires,
etc. They are related to surrounding environment of the customers such as their family, friends.
On other hand, personal factors are directly associated with the concerned individual. Personality
factors like traits, educational qualifications, character, age, gender, etc. affect the way people
behave while buying Avon’s products (Affonso, Marcotte and Grabot, 2008). For instance, since
it is a cosmetics company, men would never make a purchase decision, simply because they have
no knowledge about such products; but women will decide by thoroughly searching for desired
product.
Similarly, numerous factors influence customer’s decision making process. Here aspects
such as motivation, perception, knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes are critical. If an individual is
motivated, i.e. either there is an urgent requirement of a particular product or if she likes a good,
then their purchase decision would be skewed, as they will want to purchase the product(s)
anyhow (Katz and Green, 2009). Therefore it can be said that motivation levels have a
substantial impact on decision making process of the customers. The following points explains
the two situations and factors affecting buyer behavior and decision making process.
 New Buy: Here a customer buys product(s) from company for the first time. In this
situation their behavior can be classified as very curious in nature. This means they
would ask a lot of questions and will have numerous doubts (Thomé and et. al, 2012).
Further they will also not be very clear about which product of Avon can satisfy their
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need/demand. Thus they will heavily depend on the sales person for proper advice.
Similarly, they will also try to prolong their decision, so that they can collect substantial
information on the product. This means they might not take a decision right away.
 Repeat Buy: It is a situation where the customer has previous experience with the
company, meaning that they have purchased good(s) from the company previously. Here
the customers are confident as they have complete knowledge and information about their
needs and different products that can fulfill these demands (Milliken, 2008). Decision
making process would be short, as the customers have belief on company that it would
provide quality products.
LO 1.3 Role of sales team in marketing strategy
Marketing strategy is a crucial part of working of any business organization. It needs to
be managed and used in an efficient and effective manner, so that company can obtain the
maximum benefits from it and thus sustain for longer in the market. A marketing strategy can be
successful only when the sales team performs well (Cecere, 2015). Therefore it can be said that
the role of sales team in a marketing strategy is critical. This is mainly because of reason that
people from this group are the ones who contact and develop relations with customers. In many
cases they are the first individuals whom customers contact for any query or complaint.
Therefore management at Avon needs to manage its sales team as efficiently as possible to make
the marketing strategy successful.
In this regard, understanding personal selling is very important (Chen-Ritzo, 2010). It is a
process where in an individual working in sales team of the company contacts and meets with
potential customers, interacts with them and develops a relationship with them that eventually is
for benefit of the organization itself. There are various kinds of personal selling techniques like,
personal and impersonal communication, push-pull strategies, etc. Role of sales team in
marketing strategy can be explained through fact that they are the ones who develop and
maintain relationships with customers (Lapide, 2007). They act as a bridge between customers
and the company. Furthermore, since such groups have direct contact with the clients they can
easily identify demands and complaints of the customers. They can provide vital information and
details to the marketing team and help them develop effective strategies that can be useful in
attracting customers. Cosmetics industry is a constantly evolving one and to sustain in market it
is important that companies also develop their product lines and operations. In such situations the
4

sales team can also act as a change agent who would make the customers understand and like
new product(s) of Avon and develop as well as maintain a reputable image of company in the
market (Russell and Taylor, 2008).
TASK 2
Covered in PPT
TASK 3
LO 3.1 How sales strategies are developed in line with corporate objectives
Corporate objectives can be defined as a set of targets that demonstrate intent of the
company as well as provides information about future activities. On the other hand sales strategy
is a part of the overall marketing strategy and is associated with selling of products and/or
services offered by the organization (Miller, 2012). It is an important tactic especially from view
point that it helps company in obtaining edge over the competition, if it is planned and carried
out properly. For management at Avon it is important to ensure that the sales strategy is in line
with the corporate objectives. In order to do so, management of the company need to understand
objective(s) of the firm and then communicate the same to marketing and sales team. To achieve
its corporate growth strategy, the corporate works in several various products and the market
areas. Sales strategy is emphasized at corporate level where emphasizes is laid on market
segmentation, targeting and positioning (Jacobs and Chase, 2008).
There are various ways that can be used to develop sales strategies can be developed
according to corporate objectives. One of them is the BCG Matrix. It is a tool that classifies
organization’s portfolio or the products into four different categories – stars, cash cows, question
marks and dogs. Stars have the highest share of market and high growth rate (Mula and et. al,
2010). On the other hand, cash cows, as the name describes generate a lot of cash for the
company, meaning that their market share is high, but growth rate is low. Question mark
products are the ones which have the potential to become either cash cow or star, because their
growth rate is high but they do not have a big market share.
BCG Matrix of Avon is presented as below.
5

G
r
o
w
t
h
R
a
t
e
Market Share
Star: Skincare
Cash Cow: Hair
Care
Question Mark:
Makeup –
Avon Colour
Dog: Makeup –
Simply Pretty
Figure 2: BCG Matrix- Avon
On basis of the above analysis it can be said that Skincare products are at focus of
business strategies at Avon, while the company earns money through its hair care products.
Makeup – Avon Color have a great future ahead, as these products have a significant growth
rate, but company now needs to focus more on marketing and selling the product so that its
market share can be increased (Perreau, 2015). This way it can be turned into a cash cow and
then star for Avon Inc. But it’s Simply Pretty Makeup products have lost the market share as
well as growth rate. Since mission of the company is to be the global leader in cosmetics
6

industry, it needs to develop a strategy that helps in increasing sales of Avon Color while
maintaining performance shown by both skin care and hair care products.
LO 3.2 Importance of recruitment and selection procedures
Selection and recruitment are another very important part of working of business
organizations. They need to be used and managed in such a manner that helps firm to develop a
large pool of talent and enhance overall productivity of the company itself (Nahmias and Cheng,
2009). They are a way to hire new people at workplace. Following is a sample job description
position of sales executive at Avon Inc.
7
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Title: Sales Executive
Department: Retail Sales
Reporting to: Sales Manager
Job Purpose: To undertake sales and customer service duties required to operate Avon Inc.
stores, and be responsible for shelf filling and the overall presentation of the
store.
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Operating the cash till efficiently, ensuring that all money received are correctly
registered.
2. To serve customers courteously and efficiently ensuring that highest standards of customer
service are met at all times.
3. Monitoring stock on shelves, filling to the required standards and assisting with stock
counts.
4. Ensuring that all products and displays are maintained to the highest standards of customer
satisfaction and legal requirements.
HOURS OF WORK
A minimum of two shifts per week, days will vary and will include evenings and weekends.
DURATION OF CONTRACT

Similarly below is person specification for the job of sales executive as mentioned above.
There are various sources to conduct recruitment and selection. But essentially they can
be divided into two categories: internal and external. Internal sources includes the likes of
transfers, promotions, present employees, etc. while people are recruited through external
sources like job advertisements, employment exchanges, schools, colleges, recommendations of
existing employees (Wang, 2010). On basis of the above discussion it can be concluded that
recruitment and selection is an important process for Avon Inc. mainly because it gives company
the ability to expand its human resource base that eventually will help it to sustain for longer in
the market, along with increasing productivity, efficiency and overall effectiveness. Finding the
right person for a job is critical as it helps in laying down foundation of success for the company.
Thus recruitment and selection is very important for Avon Inc. (Tang and Perevalov, 2008).
LO 3.3 Role of motivation, remuneration and training in sales management
Motivation, remuneration, training and development are critical for the said cosmetics
company, largely because they all focus on improving employee performance and making them
more productivity so that their contribution to organizational goals can be increased (Wang, Li
and O’brien, 2009). Motivation is a process where morale level of employees is increased by
encouraging them by way of giving them some or the other kinds of benefits, either monetary or
non-monetary. There are numerous theories and tools of motivation. Some of them are listed as
below:
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PERSON SPECIFICATION
Skills and Specifications
 Ability to speak, write and read English language.
 Able to work alone, without supervision.
 Solid problem solving skills.
 Time Management
 Initiator.
Educational Qualifications
 Bachelor’s degree, preferably in marketing. Other fields can also apply.

 Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory
 Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory
 Hawthrone Effect
 Expectancy Theory
 Theory X and Theory Y
Over the years there have been numerous studies and investigations on the subject matter
that have explained that motivation theories are critical for any business organization, regardless
of the industry it may be a part of (Thomé, 2014). By motivating the employees, management at
Avon Inc. essentially would encourage them either financially or non-financially to work better
and focus on improving their performance. This in turn would enable the firm to function
effectively and accomplish its goals and objectives. There are a large number of ways in which
employees can be motivated. Techniques such as financial incentives, promotions, bonuses,
training and development, commission based remuneration, etc. can be used by the cosmetics
firm (Donmez, 2011). If employees are motivated, then they would perform to the best of their
abilities and they will be loyal to the company. It can be extremely beneficial for the firm, as it
would reap positive results in the long run. Similarly remuneration and training and development
are also some very important aspects in sales management. Remuneration can be defined as
monetary benefits that employee get because of performing as per organizational guidelines and
standards. Training and development is related to imparting knowledge to sales employees to
perform better (D'Amours, Rönnqvist and Weintraub, 2008).
The company can manage its sales team in an effective manner by paying attention to
these three aspects. They are critical in managing sales effectively. If these are managed
properly, then appropriate and adequate training can be given to the sales team, along with
giving them bonuses and incentives on basis of their performance that ultimately would motivate
them to perform even better. This way reputable image of company can be developed in the
market, along with making it sustainable (Mentzer, Stank and Esper, 2008).
LO 3.4 How sales management organizes sales activity and sales output
It is very important that sales activities and outputs are closely monitored and managed
by the company to obtain best possible result(s). There are many ways to manage these aspects.
Sales budgets, performance standards, measuring performance against set standards, appraisals,
self-development plans, etc. can be used by management at Avon Inc.
9

By using sales budgets, performance standards the sales personnel can increase and
manage their sales in an effective manner (Mostert, 2006). It would help the management as well
as the employees in understanding requirement(s) of the organization and developing ways to
fulfill them. Sales budgets would provide information on amount of money that company would
spend on activities related to sales. The more money is allocated to this department in the budget,
the more sales activities would be performed by sales teams in the company. This way
management can control sales output and thus focus on meeting its goals and objectives (Mestry,
Damodaran and Chen, 2011). Furthermore budgets will enable management to exercise control
over conduct of sales personnel, thus controlling their sales activities. Budgets can also be
helpful in terms that it would provide information on training and development of the sales
personnel as well. The more training they are given, the better their performance can be
(Schwartz, 2006).
Performance standards are also an effective way to control the sales activities and
outputs. At Avon Inc. certain criteria are set, on basis of which performance of employees is
measured. This gives the management clear information about effectiveness and efficiency of the
sales activities, along with identifying different ways in which it can be improved. These
standards usually are in the form of targets (Thomé and et. al, 2012). Sales personnel have to
fulfill these targets in a given time period. This way management controls activities and ways
that employees use to sell products and thus the sales output as well. Furthermore, use of this
method enables authorities to focus on activities that will help in improving sales performance of
the company in the future. In addition to this, Avon also uses a tool known as self-development
plans. Here the employees have to measure their own performance and conduct a SWOT
(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis. After this they have to develop a self-
development plan, in which they state different activities they need to undertake to overcome the
weaknesses and threats (Lapide, 2007).
LO 3.5 Use of database in effective sales management
Data is a crucial aspect of sales management. It can be defined as information pertaining
to organizational goals, customer, etc. For Avon Inc. such a type of data can be of great
importance, largely because of reason that it will help the management on various levels and
focus on improving firm’s performance (Mula and et. al, 2010). In today’s competitive
environment it is very important that companies keep comprehensive and detailed information
10

about customers they serve. Such an information can be very beneficial for the company in long
run, because using it management can develop strategies that would satisfy the customers and
help company to gain their loyalty. Further it is also useful in terms that companies can develop
and maintain relationships with the customers. There are many ways to build and manage such
database. But one of the widely used system is Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
software. Sales Force Automation (SFA) is a part of the CRM (D'Amours, Rönnqvist and
Weintraub, 2008). It is a technique of using software to automate the business tasks of sales,
including order processing, contact management, information sharing, inventory monitoring and
control, order tracking, customer management, sales forecast analysis and employee performance
evaluation. SFA packages mainly include a web-ready database, an e-mail package and
customizable templates. It is a three tiered architecture that is used to separate the database,
server and application to reduce programming demands on clients (Calvin, 2004). One of the
main advantages of using SFA Tools is that it makes employee performance even more efficient
and effective; along with helping in developing and maintaining closer relationships with
customers. Through such a database, the sales personnel can contact customers, review their past
purchases, complaints with the firm. This way they can get a better understanding about
demand(s) of the customers and determine appropriate ways to approach them and pitch and sell
products to them.
TASK 4
LO 4.1 Sales plan for Makeup – Avon Color
A sales plan can be defined as a type of business and marketing plan. It is concerned with
developing ways to make sales process simpler yet effective, yielding positive results for the
company in long run and making it more sustainable in market. It is a roadmap designed and
developed to give sales team at Avon direction through specific targets and goals. A sales plan
can focus on long term goals as well as short term objectives (Oliva and Watson, 2011). Before
developing a sales plan it is important that sales forecast be done and assumptions are made. This
way informed and comprehensive sales plan can be developed by the management at Avon Inc.
Sales plan for selling Makeup – Avon Color should be able to provide answers to following
questions:
 What is the business going to change?
11

 What steps are involved?
 What regions and objectives the business will give to each sales personnel and/or teams?
 What is the business going to be focused on?
Furthermore a sales plan must also be ethically and socially responsible. This means the
plan must not contain any element that might give the company unfair advantage over other
firms in the industry by way of using fraudulent and malpractices (Grimson and Pyke, 2007). An
ethical sales plan would help the management to carry out its sales activities in an efficient and
effective manner that essentially will help it in fulfilling its goals and objectives in the long run.
Following is a sales plan for Makeup – Avon Colors in London region.
Table 1: Sales Plan
SALES PLAN FOR LONDON
Vision Increase market share from 42% to 50%
Increase global market share from 28% to
35%
Mission To be the first preference of makeup products.
Objectives  Develop a new advertisement
campaign with the goal of increasing
brand recognition.
 Meet or exceed quarterly sales target
of £150 million.
 Monitor competitor activities to learn
about strategies employed by them to
attract and sell their products to
customers.
Market Research  Carry out a market research every 3
weeks. This will help in acquiring new
and fresh data about company’s
performance as well as various other
developments in the market.
 Re-evaluating market segments.
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 Identify gap(s) in market demands and
supply.
Timescale 1 year (November 2016 – November 2017)
Budget 5% of last year’s budget.
Implementation strategies  Use of CRM database systems like
SFA, for obtaining feedback on
products.
 Developing and training new sales
teams.
 Appointing a sales supervisor with
every sales teams.
 Imparting training to every sales
personnel.
 Weekly and monthly meetings to
review sales performance
 Evaluation of data every 3 weeks.
The sales plan, as presented above will have to be evaluated on a regular basis. This way
management can assess performance of the sales teams and identify any deviation from the
original objective. In this way it may not be wrong to say that with passage of time, both major
and minor changes would be made to the sales plan to make it suitable to market conditions. It
will have to be put under a lot of scrutiny and monitoring. Then only it can be controlled and
optimum results can be obtained.
LO 4.2 Investigating opportunities to sell internationally
For the cosmetics firm to sustain in the market, it needs to sell the makeup product at
international level and not just in London. This will give the company an international exposure,
which in turn will increase its sales and customer base (Chen-Ritzo, 2010). There are several
opportunities to expand at the global level. Operating in the international market has become a
lot simpler nowadays due to liberalization. Companies operate in more than two countries. This
13

way their profits can be increased and make it sustainable. Rise of internet has made it easier to
function at the international level.
There are a number of steps, in order to start selling the product internationally that Avon
Inc. will have to carry out. The first step is a very basic one. It is related to identifying the nation
that company wishes to sell its products in (Russell and Taylor, 2008). This can be done by way
of conducting a market research at the international level. This decision will have to be taken in
regards to cultural, economic, and political and market condition in target country. The company
will have to keep in mind the following points:
 Cultural and language differences
 Economic and political policy of the target country
 Tariffs and/or trade barriers on the product
One of the ways to make process of expanding internationally is to conduct a PESTLE
analysis of target nation. In the following table PESTLE (political, economic, social,
technological, legal and environmental) analysis of France (target country for Makeup – Avon
Color) is presented.
Table 2: PESTLE Analysis
Political Factor  Stable political environment
 Widening gap between rich and poor
class of people
 Tight administrative control
Economic Factor  Better economic condition
 GDP real growth rate has increased
from 0.3% to 8% from 2008 to 2009
 Unemployment rate has increased
from 7.4% in 2008 to 9.7% in 2009
Social Factor  Age structure is largely between 15-64
years (65% of total population)
 Avon Inc can target a lot of young and
middle aged people, the main targets
 Literacy rate is 99%, meaning that
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language must not be a barrier
Technological Factor  Excellent scientific and technological
environment
 4th industrial power
 France spends 22% of its GDP for
technology development
Environmental Factor  Forest covers 30% of total land of
France
 Greenery is found in abundance in the
country
 78% of energy products is nuclear
power
Legal Factor  Strict employment laws
 Written employment contracts are
mandatory
 Current tax rate is 19.6%
On basis of the above PESTLE analysis of France, it can be said that Avon Inc. can
expand its operations in the region. Political, economic and social situation in the country are
very conducive and it would help the firm to expand and establish its operations in France (Tang
and Perevalov, 2008). This way it can cement its position as a leading cosmetics company in
France region.
LO 4.3 Investigating opportunities for using exhibitions or trade fairs
Trade fairs and exhibitions some very good and useful platforms for a company to
showcase or present its products to the community. By using this method to promote its
products, Avon Inc. can develop database of potential customers and increase its clientele base as
well. Management at the cosmetics firm will have to ensure that the trade fairs and exhibitions
are in line with the corporate objectives (Mentzer, Stank and Esper, 2008). In London fashion
shows are organized on a regular basis. It can be a very good way for Avon to showcase its
makeup products. Further, many more trade fairs and exhibitions are organized at both national
15

and international level. Beauty contests are also a constant thing in the country. These will help
the company to reach to more number of customers with its makeup products and try to attract
them. Some of the trade shows organized in London are Professional Beauty London, Beauty
UK, World Modelling Convention (WMC), Salon International, Premiere Birmingham Beauty
Show, etc. Main objective of company for participating in these shows must be to advertise and
promote its make products to potential clients and to build a customer base, which can be used
by the marketing and sales teams later on to develop their strategies (Perreau, 2015).
COCNLUSION
Sales planning are a critical part of working of any enterprise, regardless of the market or
industry it may be involved in. The present report focused on preparing a sales plan for Avon
Inc’s, a leading cosmetics company. During the analysis it was observed that personal selling is
an integral part of promotion mix for the company, largely because of reason that it simplifies
the promotion process and makes it even more effective. It can be supported through fact that
people from sales team reach out to and interact with customers on a daily basis. The information
they provide to marketing teams cannot be matched with data collected through different market
research processes and systems. They also help in developing and maintaining close
relationships with the customers. The report also explained different ways in which sales
strategies are developed in line with corporate objectives at Avon Inc. To do so the management
uses tools such as BCG Matrix analysis to obtain comprehensive information about performance
of different products of the company. A sales plan for London also has been prepared and
presented in the report.
16

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