Sales & Operations Planning in Practice

This assignment delves into the practical application of Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) in various business contexts. It requires an analysis of numerous academic articles focusing on S&OP implementation, its challenges, benefits, and impact on supply chains. The emphasis is on understanding diverse industry applications, including fashion retail, food production, and pharmaceutical supply chains. Students are expected to synthesize insights from the provided readings and demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of S&OP's role in effective business operations.

SALES PLANNING AND OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Stating the ways through personal selling at Enviro-Cars Ltd supports other promotional
activities......................................................................................................................................1
1.2 Comparison of buyer behavior & decision making process in different situations with
reference to Enviro-Cars Ltd.......................................................................................................2
1.3 Analysis of the role of sales team in the overall marketing strategy for Enviro-Cars Ltd....2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
3.1 State the ways through which sales strategies can be aligned with corporate objectives.....3
3.2 Stating the importance of recruitment and selection procedure for Plastic Products Ltd.....3
3.3 Evaluating the role of motivation at Plastic Products Ltd & utilization of remuneration and
training as a motivation tools within the sales management.......................................................4
3.4 Ways through which Plastic Products Ltd can organize sales activities to control sales
output...........................................................................................................................................4
3.5 Ways through which sales management can be supported by the use of databases.............5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................5
4.2 Investigate opportunities for selling internationally the products in emerging market........5
4.3 Investigate opportunities for using exhibitions and trade fairs in emerging market.............6
4.1 Develop a sales plan for a product category of Currys for emerging market.......................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
References .......................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Sales is the major operational activity within the organization that require effective
planning to integrate the entire business process. In such activity, all the executives and
employees continually achieves direction, alignment and synchronization of all the functions
(Weber and Bahr, 2015). The present report discusses about the role of selling with the adoption
of overall marketing strategy for the business unit. Further, the principles of selling process are
applied which will help to understand the roles and objectives of the sales management.
Moreover, sales plan are prepared to process the entire sales activities for the product and
services.
TASK 1
1.1 Explain how personal selling at Enviro-Cars Ltd supports other promotional activities
Personal selling helps the organization to acquire large area for the purpose to develop
sales. Perhaps, there are certain issues that are associated with Enviro-Cars Ltd related to selling
of cars manufactured by them (Ross, 2015). Therefore, it needs to be handled in a proper manner
so that the issues are resolved and the sales of Enviro-Cars Ltd increases. Personal selling is the
major component of the promotional strategies which help in influencing the behaviour of the
buyer in making the purchase decision. Enviro-Cars Ltd can adopt promotional strategy to
enhance the sales and cater the needs of customers. Besides this, Enviro-Cars Ltd needs to adopt
the effective ways through which they can promote personal selling of their cars. There are
various ways in the cited firm can promote the personal selling (Chen and Huddleston, 2000).
They are stated as below:
 In order to promote the sales of the cars, Enviro-Cars Ltd can hire the competent
manpower into the sales team. They are required to recruit more candidates with the chief
aim of increasing sales margin of the cars sold. Through this, the sales will be promoted
as the competent manpower will make an effective publicity of cars manufactured by
them (Bozarth and Handfield, 2015).
 The sales team would be able to influence the buyer’s behaviour with the purpose of
making purchase and meeting the promotional strategies of personal selling.
For instance- personal selling is the technique which integrates all the elements of
marketing mix while selling and distributing the products at market place. In personal selling,
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sales agent of the company sells the products to the customers through visiting them at their
place which states that the company is highly concerned about customer convenience. Major
emphasis here is given on adequate promotion and service delivery; therefore this shows the
integration of personal selling with product and place mix.
1.2 Compare buyer behaviour & decision making process in different situations with reference to
Enviro-Cars Ltd
Behaviour of the buyer is directly related with the process of decision making. This is
adapted to determine the needs and wants in context to make the purchase of the product and
services. There are different situations which influence the buyer’s behaviour such as:
Lack of trust: Enviro-Cars Ltd is a private firm which operates at small scale thereby
requires building up trust in the mind of the customers to influence their behaviour for car
purchasing (Reuter, 2015). Hence, the business to customer relationship will be established in an
effectual manner.
Preference of people: Buyers are more conscious about the product that they are buying
as they are passionate towards the purchase of more efficient one. Enviro-Cars Ltd needs to
manufacture the fuel efficient cars which help the buyer to make quick decisions regarding car
purchasing (Nahmias and Olsen, 2015).
Poor customer services: Enviro-Cars Ltd needs to hire competent and trained employees
so that they are able to avoid the situation of poor customer service. Through this, Enviro-Cars
Ltd will be able to trade with the customers in effective manner.
There are different situations on which behaviour of consumer changes regarding the
purchase of products and services.
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Complex buying behaviour: Consumers gives importance to expensive products because
they are more status conscious; hence in this situation, it is vital for the consumers to look for
those products through which self satisfaction can be acquired.
Habitual buying behaviour: Many products are brought under conditions of low
consumer involvement and the absence of significant brand differences. During this situation,
behaviour of consumer changes because they often consider to purchase regular products.
Variety seeking buying behaviour: Behaviour of consumer changes as per the
availability of diverse brands. In this situation, consumer looks for more options so that they can
get appropriate products as per the needs and demands. However, the consumer may reach for
another brand out of boredom or for the purpose of getting different products and services.
1.3 Analyse the role of sales team in the overall marketing strategy for Enviro-Cars Ltd
Sales are the major functional aspect within the organization that helps in generating
funds with the several operational activities. Sales team plays a significant role to market the
products and services of Enviro-Cars Ltd in an effectual form (Meyr, Wagner and Rohde, 2015).
The sales team properly analyze the needs and wants of the buyer and adopt the proper tactics to
market the product to them. With the proper analysis the requirement of the customer towards
the business and vice-versa are allocated in an effective way.
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With the appropriate analysis, sales team can develop proper marketing plan to cater
large group of customers. By effective planning and organizing the entire promotional activities
in a better way will make Enviro-Cars Ltd to attract more and more customers (Alftan and et.al,
2015). This will help in enhancing the overall functioning of Enviro-Cars Ltd and the sales team
will adopt the appropriate marketing strategy to influence the buyer behaviour.
Sales team plays crucial role in assisting the organization to acquire all the aims and
objectives as the team is entitled in delivering quality products and services to the consumers.
Sales team directly communicates with the customers and acquires information about their needs
and demands; therefore it can be said that sales department plays crucial role in managing
organizational growth and prosperity.
TASK 2
(Enclosed in PowerPoint Presentation)
The present study has been made on sales planning and operations which is an important
function of the organization. Gap needs to introduce leather jackets and for that suitable
customer segment needs to be selected. Leather jacket has been selected as a chief product since
Gap prefers to emphasize on fashionable products. The product has been selected so as to meet
fashionable needs of clients.
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This particular segment has been selected because youngsters prefer to wear leather
jackets so as to consider style status. Boys and girls of 17-25 age group are the one who have
school, college and office; therefore the product will be suitable for such age group. The specific
segment will also assist subsequent company to emphasize on adequate sales and revenue
aspects.
High quality will be considered so that quality needs of clients can be fulfilled. Further
leather jackets will be offered on affordable and feasible prices so that middle class people can
also purchase it. Numerous colors have been added for the purpose of acquiring customer's
attention. Subsequent product is durable and it can be used for longer time span; therefore this
might change the purchase decisions of clients.
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Affordable price has been selected because usually middle class people prefers to buy
such products; however due to lack of financial resources, they fail to purchase the same. Hence,
for that aspect, the subsequent company has determined affordable prices and after acquiring
limited market share, price will be increased gradually. This will assist the company to survive in
the market for longer time span.
Promotion is considered as the one of the vital attributes under marketing mix which aids
the business entities to promote the products at market place with effectual marketing strategies.
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Hence, regarding that, Gap needs to advertise the products through diverse sources so that large
number of customers can be persuaded. Television, internet and social media sources are the
appropriate modes through which leather jackets can be promoted.
Application of AIDA model
AIDA model is used in marketing and advertising purpose that describes a list of events
that may occur when a consumer engaged with an advertisement. It is considered as historical
model that gives general understanding regarding the ways to target subsequent market.
 Attention / Attract: Several tools like articles, advertisements and websites can be used to
get attention from customers. Thus, at this stage, company needs to adopt different modes
for persuading the interest of clients.
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 Interest: In order to influence the customers, it is essential for the company to aware
them with suitable promotional messages. Desire: Company needs to convince the customers as per the utility of products and
services; however the product must have the ability to satisfy needs of clients.
 Action: At this stage, consumers make direct purchase of the products on the basis of
specific needs and services.
TASK 3
3.1 Explain how sales strategies can be aligned with corporate objectives in Plastic Products
Sales strategies need to be aligned with corporate strategies of the organization so that all
the products and services can be promoted adequately at the market place. Corporate strategy
gives proper direction to the business and through that, all the operations can be adequately
managed. The corporate objective of Plastic Products Ltd states that the business should sell
quality products so that human efforts can be reduced (Bozarth and Handfield, 2015). At the
same time, it is also essential for the company to integrate the objectives with sales strategies so
that large amount of units can be sold and more profits can be acquired. While selling the
products and services, Plastic Products Ltd has to make sure that information about the products
and services should be adequately distributed to the customers so that they can purchase all the
plastic items in higher quantity.
3.2 Explain why the recruitment and selection procedure are important for Plastic Products Ltd
Recruitment and selection process is vital for Plastic Products Ltd because the company
needs to increase the number of workforce for selling more products and services (Cheung and
Prendergast, 2006). Plastic Products Ltd has been acquiring benefits from the growth in super
markets and this gives the business another opportunity to sell disposable eating utensils to
varied entities. Hence, in such respect, the expansion of sales and outlets encourages the manager
to recruit more people from the same industry. Spencer believes that all the new recruits should
have the experience of selling fast moving consumer goods because the company is entitled in
selling only disposable products (Doğru and Özen, 2015).
Hence, the company has decided to recruit people only from the plastic industry because
those people have the ability to supply and distribute subsequent products to the consumers.
Further, they are also knowledgeable in terms of different languages; hence through this
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customer's issues and constraints can be reduced. Thus, new recruitment and selection procedure
is vital for the company so that demand from the customers can be properly fulfilled. Selection
and Recruitment procedure is imperative because that helps the business entity to recruit only
efficient and talented work pool (Elliott, 2015). Therefore, from the above discussion, it is clear
that recruitment procedure of Plastic Products Ltd is effectual for managing all the work
processes.
Recruitment and selection procedure is important for Plastic Products Ltd since that helps
the business entity to recruit efficient and talented work pool for service management. The
process should be legally concerned so that organizational issues can be reduced. With the help
of recruitment procedure, vacant positions of the organization can be fulfilled. Further, it is also
beneficial because that aids the management to follow a particular process in appointing new
staff for managing all the job roles and responsibilities.
3.3 Evaluate the role of motivation at Plastic Products Ltd. Explain how remuneration and
training can be utilized as a motivation tool within the sales management
Motivation plays crucial for Plastic Products Ltd because through that employees can be
encouraged towards better productivity and overall performance of the organization can be
enhanced through this. Motivation also improves the quality of work processes and it aids people
to develop adequate environment at workplace. Motivation plays significant role in the
organization because it boosts the morale of employees and it also aids them to be with the
organization for longer period (Goh and Eldridge, 2015). Training is necessary within sales
management because through training, new skills and abilities can be developed among the
employees and they can be promoted to sell the products in effectual manner.
Remuneration and training both are important tools for Plastic Products Ltd as through
that the organization can depict the concern towards employee motivation. With the help of
proper remuneration, employee can develop their faith in the organization and as a result, they
can get ready to support the organization at all levels. Remuneration works as a type of
appreciation for the employees and they get encouraged with remuneration which further aids
them to produce prominent results in organizational growth and success (Grete, Noreen and
Susan, 2003).
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3.4 Explain how Plastic Products Ltd can organize sales activities in order to control sales output
While organizing sales event, it is essential for Plastic Products Ltd to set several goals
through that accordingly all the work processes can be managed. Before organizing the event,
skills and abilities should be defined so that sales person can deliver proper services to the clients
(Hansen and Grunow, 2015). Further, sales team must have the ability to comprehend the needs
and demands of clients so that accordingly, services can be delivered to them. Moreover, Plastic
Products Ltd should also emphasize on planning, budgeting and organizing aspects so that every
task can be properly managed.
Budgeting is necessary since that aids the business entity to allocate financial resources in
optimum manner. This is also requisite in terms of managing inflow and outflow of resources.
There should be proper planning about each and every activity so that errors and issues can be
avoided. Plastic Products Ltd should ensure that all the activities are organized and arranged
properly as per the directions specified (Hübner, Holzapfel and Kuhn, 2015). Proper sales budget
always aids in controlling sales output and this also aids the company to reach towards the
desired aims and objectives. This assists Plastic Products Ltd to compare the actual results with
the expected outcomes and on that basis, improvements can be facilitated.
1. There should be proper structure regarding the sales campaign and according to that, all
the activities should be managed.
2. Suitable and fixed amount should be allocated to the campaign so that all the activities
can be managed prominently.
3. There should be continuous monitoring and controlling practices so that deviations and
errors can be found out.
4. Prior implementing the campaign, job roles of every employee should be cleared.
5. The entire process should be time bounded so that it can assist Plastic Products Ltd to
achieve the goals in specific time period.
3.5 Explain how sales management can be supported by the use of databases
Plastic Products Ltd is required to develop database where in all the activities and tasks
should be recorded properly and accurately. Information about past events and other aspects can
be recorded in the database and that should be secured with id and password so that only
authorized person can access it (Ivert and et.al, 2015). Under sales management, database plays
crucial role in recording all the information about number of products that are sold and degree of
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profits that have been acquired. The software is useful for Plastic Products Ltd because through
that valuable information about company's sales and profitability can be recorded (Meyr, Wagner
and Rohde, 2015).
Information recorded in the software can be used for the making strategic business
decisions and through that new plans and strategies can be formulated. Information can also be
collected and recorded regarding actual and expected business position; thus on that basis,
changes can be applied to existing business processes (Nahmias and Olsen, 2015). This is highly
valuable in terms of generating more profits and revenue for the business. Thus, sales
management can be supported by database through focusing on suitable targets and
achievements. Concluding, it can be said that Plastic Products Ltd should emphasize on database
management system for proper recording of activities.
It is an apparent fact that marketing databases do not generate revenue by themselves for
any specific organization; therefore they should be used in an active program of profitability
analysis, customer segmentation, and marketing tactics that can build retention, loyalty and sales
aspects. It ensures in collecting accurate data about the customers and it also develops accurate
and credible system for determining the profitability aspects.
TASK 4
4.2 Investigate opportunities for selling internationally the products in emerging market
Currys is a British electrical retailer operating the business in UK and Ireland and it
specializes in selling home electronics and household appliances with numerous smaller traders
(Norde, Özen and Slikker, 2016). The products and services that Currys sells can be sold to
international customers as well; thus for such purpose the business can also enter into one of the
emerging markets that is in India. Expansion in India will assist Currys to acquire adequate
market share because only few entities are working in this sector. Therefore, competition will be
minimum and opportunities will be higher (Reuter, 2015). Currys will be able to enter
successfully in Indian market because of the stable political and legal scenario. Further, local
competition is not much; therefore Currys will not be facing any sort of competitive issue from
substitute products. Indian culture usually adopts new things coming in the trend; therefore
Currys has the probability to operate business successfully in Indian market place.
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In India, people prefer to purchase convenient products and services; therefore smaller
stores of Currys can be opened in Indian market place and this will also beneficial for the
customers to acquire range of services. Number of supermarkets are also higher in India; thus
Currys can also supply its products to those supermarkets. Further, household appliances can be
sold through retail stores and according to the target market, sales and revenue ratio could be
accelerated (Ross, 2015). Hence, it can be concluded that selling the products in international
market could assist Currys to encourage customer base.
4.3 Investigate opportunities for using exhibitions and trade fairs in emerging market
In India, most of the big brands promote products and services through exhibitions and
trade fairs (Sorensen, 2016). Every year, trade fairs are organized and people visit the place
much. Trade fairs and exhibitions are most common forms of promoting the products in the
market place and through this, attention of customers can be acquired about diverse products.
Thus, in same respect, Currys can also organize such trade fairs and exhibitions where in utility
of household appliances and electrical products can be promoted among the customers.
As per the determined market areas, Currys can organize trade fairs and exhibitions
(Stolze, Mollenkopf and Flint, 2016). At the same time, the business can also promote household
appliances through giving demonstration of each and every product as that will make the
customers understand the utility of appliances. Moreover, India is such a place where in people
prefer to visit more to these fairs and exhibitions; therefore it can be said that opportunities of
profitability are higher when Currys enters in Indian market place. However, chief emphasis is
required to be given towards quality aspects so that business can retain in the subsequent market
place for longer span (Weber and Bahr, 2015).
Date and venue: Every Saturdays and Sundays would be suitable days to organize such
events because in weekends, people do have time to visit diverse places. Crowed places like
malls and shopping streets can be selected to make the customers aware about the existing
products and services.
Cost of participation: The cost of the event would reach around 25,000 rupees since
outlets will be given to visitors. However, all the activities will be conducted according to the
budgets.
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4.1 Develop a sales plan for a product category of Currys for emerging market
Mission: Mission of Currys is to expand the brand in emerging markets for overall
growth and prosperity.
Objectives:
 To sell household appliances in Indian market place
 To spread awareness among the customers regarding appliances of Currys
 To enter into online marketing area
 Increase sales to 5% after six months
 To establish business in more than two different emerging countries
Strategies:
 Emphasizing chiefly on developing sales team to convince more customers.
 Adopting new and different marketing and promotional strategies for capturing market
share in India.
 New products will be introduced in the existing product category for larger market share.
 Existing systems of the business will be improved for customer convenience.
Actions:
 The management of Currys are required to manage demand in all the areas with clear
targets and goals.
 Proper recruitment is required so that new employees can help the company to balance
supply and demand in new market place.
 Adequate sales plans are requisite to be developed so that products can be prominently
promoted at market place.
 Efficient and talented work pool will be selected
 Trade fairs and exhibitions can be organized for the same purpose, where in Currys will
be promoting the products for the customers.
Key performance indicators:
 Monthly all the activities should be monitored
 On the basis of customer loyalty
 By analyzing number of units sold
 Contribution of sales person in meeting company's sales target.
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CONCLUSION
Summing up the entire research study, it can be said that while promoting any product
and service, it is crucial for the organization to formulate specific plan. All the activities and
tasks should be mentioned in the plan and according to the plan, resources should be utilized.
Behavior of customer changes because of many factors; thus at the time of bringing new
products, company should always emphasize on expectations and preferences of clients. Sales
team of any organization plays crucial role in selling the products appropriately at market place;
thus they have to emphasize on developing wide range of skills for company's profitability.
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