Sales Management Project: Strategies for Tsubi Soup's Growth

This project report focuses on sales management principles and strategies, using Tsubi Soup, a plant-based ready-to-cook soup company, as a case study. It begins with an introduction to sales management and defines its context within the product range, emphasizing the importance of planning, selling, and reporting. The report then delves into the product and service range of Tsubi Soup, highlighting key selling principles and techniques, including digital marketing, fliers, and online advertising. It explores the concept of selling through others, discussing its importance and advantages, and critically analyzes principles and techniques for building customer relationships. Furthermore, the report evaluates the sales structure, assesses implementation strategies, and explains sales strategies for maximizing profitability, making recommendations for improving financial viability and achieving a strategic advantage over competitors. The project concludes with recommendations and a summary of the findings, providing a comprehensive overview of sales management practices applicable to Tsubi Soup's business model.

Project
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
a) Define sales management in context of the product range......................................................3
b) Key principles of sales management that focus upon planning, selling and reporting...........4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
a) An introduction to a range of product and service..................................................................5
b) Key principles and techniques of successful selling...............................................................5
c) Concept of selling through others along with importance and advantages of using sales
technique......................................................................................................................................7
d) Critical analysis of the principle and technique in building customer relationship...............7
e) Evaluate the sales structure of the product range....................................................................7
f) Critically assess the implementation of different sales structure.............................................8
g) Explain sales strategies that facilitates maximising the profitability as a critical element of
corporate account management...................................................................................................9
h) Evaluate and Recommend how sales structure can improve the financial viability and assist
strategic advantage over competitor............................................................................................9
i) Recommendations and conclusion.........................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
Sales are the activities that are related with selling a number of products and services which
are produced by the companies for satisfying the needs and wants of the customers (Schallehn-
Schmidberger, 2019). For making the sales efficient various principles and techniques are
adopted by the organisations which enables them in formulating various strategies with which
they can accomplish their targets. The sales managers formulate a competent sales force with the
help of which they reach to the customers and covert prospects into customers. In this report an
entrepreneur is taken from Kickstarter which is a crowd funding site. The entrepreneur which is
taken is Tsubi Nishitani, which offers plant based ready to cook soup. For the business the
concept of sales management and various principles of sales management are discussed. In the
later part, a report is prepared for the investors which includes principles of selling and
importance of developing various sales strategies that can facilitate them in achieving
profitability for the organisation.
TASK 1
a) Define sales management in context of the product range
Sales management is the process which includes developing a competent sales force,
coordinating various operations of the sales, identifying suitable techniques and implementing
them within the organisation so that they can accomplish their sales targets. It contributes to
various aspects of marketing which facilitate the organisations in achieving their objectives
(Nixon, 2018). The sales management process of the company enables them to expand their
market share as with the efforts of the sales team the products can efficiently be sold in the
market. For managing the sales process three aspects are taken into consideration which is sales
operation, sales strategy and sales analysis. For making optimal sales management the
organisation need to focus upon all these three aspects simultaneously.
The TSUBI SOUP offers a wide variety of ready to cook soup options to the customers.
But as they are new so they have to promote their products significantly so that they can achieve
their objectives. With the help of sales management process TSUBI SOUP can forecast the
activities that they have to perform by anticipating the future perspectives of sales, sales budgets
can be formulated for the products that they have to offer to the customers, training and
development of the personal can be planned so that they can be made well-versed with the
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product so offered by the company. In depth knowledge of the products among the sales force
enables them in responding satisfactorily to the customers. They have been offering the sample
for the soups, a variety of boxes in which different types of soup packet are provided, soups
supply for the entire month altogether etc. All such options are communicated to the retailers and
directly to the customers by the effective workforce so that they can attract as many customers as
possible through personal selling. For achieving this effective planning and controlling need to
be done by the sales managers of their sales force (Mukiibi, 2018).
b) Key principles of sales management that focus upon planning, selling and reporting
For the organisations it is important to follow some of the key principles of sales
management so that they can manage the work efficiently. These principles facilitate the sales
manager in planning for various actions, strategies, model etc. for selling and reporting the
outcomes to the manager. The key principles that they focus upon are:
 Establish a sales management model: With the help of this model the sales conversion
funnel can be identified by the sales managers and also this will facilitate them in
determining the key performance indicators for each and every activity to be undertaken.
With KPI the sales managers will establish goals and targets for sales force. Accordingly
they formulate various plans and actions that they have to adopt.
 Manage people individually: The planning for managing the people must be done
individually as competence of each and every persons varies. For utilising their
capabilities to the maximum they must be treated individually (Miyagawa, 2019). This
enables the managers to determine and plan for various actions for individual employees
such as training and developmental sessions etc.
 Instill discipline in the organisation: For ensuring the behaviour of the employees it is
important for the organisation to establish various rules and regulation as with this they
can regulate their behaviour. For this the sales managers need to plan disciplinary actions
which can facilitate them in maintaining and building relations among the employees and
with the customers.
 Practice manager fundamentals consistently: It is important for the managers to keep
on providing various trainings to the employees and even to team leaders. This will
enable them to be focussed on the basic principles of management which will help them
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in effectively reporting to the management on the basis of which they will take necessary
actions.
These principles will help them in planning for the employees and various actions that they
have to perform such as with the help of developing the sales management model the managers
can facilitate their sales force with various targets that they have to achieve by way of KPI and
benchmarking. This will facilitate them with the making their sales force understand that they
have necessary actions to pitch the customers and for converting prospects into customers. Also
with the help of various fundamentals the reporting framework can be planned according to
which the entire sales force will report. This will make analysis and comparison easy for the
company (Kiboro, Omwenga and Iravo, 2017).
The principle of sales management model, managing people individuals and practice
manager fundamental consistently is the principles which will facilitate business to business
relation as they has impact on the organisation and on their sales team. While the principles such
as instill discipline will have impact on the business to customers as with this they guides the
behaviour of the sales team with their customers and other channel partners
TASK 2
a) An introduction to a range of product and service
TSUBI SOUP is a plant based food which is offered to make people fit and healthy. The
product so offered by them is quite delicious and healthy. Also they are offered in comfortable
packaging due to which they can carried by the individual with them even at the time of
travelling. Various variants of the soup includes white miso with aosa seaweed, tofu and green
onions; yellow miso with crunchy cabbage, carrot, spinach and green onions; spicy red miso with
maitake and mushrooms; white miso with Japanese eggplant, ginger and onion etc. All these
products are made with Japanese miso which is an ancient paste that is made up of fermented
soybeans. These entire ready to made soup are packed with natural probiotics and enzymes
which make them safe for a specific period of time (Karaağaoğlu and Çiçek, 2019).
b) Key principles and techniques of successful selling
For the organisation it is important to consider various principle for selling their products
and services. This is because the principle remains the same even if the situation of the selling
changes. To deal with such changes the sales force need to adopt various techniques with the
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help of which they can develop various strategies. The principle that will be useful for TSUBI
SOUP for achieving their selling goals objectives are given below:
Selling is about relationship: For making sales effectively it is important for the
organisation to build better relations with the customers and the channel partners. This will help
them in building trust among them and will leads to sales. While adopting this principle the focus
of the company must be on the question “why the prospect must prefer my product over
competitors?” This will motivate the team of TSUBI SOUP in developing better relations
(Johnston and Marshall, 2016).
Price and value must go hand in hand: TSUBI SOUP aims to expand their business by
tapping into new markets but for this they need to analyse the price and the values that they
offers. This is because the customers can only be convinced for buying the products when the
values that they will receive from consumption of the products is either equal to prices or more
than that.
Listening is crucial: For the sales person it is important to listen to the customers and the
sales partners as with the help of this they can understand the needs and wants of the customers.
This will enable them in introducing changes in the products and practices or in introducing new
products as per their demands. With this TSUBI SOUP can effectively improve their sales.
Techniques need to be adopted by the sales team of TSUBI SOUP so that they can tap the
prospects successfully. The techniques that can be adopted by them include:
 Digital marketing: With the help of direct marketing messages and emails can be send to
various people about the products that TSUBI SOUP offers along with their benefits to
the target market. This enables them in making their customers aware of their offerings.
 Fliers and Coupons: With the help of coupons and fliers so distributed by the sales team
of TSUBI SOUP can make their customers aware of their offers along with their services.
This will attract customers for making purchases on reduced rates.
 Online advertising: The efforts of the sales team can be supported by effective social
media and online advertising. With the help of such advertisement TSUBI SOUP can tap
into new market as they can make people aware from other location such as Europe,
Australia and Asia (Hartman-Glaser, 2017).
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c) Concept of selling through others along with importance and advantages of using sales
technique
Selling through others is the concept, in which the company take help of others in making
sales such as of the retailers, distributors, wholesalers etc. Such technique is cost effective as
with these end-customers becomes accessible. The aim of TSUBI SOUP is to expand their
market share by adding more channel partners, it is because with the help of them they can
directing increase their sales. If they want to deal with large suppliers than they can sell through
wholesalers but when they prefers to serve the individual customers directly then they can focus
upon selling through retailers (Shanks, 2016). The importance of selling through others for
TSUBI SOUP is:
 this leads to more of personal selling with which the channel partners can effectively
make the customers understand the benefits of such products
 they can persuade the customers for the buying products of TSUBI SOUP upon their
visiting for other products.
The advantage of selling through others for TSUBI SOUP is:
 they can easily reach to a large number of end customers
 new customers can be added with the efforts of the others and without making any
investment
 marketing practices can be boosted as this will not only the customers will get awareness
but also with this the other parties can convince customers (Gomes and Tirole, 2018).
d) Critical analysis of the principle and technique in building customer relationship
With the help of various principles and techniques the sales teams of the TSUBI SOUP can
reach to a large number of customers. The principle guides the behaviour of the sales team and
techniques enable them in reaching to the customers with various mediums. The techniques
enable them in creating awareness among the customers which lead to better relations with them.
Techniques such as personal selling leads to direct contact and with that the sales force directly
communicate with them.
e) Evaluate the sales structure of the product range
Sales structure: There are different type of sales structures that can be adopted by any
organisation accordion to their size of business. In present scenario, TSUBI soup is a start-up so
they are using an assembly line type of structure. It a straightforward model that is used for
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purpose of differentiating according to some specific functions that are being performed in a
sales cycle . The sales structure basically consists of four points that are:
 Lead generation: In this step, TSUBI soup will be generating leads in form of
identification off those customer segments from where sales can be generated. In this
prospective customer areas are recognized and then approached further so that they can
be made aware of different types of product range of TSUBI soups.
 Sales development: After leads have been generated then in this step there is a sale that
has to be done by making prospective customer persuade to buy products. It is very
helpful in increasing sales of a organisation. Leads are converted into actual sales of the
organisation in this particular step of sales structure of TSUBI soups (Dahlström, 2019).
 Closing of account: The sales generated are finally closed in this particular step and the
company has to record actual sales that have been done. Sales development step has been
achieved and sales accounts are closed in this particular step of sales structure.
 Customer success and account management: In this mainly feedback is taken and their
respective customer accounts have to be managed. In this step sales structure is actually
reviewed in form of quantity of sales achieved. Feedback is taken from customers
regarding their satisfaction level. All this help in establishment of a loyal base of
customers that can help in maintaining of sales in long run by TSUBI soups.
Above mentioned points are part of sales structure of TSUBI soups that is helping
them in establishing themselves and making their target customers aware of their
products and its differentiation features.
f) Critically assess the implementation of different sales structure
Sales structure in every organisation is a foundation base for their overall operations. If it is
not made properly then it can posses an impact on overall functioning of an organisation and
their operational scenario. There is a need of simple sales structure in initial stages of every start
up so that they can establish themselves and then further increase in sales can be handled in a
more effective manner. There are other different types of sales structure such as bases of
territories, behaviour of customers, based on different product categories etc. All these can also
be implemented by TSUBI soups once they are able to establish themselves in the market.
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g) Explain sales strategies that facilitates maximising the profitability as a critical element of
corporate account management
The business need to identify various profit drivers of the business with the help of which
they can formulate strategies that can support them in maximising their profits. For making the
business profitable the company need to focus upon increasing their sales revenues and for this
they need to focus upon reducing the overall cost and by way of benchmarking (Barbon, 2019).
The strategies that can adopted by TSUBI SOUP are:
For decreasing the overall cost:
 the inventory must be reduced in the warehouses as with the help of this they can holding
cost can be reduced.
 right suppliers must be chosen for the business as they with them negotiation can be
done.
 Key financial areas must be chosen for benchmarking for managing the cost
For increasing the total revenue from sales:
 For this efficiency and the productivity of the sales teams must be ensured by the TSUBI
SOUP so that their sales can be improved.
 Identification of the needs and wants of the customers so that they can add new products
to the product line as per their requirement.
 Various promotional techniques must be adopted so that they can create awareness
among the customers and can persuade them easily for making purchases.
Corporate account management are related with managing with the highly valuable
customers by building positive relations with them. The managers of TSUBI SOUP focus upon
the restaurants, hotels, corporate houses where they can supply their products as they will buy
their products in large quantity. This will facilitate them to directly enhance their profitability.
h) Evaluate and Recommend how sales structure can improve the financial viability and assist
strategic advantage over competitor
Sales structure of a organisation is very helpful in ensuring effectiveness in whole operational
framework. There is always a major objective of every organisation to achieve more sales it is
required so that ultimate aim of higher profits can be achieved. Sales organisation is used for
purpose of sale quotas and establishment of brand image. There can be a positive impact on
financial viability of TSUBI soups as the simplified organisation structure will help in high sales
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as it will help their sales department in understanding the process more easily (Alexander and
Peterson, 2017). Sales structure if properly understood can be very helpful in increasing
effectiveness of each step of sales process till the time final product is reached to customers. If
sales structure is designed in such a way that maximum number of customers can be approached
at a point of time and customers are having easy reach to their products then it will lead to a
competitive advantage of various other competitors of TSUBI soups. If sales strategies are
formed in a more effective manner by the marketing and sales department then it will lead to
increase in sales and overall revenue of TSUNI soups.
i) Recommendations and conclusion
On the basis of this report various analysis are done which will facilitate the investors in
analysing various aspects. The TSUBI SOUP already operating in various countries but they are
planning to expand their operation in Europe, Australia and Asia due to which they need to focus
upon the following:
 They must undertake significant research as with the help of this they can understand the
taste and preference of the target market. With the help of this they can accordingly design
the recipe of the product.
 Local people and channel partners must be approaches as they have better understanding of
the behaviour of the people. This enables them to easily convert the prospects into
customers.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that the business must take into consideration various
aspects that facilitate them in improving their sales. For procuring funds the business need to
formulate various reports including various strategies such as promotional strategies, sales
principles, techniques etc. that make the investor believes that the business have opportunity for
growth. With the help of sales structure the areas of improvement in the business can also be
identified that can help them in reducing their overall cost.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alexander, G.J. and Peterson, M.A., 2017. Short selling and the pricing of closed-end
funds. Journal of Financial Markets. 33. pp.124-142.
Barbon, A., 2019. Brokers and order flow leakage: Evidence from fire sales. The Journal of
Finance. 74(6). pp.2707-2749.
Dahlström, A., 2019. Storytelling in Design: Defining, Designing, and Selling Multidevice
Products. O'Reilly Media.
Gomes, R. and Tirole, J., 2018. Missed sales and the pricing of ancillary goods. The Quarterly
Journal of Economics. 133(4). pp.2097-2169.
Hartman-Glaser, B., 2017. Reputation and signaling in asset sales. Journal of Financial
Economics. 125(2). pp.245-265.
Johnston, M.W. and Marshall, G.W., 2016. Sales force management: Leadership, innovation,
technology. Routledge.
Karaağaoğlu, N. and Çiçek, M., 2019. An evaluation of digital marketing applications in airline
sector. Journal of Human Sciences. 16(2). pp.606-619.
Kiboro, G.W., Omwenga, J. and Iravo, M., 2017. INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL FACTORS ON
CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR IN CHAIN SUPERMARKETS IN
KENYA. International Journal of Marketing Strategies. 2(1). pp.1-16.
Kiboro, G.W., Omwenga, J. and Iravo, M., 2017. INFLUENCE OF TEMPORAL FACTORS
ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR IN CHAIN SUPERMARKETS IN
KENYA. Journal of Marketing Studies. 1(1). pp.33-48.
Miyagawa, S., 2019. Structure and case marking in Japanese. Brill.
Mukiibi, B., 2018. The influence of employee rewards management practices on the performance
of small scale enterprises in Uganda. International Journal of Technology and
Management. 3(1). pp.18-18.
Nixon, P., 2018. The Business Developer's Playbook: Relationship Selling Principles and the
DNA of Dialogue Selling. Taylor & Francis.
Schallehn-Schmidberger, A.G., 2019. Selected Management Tools to Increase Sales in a Small
Retail Shop in Vienna. Webster University.
Shanks, J., 2016. Social selling mastery: scaling up your sales and marketing machine for the
digital buyer. John Wiley & Sons.
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