Detailed Report: Sales Planning and Operations at Marks and Spencer

This report delves into the realm of sales planning and operations, using Marks and Spencer (M&S) as a case study to illustrate key concepts. It begins with an introduction to sales and planning operations in business management, emphasizing the crucial role these processes play in achieving industry success. The report then examines the involvement of personal selling in the promotion mix, buyer behavior and decision-making processes, and the role of sales teams within M&S's marketing strategy. Furthermore, it explores the development of sales strategies aligned with corporate objectives, the importance of recruitment and selection procedures, and the evaluation of motivation, remuneration, and training in sales management. The report also discusses the role of sales management in organizing sales activities, controlling sales output, and leveraging databases for effective sales management, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject matter.

SALES PLANNING AND
OPERATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Involvement of personal selling in promotion mix...............................................................1
1.2 Buyer behavior and their decision making process in different situations...........................2
1.3 Role of the sales teams in M&S, within the marketing strategy...........................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
3.1 Sales strategies developed in line with corporate objectives................................................4
3.2 Importance of recruitment and selection procedure .............................................................5
3.3 Evaluating the role of motivation, remuneration and training in sales management............6
3.4 Role of sales management in organizing sales activities and control sales output...............7
3.5 The use of database in effective sales management..............................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Present report covers the area of sales and planning operations in business management.
It is among the most integrated processes of business involving different methods of planning
and managing the sales by its selling process which are to be used in different markets and
environment. This includes an updated determination of resources that are focused to lead a
proper inventory, sales and new production plans for successfully running of a business (Bichou,
K, 2014). Sales and planning operations of a business plays a crucial role in making an effective
position in the industry. In this report, Marks and Spencer has been selected to conclude its sales
and planning operations. It is one of the largest multinational retailing companies that deal in
selling cloths, home products, food and other luxury items. It is originally a British company,
headquartered in London. Being a retailer in the leading industry, Marks and Spencer too needs
to ensure its efficiency in developing strategic plans.
TASK 1
1.1 Involvement of personal selling in promotion mix
Personal selling is a process of making an oral communication with the potential buyers
in order to sell a particular product. Retailer companies like Marks and Spencer often use it to
make an effective sale of their products and services (Miller, 2012). Personal selling starts with
making a relationship with the prospective buyer with a focus of making an attempt to close the
sale. It is a process in which an individual sales person starts with a customer in order to
determine a product that is matching the needs and demand of that customer. Retail industry
regularly practices such sales discipline with following certain rules which includes-
 Prospecting which means finding new customers and asking questions to them like what
kind of product customer wants to buy and for what purpose.
 Communicating refers to approaching both existing and potential customers for
addressing and identifying their concerns about the product and services and further,
sough-ting it out.
 Selling the product is the next step after successfully molding the customer towards
service in order to close the sale.
 Servicing is to provide support in making a proper delivery or even post sales.
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 Information gathering is the final step of asking for feedback by ensuring customer's
satisfaction.
Personal selling is an important promotional tool which effectively supports the marketing
strategy of promotion mix. Promotional mix mainly consists of personal selling by using direct
marketing procedure of advertising and gaining public relation. It is generally carried out by the
marketing team for successfully reaching towards company's goals and objectives. Promotion
mix is the final element of marketing which increases the sales. It is a process of convincing
customers by efficiently presenting them the information about a product.
1.2 Buyer behavior and their decision making process in different situations
Buyer's behavior describes the behavior of a consumer in making decision while
purchasing goods. It is an accurate process for the marketers to successfully determine the
customer's needs and demand. Once after considering the same, a marketer can easily approach
the prospect and lead to a closure of sale. The behavior of a consumer can easily get affected by
certain personal, psychological, social and cultural factors. Thus, M&S too needs to consider
such characteristics at the time of planning and generating a strategy which is further classified
as below-
 Personal factor is unique to every person and it differs person to person depending upon
the age of person and place where he is residing. As a result, M&S manufactures its
cloths for all age groups and attract people as per their individual choices.
 Psychological factor covers numerous aspects like lifestyle, personality, attitude, motive,
perception, ability and knowledge of a person. M&S has successfully built a reputed
position in the market by adopting present fashion needs and preferences in their
products. It suits different personalities matching to the attitude of a person and together
serves the motive of an individual.
 Social factors include roles of a person and their family influence. It relates to the home
products of M&S where people generally prefer to choose products sustaining the needs
of their family (Kaplan and Atkinson, 2015). Opinion leaders also play an effective role
in influencing people towards the product of their choices or the one for which they are
advertising. Major retail companies appoint famous opinion leaders for advertising their
products to the public. It sometimes proves to be a great marketing strategy in order to
increase the sales of a product.
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 Cultural factors define a set of ideas and beliefs that people carries with themselves.
These are accepted by a similar group of people and then transferred to their next
generation. It clearly shows the acceptance of people for advertising a product which is of
a great help to the marketers. It altogether shows the value of a person and different
regions especially their food preferences.
1.3 Role of sales teams in M&S in the marketing strategy
The sales and marketing team has a significant effect on company's growth. Their role is
to show the efficiency of their products to the customers and achieving the required performance
as stated by the firm. The team can easily set their targets and take responsibility of attaining
company's objectives when marketing strategies are used to build their roles. M&S is very
friendly and has come up with really quick and easy return policies (Shimp and Andrews, 2013).
This basic right largely attracts the customers to buy their products and they together feel good
about it. The stated company is not afraid of changing their business model. As a result, they
often make changes in their products as per the people's choice and preferences. They believe in
knowing their customers better than they know themselves. Different key points are determined
in order to set the roles and responsibilities of sales and marketing team in M&S-
 Segmentation of markets- The stated company has a wide range of products that are
divided into various segments. For example, it together deals in clothing, home products
and food, etc. which all comes into different sections. Hence, firm requires a skill based
staff or team members to represent their products to their customers by carrying an
appropriate and sufficient amount of knowledge in that area.
 Building strategies- Once the team is well aware about the segmented area that they need
to represent, the next step is to develop a strategy of approaching people to meet the
required sales target. It needs to specify the best features of their products and addressing
it to the client with matching their requirement (Nahmias and Olsen, 2015).
 Planning of marketing the products- After fulfillment of marketing strategies, the team
members of stated company are responsible to implement the plans for their respective
areas that come under their responsibility. It mainly involves the promotional activities to
be conducted in the market and pricing of product as well.
 Outcome- This is the final step which shows the cohesiveness of a team in balancing the
changing demands of consumers in their respective areas. The sales and marketing team
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is united to reach at a common business goal by achieving the specified targets on time. If
a team member seems unable to meet the objectives, other members offer help and
supports in improving the performance. This results into a timely achievement of targets
and thus promoting the company's growth and success.
TASK 3
3.1 Sales strategies developed in line with corporate objectives
Sales strategies are the organized plans used to increase the sales of products and for
increasing profits. These strategies are developed by company's administration comprising sales,
marketing and advertising managers. Marks and Spencer is specialized in availing clothing,
luxury food items and home products in the market (Nag, 2011). The multinational retail
company makes various attempts to improve its brand image so that clients would be attracted
towards its services.
The sales manager primarily concentrates on preparing such plans and strategies that will
maximize the sales of company. As it deals in wide range of products, it will require efficient
marketing and advertising techniques. M&S core stores features vivid collection of clothing and
accessories for all age group customers. The Food Hall avails limited range of branded groceries
like of Stella Arotis and Coca-Cola. Company's retail parks and outlet stores also deal in home
decor and furnishing. So, sales and marketing representatives have a lot of scope to increase the
sales of products and services which will ultimately maximize the profit.
Another corporate objective of M&S is to increase the rate of investment return.
Investment in the new and existing business operations of the firm requires good amount of
capital. The increase in sales of products will raise company's revenue that will encourage the
managers to invest in innovative ideas. Maintenance and development activities in context of
present goods and services will establish brand image in the minds of its existing customers
(Green, Whitten and Inman, 2012).
The administrative departments of company prepare its sales objectives after every
periodic interval. Then the sales plans and strategies are framed and circulated among the sales
representatives to implement them in a proper direction. The sales representatives not only help
in increasing sales of company but also develop a strong customer relationship. Effective
communication and presentation skills make the clients aware of its products and services. The
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quality and quantity factors are given with equal importance which gives a rich brand image to
the product. M&S is renowned for its services and has established a strong goodwill in the
market. Therefore, through appropriate sales strategies and techniques, sales and market share of
company can rise. It also builds a strong goodwill of organization in the market by satisfying the
needs and demand of its customers (Chand, 2015).
3.2 Importance of recruitment and selection procedure
One of the important elements of an organization is its human resources. They are the
essential part of business to make optimum utilization of materials and goods. Company chooses
skilled and qualified people for a position. The employees selected for certain post are trained
timely to increase their efficiency to perform the assigned tasks. They are motivated through
various activities to retain them in the organization for longer time. Here, at M&S, recruitment
and selection procedure plays an important role in achieving the organizational goals.
Recruitment process
Recruitment is a process of searching and attracting prospective employees to fill the
required positions of corporation. It is an important part to choose right people for the right job at
right point of time as suitable employees and managers lead to good productivity, goodwill and
morale for the firm (Sah and Fugh‐Berman, 2013). M&S makes effectual use of advertisement
and publicity to attract large number of people to apply for the vacancies in the organization.
Employer studies the job description and job analysis according to the posts to be filled. They are
aware of the fact that recruitment is the first step of staffing and if it is not implemented properly,
it can create chaotic situation in future. The pool of qualified associates can help to achieve the
organizational goals in a shorter period. Candidates are recruited through various methods such
as campus recruitment, internship and interviews. It also makes use of third party organizations
like employment agencies, management consultancy and educational institutions.
Selection process
When numerous candidates are attracted towards an organization, the best and suitable
applicants are selected according to the job description and job specification (Chari and et.al,
2014). Company conducts the selection procedure through a series of tests in order to understand
and judge the capacity of each and every individual. These selection tests provide more valid and
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reliable evidence of individual’s personalities, characteristics, abilities, aptitudes and
intelligence. After assessment of candidates on the basis of these tests, the employer conducts
interviews of qualified candidates. The mentioned multinational company recruiters generally
perform one-to-one and panel interviews. The selection of skilled and qualified sales
representatives is a very crucial decision for Marks & Spencer’s marketing and sales department
to attain the organizational objectives.
3.3 Evaluating the role of motivation, remuneration and training in sales management
 The sales representatives will be motivated by their respective employer or manager to
utilize their skills utmost. This will improve the willingness of employees' to perform
tasks with better sales strategies and techniques. The professional skills and traits are
polished and motivated by company executives to increase the subordinate’s productivity
and to reduce the cost of operations in retail industry context (Glanz, Bader and Iyer,
2012).
 Usage of motivation theory will also ensure that the sales and organizational objectives of
M&S will be achieved within given time period. Company's resources will be utilized at
its best possible way with a proper plan. Another merit of motivation process is that it
brings friendly relationship between company and employees.
 Company benefits the workforce by providing remuneration in the form of monetary and
non-monetary incentives. Monetary benefits offered by company are in the form of
salary, wages, bonus, compensation, fringe benefits and performance incentives.
However, rewards, appreciation letters and certificates given by the authorities influences
emotional mindsets of individuals (Jacobs and Chase, 2013). Sometimes, initiates like
promotion and transfers also prove to be positive for both the organization and its human
resources as the employees become adaptable to organizational changes and extract better
results from current scenario.
 Marketing and sales department of M&S requires extrovert sales personalities to achieve
sales maximization and to increase the market share of company. Sales training helps the
sales associates to develop and practice the skills which are required to increase their
interpersonal communication. Here, company recruits and selects those candidates that
have good command over national and regional languages and possess proper
communication skills and effective presentation techniques.
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 The selected candidates and existing employees are provided with training and
development seminars periodically to examine their growth perspectives. It helps to
improve the communication skills of sales associates and to make them learn the art of
asking right questions to customers during selling process. They are able to identify
requirements of the clients and offer commodities and services accordingly.
 Training gives a road map to the salesperson in developing various promotional and
advertising techniques to attract clients and customers.
3.4 Role of sales management in organizing sales activities and control sales output
Sales management facilitates corporate activities and functions in the direction of
distribution of commodities and services. The concept develops sales research and planning to
introduce new products in the market and to increase production of existing products. The main
objective is to organize sales activities according to the demand and supply of goods and services
in the market.
Sales manager is responsible for meeting the sales targets of company through effective
planning and budgeting. He will support and provide guidelines to the sales unit to use methods
and strategies according to the changing scenario of market. Customer demands and wants will
be identified, collected and studied to prepare effective sales plans. This preparation will provide
guidance to map potential or targeted group and generate leads for the organization. M&S being
the part of retail industry has a vast market of clothing, food, grocery and home furniture
commodities. The sales team of each and every product uses different selling techniques to
advertise and attract the targeted group. The retail parks and outlets provide discounts and
exciting offers to the customers as well as make them aware about the innovations and
developments in their services.
The market forces of demand and supply determines the production of goods and services
of an enterprise. Sales management principle permits the marketing executives and salesperson
to evaluate current trends in the market and to match up with their customers’ needs. This
empowers them to control the sales output which is derived from different suppliers of the
product. Marks & Spencer utilizes technology and management information to respond
effectively with changing customer requirements. It has build up a strong network of recording
sales of commodities that influence the stock and inventories. This helps company to monitor
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consumer’s purchasing power and generates sales and marketing data due to which sales cost can
be controlled in an efficient manner along with the control over sales output.
3.5 The use of database in effective sales management
In the modern world, technological development has provided vivid sources to improve
the existing sales and marketing techniques. Evolution of database management concept has
greatly influenced the profitability analysis and marketing tactics of organizations. It has helped
to retain the existing customers by making detailed study of their wants and demands. Company
is benefited in the following manner because of database management:
 Construction of comprehensive Marketing Customer Information File (MCIF) provides
relevant and accurate data about existing customers of company.
 It develops faithful and credible system of determining the purchasing power of
customers. Through database management principle, periodic analysis of day to day
transactions of consumers can be made.
 This management helps to identify the interest rates and costs of producing goods in bulk
amount. The retail industry is advantaged by database management system to invest the
capital for right amount of production of goods and services.
 Management gives access to identify the current market trends and customer’s demands.
It develops segmentation schemes that divide clients on the basis of their tastes and
preferences (Amico, 2016).
 Development and implementation of these tactics also help the organization to modify
attributes and behavior of employee's to increase its sales, improve retention and to lower
the cost of production.
Electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) manages better customer
relationship through the use of information technology. The retail organization is able to
integrate internal enterprise resources with its external marketing strategies to fulfill the customer
needs. Another technique of Electronic point of sale (EPOS) adopted by retail store helps to
identify different sales pattern and trends that are pertaining in market.
CONCLUSION
Above report states the importance of sales into a business organization and the way in
which it should be planned effectively to timely achieve the targeted goals of company. It also
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defines the procedure of establishing a proper and efficient team. It together states the usefulness
of marketing strategies which are to be used in building out a set of objectives, especially in the
organization that is dealing with the retail sectors like Marks and Spencer. In today's competitive
world, success can only be achieved when company works distinctively and in a planned way.
However, while developing plans, one should majorly focus on the present market scenario in
accordance with the consumer needs and demand.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Jacobs, F. R. and Chase, R. B., 2013. Operations and supply chain management. McGraw-Hill
Education.
Kaplan, R. S. and Atkinson, A. A., 2015. Advanced management accounting. PHI Learning.
Miller, T. C., 2012. Hierarchical operations and supply chain planning. Springer Science &
Business Media.
Nahmias, S. and Olsen, T. L., 2015. Production and operations analysis. Waveland Press.
Kenworthy, J., 2013. Planning and control of manufacturing operations. Routledge.
Bichou, K., 2014. Port operations, planning and logistics. CRC Press.
Ross, D. F., 2015. Distribution Planning and control: managing in the era of supply chain
management. Springer.
Shimp, T. and Andrews, J. C., 2013. Advertising promotion and other aspects of integrated
marketing communications. Cengage Learning.
Glanz, K., Bader, M. D. and Iyer, S., 2012. Retail grocery store marketing strategies and obesity:
an integrative review. American journal of preventive medicine. 42(5). pp.503-512.
Sah, S. and Fugh‐Berman, A., 2013. Physicians under the influence: social psychology and
industry marketing strategies. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. 41(3). pp.665-672.
Chari, S and et.al., 2014. Emergent marketing strategies and performance: the effects of market
uncertainty and strategic feedback systems. British Journal of Management. 25(2).
pp.145-165.
Green, K. W., Whitten, D. and Inman, R. A., 2012. Aligning marketing strategies throughout the
supply chain to enhance performance. Industrial Marketing Management. 41(6).
pp.1008-1018.
Online
Nag, A., 2011. Importance of Sales Training Programs for an Organization. [Online]. Available
through:<http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-design/sales-training-programs>.
Accessed on 24th February2016.
Amico, S., 2016. Definition of Sales Strategy. [Online]. Available through:
<http://smallbusiness.chron.com/definition-sales-strategy-2213.html>. [Accessed on 24th
February2016].
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Chand, S., 2015. Sales Management: Functions and Importance of Sales Management. [Online].
Available through: <http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/sales-management/sales-
management-functions-and-importance-of-sales-management-explained/25864/>.
[Accessed on 24th February2016].
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