Reference no: EM133162686

Case: CALIFORNIA ADHESIVE CORPORATION

Mark Farraway recently became a sales representative for the California Adhesive Corporation and covers the states of Oregon and Washington. After completing a three-week training program, Mark was excited about the responsibility of reversing a downward sales trend in his territory, which had been without a salesperson for several months.

The previous salesperson was fired due to poor sales performance and had not left behind any information regarding accounts. After contacting his first 20 or so customers, Mark came to a major conclusion: None of these customers had seen a CAC salesperson for six to nine months; they had CAC merchandise, which was not selling, and they had damaged merchandise to return. These customers were hostile toward Mark because the previous salesperson had used high-pressure tactics to force them to buy, and as one person said, "Your predecessor killed your sales in my business. You said you would provide service and call on me regularly, but I do not care about service. In fact, it is OK with me if I never see anyone from your company again. Your competition's products are much better than yours, and their salespeople have been calling in this area for yeas trying to get my business".

Mark was wondering if he had gone to work for the right company.

Question:

1. If you were Mark, would you continue working in CAC after knowing the bad reputation it gets? Why/why not?Explain challenges, provide pros and cons of your current situation.

2. In case you decide to stay, what would you do to improve the sales in your territory?In details, describe the strategic plan to return the current accounts to CAC. Briefly, explain the strategy to attract the new accounts to the company.

3. Apply selling productivity drivers for this case.