IMPACT OF SALES PERSONS ON THE CORPORATE GROWTH POTENTIALS OF A COMPANY (A CASE STUDY OF SEVEN-UP BOTTLING COMPANY PLC, ENUGU)
ABSTRACT
Prior to our contemporary time, the bottling industry will dominated by the products of Nigerian Bottling Company Plc.
Recently, 7-up bottling company Plc reemerged in the scene to compete with the Nigerian bottling company Plc, both also struggle with other manufacturers of mineral soft drinks. The scene was complicated further by poor economic situation in the country.
Therefore, innovation, dynamism and efficiency vis-à-vis marketing are necessarily required as a means of not just surviving but also ensuring profitability and co-operate growth. The implementation of marketing strategies as well as successful co-operate performance of the sales force.
As a result this work sought to determine the implication of the effective performance of salespersons as an indicator of corporate growth potentials (a case study of 7 –up bottling company Plc) used questionnaire, design and tests of hypothesis. The hypothesis was tested based on the data collected and analyzed and the following findings were accepted.
The consumption pattern of 7-up drinks customers is dependent on the company sales persons performance.
The returns generated by 7-up bottling company is directly proportionate to the effectiveness of the salespersons.
Consumers have favourable attitude toward 7 –up soft drinks.
Furthermore, conclusions and recommendations were made, the conclusions are:
– An average salesperson of 7-up bottling company is professionally unskilled.
– There is a direct relationship between a company’s growth sales potentials and profitability with sales force performance.
- The 7-up salespersons do not effective and intensively distribute their products.
- Consumers have favourable attitude towards 7-up drinks
- The company should strive to increases it’s market share.
- There is a need to give proper training and orientation to the salespersons.
- 7-up bottling company should enhance it’s distribution network.
- It is hoped that if these recommendations are applied by the 7-up bottling company, the effectiveness of it’s salespersons will be enhanced.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE II
APPROVAL PAGE III
DEDICATION IV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT V
AB STRACT VIII
TABLE OF CONTENT XI
CHAPTER ONE
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1
OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANY 9
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY 11
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 12
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY 14
HYPOTHESIS FORMULATION 14
SCOPE OF THE STUDY 15
DEFINITION OF TERMS 15
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW 17
CHAPTER THREE 35
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 35
DESIGN OF THE STUDY 35
POPULATION OF THE STUDY 35
SAMPLE SIZE 36
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES 38
METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION 38
QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN 38
TREATMENT OF DATA 40
CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION FO DATA 42
ANALYSIS OF DATA FROM THE MANAGEMENT STAFFS 42
ANALYSIS OF RESPONSES FROM CONSUMERS 50
TEST OF HYPOTHESIS 60
HYPOTHESIS 1 61
HYPOTHESIS 2 63
HYPOTHESIS 3 65
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 69
CONCLUSION 70
RECOMMENDATION 71
BIBLIOGRAPHY 73
APPENDIX 76
QUESTIONNAIRES 78
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
A Firm having carried out some researches and found out what the buyers want, specifications and requirements converts these findings into product concepts and lastly into goods and services that can satisfy these identified wants, in their exact specification and requirement. Hence” the typical firm can be seen as on input-output system” ”(Okeke C. I 1993).
It is not enjoy to look at a firm more so in the context of marketing as on input-output system. This is because several other chain of activities preceed the input as well as the output.
A wholestic perspective considers all these interlocking and interrelated activities that preceed input and follow after output. For example, the output must be in the right proportion, must be effectively priced, promoted and distributed.
Yet all these do not even guarantee exchange and transfer of title from the firm to the buyers, neither do they even guarantee a reward or profit to the firm.
In other words, all these activities may be properly integrated, blended and as well form the bases on which a firm should b e viewed.
“Good distribution, new products, improved manufacturing resources, skillful advertising and many other factors in marketing must inevitably fail if a manager is unable to build a team of men able to compete with strong competition and sell efficient to every type of buyers”. (Jack 1983 P.80)
Hence the popular sloggan in marketing that “nothing happens until a sale is made” (Okeke 1993)
To implement these marketing variables, the sales force has to be utilized by the sales manger, they have to exhibit their primary sales manship functions whereby they act as intermediaries between the company and prospective customers, discharging their duties as the voice of the company to the customers and directs the voice of the customers to the company.
Therefore, personal selling brings the buyer and seller into direct contact. It is important that every organization should have some number of persons known as the sales force whose responsibility are to be sure that customers and prospects are contacted and convinced to accept the items offered in exchange for a value needed by the organization.
There is no amount of advertising, sales promotion and publicity that can be equal to personal selling. This is because, contacts must be established by somebody with buyers some where for market transactions to take place.
The sales force in modern marketing do not only perform the current sales, they are also concerned with laying the foundation for further sales through the performance of information gathering function.
To properly carry out this, there should always exists in an organization, a skilled manager who manages the sales force efficiently and effectively.
As a result, sales management is defined “as the organization efforts necessary in planning sales objectives, specifying selling efforts needed in realizing the objectives, selecting, training and motivating appropriate sales force and controlling their operations towards ensuring the full realization of sales objectives (Okeke 1993: 40).
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.