SYMBIOSIS INSTITUTE OF MEDIA & COMMUNICATION

Sales Management
Assignment 2.
Colonial Heritage Furniture Company Case Study
Sneha Jaiswal, PRN: 18050143109
1/2/2019

The case is from the book titled 'Sales and Distribution Management' by Still,Cundiff Govni ad
Puri (Pearson Publication)
 1. Comment on the tactics used by Leonard to overcome what appeared to be initial
antagonism on the part of O'Keefe.

In order to overcome what appeared to be initial antagonism on the part of O'Keefe, Leonard applied the
persuasive and incentive strategies. Leonard applied the persuasive and incentive strategies to defeat the
underlying enmity conduct by O'Keefe. The antagonism behavior was advocated by O'Keefe amid his
initial communication with Leonard. At the point when O'Keefe went to Colonial Heritage Furniture
Company with the intention to sell their line as well, he was not treated well and was refused too. O'Keefe
was additionally informed that he could refer his current existing clients to Caswell.

To close the deal with O'Keefe, Leonard was steady, convincing and depicted to be moral and kept up to
the deal that was made with Caswell and along these lines couldn't let O'Keefe sell Colonial Heritage
Furniture Company's furniture. Making deal with O'Keefe then would be unfair for him to sell O'Keefe
any stock as Caswell had given them a major opening request and guaranteed to be Colonial Heritage
Furniture Company's solitary office in the city. Leonard additionally revealed to O'Keefe that working
with and holding their association for a long time likewise cause them incredible misfortune in business
and subsequently working with O'Keefe would help Colonial Heritage Furniture Company and O'Keefe
too. He additionally referenced that O'Keefe would do better work when it came to selling Colonial
Heritage Furniture Company's furniture as O'Keefe has a scope of heritage furniture that Caswell did not
on the grounds that they essentially managed present day furniture. Adding pioneer heritage furniture to
their current line would simply enable him to enhance business and turn into the best furniture store in
Waco. He reassured O'Keefe that each furnishing is first tried on the customers prior being introduced
with the line. Leonard additionally disclosed to O'Keefe that their furniture are displayed in different
magazines. This showcase alongside a wide range of furniture explicitly to living room, dining room and
bedroom would imply that the customer could match all their furniture under one rooftop meaning more
deals for O'Keefe and a bigger offer for him from the Colonial Heritage Furniture Company. Even when
O’Keefe raised an objection to not sharing the line with some other distributor, Leonard assured O'Keefe
by giving him different ideas, that they would in the long run seize business with Caswell.

2. Did empathy play a role in this sale? If so, where?

Yes, empathy played a role in the sale for Leonard. The different situations where empathy could be seen
are:

 Firstly, when O'Keefe told about intention to work with Colonial Heritage Furniture Company,
Leonard showed empathy towards this and explained why that occasion had happened three years
back.
 Secondly, Leonard comprehended the worry that O'Keefe had with offering the line to another
retail store. He assured O'Keefe that if he consented to work with Colonial Heritage Furniture
Company, Leonard would go to Caswell and tell them about their new deal & if Caswell still
consented to proceed with business with Colonial Heritage Furniture Company Leonard would
ensure that business would not keep going long.
 Thirdly, Leonard was prepared to make an exemption to their organization’s policy and would
reclaim any furniture that did not sell for the initial six months of their partnership deal to ensure
smooth sales and business among the two organizations.
  Fourthly, Leonard helped O'Keefe with different idea that would help him promote and increase
sales since he had been using the same promotion and show ads year on year. He recommended
that O'Keefe could target new household in the community, testimonial advertisements, the
twenty minute advertisement that Colonial Heritage Furniture Company has can be shown in
different areas, and he lent his own handbook copy of sales and promotion of furniture,
engagement with nearby brides to be, giving them free consultation to get goodwill and
decorating contest.
 Lastly, Leonard helped O'Keefe compose the sales order since he didn't know about what might
sell in O'Keefe's store. He promised to offer the best product offering they had.
3. If O'Keefe had refused flatly to take on the Colonial Heritage line while Caswell still carried
it, what should Leonard have done?

If O'Keefe had straight declined to take on Colonial Heritage Furniture Company while Caswell still
carried it, Leonard should have convinced O'Keefe much more:

 He should have shown O'Keefe that his stores significantly do better in sales with regards to
traditional furniture store.
 He should have persuaded O'Keefe that the interest for conventional furniture is still high and that
since O'Keefe does not by any stretch of the competition have rivalry in Waco, his deals would
increment.
 Leonard could have specifically run and finished business with Caswell on the grounds that
Caswell was not doing a good job with selling Colonial Heritage Furniture Company's furniture.

 Leonard should have disclosed to O'Keefe that since O'Keefe was the greatest store in Waco, and
that with a population of 1, 50,000 he could sell much more furniture.
 He should have demonstrated O'Keefe the variety of furniture's they have inside the dining room,
bed room and living room with the goal that the customers can pick the whole range for their
homes from his store.
 Leonard could have offered an assortment of furniture alternatives that were like the line that
O'Keefe at present has and should have demonstrated him choices that were not the same as his
current line so that O'Keefe has an assortment of offerings for the customers.
 Leonard could have expanded his policy of reclaiming any furniture that did not sell from a six
months to eight months.
 He could have offered trained sales representatives to help O'Keefe sell the furniture.
 Leonard could help train O'Keefe's current sales staff to prepare them sell better and according to
the need of the customer.
 He should have gotten different booklets for O'Keefe for him to refer at any time.
 He should have assured O'Keefe that both their intention was to increase sales productivity and
along these lines benefits for both the organizations.
 Leonard could help O'Keefe in setting up a customer relationship management team.
 The advertising could also demonstrate that the sale executives would go to the customer’s house
to set up the furniture.
 Leonard could have informed that amid the initial eight months of their business together
Colonial Heritage Furniture Company would help in assessment and reinforce the sales training.
  Leonard could have utilized the guestimate technique to demonstrate to O'Keefe about the sales
forecast and increase in profits for the initial two years.
 He should have assured O'Keefe that frequent follow-ups would be made to help O'Keefe with
any issue they may have or only for beginning hand holding.

4. Should Leonard have shown O'Keefe some illustrations of the Colonial Heritage line? Why
or why not?

Leonard did not and should not have shown a few representations of the Colonial Heritage Furniture
Company's contributions. The purposes behind so are:

 O'Keefe was recently keen on selling Colonial Heritage Furniture Company's line too. From this
we can expect that O'Keefe is as of now aware of the sort of furniture they sell.
 O'Keefe was additionally aware of the way that Colonial Heritage Furniture Company sells
traditional English furniture. Owning a furniture store would imply that O'Keefe knows the sort
of furniture's that are available in the market and consequently can separate between the modern
and conventional American furniture.
 Leonard had just come in for the meeting close to the closing time of the store, which implies had
he put any additional time in indicating O'Keefe the variety of furniture they bring to the table. In
doing as such Leonard would have and O'Keefe more anxious to close to store which implies
O'Keefe would have lost interest for seeing their offering. This could have brought about the final
deal not occurring.
 Leonard checked out the store before expressing the way that Caswell transcendently sold present
day furniture when contrasted with traditional furniture which was sold by O'Keefe. This implies
Leonard knew the range that Colonial Heritage Furniture Company brings to the table was on
comparative lines as O'Keefe and demonstrating to him their offering would not by any means be
required.
 By the end of their discussion, after Leonard helped O'Keefe with marketing and advertising their
range, O'Keefe had sufficiently built trust on Leonard for him to give Leonard a chance to pick
the range that would sell in O'Keefe's store.
 Leonard had likewise informed O'Keefe that Colonial Heritage Furniture Company's range of
items are exhibited in different magazines to be specific House Beautiful, House and Garden,
Better Homes and Gardens, Living for Young Homemakers, Good Housekeeping, Southern
Living and Texas Monthly. O'Keefe could have taken a look at their line in any of these
magazines to understand what Colonial Heritage Furniture Company brings offers.
 Since O'Keefe is aware of Colonial Heritage Furniture Company, he likewise understands what
sort of traditional American furniture they have. Appearing same line would not have been
intriguing to O'Keefe
 Throughout the discussion, it is seen that O'Keefe didn’t ask to see the lone himself, which
implies he is already aware of the item offering and would not generally like to see them around
then either.
 Leonard made an exemption on the organization approach where he would acknowledge any
arrival on the furniture' that would not sell on the initial six months. This would give O'Keefe
enough time to understand what line of items would sell in his store. This implied he was eager to
change his organization policy for O'Keefe to understand the product offering and make future
requests accordingly.

5. At what points in the interview did O'Keefe voice objections? Analyze how each was
handled by Leonard.
The various points at which O’Keefe showed objections were:
Objection 1: When Leonard came in to meet O'Keefe for the deal, O'Keefe was uncertain about their
discussion.

Managed: When O'Keefe revealed to Leonard what he had experienced when he was keen on selling or
working with Colonial Heritage Furniture Company, Leonard tackled the situation very smoothly. He
spoke the truth about the way that they had quite recently started business with Caswell and that Caswell
had given them a great opening record, which implied that starting business at that point would not have
been the right or ethical approach to work together. This demonstration would have been unreasonable to
both Caswell and O'Keefe. Caswell should be the main and exclusive dealer in Waco at that time, thus
starting business with O'Keefe would be unfair and since Colonial Heritage Furniture Company needs to
dissolve business with Caswell and Leonard consented to end business with Caswell that helped O'Keefe
agree.
Objection 2: Why ought to O'Keefe move Colonial Heritage Furniture Company's line when they already
have an elite merchant in Waco. He was uncertain about working with them when they previously had
Caswell as their merchant.

Managed: O'Keefe knew that Colonial Heritage Furniture Company previously had an exclusive dealer
in the city. To this Leonard took care of the circumstance by agreeing and saying that however Caswell
was their exclusive dealer in the city, they might want to cease business with Caswell since Caswell was
not making efforts in moving Colonial Heritage Furniture Company's line. Caswell for the most part sold
modern day furniture and the traditional American furniture was in this manner not making enough
benefits. Leonard proceeded with business with Caswell for a long time with the expectation that the
business would flourish and that simply after this long hold up did the organization choose to close their
business with Caswell and start to deal with O'Keefe and begin selling them merchandise.

Objection 3: O'Keefe raised a protest to sell Colonial Heritage Furniture Company's furniture. He was
uncertain whether he would certainly sell it, if Caswell couldn't sell.

Managed: O'Keefe needed to know how he would sell Colonial Heritage Furniture Company traditional
American furniture if Caswell who was their exclusive dealer in Waco was not able sell it, how might
they. Leonard revealed to O'Keefe that there was an immense distinction between the sorts of furniture's
both these stores sold. Caswell who was Colonial Heritage Furniture Company's dealer for as long as
three years for the most part managed modern furniture and subsequently not a great deal of attention
regarding traditional American furniture was paid. This brought about drop in sales for Colonial Heritage
Furniture Company. While O'Keefe featured furniture of the other well-known traditional furniture brands
also. O'Keefe had a more extensive range to offer which was favored by the customers.

Objection 4: To not sell Colonial Heritage Furniture Company's line if some other store additionally sold
their line in the same time

Managed: Leonard assured O'Keefe that they would end the deal with Caswell when O'Keefe consents to
work together. This anyway would make enmity in the mind of Caswell for both Colonial Heritage
Furniture Company and O'Keefe. Leonard was key enough to deal with the circumstance by first handling
O'Keefe down and picking up his trust and enthusiasm by saying this. He at that point was keen enough to
offer deals by recommending that he himself would go converse with Caswell and inform them about the
organization between Colonial Heritage Furniture Company and O'Keefe Caswell still chose to proceed
with business with Colonial Heritage Furniture Company in spite of the fact that they chose to be the
main dealer in Waco, Leonard would expel Caswell's name from the mailing list and that Leonard would
not call them actually, which would imply that Caswell's solitary method for requesting would be through
mail or furniture store. This would lead for Caswell to not be updated with the present data, stock and
cost. They would soon want to close business with Colonial Heritage Furniture Company. In this manner
O'Keefe would now be the exclusive dealer in Waco for Colonial Heritage Furniture Company.

Objection 5: O'Keefe did not realize how to promote the new line of furniture had he begun selling
Colonial Heritage Furniture Company's traditional American furniture.

Managed: Leonard shared different approach to promote their furniture with O'Keefe. The different
proposals made by him were:
 Promotional program coordinated at all new households in your locality. It includes mailings to
every single new resident in the locality, recognized through courses of action with real estate
brokers, welcome wagons, major employers, and to prospective brides, identified through
engagement and wedding announcements.
 The development of card files on past customer with records of past purchases. Prior to
Christmas, birthday celebrations, and commemorations, letters are written to keep in touch with
every customer with catalogues and suggestions of in-purchases.
 A review about the customers and an image of an appealingly furnished room in the customer's
home that includes their furniture. This tells readers where they can choose their furniture
regularly with the expectation that their photos will get in future in their advertisements.
 Leonard proposed O'Keefe could utilize them as paper supplements to keep and maintain an
image among the people.
 A twenty minutes long film, entitled, “Furniture and decoration make a home a Showplace,” that
could be shown at women’s clubs, at high school sorority meetings, and at classes of home
economics students.
 Leonard gave O'Keefe different booklets in specific to promotion which were by B. J. Volenti,
entitled “Sell Traditional Home Furniture and “Planning Sales to Promote Furniture,” one is
called “Displaying to Promote Furniture,” and a sales manual, “Modern Selling of Furniture.”
 Room decoration contest to be organized for all the local ladies’ clubs which would have a cash
prize.

Objection 6: O'Keefe was uncertain about which lines and pieces within lines would sell in the store and
did not want to desire to put cash in dead stock

Managed: Here, Leonard was prepared to make an exception for O'Keefe by changing the organization
policy to reclaim any furniture that would not sell for the initial six months.

Total word count: 2700 words.