PROMOTION PLAN FOR NEW PETERSON CAT REPRESENTATIVES

PREPARED FOR: Tom Bagwell

PREPARED BY: Carrie FuPaul Lim

Shelby PesentiMichelle Chan

Yun Luo

Executive Summary

Companies often face similar problems when a sales representative moves on. During the transition period, customers are faced with the decision of staying with the current company or taking their business to another company. Their loyalty may be with the sales representative and now the company they conducted business with for many years.

Peterson Cat’s current transition process for new sales representatives is costing thousands of dollars in potential sales. Their customer base is not informed of the change and further increases the introductory period. A quality focused company like Peterson Cat should not risk losing valued and profitable customers due to the lack of communication.

Our team has created a standardized process of informing the customer base to ensure satisfaction and loyalty to Peterson Cat during the transition. The plan is easy to implement, captures lost sales revenue, and inexpensive. Once the program is in place, this process can be used by future sales representatives. Customers will appreciate the extensive effort put into this transition because instead of starting off with a blank slate, they know the new sales representative will provide high quality service.

Currently Peterson Cat and their competitors do not utilize a promotion plan for new sales representatives. This is quite unusual because resources are allocated to market the company or product, but not the sales representative who is the face of the company. They are the ones promoting the brand and selling the products. Our promotions plan will be completely new and high uncertainty costs would be a reason not to proceed with our process.

Uncertainty is a risk, but a risk we believe you should take. Peterson Cat has been in business since 1936 and is the leader in the industry. You are known as the company who solves their customer’s problems and this is a problem for your customer. Our team believes that our standardized process is the key to decreasing the introductory period for new sales representatives. We recommend proceeding with our promotion plan so that Peterson Cat can acquire the thousands of dollars of lost revenue during the transition.

Segmentation Strategy

Our Strategically Valuable Target (SVT) is the top 40% of each sales representative’s customer base. These customers are large corporations that include Kaiser Permanente, Intel, and Genentech and produce the most revenue for each sales representative. They require maintenance service for multiple generators that provides power to save lives and continue ongoing research. The decision makers are often inundated and overwhelmed with tasks and like to have a point of contact they can trust to do the job. Final Positioning and Messaging Statement

Our slogan for this promotion plan is “Built on Lasting Relationships” and the positioning statement is as follows:

“For Peterson Cat customers, our sales representative will be the most knowledgeable and helpful person with regards to your service needs. Our sales representatives come knowing your problems first hand and know how to help you fix it.”

By shifting our focus to lasting relationships, we want to help make the decision maker’s lives easier. The relationship is no longer just with the sales representative, it is with Peterson Cat. A smooth transition for the customers will continue the trust they have for the brand. With that in mind, Peterson Cat can continue to provide the world class service they are known for.

Marketing Campaign

I. Deliverables

We will be using a combination of communication tools to help inform customers and introducing them to new sales representative quickly and efficiently.

Email (exhibit 1): We chose to utilize email as part of our plan because communication can be done quickly and cost nothing to Peterson Cat. Technology plays a key role in every company and email is the preferred way of contact. Existing clients can be notified during or after the transition so they are always informed. We want the customers to be provided with the information first without them having to seek it on their own.

Our email will include a short biography, contact information, link to personal webpage, and a photo of the new sales representative. In addition to providing information, the email will also introduce our new sales representative promotion and we will utilize the promotion to capture the attention of our customer. The promotion offers 10% their service costs if they sign a year contract (exhibit 4).

Website (exhibit 2): The decision makers don’t always have the time to meet in person, but they will have time to click a link that leads them to a webpage. Each sales representative will

have their own personalized URL that leads to their webpage that will be the go-to place for customers to learn more about their new sales representative. This makes the sales representative seem more approachable. The webpage will be maintained by the sales representative and can be used to provide customers with a constant flow of information. Customers can set up an appointment or contact the sales representative directly from the webpage.

The website will have a detailed biography, current photo, contact information, and current promotion. A template will be provided to each sales representative and they can fill in or customize their website to their liking.

Letter (exhibit 3): In addition to emails, letters will also be distributed by mail. While many companies utilize email for their communication needs, advanced filters or noise from competing emails may lead to them missing the email. This is where the letter is helpful because it is another way of reaching them.

Just like the email, the letter will include a short biography, contact information, mention of the new sales representative promotion, and a photo. The only difference is the appearance of a QR code that customers can scan with their smart phones that lead them to their personalized webpage. To ensure that the letter won’t be tossed to the junk pile, we will send the letter in a yellow envelope that is hand addressed to the customer.

Welcome Bag: We chose to add a welcome bag as part of the promotions plan to increase the chances of meeting the decision maker. The customer always receives calls and visits from sales people trying to obtain their business. Instead, our sales representatives will stop by to drop off welcome bags to show our appreciation for their continued patronage with Peterson Cat. The welcome bag is seen as a more friendly approach with not appearing like a sales call so it increases their chances of meeting. The welcome bag will include promotional items tailored to the customer and their industry.

II. Offer

We are offering a promotion of 10% off if the customer signs a contract for a year of service. This promotion is a limited time offer that expires within 2 months of receiving the coupon. Our team believes that providing a limited time offer will decrease the introductory period greatly. Those still under their current service contract could extend it for another year.

III. Timeline

Email is sent out first, followed by the letter, and then the welcome bag.

IV. Budget

The final budget for this project is $ 3,088.82

Deliverable CostMail $65.78Email 0Website $421.75Welcome Bag $2601.29

V. How does your campaign work?

After a sales representative completed the required training, testing, and job shadowing, which takes 30 days, an email is sent out to their customer base. The introductory letter will be sent within a week of the time the email contact. Within a month of the email and letter contact, sales representatives are to visit their top 40% of their customer base to form an introduction and drop off a welcome bag.

The new sales representative promotion of 10% a year of service will decrease the introduction period and we anticipate it going from 18 months to 9 months. We will measure the effectiveness of our marketing campaign by placing Todd’s direct contact number on the coupon. We will utilize the calls to Todd’s phone number as a way to track the campaign.

Return on Marketing Investment

Present UsersPresent income flow in category 0Share of requirements <1%Customer income flow to brand 0Contribution Margin % 25%Contribution Margin $ 0Income flow without a brand communication program 0Contribution Margin without a Brand Communication Program 0Income flow with a brand communication program 100000Gross Contribution Margin with a Brand Communication Program 25000Brand Communication Investment 3036.51Net contribution Margin 21963.49Difference in Contribution Margins with and without brand communication 18000Return on Investment 593%

Exhibits

Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2

Exhibit 3

Exhibit 4

To redeem, call (510) 715-8695