Airwide International free essay sample

Airwide International, a company that specializes in the production and selling of air conditioning units in Europe and Asia, experienced some tough times in the China division. To keep things simple, the China division was losing customers to competitiors and experienced a dismal 2% growth in one quarter. The divisions main problem was that they were not in tune with the wants and needs of their customers. Airwide had been relying on their old methods of selling and their relationships with their clients in order to sell their product. The downside to this, which the China division experienced first hand, is that when the buyers change their methods or values, the sellers are forced to compensate if they wish to stay competitive. For example, one of the sales engineers for Airwide had shared a story with Mr. Wei (sales manager of the China division) that a long time customer of Airwide had switched to a competitors product when a new manager of the buyer was in control. We will write a custom essay sample on Airwide International or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The old sale was always made because of the strong relationship between Airwide International and the manager of the buying company. When that manager left, so did the relationship and eventually the contracts. A final lesson that can be taken away from this case is the idea that a customer  is no longer just one person, but is moving in the direction of the whole company making a democratic decision. Executives of buying companies are still making decisions on certain products but it is also true that the process is becoming more democratic. The case describes this situation   by seeing the customer as a â€Å"school of fish†. They are all traveling in the same direction but it is a collective group, not just one individual. Sales people must therefore tailor their selling strategies to persuade a multitude of people and not just one person. Key Issues/Suggested Solutions * Communication Between Customers- In business, communication is essential if a company is to succeed. Being able to communicate and persuade someone with your words and actions defines a person as either successful or unsuccessful. Airwide International failed to communicate with their customers about their products and eventually lost contracts as a result. * Communication Between Sales People – When the extra training for the sales people did not help solve the profit problem, Mr. Wei could have been more effective if he had polled the sales people and specifically asked them what the issue was. He did do this with one of his sales people but a broader spectrum of sales people is needed in order to figure out the whole issue. Tiredness of Salespeople – Increasing the amount of work that a company asks a sales person to accomplish is obviously going to make them increasingly more tired as the day progresses. When Mr. Wei added incentives for the sales people that did particularly well according to his standards, he was doing the right thing in order to motivate his employees, even though it ended up a failure in the end. There comes a point where the amount of work just outweighs any incentive to do well. This is simply human nature. A  solution to  this is hiring more sales people so that their is less burden on each individual sales person. * Disinterest in Sales Tactics- From interpretation of the Airwide International case, it appears that the customers became disinterested in the products that Airwide International was producing or the sales people simply could no longer sell the products effectively. Airwide was losing contracts with customers when the competitor sold the same exact product at  a more expensive price. This typically does not happen unless the competitor has a better customer value proposition. If this is in fact the case, Airwide should change change their tactics competely and managers and executives must find a customer value proposition that is more effective than the competitors. Buyers Viewpoint: As a previous customer of Airwide International who has just switched to a competitors product, I would view the tactics of the Airwide International sales people as prehistoric in nature. Airwide did not offer any new additions to their product that would make it more enticing than what we already have. The world is constantly changing, and so businesses that buy air conditioning products are going to want the most innovative product that is out there on the market. As a CEO, and im sure many other CEO’s have the same viewpoint, we don’t mind paying a little bit extra if the extra money is going to a more innovative and specifically designed product. The product line for Airwide is so simple and generic that it does not interest us. We would rather pay extra to get a product that is â€Å"new† and does more for our company than any old fashioned air conditoner could do. Seller’s Viewpoint: As a Airwide International Salesman, I do not understand why companies are not taking our air conditioners over our competitors. We offer many different kinds of air conditioning units that can be used in any sort of house or business. WE have been around for so long that we must be doing something right. We are even able to offer our customers the cheapest units out there on the market yet we are still losing deals to our competitors. It is starting to become sad that we cannot even satisfy our long time customers anymore.