Analyse the business problem at Courage Ltd.

Question

Introduction:

You are working as Assistant Marketing Manager in a company called Courage Ltd. that sells electronic products. The inventory supervisor has informed you that inventory has been in the warehouse for the last two months because sales have drastically declined. As a result, they have not had enough orders to meet the monthly set targets. He has also informed you that the competitor is offering 20% off on their products. You have discussed this with your manager. He has asked you to conduct a meeting with your team (team includes 3 marketing and 3 sales officers) and any other responsible persons to gather enough information to take the necessary steps in resolving the problem.

Answer 1

First, I would gather the necessary data: inventory report, past sales, current campaigns and results, competitive products, and discounted prices.

I would suggest a marketing campaign to market a sale on the competitive products or similar porducts at 20% and market other products for a 10% discount for a set time period. I would have the campaign target new customers and existing customers. Upon interaction with the marketing points, I would direct the sales team follow-up on those leads and make direct calls to their accounts, introducing/reinforcing the "sale."

Because we are currently missing sales targets, a price reduction is warranted to generate revenue. In the long term, I would not compete on price (at least not consistently) but rather market the firm's other values, i.e., customer service, credit terms, breadth of product portfolio, stocking/shipping services, etc.