Read Case 2.1 at the end of Chapter 2. Select one of the cases to write a 3-4 page case analysis, based on the content of the chosen case.

Your analysis should include:

• A brief description of the case (one paragraph)
• A summary of the problems (one-half to one page)
• Analysis of possible solutions (one to two pages)
• Recommend a course of action and defend that decision (one to two pages)

MAKING SALES MANAGEMENT DECISIONS CASE 2.1: PROFOOD SUPPLY COMPANY Background ProFood Supply Company was founded in New York in 1960 to supply professional catering compa- nies with a wide variety of institutional food prod- ucts, including canned vegetables and meats. The company had grown steadily over the decades, and is now one of the largest full-service institutional food suppliers in the nation, selling perishable and non- perishable foods and foodservice supplies such as tablecloths, napkins, and tableware. In the past year, ProFood had begun an aggressive push into a new market segment, the hotel/motel restaurant market. Current Situation Jon Menzes is the ProFood sales representative in Nashville, Tennessee. Jon has been with the com- pany for almost two years. He is a recent college graduate and looks forward to proving himself in his sales position, then moving into management with the company. Jon's sales manager, Emily Lewis, has told Jon that if he finishes the year over 100 percent on his sales versus quota target that he would enter the pool of candidates for promotion sometime in the following 12 months. Jon is doing quite well with his existing accounts, and has added a couple of new accounts. He believes that he will finish the year a little over 100 percent of quota, but he needs to add some of the new hotel/motel business to be sure he achieves his sales goals. Jon has been attempting to secure the restaurant business of Sleep Tight Inns, a regional chain of 16 moderately priced motels in Tennessee. Sleep Tight's corporate headquarters are in Nashville and the chain currently buys all of its food and restaurant supplies from Swanson's Food Supply, a well-established wholesale restaurant supplier. Swanson's has its own salesforce, most of whom are veteran salespeople who have established good relationships with the restau- rant operators in their sales territories. ProFood has not been a supplier for Swanson's for more than 10 years. Jon has been told that Pro- Food and Swanson's had some friction over service problems, with Swanson's head buyer claiming that ProFood was not a reliable supplier. The buyer re- portedly withheld partial payment on several in- voices, and ultimately Pro Food refused to sell to Swanson's. Jon and the ProFood sales representative who preceded him had tried to get reestablished with Swanson's, but Swanson's buyers had stead- fastly refused to buy from ProFood. Jon was determined to get the Sleep Tight Inn's business, so he made sales calls on the 16 motels to gauge their interest in switching to Baker Brothers, another foodservice wholesaler with whom Jon had a strong working relationship. The Sleep Tight op- erators were unanimous-they had no intention of leaving Swanson's for Baker Brothers. In making the rounds to the 16 motels, Jon learned that the indi- vidual hotel managers had no authority to buy from suppliers that had not been previously approved by their corporate headquarters in Nashville. Jon then called on Sleep Tight's corporate headquarters, where he learned that becoming an approved sup- plier would take a minimum of 60 daysif approval was granted. Sleep Tight's director of purchasing was frank with Jon, telling him: We have been extremely satisfied with Swanson's, and don't see much need to add Baker Brothers to the list of ap- proved suppliers. If I were in your shoes, I would try to sell through Swanson's." Jon went back to Swanson's, trying once again to become one of their suppliers. He decided to use a foot-in-the-door strategy, meaning that he would only try to sell one small part of his product line, with hopes that if this proved to be successful, he would be able to expand his sales through Swan- son's. Jon presented the newest version of ProFood, a very attractive tableclothapkin package that could be customized with Sleep Tight's logo. Bill Wilson, the Swanson's buyer, turned Jon down, say- ing, Jon, don't take this personally, but we simply are not ready to do business with ProFood again. You guys are doing some impressive things in the marketplace, and next year we may get together with you. But that's not in the plan for this year. Disappointed, Jon felt he had but one choice if he wanted to make his year-end numbers. He arranged sales calls with the three Baker Brothers sales repre- sentatives who called on Sleep Tight Inns. Jon planned to work with the Baker Brothers salespeo- ple to present the ProFood packages, cut the price to stimulate interest, and try to convince all 16 of the Sleep Tight operators to buy the packages from Baker Brothers. If the motel operators liked the packages, Jon figured he could use their interest to speed up the supplier approval process back at Sleep Tight's headquarters and book the additional sales volume before year end. It was now Friday night, and Jon was heading home. It had been a tough week, and he was look- ing forward to the weekend. The Swanson's situa- tion with Sleep Tight had not gone the way he hoped it would, but now that he had decided what to do, he was feeling better. Jon did not like to lose, and as he drove home, more than once he thought, "I'll show Swanson's. If you don't play ball with me, I'll take the business through Baker Brothers. Jon planned to call Emily Lewis over the weekend and run the plan by her. Next week, he planned on hitting all of the Sleep Tight Inns with the Baker Brothers salespeople. MAKING SALES MANAGEMENT DECISIONS CASE 2.1: PROFOOD SUPPLY COMPANY Background ProFood Supply Company was founded in New York in 1960 to supply professional catering compa- nies with a wide variety of institutional food prod- ucts, including canned vegetables and meats. The company had grown steadily over the decades, and is now one of the largest full-service institutional food suppliers in the nation, selling perishable and non- perishable foods and foodservice supplies such as tablecloths, napkins, and tableware. In the past year, ProFood had begun an aggressive push into a new market segment, the hotel/motel restaurant market. Current Situation Jon Menzes is the ProFood sales representative in Nashville, Tennessee. Jon has been with the com- pany for almost two years. He is a recent college graduate and looks forward to proving himself in his sales position, then moving into management with the company. Jon's sales manager, Emily Lewis, has told Jon that if he finishes the year over 100 percent on his sales versus quota target that he would enter the pool of candidates for promotion sometime in the following 12 months. Jon is doing quite well with his existing accounts, and has added a couple of new accounts. He believes that he will finish the year a little over 100 percent of quota, but he needs to add some of the new hotel/motel business to be sure he achieves his sales goals. Jon has been attempting to secure the restaurant business of Sleep Tight Inns, a regional chain of 16 moderately priced motels in Tennessee. Sleep Tight's corporate headquarters are in Nashville and the chain currently buys all of its food and restaurant supplies from Swanson's Food Supply, a well-established wholesale restaurant supplier. Swanson's has its own salesforce, most of whom are veteran salespeople who have established good relationships with the restau- rant operators in their sales territories. ProFood has not been a supplier for Swanson's for more than 10 years. Jon has been told that Pro- Food and Swanson's had some friction over service problems, with Swanson's head buyer claiming that ProFood was not a reliable supplier. The buyer re- portedly withheld partial payment on several in- voices, and ultimately Pro Food refused to sell to Swanson's. Jon and the ProFood sales representative who preceded him had tried to get reestablished with Swanson's, but Swanson's buyers had stead- fastly refused to buy from ProFood. Jon was determined to get the Sleep Tight Inn's business, so he made sales calls on the 16 motels to gauge their interest in switching to Baker Brothers, another foodservice wholesaler with whom Jon had a strong working relationship. The Sleep Tight op- erators were unanimous-they had no intention of leaving Swanson's for Baker Brothers. In making the rounds to the 16 motels, Jon learned that the indi- vidual hotel managers had no authority to buy from suppliers that had not been previously approved by their corporate headquarters in Nashville. Jon then called on Sleep Tight's corporate headquarters, where he learned that becoming an approved sup- plier would take a minimum of 60 daysif approval was granted. Sleep Tight's director of purchasing was frank with Jon, telling him: We have been extremely satisfied with Swanson's, and don't see much need to add Baker Brothers to the list of ap- proved suppliers. If I were in your shoes, I would try to sell through Swanson's." Jon went back to Swanson's, trying once again to become one of their suppliers. He decided to use a foot-in-the-door strategy, meaning that he would only try to sell one small part of his product line, with hopes that if this proved to be successful, he would be able to expand his sales through Swan- son's. Jon presented the newest version of ProFood, a very attractive tableclothapkin package that could be customized with Sleep Tight's logo. Bill Wilson, the Swanson's buyer, turned Jon down, say- ing, Jon, don't take this personally, but we simply are not ready to do business with ProFood again. You guys are doing some impressive things in the marketplace, and next year we may get together with you. But that's not in the plan for this year. Disappointed, Jon felt he had but one choice if he wanted to make his year-end numbers. He arranged sales calls with the three Baker Brothers sales repre- sentatives who called on Sleep Tight Inns. Jon planned to work with the Baker Brothers salespeo- ple to present the ProFood packages, cut the price to stimulate interest, and try to convince all 16 of the Sleep Tight operators to buy the packages from Baker Brothers. If the motel operators liked the packages, Jon figured he could use their interest to speed up the supplier approval process back at Sleep Tight's headquarters and book the additional sales volume before year end. It was now Friday night, and Jon was heading home. It had been a tough week, and he was look- ing forward to the weekend. The Swanson's situa- tion with Sleep Tight had not gone the way he hoped it would, but now that he had decided what to do, he was feeling better. Jon did not like to lose, and as he drove home, more than once he thought, "I'll show Swanson's. If you don't play ball with me, I'll take the business through Baker Brothers. Jon planned to call Emily Lewis over the weekend and run the plan by her. Next week, he planned on hitting all of the Sleep Tight Inns with the Baker Brothers salespeople