Getting a new, improved product into a chain of stores that has never carried her line of women's apparel is a new experience for Lynn Morris. Lynn has been promoted to key account sales representative for McBath Women's Apparel in the past month. She has worked for McBath since graduating from college three years earlier. As a novice salesperson in a large metropolitan market, she inherited a sales territory where all of the major department stores in her area carried the popular McBath line. By displaying a service attitude, Lynn kept all her original accounts and managed to help several outlets increase sales of McBath products, but she was never given the opportunity to sell to new accounts. Now, she has accepted the key account (a key account is one that generates a large volume of sales for the company) sales position in another region of the country. Also, she has the responsibility of selling to a large chain of department stores (Federale) that has never carried McBath products. Maurice Leverett, vice president of marketing at McBath, is counting heavily on adding the Federale chain because James McBath, the company's president, is intent on continuing McBath's rapid sales growth. Lynn firmly believes that her products are the best on the market. She is concerned, however, about the sales interview she has scheduled with the chief purchasing agent at Federale, Mary Bruce. Despite McBath's high-quality image and its reputation for having a dependable, hard-working sales force, Mary Bruce has turned down other McBath salespeople several times over the past six years, saying, "We already stock four manufacturers' lingerie. We are quite happy with the lines we now carry and with the service their salespeople provide us. Besides, we only have so much floor space to devote to lingerie and we don't want to confuse our customers with another line." Lynn has decided to make her company's new display system her major selling point for several reasons:

¦ Several high-ranking McBath executives (including vice president of marketing Maurice Leverett) are strong supporters of the new display and want it in all retail outlets.

¦ The stores currently using the display for test marketing purposes have shown an increase in sales for McBath products of 50 percent.

¦ Federale will not have to set aside much space for the new system, and it can be installed, stocked, and ready for use in less than one hour.

¦ The display will increase shopping convenience by allowing shoppers easy access to the well-known, trusted line of McBath products with the aid of clear, soft-shell plastic packaging and easy-to-understand sizing.

¦ A new advertising campaign will start in a few weeks and will emphasize the revolutionary display. Other promotions, such as coupons and special introductory sales, will also be tried.

Questions

1. Lynn believes a good presentation will be critical for her to sell Bruce the new display. How should she structure her presentation? What are the key selling points to discuss?

2. Assume you are Maurice Leverett (vice president of marketing for McBath). Give an example of each of the four major types of discounts discussed in this chapter that your salespeople could use to help put the new display into retail stores. What type of discount will be most effective, and what will be least effective? Explain your reasoning.

3. How can Lynn use quantity (cumulative and noncumulative), cash, trade, and consumer discounts to her advantage?