Jindi Enterprises :

Finding a new sales

manager
BY SHIKHA TICKOO
 SALES GROWTH PROJECTIONS

Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Sales(In Units) 14 27 41 63 87

Growth(yoy) 92.8 51.8 53.65 38.09

INSIGHTS:

1. Maximum growth period: 1998

2. Lowest growth rate: 2001
Markets
HIGH END MARKET
Customer – architectural design firms
Targeted promotions used
20% revenue
Jindi was not well known in this market
Connections and credibility were very
important
70% of new construction
JINDI SALES PROCESS – TARGETED
PROMOTIONS
Giving technical presentations
Customers more interested in technical details
rather than price and delivery time
Sales engineers were more comfortable with
this but had little experience
Costly method
80% done by Ma
30% of orders came from targeted promotions
Analysis – high end market
Connections and credibility are important and Jindi is not well known in this market
Heavily reliant on Ma’s connections
Sales engineers did not have much experience
80% of targeted promotions done by Ma which means very poor lead generation by sales
engineers
Only 30% orders came from this method whereas 70% of all new construction was high-end
Markets
LOW-END MARKET JINDI SALES PROCESS – DIRECT WALK-IN

Customer – contractors Sales engineer would tour the area and find
Direct walk-in method used out new construction projects

80% revenue Initial contact with site person who would

then refer to technical manager or supervisor
Local presence was important as customers
preferred buying local Price, delivery time and service are important
Price, delivery time and geographic proximity
are very important
Contractor may look for a heat exchanger
towards the final phase of the construction
Analysis – low end market
80% revenue came from this market
Sales engineers were not as comfortable with this method
Only 30% of new constructions were low-end
Too much focus given to low-end market where margins are low
Jindi does not use low price strategy which is not advantageous here as contractors look for
lower price
Also the entry of Yongda will reduce the margin further as they have a low price strategy
Industrial market
MARKET CHARACTERISTICS
Customers – architectural design firms, engineering
consulting firms
Specifications determined months or years in advance
Customers stick to familiar vendors
50 such firms in Shaanxi province
Connections, references, price, quality, customized
designing and manufacturing, customer support were
important factors
Monopoly of few SOEs, JVs
Price almost twice that of residentials
Shorter payment cycle (by 30 days on average)
JINDI CAPABILITIES
Already uses targeted promotions for these
customers in high end market
Not much competition however the few
players have monopoly on price
Jindi is not well known in this market
Ma has technical background
70% of his sales force has engineering
background so good product knowledge
Analysis – Industrial market
Ma estimated a maximum of 20% incremental cost increase in manufacturing industrial
application
Price – 20 to 30% premium over residential products
Exiting the residential market completely is not advisable since
◦ the high end market has not been tapped yet
◦ Success in the industrial market is not guaranteed
Recruitment and selection
Planning Recruitment Selection
 Job analysis:
 Upstream – generating sales leads, establishing contracts, providing technical support,
presentations, bidding documents
 Downstream – customer training, installation, on-site service, maintenance
 Other tasks – people manager (select, build, lead the sales team), business manager (manage
resources, report on market conditions and field performance)
 Key performance area – generating leads
 Job qualifications – Key account management experience, B2B or industrial selling experience,
interpersonal skills, selling skills, willingness to travel, people management
 Job description –
 Title – Sales Manager – Lanzhou office
 Duties, tasks and responsibilities – job analysis
 Reporting to MD, managing a sales team of 4
Recruitment and selection
Planning Recruitment Selection
 Locating prospective candidates –

 Internal:
 Hu Bin
 Bai Dong

 External (through local job agent called Talent One):

 Qian Cheng
 Liu Xiaogang
Name Of The Prospect Pros Cons Decision
Hu Bin  Hardworking, faithful and reliable Too honest with customers. No Not selected as KAM is an integral part of the job of sales
 Willing to relocate to Lanzhou KAM skills. manager
 Engineering background, strong
technical skills
 Loyal, Steady, silent, Helpful,
Popular, Leader

Bai Dong  Locality advantage Youngest in the office having risk of Not selected as he doesn’t have leadership experience and the
 Entrepreneurial low retention possibility age can be a pitfall during engagement with other employees
 Interested in gaining product having more age.
knowledge
 Engaging sales style
 Willing to travel
 Creates positive rapport with
customers

Qian Cheng  Mature and experienced
 Worked at SOE architectural design
firm
 MBA with Management training and
practical management experience
 Successful tenure as GM of a
division
Overqualified for the job and may
quit the organisation if he receives
better opportunities.
Unwilling to leave Lanzhou
Selected.
Only major negative is unwillingness to travel from Lanzhou.
Major sales are in Lanzhou region only. Quinghai and Ningxia
together account for less than 30% of total sales from this office.
As for getting bored, he can be promoted to GM of Sales. Also
his past experience will be useful and his contacts with SOE
architectural design firms will be useful in industrial market.

Liu Xiaogang  Good Interpersonal skills Possess no prior technical Not selected due to lack of prior sales experience and no
 Endowed rigor for sales since he knowledge and work experience in technical skills. Both are important. As he doesn’t have market
finds it interesting, challenging and sales division knowledge or product knowledge, becoming the KAM will be
lucrative difficult for him.
 Possess good industrial contacts that
can be leveraged later for lead
generation.
 Has good contacts in architectural
design firms