ASSESSMENT BRIEF___________________________________________________

Page 1 of 7

Subject Title Mastering the Sale

Subject Code BUS305A

Assessment Title Case Study

Graduate Capabilities

a. Professional Expertise b. Innovative Problem Solving

Learning Outcome/s (found in the Subject Outline)

a) Interpret customer’s wants through the different stages of the personal selling process b) Integrate personal selling techniques to make adequate sales related dialogue c) Create an impactful elevator pitch d) Evaluate the key elements of successful sales management models and the approaches used

Assessment type (group or individual)

Individual

Weighting % 30%

Word count 2000 +/- 10%

Due day Week 5 Sunday by 11.55 pm

Submission type Turnitin ☒

Format / Layout of Assessment

Submission of Case Study:

• ICMS Cover Page/ Student Declaration • Your numbered answers to Q1 – 4

Assessment instructions

• Read the case study below • Answer all questions (1,2,3 & 4). You can use subheadings, tables or

bullet points as part of your answer to keep the content succinct. • Note: Q2 SWOT Analysis includes a quadrant template to enter your

answers. It also contains some suggested starter points for your consideration.

• A minimum of 3 references required for this assessment to demonstrate your independent research.

ASSESSMENT BRIEF___________________________________________________

Page 2 of 7

BUS305A Case Study – NutRICA Pty Ltd

Background You have recently been appointed as a Senior Sales Executive at NutRICA Pty Ltd, a privately owned

medium sized business situated in North Ryde, NSW, Australia. NutRICA uses traditional channels to service

its business-to-business (B2B) sales, utilising intermediaries such as distributors and large retailers. It also

has an underperforming business-to-consumer (B2C) channel. A recent push into the on-line space has

failed to produce the results the owner had hoped for. The business has increased the sales team budget for

the year ahead to focus more heavily on selling their extended range of products. The products created

include a large range of organic, vegetarian and vegan ingredients and the recently introduced pre-cooked

meals.

You meet with the owner of the business to discuss the market, competitive threats and customer trends, as

well as the strategic direction of the business for the year ahead. You discuss the following information with

the owner in detail to get a good understanding of the current business.

Market, Competitors and Customers Whilst international sales seem to be growing, the past year has shown that the majority of sales is attributed

to strong domestic performance in Australia. Business to business sales has increased, and for some reason,

business to consumers has declined; falling well short of previous forecasts. Both the Australian and overseas

market needs a more targeted sales plan which includes a well-planned advertising and promotions strategy.

Readings for the assessment

Online Moodle class content (Topics/weeks 1 – 4)

Your own independent research to gain further knowledge and insights to be applied to the Case Study below.

List or links to relevant readings

‘SWOT’ your competition https://www.georgiasbdc.org/swot-your- competition/#:~:text=Entrepreneurs%20can%20use%20SWOT%20analysis,they%20 plan%20for%20the%20future 7-Step Sales Process: When to Use It and When to Break It https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/what-is-the-7-step-sales-process Sales strategies and planning https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing- sales/sales/sales-plan/strategy Ready-to-Eat Meals https://www.statista.com/outlook/40080100/107/ready-to-eat-meals/australia

Grading Criteria / Rubric The Case Study will be assessed based on the rubric following the Case Study below.

ASSESSMENT BRIEF___________________________________________________

Page 3 of 7

Locally, there are other companies beginning to sell similar products in Australia. This is posing an external

threat to the company. The ease of setting up a competitive threat via an on-line platform is also cause for

further concern. Competition can certainly heat up quickly.

Past Sales Performance Historically, staff turnover within the sales team has been very high with a lack of experienced sales people

in the current team. Not all news is negative, as a successful strategy has been the steady performance of a

small but dedicated internal sales team (tele-sales). The least successful strategies include advertising and

sales promotional campaigns. This could be due to the lack of experience in the team. The monthly average

of sales revenue per sales team member over the past year was $10,000. This is a major concern for the

businesses as it struggles to meet its overhead expenses at this current rate.

The sales conversation rate is approximately 1 sale for every 30 customer visits or calls. This low number is

likely to be due to poor induction and training processes, and the lack of motivation and leadership provided

to date. The high staff attrition rate is also a contributing factor here.

Customers In Australia, the key target consumers (excluding business to business sales) are predominantly females

(aged 18 – 45), and reside on the east coast of Australia (from Geelong Victoria, Northern Beaches in Sydney

to the Gold Coast in Queensland and other pockets across these three states). Many of the customers are

interested in good health, the environment, sustainable practices, and alternate ways of living. There has

been a steep increase in “ready to eat” meal suppliers in recent times as high growth opportunities have been

identified. Revenue in the Ready-to-Eat Meals segment amounts to US$3,387m in 2020. The market is

expected to grow annually by -0.7% (CAGR 2020-2025) (Statista, 2020).

B2B customers include some of the leading grocery and supermarket chains such as Coles, Woolworths and

IGA. Some discussions with Aldi had commenced to produce some private label products however

discussions had stalled due to the lack of resources and a small restructure of the sales team prior to your

appointment as Senior Sales Executive.

Strategic Direction The owner has recruited you to focus on the struggling business to consumer (B2C) sales channel in

Australia. The owner would like to personally continue with the current overseas activity as their focus. They

have however, committed to you, their willingness to invest resources into the Australian operations to grow

the domestic sales contributions. Your allocated territory is the east coast of Australia including Victoria, New

South Wales and Queensland. You have been provided with a support team consisting of 5 sales support

team members responsible for managing the sales process for the company under your direction as the

Senior Sales Executive. Success here for you may lead into a promotion as National Sales Manager –

Business to Consumer division.

ASSESSMENT BRIEF___________________________________________________

Page 4 of 7

The following objectives have been created to be consistent with the strategic direction:

• Find new customers for the B2C and B2B markets (expand to secondary market segments and target customers)

• To increase Australian business to consumer (B2C) sales by 25% per sales team member in the first 2 months, then 100% after that

• To make a total sales revenue of $1,200,000 for the FY 2020-2021 (annual combined team target)

• To develop an advertising and promotional strategy aimed at the targeted customers • To improve sales team performance and standards – reduce staff turnover

Sales Team Compensation Plan

The owner has decided that the sales team members will receive a base salary, with a compensation plan.

Different levels of commission will be applied in accordance with a levelled system approach. If the sales

revenue targets change, then a new compensation and salary system will be negotiated with the sales

team.

The following sets out the commission that the sales staff will receive. The commission will only be paid

four weeks’ post sale. This is to ensure that the customer has not returned the product and final payments

have been made.

Sales Team Compensation Schedule Amount Commission 5 – 15% above the set target $200 15 – 25% above the set target $400 26 – 50% above the set target $600 51 – 75% above the set target $800 76% or more above the set target $1000

Note:

Refer to your notes and PowerPoint presentation slides for each of the topics covered in class from weeks 1 – 4. You will also need to conduct your own independent research. It is expected that your answers are written in your own words to reflect the knowledge you have gained and the opinions and insights you have formed from the readings.

ASSESSMENT BRIEF___________________________________________________

Page 5 of 7

Questions:

1. A sales process is a set of repeatable steps that a sales person follows to take a prospective buyer from the early stage of awareness to a closed sale. As the recently appointed Senior Sales Executive, briefly identify each of these steps – paying particular attention to describe the sales process required for the NuTRICA sales team to follow under your guidance and example as a role model. Provide sufficient specific detail and relevant examples where practicable.

2. Analyse the Case Study, then complete a SWOT analysis of the current market and sales performance. Ensure you fully address each of the internal and external SWOT factors in full structured sentences/short paragraphs. Provide between 3 to 5 points in each quadrant, explaining their inclusion (i.e. justify why you have included).

Internal to NuTRICA Strengths Weaknesses What sales strategies that have been working well? What sales strategies have not been working well?

Which market or customers are the products selling to the most?

Which market or customers are the products selling to the least?

External to NuTRICA Opportunities Threats What are the market needs? What are the market opportunities?

What are the threats to sales internally and externally?

3. Based on the case study and lessons on target markets and market segmentation (T2), provide a detailed analysis of NuTRICA target market(s), customer characteristics and how the company targets each of their chosen markets. (350 words)

4. Outline your account relationship strategy as the Senior Sales Executive.

Part A: Briefly outline your:

a. Sales strategies b. Sales tactics c. Sales action plan

Part B: List a strategy used to do each of the following:

d. Manage customer accounts e. Build customer goodwill f. Develop customer loyalty

ASSESSMENT BRIEF___________________________________________________

Page 6 of 7

Assessment 1: NutRICA Case Study – Marking Rubric

Criteria HD

(85-100) D

(75-84) CR

(65-74) PASS

(50-64) FAIL

(0-49) Q1. Understand the sales process (20%) 

Understand sales process and techniques to enhance likelihood

of making a sale. Identified all 7 steps of the sales process. Includes 3 examples of something to enhance customer

relationships.

Understand sales process and techniques to enhance likelihood

of making a sale. Identified all 6-7 steps of the

sales process. Includes at least 2 examples of something to

enhance customer relationships.

Understand sales process and techniques to enhance likelihood

of making a sale. Required some further specific detail and relevant examples of something to enhance customer

relationships Identified at least 5 steps of the

sales process.

Somewhat Understand sales process and techniques to

enhance likelihood of making a sale. Includes 1 example of

something to enhance customer relationships

Identified at least 3 steps of the sales process.

Failed to include examples of enhancing customer

relationships. Student failed to correctly

identify all the steps used in the sales process or used them out

of order.

Q2 SWOT Analysis (20%) 

SWOT Analysis contains 5 or more points for each quadrant. A

paragraph is provided for each point explaining their inclusion.

SWOT Analysis contains 4 points for each quadrant. Several

sentences are provided for each point explaining their inclusion.

SWOT Analysis contains less than 4 points for each quadrant. A sentence may or may not be

provided for each point explaining their inclusion.

SWOT Analysis contains less than 4 points for each segment. Only

a few or no sentences are provided for each point

explaining their inclusion.

SWOT Analysis is incomplete or incorrect. Very little justification

if any has been provided. Sufficient explanation is either

missing or insufficient. Q3 Market Segmentation & Target Customers (20%)

Very comprehensive outline of target market that includes

justification of segment selected with full explanation provided of

segment profile using appropriate variables for segmentation.

A critical analysis of how the

organisation uses each segmentation variable to define target market(s) is presented.

Good outline of target market. Includes justification of segment

selected and some effort made to profile selected segment using

correct variables for segmentation

Satisfactory outline of target markets. However mainly

descriptive. More required in terms of justification of how this

segment was profiled.

Information on how the organisation uses segmentation

to define target market(s) is presented, but the information is incomplete or incorrect. All four types of segmentation variables

are not discussed. The word requirement is listed and met.

Very poor evaluation of target market. Little to no use of

profiling tools. The information is incomplete or incorrect and all segmentation variables are not

discussed.

Q4 Account/Sales Strategy (20%)

The sales strategy plan contains details of the products/services;

from the customer’s point of view, and identifies key competitors and

how the product/service is positioned to compete.

Information is thoroughly and clearly reported, including such things as the type of product/

service, current marketing efforts, current knowledge about customers and competitors, etc

Information is for the most part, thoroughly and clearly reported. But some information that may be critical to the sales strategy

plan is missing

The sales strategy plan describes the products/services; however, detail from the customer’s point

of view, and competitors is somewhat lacking sufficient

detail.

Information is provided, but there is a great deal of potentially important information missing.

Explanation and Presentation of Ideas (10%)

The explanation and justification is accurate and comprehensive. High level application of theory

covered in class, linking back well and clear refined reasoning and

The explanation is well reasoned and detailed. Good application of

theory covered in class to the question and justification of

choices.

The content is generally accurate and reasonably complete.

Evidence of some application of the theory covered class to the

case study answers.

Content/ explanation is sometimes inaccurate or

incomplete. Needs further expansion and explanation.

Greater justification of answers required.

Content is inaccurate or overly general. Lack of application of theory and no linking back or application to the case study.

ASSESSMENT BRIEF___________________________________________________

Page 7 of 7

justification of choices demonstrated throughout.

Writing Structure, spelling and grammar (10%)

Exemplary writing and structure demonstrated in accordance with

the assessment outline. The writing flows well with no spelling

or grammatical errors.

Very good writing demonstrated along with structure in line with

the assessment outline. The writing flows well.

Report submitted overall in line with the assessment outline.

Some minor spelling or grammatical errors.

Some attempt to follow the assessment outline structure but

not fully met. Sentences show errors of structure and little.

Several errors of punctuation, spelling. Errors interfere with

meaning in places.

Careful proofreading not evident.

Did not follow the assessment outline structure. Multiple

errors of sentence structure. Frequent errors in spelling

and/or inaccurate punctuation such that communication is hindered. Proofreading not

evident.