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Signode's packaging division president makes a final decision on the price-flex policy.

Marketing has long emphasized the importance of being close to the customer. A research project that explored long-term relationships between industrial customers and their suppliers led to questions about how realistic this goal is and revealed other issues regarding patterns of customer-vendor behavior. Discussed here are the concepts of relationship marketing and transaction marketing and how customers' purchasing behaviors call for one or the other approach. To build and maintain lasting customer ties, and to outperform competitors, marketers will profit from careful and explicit consideration of their customer relationships.

The Heinz Ketchup product manager discovers she does not have sufficient finished inventory and production capacity to meet trade demand for a new plastic bottle ketchup. Alternatives include cancelling promotion events and putting the trade on allocation.

Population Services International (PSI) was a not-for-profit agency founded to disseminate family planning information and to market birth control products, primarily in less developed countries seeking to curb their population explosions. In 1976, PSI concluded an agreement with the government of Bangladesh to conduct a social marketing program, with the objective of using modern marketing techniques to sell subsidized contraceptives through commercial outlets. Seven years later, three PSI managers were meeting at PSI's Washington, D.C. headquarters to discuss 1984-86 marketing strategy for two products: Raja condoms and Maya birth control pills. Of particular concern was the fact that the marketing approach that had proven extremely successful for Raja was yielding poor sales results for Maya. The PSI managers needed to devise an action plan for improving Maya Sales.

The Heinz Ketchup product manager must decide whether or not to launch a new plastic bottle and, if so, what marketing program and support to place behind it.

The marketing mix concept is an essential part of marketing theory. It has endured because it is both effective and simple. Now there are several ways managers can add more strength to the concept while maintaining its simplicity. By applying such ideas as consistency, integration, and leverage, managers can see how a marketing program must fit the needs of the marketplace, the skills of the company, and the vagaries of the competition. To meet such disparate demands, the elements of the marketing mix must make the most effective use of company strengths, take aim at precisely defined segments, and protect the company from competitive threats.

Provides background information on the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) industry and the Waters Chromatography Division, an operation engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of HPLC instrument systems and chemical products. An overview of Waters' marketing effort in general and sales/service operations in particular provides a lead-in to the focus of the case: a diary-style account of a day in the field with Ray Burnett, a Waters field sales representative. Includes information on Ray's background and his current supervisor, a general description of Ray's job responsibilities, and a detailed account of one day's customer calls. Written for use in the communication section of the first year marketing course taught at HBS. The primary teaching objective is to show how one company executes the selling function.

Presents a sequel to the (A) case, which features a diary-style account of "a day in the field" with Ray Burnett, a field sales representative for Waters Chromatography Division.

Henkel's adhesive group is considering a major change in the international selling of its two major adhesives products for households. The proposed strategy is based on two concepts: umbrella branding and global standardization.

Presents the salesforce performance data of the Milford (A) case in a format suitable for spreadsheet analysis using a personal computer.

Successful research is designed to lead to actionable conclusions. By working backward and ascertaining results before the research actually hits the field, managers are more likely to get results they can work with. Managers must tell researchers the answers they need to accomplish company goals. By determining where they want to go, and then figuring out how to get there, both managers and researchers can expect successful research.

Buyers need to be sold first on the selling company and on the salesperson before a sale can be made, says this industrial sales executive. He introduces a planned sales approach that can cover a period of years and he details creative selling techniques that have succeeded for his group. The author believes companies should be customer-driven and all areas should get behind the sales effort.

The CAD/CAM market in Japan is about to take off. Computervision wants its exclusive distributor to dramatically expand its sales and service coverage. The distributor wants a joint venture with Computervision before expanding. Several distribution alternatives (including going direct) are presented.

Outlines the elements of a temporary sales agreement between Tokyo Electron Ltd. and Computervision Japan.

Presents sales data for 1983 and 1984.

David Thomas takes his first sales management assignment and is faced with a sales rep revolt because of a possible territory reorganization. In addition, his sales division is performing well below the national average. Rewritten version of a case by R.Z. Sorenson.

In June, 1984, a vice president at Turner Construction Co. must decide whether to approve a construction project being considered by one of Turner's territorial offices and how to manage that territory general manager's apparent reluctance to pursue another account that has important strategic value for Turner. A key issue is the appropriate marketing organization for the firm: Turner is highly decentralized geographically (in order to maximize operating efficiencies and presence in local markets), but buying behavior in some important market segments is increasingly national and centralized. The case also provides much information about the selling process and account/project management tasks in the general contracting business.

During a product's evolution to maturity, corporate customers inevitably change from inexperienced generalists to experienced specialists. The benefits customers seek change as well. Anticipating the patterns of evolution in customer decision making is as vital to success as is the most technically sophisticated product development program.

Phil Brooks, a second year university student, was investigating the feasibility of starting an enterprise called the 'Beach Bus'. The Beach Bus would be a daily transit service carrying passengers from the cities of Trenton, Belleville, and Bayside, Ontario to Outlet Beach in Sandbanks Provincial Park. Brooks wanted to evaluate the overall feasibility of the idea.

The Wright Line division of Barry Wright sells accessories used to store, protect, and provide access to computer media such as cards, tapes, and diskettes. With the explosive growth in the business computer market and the pronounced trend toward decentralized use, the market for computer accessories has become considerably fragmented. Wright Line's direct sales force, therefore, is finding it impossible to identify and reach prospective customers. As a proposed solution, Wright Line's president has moved to organize the division sales operations into three units, a direct sales force, a telephone marketing staff, and a catalog sales group.