P.V. Technologies Inc.

by: Frank V. Cespedes and Diane Badame

What to do in this race?

PV Technologies, Inc. is an industry-leading manufacturer of photovoltaic inverters used to convert the direct current output of solar panels into alternating current for the commercial power grid. In conjunction with a request for proposal, the company's largest customer performs a routine evaluation and ranks PV Technologies third behind two key competitors. The director of sales and marketing, Nathan Rubenstein, must weigh the possible consequences of the report on the company's reputation while considering an appropriate response. They believed that they were going to close the bug deal because they had a very good relationship with Solenergy's senior manager through their best Sales person. However, this was not the case. PV's best salesperson, Jim Salvatori, then had four alternatives from which to choose in response to this publication:

• Offer to extend the original warranty at internal cost from 10 to 20 years.
• Offer a 99% up-time guarantee at no cost.
• Accelerate the introduction of their new 1.25MW model and 98.5% efficiency.
• Salvatori approaches Solenergy's Morgan about results and persuades continued business.

Lessons Learned

• Improve Communication: I believe that one of the biggest contributors to PVT not being the top option for Solenergy is their poor communication. In today's market, it is all about the customer and knowing what they want, how they want it, and why they want you. They need to be able to approach their customers and not get information from a third party. Knowing that your best sales person has a good relationship with that company, does not mean that they will go for your company all the time. 
• 
  
• Make sure to make the right decision: PVT was very alarmed when they found out that they were ranked third in Solenergy's decision; this coming from a third party. They wanted to maintain their reputation and relationship with them, but there is no need to rush with their decisions. Extending the warranty and accelerating production of new products may be very costly, and smart decisions need to be made. 
• 
  
• The source of information is not reliable: PVT is worried about their reputation, however, they are willing to act on information that was unethically provided to them and did not come from Solenergy. This may raise concerns about the ethics of the company and hurt them more. 

Best way out? Accelerate the introduction of their new 1.25MW model and 98.5% efficiency. By developing and introducing this new product, which might be appealing for Solenergy, PVT can regain its top standard and reputation, and possibly close the deal with them. However, they need to think of a way in which the acceleration of this product will not hurt them financially and and can still be delivered to Solenergy on time. 

Solenergy's Point of View

From the customer's point of view, it is understandable to go with he best option that they think will generate them the most power, but at the same time lowering the costs. As CEO of Solenergy, I want to invest my money in the company that will satisfy my needs and as of now, PVT is third in our list. We haven't made a final decision yet, but we are still analyzing and looking into all the options that we have. I believe that they are a very trustworthy company, but I want to see more from them. I want to benefit more from a bud deal that we are trying to get here. 

Venture Forum

I was really impressed with what I was seeing in the Venture Forum. When they first told me that we were going to the 5-minute elevator pitch contest, I thought that it was going to be some Grad students or maybe some representatives from certain companies. However, to my surprise, there were CEO's from the companies presenting the products and giving the elevator pitches. I really wasn't expecting to see that at all. i think that it is very important for WPI to keep doing this type of events, since it brings a very large pool of executive officers from different companies and markets, and allows the WPI community to reach out to them. 

Despite the products being very interesting, there were some of them that seemed very interesting to me. One of them, was the Achilles's Tendon restoration. I found the presentation very good, the presenter tackled the aspects that you want to see in an elevator pitch, and I liked the summary that he had at the end with the 4 main points of the product. Also, I believe that the product will benefit a lot all the people/animals that have a torn Achilles Tendon, as it is an injury that happens a lot and usually takes a lot to recover. The other company that impressed me with their product was Freight Farm. the way that they introduce the technology into the food industry will definitely help it grow significantly. Last, GelSight Imagining was a very interesting product that can help all those companies that use materials that need to be in optimal conditions in order to function appropriately. Certain things can not be seen by the human eye, and the gel that they've created can have  a lot of potential in the market.     

Take-away's from the presentations:

Practice before Presenting. In some of the presentations, the presenters were talking too much and did not have time to give their presentation well. They were rushing through the slides and the information, and they were not allowing the audience to fully understand their product, its purpose, and its reason. Also, know your product to be able to answer every question they ask you. I went up to the poster of the rubber band social connector, and they were unable to answer a couple of my questions which made them look unprofessional.  

Strict time. I was surprised to see how strict the judges were with the time for the presentation and the Q&A section. There were a lot of presenters and they had to stick to the schedule, so even if the presenters were in the middle of their presentation or answers, they would cut them off. 

Gain Credibility. As learned in class, it is important to gain credibility of your team and product in order to have an investor/customer buy your product. At the end of the presentation, the companies had the information of all the team members that worked on the product, as well as some advisers. The curriculum of each member was there, which is important to see who is involved in the creation of the product.  

Body Language. In my opinion, a presentation is more interesting when the presenters have some more body language and movement. Personally, I don't like listening to a presentation and having the presenter stand behind a podium and read off from the sides. It is important to not read too much, and have more eye contact with the audience and judges. If they would've had wireless microphones it would've allowed them to move around a little on stage and to be understood better when they talked. 

Amaze the Audience. It is vital to keep the audience and judges interested in your presentation and product. You should try to make the presentation clear and interesting in order to keep everyone with you. 

More images, Less words. In the presentations and posters I find it more interesting to see pictures and graphs and have the presenter explain them and talk about them, instead of seeing a lot of words. In some of the posters, it as very hard to see and understand from far, and I had to come very close in order to see it.  

Porsche Canada

by: Ken Mark and Dante Pirouz 

What is the article about?

Porsche Canada wants to encourage their Canadian customers to drive their cars during the winter. The prize, is increased sales of cars, by consumers currently unwilling to buy a Porsche only for summer driving, and winter accessories, such as snow tires. However, this is a three-way challenge because Canadians have three arguments against the idea of driving luxury during the winter: 

1. luxury vehicles should not be driven in winter due to the ice and salt
2. sports cars generally perform poorly in winter conditions
3. it is unwise to drive a luxury car during the winter where it could be scratched or damaged more easily. 

Sometimes you Have to Change the Perspective

Customers usually have a perspective of what things work, what is accepted or not, or which things should be used inc certain situations. In some cases, they are wrong, and this comes from the fact that most of these assumptions are created by society and everyone adapts to them. This was the case for Porsche Canada. Their main problem was the perception that Canadian "potential" customers had that the Porsche cars were to be driven only during the summer. This perception was causing Porsche Canada to loose some customers and not be able to increase their sales. It was in the Marketing Department hands to change this idea and introduce a car in which they showed that it was possible and perfectly fine to drive during the winter. 

Obviously, the customers know that Porsche cars are not cheap and they are very luxurious, so the company needs to still present the car with the luxurious features that it brings but also show that they have certain features that help or aid the car during the winter driving. Selling winter accessories was a great approach that they had, as this created some reliability on the product and gave the customers a little more confidence that the cars are not only to be driven during the summer. 

Nonetheless, I believe that Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) is very important to solve the problem. Prosche Canada, or any other company, needs to understand its customers and their needs in order to provide them with the best service. If they want to be able to drive their cars during the winter, Porsche needs to come up with certain features that will make the customer want to buy the car. I found very interesting how Porsche uses this commercial to portray its car as multipurpose. They show how the car can be using in various situations in life and they show the car being driven during the winter to catch the customers attention on the fact that the Porsche is not only a summer car.     

Key Issues and Solutions

• Misconceptions between Porsche owners and winter driving, leading to an imbalance for the company. The owners of the Porsche company need to understand what the perception of winter driving is. They need to market their cars in a way that customers will believe and have trust that the cars will function well during winter too. Accessories or awareness of the subject might be a solution for this. 
• The current customers are not using their cars during the winter time because of their perception that the weather will ruin their cars and that sport cars are for summer time use only. The potential customers don't buy the car because they are expensive to be a "seasonal" car. 
• Porsche Canada needs to focus on changing the Canadian winter driving behavior and perspectives to reflect the ability of the cars. This will increase their immediate revenue for long term growth. The sales of winter equipment will increase substantially too. 
• Consistent brand imaging and messaging is important to change the perspective of the Canadian drivers. They need to focus on making their brand recognizable. They could do so by introducing a driving program for current and prospective customers in order to try the product and that wain, gain credibility. 

Potential Customer Point of View

"Porsche cars are so cool! I really want to buy one. The problem I see with them is that they can not be used during the Winter because they are going to get scratched or ruined easily. It is expensive and I wouldn't like to have the snow ruin my car. Also, I'm not spending that much money on a car that is "seasonal" and that I will be driving only during the summer. It snows a lot here in Canada, and for that same price or even lower, I can buy a nice car that can be used all year long. Maybe a SUV would be a better option for me since they are taller. The Porsche cars are very low and i don't think that they will be able to move well in the snow. I don't want to be dealing with my car getting stuck in the snow or even putting my life in danger if the car sides in the snow. If I am going to spend a lot of money in a car, I want it to be capable of functioning in any terrain, any weather condition, and that keeps me safe." 

What would you do if you had a Porsche? Would you drive it during the Winter?

Inside Intel Inside

by: Youngme E. Moon and Christina L. Darwall

Extend to New Products?

Pamela Pollace, vice president and director of Intel's worldwide marketing operations, is debating whether the company should extend its "Intel Inside" branding campaign to non-PC product categories, such as cell phones and PDAs. The "Intel Inside" campaign has been one of the most successful branding campaigns in history, but it is too old, and growth in the PC market appears to be stagnating. However, she is concerned that since Intel does not dominate these other markets like it does the PC market, it won't be successful. 

Initially the motivation behind the branding of Intel Inside was to establish the company by name and identify the high performance products that were used inside the computer with the company. This was in an effort to create an image for a company and to establish its brand presence to the general public. They already had a well established reputation of a quality brand, but they wanted to raise awareness of their brand and create a positive image. 

Key Issues and Solutions

• The major problem faced by Intel was the competition from other microprocessor manufacturers, who were producing chips which took aim at a cheaper computer market which Intel had not yet tapped into.
• Intel was unable to differentiate its products from its competitors due to the number of clone products in the market.
• Consumers were left confused and often guessing as to what was the content and performance of MP.
• Consumers knew Intel's product because of the cloning  but Intel wanted them to recognize the product through the brand itself. 

Solutions:

•  They established a co-op advertising program to start attracting original equipment manufacturers and place their products in mass produced PC’s.
• Fight the competitors with technology, marketing, lawyers, and money power. All focused towards the same goal.

Intel Consultant Point of View

It would be wise for Intel to extend their technology and services to other products. At this time, the sales and production of computer were stagnating, as PDA’s and cell phones were on the rise. The figures in the future would reflect the same trend and it creates a great opportunity for Intel to use their band equity from the computer market and translate that into the cell phone and PDA. If Intel were to capitalize on this, they could maintain their presence in the PC market, while extending their reach to alternate markets and improve their company.

http://www.mbaknol.com/management-case-studies/case-study-intel-inside-campaign-by-intel/

Siebel Systems: Anatomy of a Sale - Part 1

By: John Deighton & Das Narayandas

CRM is Vital

From this case, we can see how Siebel understands the importance of understanding the customer and what they are looking for. The success of the company is due to the fact that they know how to approach the buyer and sell the product in the way that best suits them. From this article, I can understand the importance of customer relationship management.

Good customer relationship management benefits both, the company and the customer, since it works like a cycle. If the customers are exultant with your products and services, they will use your company more, which means that they are buying more from you. By doing so, they are increasing profit for the company and the employees are generally happier and more satisfied. This satisfaction increases the productivity of the employees and stimulates them to work harder to satisfy the customer’s needs.

Also, they talk about important steps to make a sale. Carman believes that he had to do three steps in order to make the sale:

1. Prove to them that we have a superior product.
2. Convince them that we would collaborate with them to make the system work.
3. Meet the right set of executives at Quick & Riley to convert the opportunity into a sale. 

They need to approach the customer in the best way in order to complete the sale, but how?

Key Issues and Solutions?

• How should Carman respond to the invitation to tell the Quick and Reilly executives what he thought of Oracle?
• Corresponding to Siebel’s Core Values, Carman should treat customers with deference and professional fashion. He should avoid providing incomplete information and whatever information is demanded from customer should be provided without any reluctance.

• Should Carman ask, “What’s your budget?”
• Carman should not suppress his curiosity and should ask directly about their requirements, as knowing the needs and requirements of customers in better way would help him in explaining the product accordingly, thus increasing the chances of cracking the deal.

VP of Sales Point of View

As the VP of Sales, I am trying to see if my employees are doing a good job at selling our product and attending the customers needs. Today, I am evaluating one of our best sellers: Carman. Is he doing the right thing?

Carman initially focused on building a rapport with Cathy and tried to gain her confidence to share more information. Throughout the conversation, Carman was friendly and showed complete interest in knowing Q&R’s requirements to best satisfy the needs of them.

He did a good job by giving a demo of the product to Cathy. However, he could have been better in explaining a specific product that suits her needs if he knew what they were looking for specifically.

He also tried to gauge the client’s budget by asking the possible number of users in the organization, which was an interesting and excellent approach. Overall, Carman did a fair job with Q&R. 

What is CRM?

Cross Selling or Cross Purposes?

Author: Ford Harding

Cross Selling is not Working

TopTek recently acquired a consulting and systems-integration firm, expecting to profit from the software sales that can naturally flow from consulting engagements. However, the integrated organization is not working as effectively as the two companies did when they were separate. TopTek’s consultants and salespeople are trying to work together but, judging by complaints from top customers, are doing a poor job. 

From the case, I was able to see the difficulties generated by cross-selling activity from a customer perspective and contrasts the customer experience when the two parts of the business collaborate and when they compete. It is important for a company to develop coherent offerings for the customer, segment them appropriately according to what they look for, and ensure that there is a shared organizational understanding of the growth strategy of the combined business, such as TopTek in this case.

(http://hbr.org/product/cross-selling-or-cross-purposes-hbr-case-study)

Key Issues

• They are not working towards a common goal. As a cross-functional company, they need to work together in order to maximize their sales. If they communicate better and work as one same company, they would succeed. 
• The consultants are unhappy because commissions on products they sell go to the salesperson that made the original sale.
• The sales force is also unhappy because they believe that consultants don’t help much in winning new business.
• They need to clarify how new business is to be obtained and how existing business is to be retained and expanded. Once this point is reach, they can make each employee accountable for what they do and give back to the company.

The CEO needs to state the company’s new, twofold value proposition, the consultants need to broaden their knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of the products and technologies, and the salespeople need to adopt a solutions approach.

CEO Point of View

What can possibly be going wrong? We are a very successful company with outstanding sales personnel,   we just acquired and merged with one of the top consulting and systems-integration firms, but we still can't generate the profit that we want and we are loosing our customers!

From what I've heard, sales and consulting personnel are not getting along and simply can not work together. They are constantly fighting over the commissions and they are not performing as they did when we were separate firms. How can I solve this?

I should probably hire a qualified manager who can help me serve as a liaison between the two of them and help them collaborate with each other. We need to set a common goal, and having someone in charge of doing that will help me solve this issue and take some pressure off my shoulders. Or perhaps, it simply was a bad idea to merge the two companies. This might have been a bad idea and we may be facing critical times in our company now. I need to have a meeting with the executive board to discuss this thoroughly.