Cloverleaf Plc Case Study
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Cloverleaf plc
Cloverleaf plc was a UKbased supplier of bottling plant used in production lines to transport and fill bottles. Two years ago it opened an overseas sales office targeting Germany, France and the Benelux countries. It estimated that there were over 1,000 organisations in those countries that had bottling facilities, and that a key sales push in northern Europe was therefore warranted. Sales so far had been disappointing with only three units having been sold. Expectations had been much higher than this, given the advantages of their product over that produced by their competitors. Technological breakthroughs at Cloverleaf meant that their bottling lines had a 10 per cent speed advantage over the nearest competition with equal filling accuracy. A key problem with competitor products was unreliability. Down time due to a line breakdown was extremely costly to bottlers. Tests by Cloverleaf engineers at their research and development establishment in the UK had shown their system to be the most reliable on the market. Cloverleaf’s marketing strategy was based around high quality, high price competitive positioning. They believed that the superior performance of their product justified a 10 per cent price premium over their key competitors who were all priced at around £ 1 million for a standard production line. Salespeople were told to stress the higher speed and enhanced reliability when talking to customers. The sales organisation in northern Europe consisted of a sales manager with three salespeople assigned to Germany, France and the Benelux countries respectively. A technical specialist was also available when required. When a sales call required specialist technical assistance, a salesperson would contact the sales office to arrange for the technical specialist to visit the prospect, usually together with the salesperson. Typically, four groups of people inside buying organisations were involved in the purchase of bottling equipment,
Cloverleaf plc
Cloverleaf plc was a UKbased supplier of bottling plant used in production lines to transport and fill bottles. Two years ago it opened an overseas sales office targeting Germany, France and the Benelux countries. It estimated that there were over 1,000 organisations in those countries that had bottling facilities, and that a key sales push in northern Europe was therefore warranted. Sales so far had been disappointing with only three units having been sold. Expectations had been much higher than this, given the advantages of their product over that produced by their competitors. Technological breakthroughs at Cloverleaf meant that their bottling lines had a 10 per cent speed advantage over the nearest competition with equal filling accuracy. A key problem with competitor products was unreliability. Down time due to a line breakdown was extremely costly to bottlers. Tests by Cloverleaf engineers at their research and development establishment in the UK had shown their system to be the most reliable on the market. Cloverleaf’s marketing strategy was based around high quality, high price competitive positioning. They believed that the superior performance of their product justified a 10 per cent price premium over their key competitors who were all priced at around £ 1 million for a standard production line. Salespeople were told to stress the higher speed and enhanced reliability when talking to customers. The sales organisation in northern Europe consisted of a sales manager with three salespeople assigned to Germany, France and the Benelux countries respectively. A technical specialist was also available when required. When a sales call required specialist technical assistance, a salesperson would contact the sales office to arrange for the technical specialist to visit the prospect, usually together with the salesperson. Typically, four groups of people inside buying organisations were involved in the purchase of bottling equipment,