Crestfield Industries
The Challenge
Should Crestfield accept the proposal to increase consumer advertising of its product line in 2004 by $225,000?
Student Learning Goals
1.) Present an analysis of how consumers buy furniture given the data in the case that is relevant for Crestfield management. (30 points)
Crestfield Industries uses a unique approach to selling their furniture and I feel it is important to understand their go to market selling strategy prior to determining how consumers buy from Crestfield. For starters, Crestfield employees 10 full time regional sales managers in the field that are factory trained to assist the distributors on the “Best Practices” of selling the features and benefits of the Crestfield furniture product offering. Additionally, Crestfild has two Regional Sales Managers who are tasked with training the sales staff and developing new markets and distributors. A direct sales force in the furniture industry is an anomaly and the original owner of Crestfield Industries; Charlton Bates was credited for being “before his time by having factory direct sales staff in the field”. I feel it is relevant to point out the direct sales team at Crestfield is commission based and they are tasked with motivating the retail sales people they work with to “push” the product line. Additionally, by having a committed sales person as a resource, retail sales staff can gain assistance on how to set up and market the furniture at their individual stores. This article claims that 50% of all Crestfield sales can be traced to the direct efforts of a factory sales representative. Now that I have reviewed the Crestfield factory approach to selling Furniture I can look at how consumers purchase furniture to determine how effective the Crestfield approach to selling really is. Distribution, furniture is sold through 100,000 specialty furniture and home furnishing stores, department stores, and mass-merchandising stores in the United States. Specialty furniture
Should Crestfield accept the proposal to increase consumer advertising of its product line in 2004 by $225,000?
Student Learning Goals
1.) Present an analysis of how consumers buy furniture given the data in the case that is relevant for Crestfield management. (30 points)
Crestfield Industries uses a unique approach to selling their furniture and I feel it is important to understand their go to market selling strategy prior to determining how consumers buy from Crestfield. For starters, Crestfield employees 10 full time regional sales managers in the field that are factory trained to assist the distributors on the “Best Practices” of selling the features and benefits of the Crestfield furniture product offering. Additionally, Crestfild has two Regional Sales Managers who are tasked with training the sales staff and developing new markets and distributors. A direct sales force in the furniture industry is an anomaly and the original owner of Crestfield Industries; Charlton Bates was credited for being “before his time by having factory direct sales staff in the field”. I feel it is relevant to point out the direct sales team at Crestfield is commission based and they are tasked with motivating the retail sales people they work with to “push” the product line. Additionally, by having a committed sales person as a resource, retail sales staff can gain assistance on how to set up and market the furniture at their individual stores. This article claims that 50% of all Crestfield sales can be traced to the direct efforts of a factory sales representative. Now that I have reviewed the Crestfield factory approach to selling Furniture I can look at how consumers purchase furniture to determine how effective the Crestfield approach to selling really is. Distribution, furniture is sold through 100,000 specialty furniture and home furnishing stores, department stores, and mass-merchandising stores in the United States. Specialty furniture