372

Part Two Implementation of the Sales Program

Case 2.2

On-Time Package Delivery

INCO
Sitting in his RPOR
office Wayne
Jacobson, Senior ATED
VicePresidentof
Sales,wasgetting OnTime
ready for his PackageDelivery
meeting tomor is a regional
row with Justin packagedelivery
Spencer,President service based in
and

Chief New York. With

Operating Officer salesofjustmore
at OnTime than$50million,
Package Delivery the company is
(OTPD).Jacobson overshadowedby
hadspentthe last the big names in
several weeks packagedelivery:
talking with UPS,FedEx,and
district managers, the U.S. Postal
salespeople, and Service.
However, OTPD
customers
gathering infor has carved out a
mation. He knew nichebyfocusing
therewereseveral on express
issues facing the intracity package
OTPDsalesforce, delivery.Inlarge
andhisjobwasto cities like New
identify them and York, Boston,
develop solutions and Philadelphia
to solve the there are many
documents and
problems.
small packages
that need to get
ONacross town in a
hurry.OTPDwas
TIME
projected to hit
PACK
its overall sales
goals for the
AGE
year. However,
Jacobson also
DELIV
knew that OTPD
ERY,
was targeting
only 4 percent

sales growth,
which was
significantly
below industry
average growth
of8percent.
In 1980, Ron
Young founded
OTPD as the
solution to a
problem he had
been encountering
as an attorney
getting important
legaldocumentsto
clients quickly,
reliably, and cost
effectively. Young
and a group of
investors
developed a
business model
that included
highly trained
"delivery
specialists"
(package pickup
and delivery
people). Another
keytosuccesswas
that OTPD was
among the first
intracity package
delivery services
to maximize tech
nology in the
package delivery
business. A high
level of customer
service coupled
with excellent
technology helped
establish a loyal
client following

among profes
sional business The company
services(lawfirms, currently had
consulting
four sales
services).
districts, all in

Very early, major eastern

OTPD realized U.S. cities
the need for a (Exhibit 1
sales force to details the
build

and structure of the

maintain client OTPD sales
relationships.
force).
Over the years,
senior
THE OTPD
management
believedthesales SALES
force

rep
resented a real FORCE
competitive
advantageforthe The OTPD sales
forceconsistedof
company.
Source: Mark W.
Johnston 2005.

twocategoriesof
salespeople.With
approximately45
salespeopleinthe
company, nearly
75 percent were
classifiedassales
representatives.
Theseindividuals
had two primary
job respon
sibilities: (1)
generate new
business and (2)
maintain a good
customer
relationship with
smaller
established ac
counts. The
secondofthetwo
categories, key
account
managers, were
senior
salespeople
responsible for
the

largest
accounts.Forthis
group, success
wasmeasuredby

the increase in
sales for each
account as well
as customer
satisfaction
scores collected
twice a year.
Each district had
two to three key
account
managers.

The sales
force consisted
of men (60
percent of the
sales force) and
women (40
percent) in their
30s and 40s.
Sales
representatives
tended to be
younger (30s),
while key
account
managers were
older (40s).
When a key
accountmanager
position became
open, the policy
of the company
was to promote
a

sales
representative.
The
compensation
and benefits
package was
above average
for the industry.
Experienced
sales representa
tives could earn
$70,00080,000
a year in salary
and bonuses,
key account
manager
compensation
was $80,000
100,000, and

district managers salesperson was

averaged
alsogivenacar
$125,000. In andenrolledina
addition, each retirement plan
member of the with

the
sales force was company.
given a laptop
and cell phone
with unlimited A
usage. In reality, CONVERS
manysalespeople
used the cell ATION
phone as the WITH
primary phone
for work and DAN
pefsonaf
GUNTHER
activities. Each

, DISTRICT

MANAGER
IN
BOSTON
One of the first
people Jacobson
contacted was
Dan Gunther,
district manager
inBoston.Dan,a
15year veteran
with OTPD, had
started out as a
sales
representative

Case2.2"OnTimePackageDelivery373
EXHIBIT1Organizationalchartforontimepackagedelivery,December2004
Justin Spencer
president, OTPD

Wayne Jacobson
senior VP of sales

' t

New York
Neil Franks (DM)
3
KAMs
10
SRs

Boston
Dan Gunther (DM)
3 KAMs
9 SRs

Washington DC
Emily Cave (DM)
2
KAMs
8
SRs

Philadelphia
Ben Gardner (DM)
2
KAMs
8 SRs

Judy Billings
(KAM)

Mike Wagner
(SR)

Carol Klein
(KAM)

Lynn Attaway
(KAM)

KAM=keyaccountmanager
SR=salesrepresentative
DM=districtmanager

after graduation. He had been promoted to key account

managerandfinallybeengiventheBostondistrictalmost
threeyearsago.Bostonwasthesecondlargestmarketfor
OTPD,afterNewYork,andGuntherhaddoneagoodjob
withthedistrict.Whenhetookover,theBostondistrictwas
stagnant, with little or no growth, and through his
leadershipsaleshadrisen25percentintwoofthethree
yearshehadbeenmanager.Indeed,Bostonhadbeenthe
numberonedistrictatOTPDfortwoofthethreeprevious
years. After the usual small talk Jacobson got down to
business:
Jacobson:/noticedsalesareflatforthelastsix
monthsinBoston,whatdoyouthinkistheproblem?

Gunther:Don'tworry;itisashorttermissue.
Everythingisfine.Mysalespeopleareworkinghard.
Wehavejusthadarunofbadluck.Youknow
sometimesthingsdon'tgoyourwayforawhilebut
wewillturnitaround.
Jacobson:DanIthinkitmaybemorethanthat.
Therehasbeenanincreaseinclientcomplaints.For

example,Igotacall
fromCraig
McMillan,managing
partneratClark,
Burton,andBowers,

aboutthelackof
service.Asyouknow,
Clark,Burton,and
Bowershavebeen
withusformany
yearsandareoneof
ourlargestcustomers
withofficesinNew
York,Boston,and
WashingtonD.C.
Whileyouarenot
responsibleforNew
YorkorD.C.,
McMillanindicated
thatJudyBillings,
ourkeyaccount
managerinBoston,
hasbeenslowin
respondingto
questionsandnotas
responsiveasshe
usedtobe.

Gunther:LookWayne,weareworkinghardherein
Boston.Judyisoneofmybestsalespeopleand
consistentlyhitshersalesgoals.It'snotherfaultif
thefolksatClark,Burton,andBowersmake
unreasonabledemands.

a result, she had been

promoted to key account
manager two years ago.
Oneofherlargestaccounts
was Clark, Burton, and
Bowers. With more than
Dandidhaveapoint.Judywasasolidperformerand,as 100 attorneys in Boston,
they generated a lot of
374 Part Two Implementation of the Sales Program

managers,buthisconversationwithDanGunther
was representative of the information he was
hearingfromallthemanagers.

A CONVERSATION WITH
CAROL KLEIN, KEY ACCOUNT
MANAGER IN PHILADELPHIA
Jacobsonnowwantedtospeakwithindividualsinthe
salesforce.Hedecidedtospeakfirstwithkeyaccount
managers.ThefinalcallhemadewastoCarolKlein.
SheisanineyearveteranofOTPDandfollowedthe
traditionalpathofpromotionfromsalesrepresentative
tokeyaccountmanager.Carolisresponsibleforthe
largest accounts in Philadelphia. These included
severallawfirmsandtwoglobalconsultingfirmswith
major offices in the Philadelphia area. She also
managedOTPD'sbusinessfortwoofthethreemajor
hospitalsinthearea.
Jacobsonwassensitivetogoingaroundthelocaldis
trictmanager,BenGardner,tocontactCaroldirectly,so
hefirstcalledGardnertoexplainthesituation.

Jacobson: Hi Ben, I wanted to give you a

headsuponsomething.
Gardner:SureWayne,what'sup?
Jacobson: I am going to give Carol Klein a
call about why her sales numbers have been
flatoverthelastyear.
Gardner:Wayne,youknowCarolhadahard
timeintroducingournewlineofvalueadded
servicestoherclients.Indeed,manyofour
salespeoplefoundtheirclientsresistanttoour
newproductsandservices.Aftertheinitial
trainingonthenewservicesoursalespeople
havenothadanyfollowup.
Jacobson:/understandBenandIwanttomake
itclearthatIamnotsinglingCaroloutsodon't

businessforOTPD.Clark,
Burton, and Bowers had
beenacustomerforalong
timeandJacobsondidnot
believe them to be overly
demanding.Hespokewith
severalotherdistrict

beconcerned.ThereasonIwanttogiveCarola
callisthatIrespectheropinionandwanttoask
herwhatshethinksisgoingonwiththesales
forceingeneral.IamcallingyoubecauseI
wantedyoutoknowaboutthecallfrommefirst.
Inaddition,Iwantedyoutoknowthatthisisnot
directedatyouorthePhiladelphiadistrictin
particular.Rather,itisinformationformeto
considerfortheentirecompany.

Gardner:
Great,wellthanksforthecall.
IbelieveCarolwillbeintheofficeafter4:00
thisafternoonifyouwanttogiveheracall.
Jacobson hung up the phone and considered
whatBenGardnerhadtoldhim.Wasthereanissue
with the new line of services the company had
introducedlastyear?Hethoughtbacktohisearlier
conversation with Dan Gunther and wondered if
partoftheprobleminBostonmightberelatedto
thenewproductsandservices.At4:30hecalled
theofficeandgotholdofCarolKlein:
Jacobson:Carol,howareyou?Howis
littleAlicedoingthesedays?
Klein: Things are busy. Alice is great and
almost two years old now, thanks for asking.
Bentoldmeyouweregoingtocall,what'sup?
Jacobson:7wantedtotalkwithyoualittlebit
aboutyoursalesforthelastyear.Youare
usuallyamongourtopsalespeople.Bentellsme
youareagreatcolleagueandhasnothingbut
goodthingstosayaboutyou.
Klein:/appreciatethatandwanttosaythatI

very much enjoy working for Ben; he is a

terrificmanager.
Jacobson:So,whyareyoursalesnumbers
flatorevenalittledown?
Klein:TobehonestWayne,thejobisgetting
difficult.WhenIstartedwithOTPD,Jeff(Carol's
husband)andIwereboth.reallyinvolvedwithour
careersandIwasabletodedicatealotoftime
andefforttomywork.WhenAlicearrived1made
thedecisiontokeepworking.OTPDhasbeen
greatandIhaveenjoyedmysuccesshereasakey
accountmanager.However,Ifindmyselfbeing
tornbetweendoinganoutstandingjobatOTPD
andbeingamomtoAlice.Iknowthatthishas
affectedmyeffortandcommitmenttoclientsover
thelastsixtoeightmonths.
Jacobson(surprisedbyKlein'scomments):Well
Carol,IknowIspeakforBenandtheentire
companyinsayingweonlywantwhatisbestforyou
andyourfamily.Perhapsyouneedtoconsideryour
optionsandtalktoBenaboutthisinmoredetail.We
cancertainlytalkaboutthisagainsoon.Well,Ineed
togetgoingbutpleasefeelfreetocontactmeifand
whenyouwanttotalkaboutthisfurther.

Thank you for evaluating

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