Grant Senter - Baylor University

McGraw Hill Case Study Grant Senter and James Paulsen Baylor University

Identification of the Issues 

Sales Process

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Sales force Structure

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Compensation

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Sales Training

Sales Process 

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Campus Plan 

All about numbers and opportunity for revenue

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No deep thought process

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Created the night before

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Lack of real preparation

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Relationship is lost

No Desire 

5 minute meetings with professors

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Bookstores are checked to be up-to-date

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Goal: to get the professor “up to speed” on the latest offerings

Bottom Line: 

Customers are not being appreciated

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Sales Process is shorted in an effort to maximize revenue opportunity

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Result of a poor training process and incentive structure

Buyer Process

Salesforce Structure

The cons of a “generalist geographic approach” often limit the product knowledge the sales representatives have, make it difficult for reps to master broad product lines, and pose a coordination issue. Consequences: Decreased sales Missed opportunities Decrease in customer satisfaction The current structure does not present the level of value that our clients are seeking. McGraw Hill needs to slightly restructure the sales force to ensure that there are resources available to help with McGraw Hill’s broad range of products.

The Candle Problem

Compensation Plans Research: 

“Once a task called for even a rudimentary cognitive skill,” a larger reward “led to a poorer performance.”

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“In eight of the nine tasks we examined across the three experiments, higher incentives led to a worse performance.”

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“We find that financial incentives can result in a negative impact on overall performance.”-Dr. Bernd Irlenbusch, London School of Economics.

Issues: 

The current commission plan only allows for commission to be achieved if one achieves over 95% of quota.

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The current plan is contrary to scientific research, does not promote a group mentality, and does not financially incentivize any sales activity under 95%.

Sales Training 

“Reps are thrown into the field with barebones training.”- Anonymous Sales Employee

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McGraw Hill sales employees are moving from a generalist sales position to a specialist sales position requiring an in-depth knowledge of McGraw Hill’s technology products.

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McGraw Hill sales employees are given 2-3 weeks of in-house training led by their manager. This is far below the standard.

Organizations sales training: AT&T-6 months Oxy Chem- 5 months IBM- 9 months Reynolds and Reynolds- 6 months No current E-Learning Modules in place to keep sales representatives up to date on products benefits, features, etc.

Recommendations

Sales Force:

Sales Process 

Starts with Training

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Process: Develop a Relationship

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Remove “check ins”

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Become less concerned with maximization of revenue opportunities

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Require and encourage conversation

Cascading Campaign:

Recommended Sales Process

Compensation Plans Sales representatives will no longer have to achieve 95% of quota to receive additional compensation from their 50k base salary. Sales representatives will operate on a straight base salary of 60,000 and will be able to receive bonuses ranging from 1-10% of your current salary. The bonus is based off the group performance of a district manager’s sales team. This includes the product specialist. This method encourages team work, collaboration, and friendly competition amongst groups. The top performing team in each region will receive the 10% bonus off of their base salary.

Sales Training -Sales training will be given more of an emphasis as the new sales training program will be 3 months long for recent undergraduates. Experienced Sales Professionals will have a training process of 2-3 weeks. E-Learning modules will have to be completed quarterly and will cover every aspect of the sales cycle. Sales professionals will be trained on products, the proper sales process, and additional learning

Turnover

Revenue & Profit

Implementation Process

January

Inform experienced reps of the new policy

January Training of experienced reps at main office

June Experienced reps must have logged second ELearning session

January New recruits begin three month training

June Break down region by district success

March Experienced reps must complete first E-Leaning session

March Conduct ride along, district mangers observe sales reps

June Send directors to the least productive districts. He will train, advise, and advance the process in these districts

March Make sure new sales reps pass certification to enter the field

Financials: 

Increased Revenues: 54 million dollars

Savings:

2.4 million dollars

Expenses: 2.32 million dollars 56.4 million -2.77 million dollars= Increased Profit: 53.63 million dollars

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Savings: Expected Decrease in Turnover1,000,000 Compensation: 300 reps with the bottom 20% not making quota: Currently: 60 x 50,000= 3,000,000

Revenues Training- 30 million dollars (100,000 increase per sales rep) Compensation- 9 million

Sales force structure-15 million dollars ( 50,000 increase per sales rep)

Up front expenses: Training- 5,000,000 18 Product Specialists- 900,000 Implementation- 200,000 Bonuses- 720,000 Total Expenses= 2.77 million

New plan: 60 x 60,000= 3,600,000 60% reps hit quota: Currently: 180 x 70,000= 12,600,000 New plan: 180 x 60,000= 10,800,000 12.6 million – 10.8 million= 1.8 million 10% reps over 100% quota: Currently: 30 x 100,000= 3 million New plan: 30 x 60,000= 1.8 million 3 million – 1.8 million= 1.2 million - 600,000 +1,800,000 + 1,200,000 Total Savings= 2.4 million dollars Impact on Revenues= 1.5 million dollars