Purchasing and supply management

Lewis Brown’s Role at Guernsey Supplies

Lewis Brown works as a business agent at Guernsey Supplies. Mr. Brown is the Organization’s sales and marketing director, a role he has held for the past three years. As a result, he gained valuable insight and was well-versed in the company’s supply and demand forecasts. On the surface, Mr. Brown does not seem to be an influential member of the establishment. Nonetheless, after speaking with him, it is clear that he is well-versed in the sales and marketing departments. As a result, he is an ideal interviewee for learning all about Guernsey Supplies. Brown’s line of business is perhaps the most important in the daily activities of the organization. A sales and marketing officer is tasked with the duties of ensuring sufficiency in the development of products and also arranging the essential sales channels. In this line of business, it is expected that one has creativity, persistence, organization, and energy (Massey, & Dawes, 2007). Additionally, communication is an essential component of sales and marketing. One has to communicate appropriately about ongoing projects and also be flexible because some changes can be made in a plan during the last stages of its completion. Finally, in sales and marketing, some decisions are made hastily due to the frequent changes in the market trends which necessitate that one possesses the means to handle criticism in such circumstances (Massey, & Dawes, 2007).

Organizational Mission

At Guernsey, the organization seeks to outshine competitors and enhance the corporate image among the customers. Consequently, it is the mission of the establishment to offer the lowest total cost of commodities and services used in the workplace (L. Brown, personal communication, October 27, 2017). Guernsey aims to enlarge its customer base by providing office supplies at affordable prices. By doing this, the company stands a chance to gain more clients thus increasing the profit margin through enhanced sales. As an independently owned establishment, Guernsey’s mission seeks to set the business apart from its competitors through cost analysis.

Organizational Goals

As a supplies organization, Guernsey Supplies has some important goals and objectives. First is to develop shared efficiency. Markedly, the management of inventory records and other logistics is a complex process. Nonetheless, Guernsey seeks to enhance collaboration in the supply chain system. Quality improvement is also a major goal of the organization. Notably, getting the best value of products for the consumers helps the establishment create trust among the consumers which makes it a significant objective for the company (Rouziès, Anderson, Kohli, Michaels, Weitz, & Zoltners, 2005). Finally, the integration of business processes with technology remains an essential goal of Guernsey Supplies.

Job Functions, Roles, and Responsibilities

Lewis Brown is tasked with several duties at the organization. Mostly, he supervises the company’s marketing campaigns, communicates the firm’s marketing message, and participates in the development of sales channels. At work, Brown prepares, plans, and projects the publication of materials that are necessary for the maximization of brand promotion. This includes the creation of marketing campaigns and ensuring that new creative means of communicating the organization’s message to current and prospective customers are developed.

It is also the role of the sales and marketing officer to plan marketing events, as well as conduct and evaluation of their success (Rouziès et al. 2005). This includes offering support to the marketing manager on a daily basis through the development and implementation of an internal marketing program for Guernsey Supplies. This ensures that the sales and marketing officer is aware of all marketing activities and can, therefore, deliberate on their efficiency. Through these efforts, it is possible to determine the products that appeal to the market and those that do not by evaluating the sales projections. Eventually, the sales and marketing officer is an important executive in the analysis and creation of a plan suitable for engaging the target market.

Selling products in an organization such as Guernsey is the most critical activity for the maintenance of profitability at the firm. Consequently, the sales and marketing officer ensures that he readily avails product knowledge to other people through the utilization of the necessary resources. This includes training other people how to sell and ensuring that the salespersons in the organization attain their quota in a given financial period. Finally, sales and marketing executives are required to be creative to come up with new ways of selling the firm’s commodities in the face of a declining market.

Educational Background

Sales and marketing officers are required to have a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Lewis Brown went an extra step and engaged in a master’s degree in business administration. Additionally, he underwent some training to enhance his computer skills for the acquisition of knowledge regarding multimedia systems and the current market trends (L. Brown, personal communication, October 27, 2017). Brown’s professional experience is boosted by being a member of the American Marketing Association. This has enhanced his marketing, advertising, branding and sales and management skills (Arnett, & Wittmann, 2014). Nonetheless, the fact that he has a master’s degree in business administration played a significant role in the acquisition of this position at Guernsey Supplies.

Professional Experience

Before his employment in Guernsey as a sales and marketing executive, Brown had participated in other jobs but along the line of business administration. During his first vacation in college, he worked as a salesperson for a local business within his neighborhood. After his bachelor’s degree, Brown worked as an event organizer where he would help companies to set up roadshows for the advertisement of their products. In these two jobs, he gained expertise regarding how to deal with the target market (L. Brown, personal communication, October 27, 2017). This set him up for success as a sales and marketing officer at Guernsey Supplies.

Personal Challenges

One of the main challenges faced by the sales and marketing executive at Guernsey Supplies is the lack of efficiency by the salespersons. Additionally, because of the longer sales cycles, there are longer decision timeframes which sometimes lead to the making of decisions that do not coincide with the market trends as projected during research (L. Brown, personal communication, October 27, 2017). This results in low sales volumes at times. Finally, rejection is a challenge that Brown has had to deal with for the better part of his career in sales and marketing. Nonetheless, he takes this as an opportunity to learn and improve his skills. Eventually, this has played a significant role in increasing the chances of closing deals in the future.

Professional Achievements and Fulfillment

Brown’s most significant accomplishment while working with the organization has been the establishment of e-marketing campaigns through webinar coordination and social platforms (L. Brown, personal communication, October 27, 2017). He was influential in the execution of a Facebook-based marketing initiative that helped increase the sales volumes at Guernsey Supplies.

Supply Objective Alignment with Organizational Mission and Goals

The supply objectives at Guernsey Supplies have a crucial role in the achievement of the organizational mission and goals. First, the firm’s mission is to provide the lowest total cost of commodities that are used in the office. To achieve this, the company offers promotional gifts and merchandises while ensuring that free delivery is provided for local clients. On the other hand, collaboration in the supply chain system is achieved through the presence of more than 7500 square feet of warehouses and the efficiency of transport logistics since the company owns a fleet of delivery vehicles (L. Brown, personal communication, October 27, 2017).

The improvement of the quality of service is enhanced by ensuring that same-day-deliveries are made to local clients. This plays a significant role in the establishment of customer loyalty. The integration of business processes with technology as an objective of the organization has been achieved through the presence of an online ordering system (L. Brown, personal communication, October 27, 2017). When customers make their orders via the internet platform, the logistics department is responsible for the transportation and delivery of the commodities. This is important in the enlargement of the customer base. These supply objectives indeed play a significant role in the achievement of the organization’s goals and objectives.

Summary

The interview with the sales and marketing executive at Guernsey Supplies was a success. It acted as an eye opener regarding the performance of duties in an organization, as well as the outlook for the sales and marketing career. I learned that Mr. Brown is an individual who is dedicated towards the achievement of the organizational goals and objectives. During the interview, some employees would come to him asking for help in specific areas. This proved that he has made good relations with the workers and has helped them improve their skills in the sales profession. Brown is capable of influencing more changes at Guernsey and make it the best supplier of office stationery and other office supplies both locally and internationally.

References

Arnett, D. B., & Wittmann, C. M. (2014). Improving marketing success: The role of tacit knowledge exchange between sales and marketing. Journal of Business Research, 67(3), 324-331.

Massey, G. R., & Dawes, P. L. (2007). Personal characteristics, trust, conflict, and effectiveness in marketing/sales working relationships. European Journal of Marketing, 41(9/10), 1117-1145.

Rouziès, D., Anderson, E., Kohli, A. K., Michaels, R. E., Weitz, B. A., & Zoltners, A. A. (2005). Sales and marketing integration: A proposed framework. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 25(2), 113-122.