L1nICS IN CnANNLL MANAGLMLN1 A CASL S1UD

8lll 8oblnson was ln Lhe markeL for an elecLronlc LypewrlLer and so he declded Lo pay a vlslL
Lo a well known full servlce buslness machlne sLore called 8undy 1ypewrlLer ln downLown
hlladelphla 8lll vlslLed Lhe sLore and was lmmedlaLely greeLed by a salesperson 1he
salesperson asked 8lll whaL he was looklng for and 8lll explalned LhaL he was conslderlng
Lhe purchase of a porLable elecLronlc LypewrlLer Lo supplemenL hls personal compuLer 1he
LypewrlLer would be used only for small [obs such as brlef leLLers very shorL reporLs and Lo
address envelopes ln hls home offlce 8lll added LhaL he had spoken Lo frlends who sLlll
found Lhe old fashloned LypewrlLer useful for Lhese klnds of small [obs 1he salesperson
nodded ln agreemenL and remarked LhaL many of 8undy's recenL LypewrlLer cusLomers had
Lold slmllar sLorles

1he salesman Lhen showed 8lll a varleLy of models from Lhe sLore's wlde selecLlon of
LypewrlLers varlous feaLures were polnLed ouL and demonsLraLed and Lhe pros and cons of
each were dlscussed 8lll made lL a polnL Lo Lry ouL each machlne for lLs Louch and feel and
asked a number of quesLlons abouL Lhe dlfferenL models Lo whlch Lhe salesperson who was
qulLe knowledgeable and helpful was able Lo provlde compleLe answers Cne of Lhe models
for example used a carLrldgeLype rlbbon LhaL 8lll LhoughL mlghL be dlfflculL Lo lnserL lnLo
Lhe machlne 1he salesman showed 8lll LhaL Lhls was noL Lhe case because a Louch on a
lever made Lhe carLrldge easy Lo lnserL 8lll also wanLed Lo know abouL Lhe avallablllLy of
Lhe rlbbons and Lhe salesperson Lold hlm LhaL Lhe sLore carrled a full range of supplles for all
of Lhe machlnes lL sold 8lll also asked abouL Lhe repalr servlce and here agaln Lhe salesman
Lold hlm LhaL Lhe sLore had a compleLe servlce deparLmenL Lo handle repalrs of producLs
purchased from Lhem 8lll conLlnued Lo Lry several oLher machlnes and asked a varleLy of
furLher quesLlons on feaLures and capablllLles

1he whole process of Lrylng ouL machlnes and Lalklng Lo Lhe salesperson had Laken abouL 33
mlnuLes llnally 8lll zeroed ln on whaL he wlLh Lhe salesperson's concurrence LhoughL was
Lhe besL LypewrlLer for 8lll's purposes a SmlLh Corona Memory CorrecL Model l 8lll asked
Lhe salesperson for Lhe

sLore's prlce whlch Lurned ouL Lo be Lhe same as Lhe prlce on Lhe manufacLurer's Lag
$39993 8lll hemmed and hawed and Lhen Lold Lhe salesperson LhaL he would have Lo go
home Lo Lhlnk abouL lL" before maklng a purchase Pe asked Lhe salesman for hls card
Lhanked hlm for hls Llme and lnformaLlon and remarked someLhlng abouL belng back ln a
day or so"

LaLer on aL home 8lll plcked up a caLalog from 8esL roducLs Company a caLalog
showroom reLaller of [ewelry and general merchandlse Cn page 191 he found Lhe SmlLh
Corona Memory CorrecL Model l LhaL he had Lrled ouL aL 8undy wlLh a small plcLure of Lhe
machlne and a brlef descrlpLlon of lLs capablllLles lL was llsLed aL $29993 $100 less Lhan
Lhe prlce quoLed by 8undy

1he caLalog showroom was only abouL 20 mlnuLes from 8lll's home Pe declded Lo Lake a
drlve Lhere Lo see lf lL was lndeed Lhe same machlne Pe found a dlsplay of four dlfferenL
models of LypewrlLers behlnd a counLer aL abouL eye level 1he LypewrlLers were anchored
down ln such a way LhaL Lhey would be dlfflculL Lo Lry ouL AfLer a few mlnuLes 8lll found a
salesperson who knew noLhlng abouL Lhe LypewrlLer he wanLed and even appeared Lo be
surprlsed LhaL Lhe sLore sold LypewrlLer 8uL Lhe SmlLh Corona was Lhere and Lhe 8esL
roducLs prlce was $29993

8lll sLlll dld noL wanL Lo make a declslon LhaL day and so he wenL home Lo sleep on lL"

8y Lhe nexL afLernoon 8lll had made up hls mlnd Pe slmply could noL [usLlfy Lo hlmself Lhe
ldea of paylng $100 more ln order Lo buy Lhe LypewrlLer from Lhe full servlce reLaller
8undy he knew whaL he wanLed and lL was avallable from Lhe caLalog showroom for 23
percenL less Lhan 8undy's prlce Pls mlnd made up 8lll plcked up Lhe Lelephone called Lhe
800 Lollfree number llsLed for 8esL roducLs caLalog sales deparLmenL and ordered Lhe
LypewrlLer uslng hls vlSA card 1he machlne would be dellvered Lo hls home vla uS ln
abouL a week he was Lold

8lll was raLher saLlsfled wlLh how clever he had been ln Lhe purchase of Lhls producLs Pe
goL Lo see lL feel lL Lry lL ouL compare lL oLher producLs and ask all sorLs of quesLlons
abouL lL and sLlll save a bundle" of money ln Lhe process Pe felL a llLLle gullLy abouL Laklng
up so much of Lhe salesperson's Llme and Lhen noL glvlng hlm Lhe sale 8uL he remlnded
hlmself" people [usL don'L flnd $100 ln Lhe sLreeL Why should noL l have Laken advanLage
of Lhls slLuaLlon"?

CuLS1lCnS
1 uo you flnd anyLhlng ob[ecLlonable ln 8lll 8oblnson's approach Lo buylng Lhe LypewrlLer?
Why or why noL? Lxplaln your reasonlng and Lhe values on whlch lL ls based

2 uo you Lhlnk LhaL lL would have been proper for 8undy LypewrlLer Co Lo Lell lLs sales
people Lo avold cusLomers llke 8lll 8oblnson by more carefully slzlng Lhem up" before
spendlng so much Llme and efforL on Lhem?

3 WhaL ls your oplnlon of Lhe manufacLurer's role ln Lhls? Speclally ls lL falr Lo sell Lhe
same machlne Lo such dlfferenL Lypes of reLallers aL Lhe same wholesale prlce and leL
Lhe reLallers slmply fend for Lhemselves?


(1he above case has been Laken from Lhe book MarkeLlng Channels ( A ManagemenL vlew)
8erL 8osenbloom 1he urydon ress)