SALES AND DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT

MBA Fall Semester Year 2

(July – December 2020)

Harjot Singh, LM TSM, TIET

12/23/2020
Channel Strategies

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Andersen Consulting Distribution
Strategy Pyramid

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 Distribution channel strategy

• Setting distribution objectives in terms of the customer

requirements
• Finalizing the set of activities that are required to be
performed to achieve the channel objectives
• Organizing the activities so that the responsibility of
performing the activities is shared among the entities who are
meant to perform these activities
• Developing policy guidelines for the smooth functioning of the
channel on a day to day basis
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 Distribution channel
strategy (Continued)

• Distribution channel management encompasses all

activities dealing with the distribution function of
the firm
• The distribution strategy provides guidelines for
decision making
• The distribution management function can be
viewed as happening in two phases: the ex ante
phase and the ex poste phase
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 Distribution channel
strategy (Continued)

• The ex ante phase involves all the activities that are

associated with the design and establishment of the
distribution channel. These activities actually take place
before the distribution channel actually starts
functioning.
• The ex poste phase involves managing the day to day
activities of the channel wherein the behavior of the
individual channel members are coordinated
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Channel Management tasks
Design of the
channel structure
Ex ante
Phase
Establishing the
channel
Distribution Channel Strategy
Channel Objective
Activity Finalization
Organizing the activities Motivating Channel
Members
Developing Policy Guidelines
Ex Poste
Phase
Resolving Conflicts
among channel
members

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 Evaluating
Evaluating Channel
Channel Members
Members
Motivating
Motivating Channel
Channel Members
Members

FEEDBACK
Selecting
Selecting Channel
Channel Members
Members
Channel Management Decisions
 Channel Behavior &
ation
• The channel will be most effective when:
• each member is assigned tasks it can do best.
• all members cooperate to attain overall channel goals and
satisfy the target market.
• Each channel member’s role must be specified and
conflict must be managed.
 Service Level in terms of demand of
service output
• Customer Service Levels are expressed in terms of
Service Level Agreements (SLA)
• SLA relates to response time /turnaround time /
waiting time delivery time
• It relates to points of availability of service
• SLA also relates to other terms like carry-in/onsite
warranty
• It also relates to other terms like pricing, hours and
days of provision of service

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 Differences in Service Output Demand

(an example of segmentation in context of books)

Browser buying best-sellers to take on Student buying textbooks for fall semester at
vacation college
Service Output Service Output
Descriptor Demand Level Descriptor Demand Level

 
Bulk-
breaking
“I’m looking for some ‘good
read’ paperbacks to enjoy.”
Medium
“I only need one copy of my
Marketing textbook!”
High

“I have lots of errands to run

Spatial “I don’t have a car, so I can’t
before leaving town, so I’ll be Medium travel far to buy.”
High
convenience going past several bookstores.”
“I’m not worried about getting “I just got to campus, but
Waiting and the books now… I can even classes are starting tomorrow
pick up a few when I’m out of
Low and I’ll need my books by
High
delivery time
town if need be.” then.”
“I want the best choice
Assortment “I’m just buying what’s on my
available, so that I can pick High course reading list.”
Low
and variety what looks good.”
Customer “I like to stop for a coffee when “I can find books myself, and
book browsing.”
High don’t need any special help.”
Low
service
“I value the opinions of a well-
“My professors have already
Information read bookstore employee; I
can’t always tell a good book
High decided what I’ll read this Low
provision semester.”
from a bad one before I buy.”

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References
• Marketing Channels by Bert Rosenbloom, Cengage
Learning
• Basics of Distribution Management — A Logistical
approach by Satish K. Kapoor and Purva Kansal, PHI
Learning
• Distribution and Logistics Management — A Strategic
Marketing Approach by D K Agrawal, Macmillan
• Marketing Channels (MC) by
Coughlan/Anderson/Stern/El-Ansary,Pearson Education
• Google images

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SUGGESTIONS FOR TELECOM SERVICE PROVIDERS

• Telecom service providers need to put greater focus on pre-

paid consumers to prevent them from availing MNP and
churning.

• Telecom service providers need to focus more on the

functional dimension of service quality rather than the
technical dimension of service quality.

Thank You
• Service providers need to make greater efforts to retain
those customers who have been on the network for a longer
time and who have been contributing more to the top line
or bottom line.