Step Smart Fitness Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Step Smart Fitness Case Study Solution

Recommendations:

Step Forward Role:

Cooper should be more focused on the development of a strategy rather than going for one decision. In the short term period, Cooper should need to takethe decision for putting some salespersons on a probation period and provide training to them. In long run period, Cooper should improve the sales growth and increase the productivity of the employees by developing the new performance measures such as their productivity, efficiency, travelling cost and performance (actual and expected sales), so, that Cooper could set the realistic targets and measure for his employees’ performance in all aspects. Finally, he should also provide specific training relating to the weak areas of the employees so that this would improve the overall performance of the salespersons.

Different Steps to Differentiate the Business, Products, and Services:

Cooper has the authority to put any of the sales people on probation or termination if he found any issues in their performance. Cooper has a strong follower of organizational ethics and he decided not to fire any sales persons because of their seniority level and the efforts they put in. Though he had no issues with putting them on probation. Cooper can take some additional steps related to theirproductivity, efficiency, travelling cost and performancein order to achieve the targeted objectives of the company.

Furthermore, Cooper can increase the overall productivity by providing professional training to his sales agent which should cover the following areas,

Work ethics
Pitching and generating new leads
Retaining customers
Updated product knowledge
And, Performance measures.

The above mentioned areas would definitely bring a positive effect and would help Cooper to achieve 100 % of the New England sales target.

Along with it, Cooper should be focused on developing realistic performance measures that can be used to set the target for every sales agent, but it should not be used as the sole metrics to measure performance for every sales person. Some of the additional measures that Cooper can be developed to measure performance are the

Client Acquisition Rate
Existing Client Engagement
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
And, Upsell Rate

Assessment:

The success of the recommendations should be assessed on the basis of cost and benefit analysis and its return on income (ROI) such as if Cooper decides to terminate Foster, than what will be the cost to hire and train a new sales person and what percentage of sales it will give to the company more than the Foster gives. Along with it, Cooper should assess the impact of this decision upon the net income of Step Smart Fitness that from what percentage it has improved.

In addition to this, Cooper should also evaluate whether more sales agentsare required to achieve the target objectives. For example, Avery is solely in charge of a very large area and if one more sales agent should be placed there then the result might be different as now. This might boost the sales of the New England regionsalong with some additional cost. So, this decisionmight providebetterresults if it would be taken by making the cost and benefit analysis.

Exhibit 1: Correlation between Performance and Compensation

Individual Compensation and Expenses: New England District 2011
*Sales Person*	*Salary*	*Commissions*	*Correlation*	*Total Compensation*	*Traveling Expenses*	*Total*
Ellis	$ 93,753	$ 76,707	82%	$ 170,460	$ 14,800	$ 185,260
Barrow	$ 57,630	$ 55,370	96%	$ 113,000	$ 23,900	$ 168,586
Hammond	$ 54,808	$ 50,592	92%	$ 105,400	$ 17,918	$ 135,290
Foster	$ 48,807	$ 46,893	96%	$ 95,700	$ 27,753	$ 123,453
Gibbons	$ 48,600	$ 32,400	67%	$ 81,000	$ 10,500	$ 91,500
Concetta	$ 32,960	$ 31,040	94%	$ 64,000	$ 31,700	$ 95,700
Avery	$ 30,274	$ 27,946	92%	$ 58,220	$ 29,400	$ 87,620
TOTAL	$ 366,832	$ 320,948		$ 687,780	$ 155,971	$ 887,409
Correlation Between Base Salary and Commission						95%
Correlation Between Total Compensation and Travelling Expenses						-53%

Exhibit 1: Buying Power

District Buying Power
	*Territory*	*Buying Power*	*Actual% of 2011*	*Difference %*
Ellis	Boston Suburbs	1.27	1.08%	(0.15)
Barrow	CT	1.8	1.08%	(0.40)
Hammond	City of Boston	0.8	0.82%	0.03
Foster	NH	0.97	0.77%	(0.21)
Gibbons	Eastern MA and RI	0.63	0.72%	0.14
Concetta	VT and Western MA	1.08	0.46%	(0.57)
Avery	Me	0.94	0.36%	(0.62)
Total		7.49	5.29%