1. Assess the Spectrum organization and each of the markets in which the company operates. What are the key elements from each industry about which Falconi should be concerned?

Over the years, with help from a number of acquisitions, Spectrum in 2005 had become a leading supplier of consumer batteries, lawn and garden care products, specialty pet supplies, and shaving and grooming products.

In the battery market, North American consumers of household batteries sought convenience and quality when purchasing batteries and tended to gravitate towards the brand names they knew and trusted, with Duracell and Energizer dominating the market. These two firms were leaders in this market because of their ability to adapt to consumer needs
How did you decide?

I think the best structure for the sales force would be a combination of both separate sales forces and merged sales forces. What I mean by this is half the sales team takes both the battery market and the lawn and garden market, while the other half takes the pet supply and shaving and grooming. Due to the seasonality and where the products in these markets are sold, I think it would work out for the best. If everyone only worked for one market, the retailers that they have in common wouldn’t be utilized but at the same time, if everyone crossed all of them, it would be too much information for one person to handle. Sales forces need to have a level of expertise on the product they are selling, and they would lose that if they moved to a fully merged structure. Batteries and lawn care are mostly sold at mass merchandisers and home centers, they same goes for batteries with the addition of small electronic stores. By the sales force crossing both, but a sales manager to head each, I think the synergy across these two markets would exist. As for the pet market, which is all year round and of the largest growing, it is nicely combine with the grooming market because that is heavy in the mass merchandiser retailer and highly seasonal. Each sales person would be responsible for a select few retailers, not just one.

3. What major problems might you encounter with the new sales force structure as it relates to both