External Environment Analysis

Executive Summary

This report was to Joel Haire, who is the Master of Marketing convenor of Sales Management in Swinburne. The report is focus on sales strategy, implementation and operating plan for Foster’s Group Limited, which is one of the Australian largest alcohol companies. It was written by four Swinburne students, who are Master of Marketing, Diego, Desmond, Gemala, and Jie. The purpose of the report is to design a sales strategy for Forster’s Group on beer destination division in Australia so that improve Foster’s sale revenue and volume. In the report, we mainly focused on sales team of Foster, not too much about the marketing part.

Before starting to write this report, we did many researches. The information of Foster we searched from Swinburne University library database, EBSCOhost, the Internet, and Foster’s Group official website. These data are Foster’s annual reports and IBIS report. We not only collected the written reports and journals, but also interviewed one of Foster’s staff, Benjamin Cairnes, who is Foster’s Group Business Development manager and work for two years in Foster.

In the report, firstly, we defined the playing arena of Foster. Secondly, identify Foster’s missions, sales and revenues in the past. Thirdly, evaluate the external sales environment, including customer and competition analysis. Fourthly, forecasting the future external scenario. Fifth, analysing the existing sales operations, and evaluating it through gaps, key successful factors, and SWOT analysis. Finally, we gave Foster the recommendation on sales operation strategy for the next three years, and also evaluated the pros and cons of the three strategies and give the best recommended strategy.

Table of Content

Executive Summary 1

1.0 Introduction 3

2.0 Define the playing arena 3

2.1 Value proposition 3

2.2 Customer 3

2.3 Geography 4

3.0 Identify Enterprise Requirements 4

3.1. Corporate brands/ Mission 4

3.2. Sales and revenues 4

4.0 External Sales Environment 5

4.1 Customer analysis- individual/ organization 5

4.1.1 Purchase behavior and Influence 5

4.1.2 Interaction requirement 5

4.2. Competition 6

4.2.1. Territory Design 6

4.2.2. Resources and Sales Staff 6

5.0 Forecast future external scenario 8

6. Existing sales operations 8

6.1 Target customer 8

6.2. Objectives and sales revenues 8

6.3. Structure 9

6.4. Resources вЂ" Sales Staff 9

6.4.1. Type of skills and knowledge possessed 9

6.4.2. Recruitment and selection process 9

6.4.3. Training processes 10

6.4.4. Remuneration approaches 11

6.5. Resources вЂ" Technology 11

7.0 Forecast future scenario 12

8. SWOT for Sales Operations/ GAP Analysis 12

8.1. SWOT Analysis 12

8.1.1 Strength 12

8.1.2 Weakness 13

8.1.3 Opportunities 13

8.1.4 Threats 13

8.2. Key Success Factors 14

8.3. GAP Analysis 14

9. Possible Future Strategies and Recommendations 15

Bibliography 18

Appendix 20

Appendix 1 20

Appendix 2 21

Appendix 3 22

1.0 Introduction

Foster’s Group is one of the largest brewing companies in Australia with their base of operations focusing mainly in the Asia-Pacific region. The company has established a strong base in the beer industry since the recent acquisition of Southcorp, is looking to expand their market in the wine industry. In Australia, Foster’s currently employ a sales staff of approximately 700 strong. This sales force is divided into four main divisions; the “Integrated”, “Destination”, “Local” and “Connect”. Our report will strategically analyse the current sales operations of Foster’s Group and identify the key issues surrounding an efficient and successful strategy. The report will also cover both internal and external environmental factors and provide recommendations for Foster’s future sales strategy.

The body of the report will consists of 5 main parts. The first will be defining the playing field. This part gives background information of the market that the division is operating in as well as details of the division. The second part of the report covers the external sales environment which discuss about the competition and their strategies. The third part of the report discusses the internal factors of the company. The strategies and operations of the current sales force will be covered. In the fourth part of the report is about Gap and SWOT analysis. The final part of the report will cover future strategies.

2.0 Define the playing arena

2.1 Value proposition

Foster’s Group is currently Australia’s largest producer of alcoholic beverages. The company has always relied heavily on their beer products as the major source of their revenue but with the recent acquisition of Southcorp Limited, the country looks to dominate the wine industry as well. The company has always been well known as having a very strong beer arm but is looking