The Valley Winery - High Turnover

Case 1 - The Valley Winery

The Valley Winery is an example of management malfunction because some top-managers are promoting unethical behavior and lack of credibility. High sales force turnover is the main problem this company is facing; however, high turnovers lead to employee dissatisfaction and unethical behavior. In addition, the company is putting on risk many of its relationships with their customers.

Pat Waller was recently promoted to sales manager of the San Francisco chain division. When he arrived, he was shocked to find that such a successful division had such a higher turnover rate. How was the San Francisco division of Valley Winery obtaining their sales goals? Mr. Waller began to investigate and found many internal problems that were mainly stemming from management.

§ High Turnover

First of all, the hiring process of Valley Winery needs to be revised. Mike Wehner, personnel manager, erroneously believes that employment agencies provide the most qualified applicants. The use of six local employment agencies, with fees of approximately $2,000 per hired individual, resulted expensive and ineffective. Secondly, management places too much of an emphasis on youth and physical attributes. Valley Winery sales representatives should be groomed and well kept because the company has a neat image and would like their sales force to project it. Finally, after been interviewed and hired, the sale representative will be send into the field for a day with an experienced sales representative. However, this day's activities might not be typical of a daily routine.

Valley Winery needs to change its hiring process, they need to hire sales representatives based on qualifications and experience rather than on physical attributes. A second step is to avoid the high costs of employment agencies and consider other alternatives such as career fairs and college recruitments. In addition, management and human resources have to work together on the development of guidelines for their sales force. These guidelines must promote a code of ethics and moral behavior and specific details about the job that a sales representative must do.

Finally, the Valley Winery has to develop sales training programs. The lack of proper sales training and information about the company policies, are the result of an unsatisfied and unproductive sales representative. Inexperienced young salespeople are more likely to get discouraged and quick, this leads to a high turnover. However, the main problem relays on the customer's dissatisfaction. Many customers prefer continuity with their sales representative because they look for a relationship that will provide them comfort and security. The Valley Winery needs to develop sales training programs designed to improve retention and performance, in order to increase customers' trust and lower the sales