Part IV of the Marketplace 6 Business Simulation Tips for Students
Marketplace 6 Business Simulation Tips: Sales Offices
Your company should open as many sales offices as possible that can be profitable. Reasons for joining a market could involve a high twelve-month potential demand, first-mover strategy in a territory, or copycat competitors having great success in a region.
Each sales office will require more staff and advertising. Review your financial statements every quarter to see if your markets are remaining profitable or consider closing them.
Marketplace 6 Business Simulation Tips: Sales Staff
Depending on your game, sales representatives in the Marketplace 6 Business Simulation should sell a certain amount of products. If they are under the amount, you have too many sales people. If they are over, you may not have enough representatives.
Your company should begin with a small amount of sales professionals. Once you have established yourself in the market, consider adding more. When quarter four arrives, you will want to add people for the holidays. You may want to hold back if there is a recession during the fourth quarter, however.
Your company may have the options to train and reward its sales staff. Training your employees and giving them demonstration kits could improve their effectiveness, but its impact might be unnoticeable for a couple quarters.
Cash and gift incentives are good ideas for employees during the first three quarters of the year. In the fourth quarter, consider vacations as an alternative to incentives. Vacations are given to those with the best sales at the end of the quarter. Vacations give extra motivation for sales. You want motivated sales professionals in the fourth quarter.
With much of your staff vacationing during the first quarter, sales will suffer. Since the first quarter already struggles from post-holiday recession, don’t worry about this. Maximize your potential sales during the holidays.
Marketplace 6 Business Simulation Tips: Understand your Target Markets
Keep the needs and wants of your target markets in mind. Don’t sell them things they don’t want. Sell them things they want. Don’t try selling a discount computer to a high-cost market. Don’t try selling a luxury computer to a low-cost market. Develop advertisements that will adhere to the interests of your target market and distribute them in formats where your target market will find them.
Marketplace 6 Business Simulation Tips: Copycat Attack
Notice when a business releases a new product that a slew of other businesses release their own version of the same product? Businesses copycat their competitors in real life, and your company will copycat its competition.
If your company is struggling against its competition, then copy each of your competitors’ products that are thriving in each respective target market. Copycat companies can be competitive, but the lack of originality will result in copycat companies being one quarter behind their main competition. If you copycat, then try to build off of it. It’s not cheating; its just business.
Marketplace 6 Business Simulation Tips: Cannibalization
A differentiated product line can help establish market share and create a competitive advantage, but it can also lead to cannibalization. Cannibalization occurs when products you create eat away from the sales for another product, whether that consumer base is from the same target market or different.
There are two major combinations of target markets where cannibalization can occur. The first set of markets is the Workhorse and Cost-cutter markets. Both of these markets desire low cost products. A Workhorse brand product that is too cheap could result in sales losses from your Cost-cutter product. A Cost-cutter brand product that is too expensive may be mistaken as a Workhorse product.
The complicated version of cannibalization is with the Innovative and Mercedes markets. Both of these markets are high priced markets. The problem I experienced with the Innovative market was that the Innovative market wanted more components than the Mercedes market, and it wanted them at less cost. Although these markets don’t consider price a major priority, the Mercedes market isn’t stupid; if you put more on your Innovative brand, it will be judged as a Mercedes brand. Review your marketing research data carefully if you decide to add Innovative and Mercedes brands to your product line.
Your portfolio should be diversified with differentiated products. Keep an eye on your product line and financial statements for signs of cannibalization.
Marketplace 6 Business Simulation Tips: False Advertising
Your game may have the option for false advertising. You make claims to your target market that inflate its value to consumers, but are untrue. If one of your rivals can prove your illegal actions, you will suffer the consequences.
No company ever took advantage of false advertising when I played the Marketplace 6 Business Simulation. If someone did, then everyone else was unaware. From what I could tell, you had to be exceedingly aware of each company’s advertising campaign in order to catch culprits. If you false advertise, it’s completely under your discretion if you get caught.
More tips? Check out these!
Marketplace 6 Business Simulation Tips for Students, Introduction
Marketplace 6 Business Simulation Tips for Students, Part I
Marketplace 6 Business Simulation Tips for Students, Part II
Marketplace 6 Business Simulation Tips for Students, Part III
Marketplace 6 Business Simulation Tips for Students, Part V
