EGE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES

Sales Management Term Project Proposal

Asst. Prof. Dr. İpek Kazancoglu

Presented by:

Gamze Saba 13080002866

Barış İştipliler 13080002898

Ana García ERASMUS Std.

TOPIC: Marketing Intelligence for Sales Management, Domino's Pizza Case Study

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page Nr

INTRODUCTION 3

PART 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 3

1.1 What is Marketing Intelligence? 3

1.2 What are the differences between Marketing and Sales? 4

1.3 Integrating Marketing and Sales 5

PART 2: FIELD RESEARCH 6

2.1 Practical Insights: Domino’s Pizza 6

2.2 Analysis of the Evidences 10

PART 3: CONCLUSION 15

SOURCES 16

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INTRODUCTION

The wide range of product diversity in our world has resulted in a cluster of options

and opportunities from which customers can choose. In order to be perceived by consumers,

companies have to apply various marketing concepts and ideas to distinguish themselves

from their competitors. Marketing Intelligence can be understood as a way of gathering and

analyzing relevant information as far as a company’s decision making and market

opportunities are concerned. It determines the intelligence needed, collects it by scanning

the environment and delivers it to marketing managers who need the information. These

evidences are necessary for shaping a company’s strategies and decisions.

The aim of this project is to examine a variety of strategic Marketing Intelligence

concepts employed by the world’s largest pizza chain Domino’s Pizza with specific emphasis

being attributed to its Sales strategies.

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PART 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 What is Marketing Intelligence?

Market Intelligence is one of the popular intelligences in business. Cornish, S. L.

(1997) defined marketing intelligence as “the process of acquiring and analyzing information

in order to understand the market (both existing and potential customers); to determine the

current and future needs and preferences, attitudes and behaviour of the market; and to

assess changes in the business environment that may affect the size and nature of the

market in the future”.

Marketing and sales effectiveness is especially applied in manufacturing, technology,

insurance, and financial markets. It contains all activities to create demand, such as lead

generation and marketing communications. “Marketing Intelligence’s main use is to identify

successful new product developments early in the process to create company growth and

maximize revenues by finding a balance between costs and prices of products” (Cornish, S. L.

a, 1997). Especially software companies focusing on it become successful players in the

market.

1.2 What are the differences between Marketing and Sales?

Marketing and Sales are both activities aimed at increasing revenue and productivity.

Strategic business and sales channel alignment are also required for optimum success.

They are working together so closely that people generally do not realize the

difference between Marketing and Sales. In small organizations, also with the effect of cost

restrictions, the same people typically perform both sales and marketing tasks. Still,

marketing is different from sales and as the organization grows, the roles and responsibilities

become more specialized among the two.

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Marketing contains the measures used to reach and persuade a firm’s prospects that

are suitable for the company. It consists of brand marketing, advertising, viral marketing,

public relations, and direct mail.

On the other hand, the sales process contains interpersonal interaction. It is usually

done by a one-on-one meeting, cold calls and networking. It concerns the prospect or

customer on the personal level rather than a general approach.

When comparing both marketing and sales, the compotents of the two become

visible. The seven most used activities and tools for collecting Marketing Intelligence data in

product software industries are the following ones (Cornish, b, 1997):

Product testing

Industry intelligence

Sales/service

Trade shows

Channels

Qualitative methods (small “focus groups” and personal interview)

Aggregate data

Table 1: Cornish, S.L., b, “Strategies for the acquisition of market intelligences and

implications for the transferability of information inputs.”

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These strategies can also be applied in other sectors such as Fast Moving Consumer

Goods (FMCG), automotive, electronics, home furniture and so on.

Marketing efforts start with the process of the eight contacts that studies

demonstrate it takes to go through a prospect or potential client to the close of the sale.

When marketing is planned successfully you can begin to move that prospect from a cold to

a warm lead. When the prospect hits the "warm" level it becomes much easier for the sales

professional to close the sale.

1.3 Integrating Marketing and Sales

Based on the literature review, Dewsnap and Jobber (2000) propose that marketing

and sales integration in consumer packaged-goods companies has a positive effect on brand-

related and trade-related measures of business performance. It does not matter what side

you are on, the truth is that both departments need one another. Marketers can help the

sales department when it understands what it is they need to be successful. A sales person

goes through several phases in order to court a prospect into a client or customer. If thoses

phases are understood, marketing gets better at creating marketing materials that will work

for them, both in efficiency and effectiveness. Rouziès, Anderson and others (2005) stressed

the importance of sales’ and marketing’s integration by stating that “clearly, coordinating

the sales and marketing functions can improve the effectiveness of activities undertaken by

the functional areas.”

In order to obtain a competitive advantage in a highly competitive environment,

some important actions should be taken. For example, one could begin by dividing the

prospect lists according to segmentation of the marketing department and database them

into categories of cold, warm, and hot leads according to suitable action. Afterwards special

strategies can be created on how to proceed with each individual group. Kotler, Rackham

and others (2006) empasized that if the organization does not align incentives carefully,

marketing and sales groups also run into conflicts about seemingly simple things, for

instance, which products to focus on selling.

A company’s Cold Lead Strategy may consist of sending direct mailing or approaching

them with a special promotion whereas its Warm Lead Strategy may consist of attempting a

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follow-up call, sending out letters or scheduling a special seminar or training session to get

all of the warm leads together.

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PART 2: FIELD RESEARCH

2.1 Practical Insights: Domino’s Pizza

In the framework of this paper we conducted an interview with Mr. Tekin Eroğlu, the

Regional Manager of Domino’s Pizza in the Bornova area in İzmir, Turkey. Domino’s Pizza,

founded in 1960 in the USA, is the world’s largest pizza chain with more than 10 000

company owned and franchised stores in 70 countries (cf. Domino’s International). It

occupies a leading position in Turkey as well.

Mr. Eroğlu is in charge of four of the chain’s franchises in the Bornova area and his

main responsibilities include the management of Operations, the Supply Chain, Human

Resources as well as Marketing.

When it comes to the company’s goals and the criteria according to which they are

defined and analyzed, he says that the organization has various missions such as daily sales

quotas, sales volumes via call centers as well as online services such as the Turkish food

ordering website yemeksepeti.com. The criteria employed for evaluating those criteria vary

depending on the region the organization operates in and the customers served. Mr. Eroğlu

mentions that in the Bornova region the online (yemeksepeti.com) orders are higher than in

other districts since this is a student residential area in which there is a higher tendency

towards using the internet. Local Store Marketing (LSM) objectives are shaped by the

company’s national campaigns. Generally, there should be a 3% increase in sales for each

period. Our interviewee points out that the benchmarks and forecasts are defined according

to the last day’s and last year’s sales as well as to the month’s specifications such as the

season.

Changes in the regional structure are said to be effective. Mr. Eroğlu mentions the

example of a new Domino’s Pizza franchise having been opened in Osmangazi and that,

contrary to expectations, the Özkanlar store’s sales increased by 22%. This can be related to

the fact that the overall service quality and efficiency of Eroğlu’s franchises increased.

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In terms of competitive advantages when compared to rivals, Mr. Eroğlu points out

the quality and the variety of his products. There are several types of dough varying in

volume and taste (e.g. cheese). Domino’s Pizza is the only company of its kind serving sauces

with its pizzas for free. Furthermore, they operate with the “open-kitchen” system which

makes it possible for the customers to witness the preparation of their pizza. In terms of

marketing, Turkey is one of Domino’s operating countries in which the “30-minute

guarantee” is implemented. This means that if the customer does not receive his pizza

within that time frame, he receives a voucher for a free regular pizza that he can redeem at

his next order. Mr. Eroğlu summarizes his franchises’ strengths in as the “product-service-

image” chain.

We are also interested in finding out about the role of the internet when applying

marketing strategies. Our interviewee tells us that especially throughout the last two years,

his franchises have made effective use of the internet on both the national and regional

base. He points out the example of this year’s “social pizza” campaign where customers can

create their own pizzas online. This activity has had a considerable positive impact on the

company’s sales volume with last month’s sales having risen by approximately 9% in April

2013. In the current month of May 2013, he estimates that sales will be affected by about

15% since there is a national campaign that has been launched with a highly aggressive price

of 13.90TL. Afterwards, a rise of about 10% is expected by our interviewee. The marketing

department tries to analyze the brand awareness on social media and other popular web

sites such as eksisozluk and then tries to shape the company’s strategies according to their

findings.

When asked about the extent to which Local Store Marketing (LSM) activities are

used to increase sales, Mr. Eroğlu tells us that they make use of social media tools such as

FourSquare. Whenever a customer “checks-in” at one of their stores, he is given a portion of

cinnamon bread for free. We learn that apart from the B2C sector, Domino’s Pizza also

implements LSM strategies in the B2B sector, for example by sending out fax and SMS

promotions to firms.

As far as the company’s threats are concerned, our interviewee says that every

change in image towards the USA or fast food can affect Domino’s Pizza’s sales. He mentions

the example of Burger King and its 25% drop in sales caused by the alleged usage of horse

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meat. Social, political and health trends thus play an important role as far as a company’s

image is concerned and may affect sales considerably. Mr. Eroğlu states that the market he

operates in is a dynamic one and that he and his team should “be ready for all kinds of

surprises”. As main competitors in the İzmir region he mentions Little Caesars, pizza pizza

and Pasaport Pizza.

The relationship between Mr. Eroğlu’s sales and marketing departments is

characterized by close cooperation, also with other departments. There are monthly

meetings organized by higher authority in which the executives of the operations, sales,

marketing and finance departments come together to discuss their respective missions and

objectives with management. The management then provides feedback and advice. As the

local sales authorities, they also give them short briefings and hold presentations.

In terms of the marketing data used by Mr. Eroğlu’s team it can be said that they do

not have access to the national campaign’s data and strategies. But they are informed about

the latest data and main points concerning nation-wide campaigns in form of briefings

serving as a guideline to their own regional campaigns. When it comes to the regional LSM

activities, Mr. Eroğlu’s team derives its own data through the implementation of their

campaigns and by analyzing the achieved results and then taking decisions based on the

obtained information. The campaigns should be implemented during certain seasons of the

year, so the team uses its sources efficiently, for example by trying to define the right times

to implement their campaigns. The positions of the rivals previously mentioned and the

extent to which Domino’s Pizza reaches its sales volume goals are also relevant. The

environment is so dynamic that the company cannot allow itself to wait for the perfect data

to shape its local strategies. That is why, as a local store manager, Mr. Eroğlu has to take

quick decisions and act in multiple unexpected ways e.g. by implementing Guerilla

Marketing campaigns. As an example, he mentions that this month’s sales volume has

somewhat stagnated. In response to this stagnation, his local Domino’s Pizza franchises have

started to communicate with their local and national partners such as Turkcell, BEKO and

Kipa in order to create new campaigns. He says that the result of these agreements to

compensate stagnation will be perceptible within a few days from execution of our

interview.

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The company program used for numerical data storage and analysis is called PULSE.

This program has been specifically designed for the needs of Domino’s Pizza. Mr. Eroğlu

explains its vast functionality and reporting possibilities. It provides the company with the

required data for every variable, ranging from customers to streets, districts, cities, regions

and nations. The information retrieved from this system can be used when creating instant

events such as “Every large pizza for only 13.90TL for Özkanlar district customers for the

duration of 3 hours”.

The role of the local personnel in the sales process and the implementation of

marketing strategies is not to be underestimated either. Even though the products are

mostly sold in a vendor-based scheme, the store managers and employees may act as a

mobile sales force achieving to close high volume sales through their networks in the

neighbourhood. In some cases, such sales can be arranged by simply going to the doctor’s

and learning that there will be a major event throughout the next following days. The sales

force can then arrange an order of for example 100 pizzas for the next day. Store managers

can furthermore decide to start fax or SMS campaigns by the morning, which shows the

personnel’s degree of flexibility when it comes to implementing their own local campaigns

and sales operations.

Mr. Eroğlu stresses the point that the local work force is always aware of the

company’s objectives. When these objectives are attained or when an employee performs

particularly well, he or she is gratified in order to maintain a high level of motivation.

Possible ways of remuneration include extra payments and social activities such as

excursions, picnics or bowling. These means of gratification are meant to motivate

employees and maintain the chain’s goal achievement. They also contribute to the

maintenance of good relationships with the work force and create a friendly work

environment as well as a healthy platform for feedback.

2.2 Analysis of the Evidences

The interview with Mr. Eroğlu has provided us with an insight into Domino’s Pizza’s

Marketing Intelligence procedures in the Bornova area. We have learned about how the

stores he manages acquire and analyze information in order to understand the market,

which is part of the definition we provided in the first part of this paper. A considerable part

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of information is acquired through online service pages such as yemeksepeti.com which

enable the company to obtain information about the location, frequency and consistency of

orders placed, among other relevant data. The company program PULSE plays an important

role in the storage and retrieval of the data acquired.

Furthermore, we can say that both existing and potential customers are attracted

according to their specific environments as the examples of the “social pizza” online

campaign and the “check-in” cinnamon bread offer have shown. These offers are especially

attractive for younger customers who make use of the internet and new technologies. These

means of targeting are fitting for the Bornova area, which has a large student population.

Current needs and preferences of customers can also be understood from interactive

campaigns as the “social pizza” one previously described as it directly reflects what the

customers are looking for and may also provide the company with ideas for future offers and

campaigns. The company also directly obtains feedback about customer needs and

preferences by making use of its team’s network as employees have the flexibility to arrange

individual orders and offers to their contacts and acquaintances which best match their

demands and expectations. Attitudes and behaviours of the market are versatile and highly

depend on social, political and health trends as well as on the perception of the USA and fast

food in general. We have learned that Domino’s Pizza needs to take quick decisions in order

to keep their leading position in the market. Mr. Eroğlu said that whenever there is a need

for compensating sales stagnations, the company may arrange promotions and special deals

with their national and local partners. This is part of the assessment of changes in the

business environment which is another considerable aspect of Marketing Intelligence.

Since Marketing Intelligence contains all measures and activities aiming at creating

demand, especially the company’s intensive marketing communications can be mentioned in

this regard. Domino’s Pizza’s “product-service-image” chain is part of the company’s

branding and its “30-minute guarantee” represents an additional attractive promise to the

customer. The company is also active in the B2B sector where it markets customers through

fax and SMS campaigns. New product developments such as different types of dough and

consistency as well as an aggressive price promotion contribute to the brands continuous

growth and revenue maximization, nevertheless finding a balance between the products

costs and prices.

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The marketing and sales components described in the first part of this paper also

become visible in our field research example. Through our interview, we have gained the

impression that especially product testing, industry intelligence, sales and service, channels,

qualitative methods and aggregate data are part of Domino’s Pizza’s tools for collecting

Marketing Intelligence data. The “social pizza” activity can be perceived as a kind of product

testing since it provides Domino’s Pizza with valuable insights into customer product

expectations. The industry intelligence aspects are represented by the company’s business

environment analysis and moves to react to changes and competitor strategies. Sales /

service is a fundamental pillar of the company as reflected in the “product-service-image”

chain expressed by our interviewee. In gastronomy the personal contact with the customer

is indispensable and it will considerably shape the customer’s level of satisfaction and the

company perception resulting from it. In the case of Domino’s Pizza, this sales force –

customer relation is not only bound to the in-store experience but it also extends to the

home delivery service as well as any encounter with the sales force throughout promotion or

in personal life. The channels are the multiple ways through which the company reaches its

existent and potential customers. Face-to-face encounters on the street through promotion,

advertising on flyers or newspapers, online marketing and TV ads are part of these channels.

The participation of customers in online campaigns such as the “social pizza” can be

understood as a kind of qualitative method since it helps the company gather important

customer information as it would also be the case in focus groups or personal interviews,

with the difference that the customer here feels more anonymous since he is free to express

his wishes from his computer where he feels unobserved and relaxed. All gathered

information as well as aggregate data is collected and saved in the company program PULSE.

The case at hand has also shown how closely marketing and sales cooperate in the

daily operations of Domino’s Pizza. They do not only cooperate within each other but also

with all other departments, which is shown by the monthly meetings and feedback rounds

being organized by Mr. Eroğlu and his team. The integration of departments positively

affects the brand success and overall performance of the company. The sales force needs to

be informed about the ongoing marketing campaigns in order to appropriately serve the

customer and Domino’s Pizza’s marketers depend on the sales force in order to gain first

hand information concerning customer feedback, among other aspects. If both sides work

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together, as it is the case in our example, the overall efficiency and effectiveness of company

processes will be increased. To reach such an important level of cooperation between

departments, the implemented monthly meetings and briefings are of utmost importance.

We can say that Domino’s Pizza pursues both cold lead and warm lead strategies in

the forms of sending out faxes and SMS as well as the employees’ flexibility to create their

own special promotions in some assigned districts as a cold lead strategy and providing the

“30-minute guarantee” and organizing customer-based offers as warm lead strategies.

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PART 3: CONCLUSION

In conclusion, as it can be understood through the paper and the case study of

Domino's Pizza, there is a direct connection between the marketing intelligence and the

sales management and this positive correlation between these two functions, forces the

companies to take their actions in the way to dynamize their marketing intelligence to

increase their sales management performance. Therefore, to create this dynamism and

adding value, they try to show both local and national (and global) efforts at their best; from

store personnel to region-wide management, from national strategies to global ones.

Since the competition increases in nearly every market in which all of the barriers are

being lowered, we think that the usage of marketing intelligence in the sales management

will be one critical issue for the companies that want to survive in this environment and

increase their market share to boost their operational effectiveness.

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SOURCES

- Interview with Mr. Tekin Eroğlu, Regional Manager of Domino’s Pizza Bornova (İzmir,

Turkey), May 10, 2013.

- Cornish, S. L. (a), Product Innovation and the Spatial Dynamics of Market Intelligence:

Does Proximity to Markets Matter?, Economic Geography, Vol. 73, Issue 2 (April

1997), pp: 143-165.

- Cornish, S.L. (b), Strategies for the acquisition of market intelligences and implications

for the transferability of information inputs, Annals of the Association of American

Geographer, Vol. 87, Issue 3 (September 1997), pp: 451-470.

- Dewsnap, Belinda and Jobber, David. The Sales–Marketing Interface in Consumer

Packaged-Goods Companies: A Conceptual Framework, Journal of Personal Selling &

Sales Management, 20, 2 (Spring 2000), pp. 109–119.

- Domino’s IP Holder LLC, Find a Domino’s – International, 2008, dominos.com, online

on May 10, 2013.

- Glance, Natalie et al., Deriving Marketing Intelligence from Online Discussion,

Proceedings of the eleventh ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge

Discovery in Data Mining, ACM, 2005.

- Jenster, Per V. and Soilen, Klaus Solberg. Market Intelligence – Building Strategic

Insight, Copenhagen Business School Press, 2009.

- Kotler, P., Rackham, N., & Krishnaswamy, S. (n.d.). Ending the war between Sales &

Marketing. Harvard Business Review, 84(7-8), 68–78, 187, online on March 7, 2013:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16846190

- Lewis, Barbara R. and Mitchell, Vincent W.; Defining and Measuring the Quality of

Customer Service, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 8 Issue 6, 1990, pp. 11 – 17.

- Prescott, John and others, Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence, Wiley, 2001.

- Rouziès, D., Anderson, E. et al. Sales And Marketing Integration : A Proposed

Framework, The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. 16, No. 1

(Winter, 1996), pp. 1-20, published by M.E. Sharpe, Inc., online on March 7, 2013:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40471609

- Trim, Peter R.J., The strategic corporate intelligence and transformational marketing

model, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2004, pp. 240-256, Emerald

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Group Publishing Limited, online on March 7, 2013:

http://www.fearp.usp.br/fava/pdf/pdf193.pdf