FedEx Office Exercise

Background

Being an account representative requires a thorough understanding of the needs of the present and future client.  The operations of FedEX provides a wide variety of services that one can choose from given that the firm offers new methods in which materials can be produced and shipped , training and  addition of  employees , providing long-term support and improvement of the present technology. Training force has succeeded in building relationships with clients in both human resources field and other disciplines and business areas where training is outsourced. In fact, a positive experience and word of mouth was instrumental in allowing Davis and his partners to build a large network of contractor trainees in both Canada and United States. The firm provides training solutions for over 25 applications. A discussion with Davis reveals that Train Force is faced with various problems that need to be addressed and which were revealed through a set of situational questions.

Situational questions

How do you communicate with the clients?

How is the training plan developed and implemented for the clients?

What is the composition of the staffs and how do they disseminate the training information clients?

How skilled are the staff members to handle their duties and how is compensation for contractors done?

Problems

During the discussion, various problems emerged within the organization and which needs to be addressed. These problems include:

Inconsistent revenue generation over the past few years:  This includes a decline in revenues since 2015, a situation that could be attributed to various cancellations for training sessions in 2015 and 2016 due to delays. A client even complained of a trainer not being prepared to offer the services, an indication of a breaking relationship that had been developed in the past with Training Force. The decline in revenues can also be attributed to constant delays in delivering the training materials to clients, to the point that one of the client – a hospital chain – shifted to another training company taking away about $ 250,000. The performance of the firm is not certain given the high cost of operations such as labor cost amounting to around $1.5 million annually while the productivity of the staff has declined despite the high compensation. The costs are also expected to increase with as the need for outsourcing technology training grows with time. Training force is therefore unable to have a sustained revenue growth that would promise a bright future in terms of performance. Therefore, there is a need for the operations of the firm to be increased, so as the growth of Training Force’s in terms of clients and revenue generation can be assured.

Lack of proper planning has emerged as a major problem that has hindered the delivery of training services to the clients. It is indicated by lack of preparation is indicated by the complaint from the trainees that they could not follow through the training material provided forcing them to write their own notes. This led to the perception that the services being provided were not professional.  The failure in planning is also indicated in the delay seen right from the processing of materials at the office and this destroyed the image of the organizations as a reputable training firm. Lack of sufficient preparation is also evident in lack of sufficient back up plan in case the existing one failed to deliver quality training services. The plan adopted by Training Force failed to address the fact that different clients have different needs and preferences so that all materials were prepared the same.  This means differentiation of the product was not done and hence specific clients were not targeted with the materials training. Lack of differentiation of the training materials means that names of organization could be put on the wrong ones which would eventually be delivered to the wrong client.

 Ineffective communication is also an essential problem that emerged from the case, where information is not obtained about the needs of the clients in terms of training services required. For the case of the smaller and medium-sized organizations, the trainers were not able to get information about their needs so that Training force could prepare the training materials themselves as required.   Understanding the client’s needs should be the starting point forms the basis of the services aimed at satisfying these needs. The communication problem is also present among the staffs in the entire process including the preparation of training materials and the manner in which such materials could be delivered efficiently to the clients. Information was also not provided to the trainers about where the training materials could be found. These issues gave the rival training firms an upper advantage since their delivery method is well planned and communication especially with trainers about the training materials is also facilitated. The shambolic communication process meant that it would take a lot of time and calling the carrier before the material could be located which eventually failed the training efforts employed by the organization.

 Lack of proper management of the staff is a problem that is shown to have affected the provision of the training services. Davis is faced with a problem of not having enough staff members such that when two are fallen sick the entire training plan becomes difficult to implement. When two office staff became ill, there were no additional staff to take up their positions and this resulted to backing in processing of the materials, which affected their delivery and the trainers who had to wait for a long time. The productivity of the staff is also shown to be declining as many of them have families and social obligations that in many times interrupt their work. The replacement of the trained and experienced staff is quite expensive and not easy to achieve.

 

Implications

The problems identified have the potential to cripple the operations and growth of the firm in the future if they are not addressed. The decline in revenue means that firm does not have the financial muscle to deal with the other problems emerging while providing services to its clients. Serving the customers’ needs requires a thorough market research to identify the needs and offer services the satisfies them. Lack of proper planning by the firm means that there are no goals being aimed at and this can explain the dissatisfaction expressed by the complaints from the clients. Poor communication from Force Training leads to the firm losing touch with clients needs and hence, the clients become dissatisfied, especially when problems arise with services delivery. Employees drive the marketing goals and objectives and lack of proper staff management leads to low morale and finally poor customer services (Pride & Ferrell, 2016).

 

Is your organization forced to overlook important information on customer needs because obtaining it would lead to increased operational cost?

Does the organization fail to introduce necessary change in the training preparation and planning due to the internal resistance that would arise from the staff and training contractors?

When training sessions are cancelled and clients move to other training firms, do you attribute this to ineffective preparation and communication process?

Does introduction of changes in the staff management despite the involved cost lead to more positive results in terms of productivity in the future?

Potential solutions

The services provided by FedEx can help ensuring that Force Training maintains consistence in generation of revenue. As indicated, the broken relationships with clients due to delays in the delivery of training materials when and where needed. Since FedEx Office in many cities across the United States , it can help in reduction of the various operational cost that arise from reliance on too much input from employees whose production level has been declining. A major reason that organizations consider outsourcing is the general reduction of costs. A strategy to outsource services offers an approach that is more efficient in operation cost control. The firms offering the outsourcing services are able to reduce their cost since they have economies of scale which is not possible for the outsourcing form to achieve on its own (Palmer, Cockton & Cooper, 2012). In this case FedEx is able to provide a wide range of services especially delivering the necessary materials which has been straining Force Training. The buyer can count on FedEx to eliminate the delays and hence, prevent loss of clients to competitors.

 Finding a solution to the planning is important to Force Training and this can be assisted by incorporating the avenues provided by FedEx. In this case, FedEx can be tasked to ensure that training materials are packaged in accordance with the requirements of the client and delivered as per the laid down plan. Since preparation is an issue that has been pointed out by clients, FedEx services can help in preparing customized materials for specific clients and delivering to them.

In order to improve the communication with the clients, Force Training can utilize the ability of the FedEx to disseminate information and therefore, ensure that customers’ needs are addressed on time. In addition, the firm can utilize the technological capability of FedEx to improve on its communication process and make it more effective. Communication has been a major issue with the Force Training which has resulted to breaking of important relationships that have been built with the clients. A relationship with the clients can then be built or repaired to ensure so as to ensure that their needs are constantly addressed when and as needed.

The solution for the declining productivity and increased cost can be solved through the outsourced services that may replace those provided by some of the staff. The preparation and packaging of prepared materials by FedEx reduces the need to hire additional employees to ensure the processing s done on time. This will enable the firm to reduce on unnecessary costs.

Benefits of the solutions

These solutions will have various impacts on the operations and performance of Force Training. To begin with, the firm will eliminate any delays experienced in delivery process and hence, build or rebuild vital client relationship. Improved planning will ensure that training services are provided to match the needs of clients and hence fulfilling their needs. Disseminating information through avenues provided by FedEx Office will ensure that client relationship is maintained and hence, improved customer services. Outsourced services will minimize unnecessary cost and fill gaps left by declining staff productivity.

Assumptions

The client needs to reduce the cost of operations and improve efficiency in training services so as to attract more clients and grow.

References

Palmer, R., Cockton, J., & Cooper, G. (2012). Managing marketing. Routledge.

 

Pride, W. M., & Ferrell, O. C. (2016). Foundations of marketing. Cengage Learning.