Sales functions are the functions of a business, organization or company that engrosses the actual sales of the products the company produces. Tentatively, non sales functions are the supplementary collective functions that contribute to the production of the product, as well as, facilitate good sales. These engage efforts to demonstrate the productiveness of its merchandise as well as booking appointments for purchase. As such, non sales function forms the pillar for any sales department. As such, the sales department’s objective is to ascertain the company’s preference of the sales functions of the predominant market. Nonetheless, sales function includes marketing and research, manufacturing, maintenance, engineering, and human resource practices. As such, this paper seeks to study and present how non sales business functions of any company affect its sales functions, with retrospect to, Pfizer Corporation.
Pfizer Corporation’s Sales Functions
The Pfizer Corporation is a multinational company that specializes in the manufacture of a broad range of medicines and vaccines, with its headquarters based at New York. Tentatively, it has its research centre base in Connecticut. The Corporation started in 1849 as a chemicals manufacturing company. As such, Pfizer discovered a drug known as Terramycin in 1950, and this was the forefront of the company’s success as one of the leading pharmaceutical companies. Over the years, Pfizer has acquired countless assets and amassed a lot of wealth. Undoubtedly, the Pfizer Corporation has acquired numerous companies and listed in the New York stock exchange.
Marketing is a vital non sales function. Marketing drives sales; thus the role of marketers is to convince the general consumer in purchasing a company’s products. In the contemporary modern market, the consumers countenance the problem of little resources, with less time. The consumers are willing to purchase the products, but are not interested in meeting the sales people- ‘product- pushing peddlers’ (konrath, pp 3). Nonetheless, until the consumers have made a decision on who to purchase the product from. Marketers will not only sell their company but also their sales representatives’ strengths. In retrospect to the Pfizer Corporation, marketing must be done to sell their large product base. More importantly, being a pharmaceutical company, the company emphasizes on responsible and transparent promotion of their products. Certainly, the corporation must make the consumers aware of the treatment options their products offer and the possible risks presented by the product. In 2009, a dispute pertaining the illegal marketing of the pain killer Bextra befell Pfizer. The corporation had to admit to fraud and forfeit fines and settlements that amounted to 23 billion. This was a tremendous taint in the reputation of the world’s biggest drug maker caused their stock to fall 0.6 percent (Reuters, 2009).
Non Sales Function
For the unsurpassed sales, a company must research on the needs of its customer base and the modern trends. The Pfizer Corporation has to perform numerous tests on the drugs they manufacture in order to ensure safety as well as, consider the side effects of the drugs. Moreover, the government has branches in its healthcare sector that monitors the research process and the drugs production. The United States food and drug administration USFDA regulates the production of new drugs, evaluates their suitability and safety. The FDA has powers to decline the introduction of a drug to the market and to recall drugs already in the market if they discover a problem. In this case, the company faces settlement suits and losses in profits and reputation.
Human resource practice is also a significant non sales function. A company must first ensure their qualified employees have the experience to handle the jobs they give them. The employees should be registered with the appropriate organizations if necessary. Qualified employees offer the best quality returns.
Qualified researchers, marketers, sales representatives, managers, and accountants present the best returns. Management should ensure their employment conditions keep their employees motivated and dedicated to the job to produce the best results. As such, a company with good output turns out to be reliable and enjoys public approval, thus augmenting sales and profits. In the past few years, Pfizer has experienced success in its fight against counterfeiting, recovering millions of dollars by pursuing civil suits instead of criminal suits. The company employs customs officers drug experts and lawyers to gather evidence on counterfeiting and file lawsuits all over the world. This is a clear demonstration of finding the right people for the job. Counterfeits are a source of loss for several companies. Pfizer as other pharmaceutical companies loses millions yearly to the rising counterfeit business. Pfizer has assembled experts all over the world to improve product integrity, as well as, work with local authorities to curb counterfeiting.
Sales and non sales functions correlate and must be in synchronization for a company to be successful in sales. As such, the Pfizer Corporation demonstrates the effects of non sales functions on sales functions. Tentatively, good sales and non sales functions present better sales, for the company. Nonetheless, for a business corporation to be truly profitable, the sales and non sales functions must complement each other in fulfilling the overall goals of a business.