Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 21, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba B4 business March 2001 ugg gets growing in second Quarter by Murray Mcneill knowing sales process important to marketing Little data continued from Page b3 higher fertilizer and livestock feed sales coupled with lower operating costs within its Grain handling operations helped propel United Grain growers to a record profit for the second Quarter of the current crop the publicly traded agribusiness com Pany has reported net earnings of or 48 cents per for the three months ended that compares to a net loss of or three cents per for the same period last the company the Strong second Quarter results boosted net earn Ings for the first half of the year to or is cents per from a loss of or 36 cents per during the first six months of last the profit for the second Quarter included a savings the company reaped As a result of the corporate tax cuts announced in the last Federal but ugg chief executive offi cer Brian Hayward said in an interview it would have been a record breaking Quarter even without those tax we basically had a very Strong he what was particularly Hayward was that All three of the company operating divisions contributed to the Strong there was not one Silver Bullet reason Why the com Pany is performing As Well As it its a combination of eggs shares Trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and closed yesterday at which was Down 55 cents from mondays closing managing for the future Robert Warren Bridges Golf course i Are looking for a new and exciting Golf course l your tournament or group Outing planner now available looking for innovative ways sub Vul and maintain most managers can easily list their major customers and provide an explanation for Why they but few can describe the Steps a customer goes through in making a Pur Chase such knowledge is crucial if you Hope to successfully launch a new product or enter a new the first priority is identifying and understanding the Steps a customer goes through in making a Pur Chase understand ing the process gives you an understanding of the people involved in the process and their it also allows you to estimate the time needed to make a As an assume your company makes a new dessert product using berries native to Man it comes in a Jar and can be used As an ice Cream a dip or a cookie based on your you believe it is an Ideal consumer product and you want to sell it through retailers like superstore and in this Case you actually have two customers to worry the most obvious is the but the customer you must Deal with and the subject of this is the every retailer has one or More buyers responsible for selecting the products it will buy ers in the grocery Industry Are Busy As thousands of new food products Are introduced each year in the Hopes of becoming one of the estimated products found on a grocers to Cut Down on the number of people they must Deal buyers often use support staff to screen getting past this first stage requires doing some Homework so you can answer such questions As the test results youve recorded for the the Price you intend to charge the retailer and if the product meets All necessary government approvals for things like the production process and Labelling once youve passed this the next step is to meet the at this you must be Able to answer such questions As your production the time it will take to process and deliver an anticipated rates of Sale and the level of promotional support you can this May take the form of shelving fees paid to the store to Stock the shared advertising or discounts on product if you answer these questions to the buyers satisfaction and he believes the product is a Good fit with his other the buyer will probably recommend a Market at this Point you will have to work with the retailers distribution personnel As Well As the area and store managers to get the product onto the test stores shelves and into the hands of con at this Point questions will Range from How easy it is to get the product into the distribution system to the volume of sales generated by repeat provided you answer these questions successfully and the product Sells in sufficient the next step is for the buyer to place a broader while the process seems straightforward and fairly it at any Point one or More of the retailers representatives can put the process on hold or even terminate it if they dont like what they see or to avoid its critical for you to stay in regular Contact with the Mem Bers of the retailers team to identify problems before they understanding the sales process facing your firm is an important part of your marketing pro Robert Warren is director of the Asper Centre for at the University of Manitoba Asper school of he can be reached at 4748422 or via email at 3warrenr@ms.umanitoba.ca. Or of a Piperate clients Platinum Gold corporate packages now available please Call 7353000 for your Earl buy package special 2 Donald 2844653 boo chops no sign of yet Toronto Bank of Montreal has embarked on an aggressive cos cutting Campaign to slash hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses after the country fifth largest Bank posted disappointing first Quarter sources say boo senior management is demanding dra Matic reductions in spending As much As 10 per cent in each of the Banks 30 lines of there have been lots of executives looking at their Annu Al budgets to find savings wherever said an inside so there is no indication which hired More than new salespeople in recent May be planning Lay offs among its Canadian press he said he expects the fed to lower its rate by another 25 or 50 basis Points before the year is which should help propel the tse 300 to a level not seen since late last by the end of we see a 20 per cent upside in the no tech i expect the tech sector to be pretty much the interest rate cuts should Benefit the profits of the interest rate sensitive segments of the such As resource Energy Compa Nies and whose profits deteriorated when the fed was hiking he unreliable data since the Bank of Canada rarely acts independently from the there is Little reliable data evaluating the Canadian markets response to Domestic Central Bank rate Spector Sam research analyst at Flori debased Ned Davis said the fed has made three successive rate cuts Only 13 times since for the periods following the third the Dow Jones Industrial average returned an average of per cent after three per cent after six months and per cent after one the Only time it didst work was in 1930 at the beginning of the great based on our the Downside from Here should be much less than the he downtrend continued from Page b3 on Wall the Dow Jones Indus trials ended a heavily traded session Down at the last time the Dow closed lower was March the Nash a composite Index tumbled to a closing Low not seen since november the Standard poors Wall streets broadest Indi fell to the last time the closed that Low was december the Wester based Canadian venture Exchange fell Points to i think were still in a pretty heavy said Katherine senior technical analyst at Standard poors mrs in there were people out there who really wanted a rate Cut and they didst get but its not such a big Surprise that they didst get Beattie the Canadian Dollar closed at cents up from mondays close but still around a 2 press extras include envy and the rx300 has certain Marks of distinction that youre doubtless aware like vehicle skid four wheel traction control and what May Surprise you is that youll receive More lexus for your Money if you buy or lease a limited edition both feature heated front seats Moon roof and Electr Chromic but while the luxury edition has burnished Walnut the sport edition has brushed aluminium trim and a rear things you can grow accustomed like the envious glances and the admiring for lexus dealers or More 180026lexus Ca luxury edition re 300 sport edition re 300 575 priced at at per month the relentless Pursuit of ;