Case Scenario:
You are a manager at Winsome Manufacturing Company, a company that produces plastic storage containers and sells them to the home consumer through home sales events. At the company's quarterly meeting, the head of marketing described a new product to be introduced in the first quarter of the next fiscal year, approximately nine months from now. The product will be a room-sized plastic storage unit suitable to the outside of the home; it is similar to a competitor's product but will have significantly more features. This product will open new markets for the sales channel, lay the foundation for add-on products, and generate new revenues. You have only seen preliminary sketches of the potential product but are very excited by the new product.
Because of your grasp of what needs to be done and your leadership skills, you have been chosen as project manager for this project. Your first order of business as the project manager is the development of the scope statement. Your boss has asked to see the sales deliverables. You have met with the sales manager and have a general sense of what support the sales team will require for the new product.
Background on Winsome's Sales Structure:
The home sales force is actually managed (and contracted) through Winsome's sister company. This sister company purchases products from various manufacturers, brands them, educates the sales representatives, and markets the products to the home sales event customer. Winsome's sales department is responsible for setting prices, generating sales forecasts, monitoring sales activities, helping the sister company incorporate new products, and identifying new sales opportunities. In some cases, Winsome's sales department has attended the sister company's quarterly branch manager sales events and presented information on new products. The marketing materials are jointly created by Winsome and the sister company.
For the sister company to begin its branding and sales force education activities, it needs to have the product specifications, photographs of the product, pricing structures, and marketing materials.
You have a follow-up meeting with the managers of the sales and marketing departments next week. At that time, you will review a detailed write-up of the scope that describes what is included, as well as what is excluded.
In preparation for the meeting, create a description of the project's scope only as it relates to the sales and marketing activities.
Describe the deliverables the team will produce, what type of information it will contain, and the level of detail expected.
Identify the exclusions to the scope.
Define any assumptions you are making about the rest of the project's scope that impacts your decisions around the sales and marketing scope.
Include an additional page to identify key points you will share in your conversation with the managers, identify their possible objections, and detail your response to those objections. Emphasize the assumptions you are making, what you expect the sales department to do, and any follow-up that still needs to be done around the scope.
Compile your scope statement with deliverables, exclusions, and assumptions, along with your key points page for submission.