Proposal to solve issue of slow sales.

1. PROPOSAL TO INCREASE
CURRENT SALES
Delivered to the District Manager and Store Owners
June 27, 2014
Max Collins, Assistant Manager
allstarmax13@yahoo.com

2. OVERVIEW: SALES SLUMP
• The problem that this five month old Jimmy John’s is facing is slow
sales. The store is new to this location, but it is experiencing a plateau
in sales. As a result of these sales, the store is incurring significant
losses per four week sales period.

3. INTRODUCTION
• Jimmy John’s is a sub shop that differentiates itself from other sub
shops by two factors. First, they say that they make “freaky fast”
sandwiches and are usually able to complete each sandwich in 30
seconds or less. The second thing that separates Jimmy John’s from
other sub shops is that they can deliver. They significantly beat the
times of other delivery options such as pizza delivery by getting each
order to the customer between 5 and 15 minutes.

4. OPPORTUNITY: INCREASE BRAND
AWARENESS
• Since the store is still relatively new, it may be necessary to analyze
its surrounding market of customers. The customers in this store’s
area may be unaware that this Jimmy John’s exists. In addition to
this, many customers might not know what Jimmy John’s is. As a
result, the store may need to improve its brand awareness.

5. THE CURRENT SITUATION
• Over the past five months, this Jimmy John’s has been experiencing the same
stagnant sales numbers. The reason could be that it is getting the same customers.

6. KEY SUCCESS FACTORS
• Two key success factors for Jimmy John’s exist because of their two types of
customers: In shop and Delivery.
• In shop: Providing these customers with their sandwich in 30 seconds or less. Sometimes
these customers get their sandwich before they finish paying which “freaks them out”.
• Delivery: Providing these customers with their delivery in a faster time than other
businesses that provide a delivery service. On average, customers can get their order
between 5 and 15 minutes.
• Both success factors are dependent on the speed of the service.

7. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES
• There are two alternatives to help the store produce a profit. One requires reducing
costs and the other requires increasing revenue.
• Reduce current variable costs: this could be done by eliminating waste of sliced meats or
prepped vegetables. In addition to this, meats are sliced at a certain weight range. Slicing
at the lower range could help keep food costs down.
• Increase advertising: in theory, offering samples to businesses in the store’s delivery area
can help increase sales steadily.

8. STRATEGIC OPTION
• Increasing the amount of sampling done at this store can be essential
to increasing the store’s sales. This would increase the overall brand
awareness of the consumers in the store’s delivery area. Following a
strict sampling schedule of two times a day and five times a week will
increase the store’s slumping sales.

9. BENEFITS AND RISKS OF STRATEGIC
OPTION
• Following this strategic option more strictly than it is being followed currently
presents both benefits and risks. However, the benefits outweigh the risks.

10. BENEFITS
• Increased revenue: Sampling to different businesses will bring in more customers
and, as a result, increased sales.
• Increased brand awareness: New customers who either did not know that this
Jimmy John’s existed or did not know what Jimmy John’s was will have the
opportunity to try the product from the samples before they buy it.

11. RISKS
• The only risk is the effect of the costs incurred from using the extra product to make
the samples. However, this risk is not too significant because the benefits of
increased sales greatly outweigh this extra cost of the product used to make the
samples.

12. FINAL RECOMMENDATION/ CALL TO
ACTION
• My final recommendation is to follow a strict sampling schedule at this store.
Currently, sampling is happening, however it is happening inconsistently.
Sometimes it happens once a week, other times it may happen every day. This
inconsistency will not lead to the consistent, increasing sales that both the district
manager and owners want.

13. REFERENCES
• Shwom, B. & Snyder, L. (2014). Business communication: Polishing your
professional presence (2nd ed. Pp. 296-301). Pearson: Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey.