(Tiểu luận) topic building a sales strategy for biti’s

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & TRAINING

HCMC UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE

Lecturer: MBA Lê Kim Nguyên Class A06E – Group 1

Hồ Chí Minh City, 10 April, 2023th

C Sales strategy of Biti’s 14

1 Building sales force 18

Figure 1: Biti's logo 1

Figure 2: Footwear export of Vietnam to major markets (6 first months in 2021 compared to 2022) 6

Figure 3: GDP growth of Vietnam in 9 first months (2011-2022) 8

Figure 4: Vietnam average monthly wages according to Tradingeconomics (2020-2023) 9

Figure 5: Inflation rate in Vietnam from April,2022 to January,2023 (Tradingeconomics) 10

Figure 6: Population increase in Vietnam (2011-2022) 10

Figure 7: Vietnam's population during 2017-2022 (VGP News) 11

Figure 8: 3D LiteKnit fabric technology 13

Figure 9: Biti's revenue (2016 – 2021) 14

Figure 10: Revenue of each product line of Biti's in the period (2016-2022) 15

Figure 11: The revenue of the last 4 quarters of Biti's Hunter line ( 2022 – 2023) 15

Figure 12: The global footwear market forecast (2023 -2028) 15

Figure 13: 5-year revenue target of Biti's (2023-2028) 17

Figure 14: Biti's recruitment process 19

Figure 15: Future sales structure of Biti's in HCMC 34

This report aims to study Biti's sales strategy to find out why this business is long-lasting in the Vietnamese footwear market In addition, in the process of making reports, learners can systematize knowledge and relate knowledge with reality in a particular enterprise.

The reason for choosing the topic: People still have a saying: Heaven, time, and earth, people, and

harmony Sometimes, just pointing out a good product is not enough, but you need to take advantage of external factors to make that product a breakthrough This statement, once again, is true in the case of Biti's In fact, they released Biti's Hunter a long time ago, around 2016, but that day, young people were still immersed in the kingdom of adidas, Nike, Vans not many people knew about the existence of represent the country, except those who have been going to Biti's for many years By this time, Biti's began to leverage the power of the media And their delicate closing was the cooperation with KOLs in early 2017, piqued the audience's curiosity Thanks to the available heat, it helps Biti's return to the race in a spectacular way, making Biti's Hunter comparable to the adidas Stan Smith or the Nike Roshe Run.

General information about Biti's: vision, mission, competitors

Analysis of environmental factors affecting: economic, political, technological, and SWOT strategy of the company

Sales strategy: sales goals, recruitment and training, sales policies,

Proposal, evaluation: give suggestions on the business situation of Biti's company

1 Pham Phu Ngoc Thi 2 Nguyen Chi Tuong 3 Bui Duc Phat 4 Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy 5 Le Y Vi

6 Tran Vu Phuong Anh

Figure 1: Biti's logo

Biti's (Binh Tien Consumer Goods Company) is a brand specializing in manufacturing shoes and sandals in Vietnam

Established in 1982, Biti's, formerly known as Binh Tien and Van Thanh production complexes, had only 20 workers specializing in the production of simple rubber sandals In 1986, the two groups above merged to form Binh Tien Rubber Cooperative, which specializes in manufacturing high-quality footwear for domestic consumption and export to Eastern and Western European markets

Currently, there are 2 production bases, 7 branches, 3 trade centers, 1 business center, 156 marketing stores and more than 1500 agents across the country and export products to 40 countries worldwide.

: To constantly offer consumers with better choices, committed to our proposition of superior quality “Binh Tien Imex Corp., Pte., Ltd is committed to continuous improvement and enhancement of the quality of our products towards our proposition of superior quality, in order to further satisfy higher and more diverse demands of consumers and to build long-term trust with all customers.” – Ms.Lai Khiem.

: To become a powerful manufacturer of consumables in Asia “Being dedicated to this broad vision of developing Biti’s as a worldwide company, we keep on both maintaining the leading position in Vietnam and proactively reaching out for international opportunities.” – Mr.Vuu Khai Thanh, General Director.

“Taking quality as the core value”: Biti's was loved for its durability and good quality Until people's lives are more and more advanced, customers not only consider the durable factor, but also beautiful, trendy, and fashionable The footwear market in Vietnam has become more vibrant Certainly, when more brands are introduced Not only Vietnamese brands but also brands from Europe and America already have a

In the period of 2000s, Biti’s products used to be the most famous shoes and rubber sandals that almost every family had at least one pair of that shoes, thus the market share of Biti’s at that time was really, which was estimated of over 30% to 40%

However, in the years of 2002-2007, it was considered the time of open competition World-famous shoes brands such as Nike and Adidas had entered the Vietnamese market, putting great pressure on Biti's market share With restrictions in designs, problems with foot odor, along with the psychology of foreign buyers from outside Vietnam, and the trend of preferring sneakers rather than sandals of most young people, Biti's completely stood out of the battle with international brands In addition to slipping away from that consumer trend, Biti’s also had a problem related to its retailers when using the distribution system Retailers of Biti’s often have different types of shoes originating from different countries, making Biti’s images obscured and causing a loss of customers’ impression Biti’s loyal customers in this period were just children whose shoes were bought by their parents or adults who were used to using familiar brands Therefore, in 2012, the estimated market share of Biti’s dropped to only 15%

In 2016 and 2017, the rebirth of Biti’s with 2 hot MVs called “Đi để trở về” and “Lạc trôi” made this brand be able to revive again with the dramatic increase of 300% in annual revenue Therefore, Biti’s market has risen by 15%, increasing the total market share of this company up to nearly 30% Although there was a reduction in revenue in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Biti’s has proved the “second revival” in 2022, with the revenue increased compared to previous time.

In Vietnam market, there are several competitors of Biti’s that we have to mention, which are Nike, Adidas, Vinagiay, Bitas, Ananas, Đông Hải, Juno, … While Adidas and Nike are considered the main competitors in the product line of sneakers, other brands like Đông Hải, Juno, Vinagiay directly compete with Biti’s in the market of leather shoes and sandals

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Compared with global brand like Nike, Adidas, Biti’s takes advantages in their price and unique cultural designs, with shoes with Vietnamese traditional patterns on them, but the quality and the prestige seem to be inferior to those from global brands.

On the other hands, compared with other national brands, Biti’s takes advantages in their quality, product diversifications and designs, but seem to be inferior to them regarding its prices as shoes from local brands like Vinagiay, Juno, … are less expensive than Biti’s ones.

O1: Borrow up to 85% on fixed capital supported by the government O2: Attracting many investors as anti-corruption situation is promoted O3: Increase in revenue due to high GDP, per capita income, increased market demand

O4: Increasing domestic market share as customers tend to walk, ride bicycles, consume, shop online O5: Increase competitive advantage if enterprises apply advances in science and technology

O6: Control of human resources due to state regulations on labor

O7: Eliminate unfair competition due to regulations on counterfeiting, consumer protection, banned substances, product standards

T1: Fuel input is threatened because financial crisis T2: Future workforce may lack experience

T3: Decrease in sales because consumers have more choices and tend to prefer foreign products T4: Rising inflation leads to an increase in the general price level of input materials T5: Large R&D budget because businesses need to invest in technology development and find new fuel sources

T6: Bad reputation, loss of trust with customers due to fake businesses

T O9: Using more clean materials in thethe environment, protect consumers future

S1: National brand, prestige, large domestic and foreign market share

S2: High quality standards, beautiful designs, no banned

S7: 24/7 customer care service S8: attracts many good workers because it is the Top 10 best places to work in Vietnam S9: Modern, high-tech factory S10: Good marketing team to exploit the market

S11: Wide product portfolio S12: Invest heavily in R&D activities

Market penetration strategy:

- Increase the number of customers, increase domestic competitiveness: O(2,3,4) S(1,2,5,10)

Product development strategycombined with cost leadershipstrategy:

-Developing environmentally friendly products

O(4,5,8,9) S(4,9,12)

Market development strategy:

- Developing products in the high-end, handmade segment to compete with international brands: O(1,2,5,7) S(4,9,12)

Backwardintegrationstrategy:

- Actively enter joint ventures with suppliers to proactively source domestic and foreign input fuel T(1,4)

S(3,4)

Forwardintegrationstrategy

- Actively enter joint ventures with distributors and agents to promote

W1: not yet active in the fuel

-Cut down the cost of operating some inefficient agents or employees with bad attitudes

O(6), W(4)

Cost leadership strategy combinedwith product development strategy

Opportunity to develop new products at a lower cost by replacing fuel sources O(5,7,8) W(1)

strategy:

-Joining with suppliers to maintain stable source of raw materials

T(1,4) W(1)

Cost cutting strategy:

-Cutting costs for personnel

O2: Attracting many investors as anti-corruption situation is promoted

O3: Increase in revenue due to high GDP, per capita income, increased market demand

O4: Increasing domestic market share as customers tend to walk, ride bicycles, consume, shop online

S1: National brand, prestige, large domestic and foreign market share S2: High quality standard

S5: Affordable, stable price

S10: good marketing team to exploit the market

At the present time, the market share of Biti's products is still small, the brand is still competed by foreign brands, so it is necessary to increase Biti's market share by increasing the number of customers buying the product In addition, the high GDP index, the average income of Vietnamese consumers increases along with the population size, leading to an increase in the demand for footwear products, providing opportunities to increase business market share Lack of petrol is an opportunity for Biti's to increase sales of its sneaker product line for customers who want to walk or cycle instead of using motorbikes/cars Vietnamese consumers tend to shop online, but Biti's marketing team is good at exploiting the market, businesses take advantage of the influence of KOLs and KOCs in Marketing campaigns to reaffirm Biti's brand as a strong brand and develop, becoming a prestigious, reliable, familiar brand with consumers and the pride of 98

has regulations on minimizing the problem of buying and selling fake and poor-quality goods This helps the market in general as well as Biti's to eliminate unhealthy competitors Regulations on banned substances in products, footwear product standards and Biti’s has a specific declaration of ingredients and product standards This helps businesses build solid trust, protect consumers, and ensure quality when exporting to demanding markets like Europe.

Vietnam has now signed major trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which helps the number of Vietnam's footwear exports to Canada and Mexico increase high, the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) helping Vietnam's footwear exports to the EU account for about 40% This is considered a ticket to help bring footwear products in general and Biti's to potential markets.

Figure 2: Footwear export of Vietnam to major markets (6 first months in 2021 compared to 2022)

In general, footwear exports of Vietnam to major markets witness double-digit growth in the first 6 months of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 Exports to the US in the first half of 2022 were 23.2% higher than in 2021 Meanwhile, this number for the EU and CPTPP was 18.9% and 6.9%, respectively.

The stable political environment along with the Party and State’s policies to promote economic development and international integration have created a solid foundation and became a launching pad for Vietnamese businesses to develop The South can thrive, the supporting industry development project that has just been submitted to the Government by the Ministry of Industry and Trade is a typical example This

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project has provided a lot of support to the industry groups considered as spearhead industries, including the footwear and leather industry.

=> According to the scheme, products supporting industries and production of raw materials for five key industries, including textiles and garments, leather, and footwear, will enjoy preferential policies on investment in market development, science – technology, infrastructure, and human resource training There are also several other policies on capital mobilization activities, such as: As for capital, enterprises implementing supporting industry projects will be able to borrow up to 85% of total fixed capital from credit sources That's a good sign for Biti’s and the whole footwear industry.

Besides, the prospect of the Footwear industry is extremely developed In the first 10 months of 2022, 32 items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 92.8% of total export turnover, and 6 export items of over 10 billion USD In which, Footwear reached 20.06 billion USD and expected to reach 23-25 billion USD this year.

=> It is an affirmation of positive results in anti-corruption work in Vietnam This situation not only increases the ability to attract investment capital of Vietnam’s companies in general but also brings opportunities for businesses like Biti's in particular.

Figure 3: GDP growth of Vietnam in 9 first months (2011-2022)

Vietnam's economic growth in the last few months of 2022 has prospered According to the General

first 9 months of 2022 was 8.83%, exceeding all forecasts, much higher than the economic scenario set by the Government earlier this year The figure of 8.83% GDP growth is the highest increase of 9 months in the period 2011-2022 This result is a testament to the clearly prosperous economic picture and the strong recovery in many business fields.

=> This indicator has a positive effect on the profitability of enterprises like Biti’s GDP growth helps businesses attract more investors, create more business outputs, and increase people's income, leading to a rise in spending and market demand, thus enhancing the profits for many local companies.

Bank interest rates are high along with monetary tightening UOB warns that the 2023 growth outlook is more worrisome, as tough monetary tightening from central banks is expected to weigh on the US and Europe, the two main export markets accounting for 41% of Vietnam's export market share

=> This is a bad sign for domestic companies if they want to borrow money from the bank to expand their business as they have to pay higher interest rates

Figure 4: Vietnam average monthly wages according to Tradingeconomics (2020-2023)

The following bar chart illustrates the average monthly income in Vietnam from from January, 2020 to the same time in 2023, from Tradingeconomics It is easy to recognize that this number increased during this period Besides, GDP also increased, showing that the income level of Vietnamese people has improved significantly in general This trend has provided both opportunities and challenges for local businesses like Biti’s:

Opportunity: The material life of Vietnamese people has significantly increased, they are willing to

pay more for their outfit, especially their shoes After updated and innovated its products, Biti’s 8

current products’ prices ranging from 800,000 VND to 1,000,000 VND and even more than 1,500,000 VND for special versions As people’s income has risen, they will be more willing to purchase Biti’s products at that price, especially loyal customers of Biti’s

Challenges: When life becomes more prosperous, Vietnamese people can start to invest more on

clothes and shoes Thus, new customers of Biti’s with first intention to buy Biti’s products, may switch to choose outfits from global well-known brands such as Nike, Adidas because these brands have greater influence, more suitable for middle to high income class.

Figure 5: Inflation rate in Vietnam from April,2022 to January,2023 (Tradingeconomics)

Normally, a country should control the inflation rate to make sure that it is always under 4% because high inflation rate will negatively the economy of a nation In the chart above, the inflation rate in Vietnam was over 4% in January 2023 This was because the influence of sophisticated in political situations in other countries including Ukraine, Russia, US, and China, …

=> This situation will lead to a rise in price of raw materials and higher manufacturing costs Thus, the purchasing power will decrease due to that, and this is a bad sign for businesses like Biti’s

Figure 6: Population increase in Vietnam (2011-2022)

Figure 7: Vietnam's population during 2017-2022 (VGP News)

Vietnam’s population has witnessed a gradual rise since 2011 According to worlddata.info, the population in Vietnam reached over 98 million people in 2021 and has a trend to increase more in the following years => The large population size has turned Vietnam into an extremely potential market for domestic and foreign businesses, including Biti's Moreover, this is also a huge source of labor, creating favorable conditions for business and production activities of enterprises like Biti's Population gradual increase will help Biti’s widen its customer pool, thereby increasing the volume of targeted customers and increase revenue and profits, too.

Vietnam is a country which has lots of valuable cultural identity that can be a great and endless inspiration for businesses to put into their products Moreover, in terms of national pride, Vietnamese people have always been confident with the Dong A spirit in each person This is considered a topic worth exploring from 10

businesses In it, Biti's is a brand that very well exploits the cultural value of the Vietnamese which is expressed through the slogan “Nurturing Vietnamese feet '' or advertisements showing the association of products with history and people's roots Ethnicity, showing the traditional image of Vietnamese such as: Footsteps of the dragon army into the sea, footsteps of Tay Son speeding towards Thang Long, … The new millennium has inspired the psychology of science towards the origin of the Vietnamese nation

=> Exploiting cultural factors has contributed to creating an image in the mind of customers not small in creating a competitive position in the Vietnamese market But that is a disadvantage when exploiting foreign markets.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially during the lock-down period, consumer shopping behavior has changed drastically Now, there is an increase in the number of online purchases and the more popular and common form of payment is by bank transfer because it was convenient and helped people strictly obey the 5K rules

=> This change has required businesses like Biti’s to promote online sales as well as digital marketing to rapidly adapt to this change.

Young people in Vietnam nowadays also have a trend of buying products similar to most people's surroundings and famous celebrities This is considered a trend that is almost never outdated, when young idols, celebrities, KOLs, etc just need to use a certain brand's product, the sales of that product are almost guaranteed improve The collaboration with Soobin Hoang Son in MVs “Đi để trở về” is a transformational step for Biti's when it launched the extremely successful Biti's Hunter X product line But this will also require Biti's to know how to inherit and improve-develop product lines later

=> This effect is a huge advantage for Biti’s if this company knows how to make best use of the wide influence of KOLs and celebrities in Vietnam to do effective marketing campaigns.

The advancement of science and technology is not only an opportunity but also a great challenge for businesses, including Biti's In terms of opportunities, applying new technologies can help improve the product and utilize the manufacturing process For example, Nike, they have produced a technology for their products called React Cushion, which helps users feel more comfortable on the heel

Figure 8: 3D LiteKnit fabric technology

Biti's is no less competitive when it comes to applying certain technologies to its products If the old Biti shoes used the old Air Mesh material to make the straps, the new Biti’s shoes have now been replaced with Lite Knit braided material One of the most advanced technologies in the field of shoelace production in Vietnam Thanks to Biti's innovation, users can easily clean their shoes Especially when the braided part of the shoe is very resistant to stains

In addition, to maximize revenue, many businesses also launch their own online sales projects Especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, it has completely changed the minds of consumers about online shopping However, selling online is convenient for electronic products, household appliances, etc., but for clothes and shoes, it is relatively difficult when there is a difference in size of each person consumption

Besides, it is a challenge when many new technologies in the leather and footwear industry develop constantly Technology development is a great opportunity for giant businesses but not small to medium ones This is because updating technology means that your company will have to change the R&D budget as more investment is needed to keep pace with technology

Besides, the shortened life cycle of technology means that companies need to upgrade and develop technology continuously, thus businesses like Biti’s tend to constantly improve labor productivity and product quality However, the short technology life cycle makes the technologies that businesses are using become quickly out of date If they do not promptly improve and keep pace with technological development, enterprises can easily lose their competitive advantages and be surpassed by competitors.

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Based on the company's performance in the years 2016-2022 and the forecast of the Vietnamese footwear industry, our team proposes the target sales and sales strategy for Biti's as follows:

Company’s performance in the previous years

Biti's is hailed as a successful case-study in rediscovering the "glory" of a long-standing Vietnamese brand That return is also evident on the revenue chart Biti's revenue has continuously grown over the years from 2016 to 2019 If at the end of 2016, Biti's parent company recorded a net revenue of VND 1,291 billion, but by 2019, this index suddenly increased by 23%, reaching VND 1,291 billion the level of 1,588 billion dong Continuing the upward momentum, Biti's earned VND 1,862 billion in 2018 and peaked at VND 1,954 billion in 2019 However, the acceleration of growth seems to have reversed when Biti's revenue is on a downward trend from 2020 In 2020, the revenue index decreased by 14.3% over the same period, to VND 1,673 billion In 2021, the decline continued to VND 1,234 billion Net profit was just over 10 billion dong, down 90%.

Figure 9: Biti's revenue (2016 – 2021)

The reason Biti's business results decline in the two years 2020-2021 is because this is the period of complicated developments of the Covid pandemic, the regulations on production shutdown and isolation against the epidemic have made the production - The business of many businesses was seriously affected.

Below is the revenue chart of each Biti's product line, in which Biti's Hunter product line is the main product line and has brought in revenue for Biti's in the past 5 years (nearly 3800 billion VND).

Figure 10: Revenue of each product line of Biti's in the period (2016-2022)

Quarter 1, 2022 2nd quarter of 2022 3rd quarter of 2022 Quarter 4/2022 Quarter 1/2023

Figure 11: The revenue of the last 4 quarters of Biti's Hunter line ( 2022 – 2023)

The chart above shows the breakout revenue stream for Biti's Hunter product line from January 2022 to January 2023 This serves as a basis for us to set a business target for this product line in the second quarter of 2023.

Sales forecast about footwear market

Figure 12: The global footwear market forecast (2023 -2028)

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The global footwear market is forecast to witness a CAGR of 3.62% during the forecast period (2022-2027) The growing demand for fashionable, trendy yet comfortable footwear among age groups is a key factor driving the global footwear industry The proliferation of sports-focused footwear, such as football, cricket, basketball and golf, coupled with exponential investment by governments and global organizations to promote tournaments and sports participation, have been the main driver for the market Asian countries, such as China and India, are major exporters of leather shoes from developed countries.

Growing enthusiasm and awareness of the health benefits of fitness and sports activities, a thriving retail e-commerce sector worldwide, and consumer disposable income levels growing are the key factors driving segment growth Growing health concerns due to a sedentary lifestyle and the problems it causes are favoring the demand for sneakers This affects people to actively participate in physical activities both indoors and outdoors Periodically held major global sporting events, such as the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Cricket World Cup, Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup, also drive demand from all athletes The footwear market has witnessed a sharp increase in demand for sports footwear emerging from lifestyle users, due to the growing health consciousness.

Analysis from Research and Markets shows that Vietnam's footwear production is expected to continue to grow in 2022-2031 The team predicts a CAGR of 8.1% over the next 9 years By 2031, the Research and Market Organization expects the Vietnamese footwear market to reach a whopping $38.7 billion - double the 2022 estimate of $19.1 billion

Sales target

After studying the market results, we set goals for the next 5 years (2023-2028) as follows:

Figure 13: 5-year revenue target of Biti's (2023-2028)

In the next 5 years, the key products that bring in revenue for Biti's are Hunter line products, accounting for (38.6% - 45.6%) of the company's total revenue From the long-term goal, our team set the target for the2nd quarter for the Hunter product line as follows:

Using the average long-term forecasting method, we estimate the total revenue of the Hunterproduct line in the second quarter of 2023 at about 169.9 billion (VND) Nhưng thị trường thành phố Hồ

Chí Minh, dòng sản phẩm này chiếm 28.12% tổng doanh thu trên toàn quốc, nêm we set a sales target forBiti's Hunter line in Ho Chi Minh City with the target sales of 47.78 billion (VND).

We set the implementation target for the second quarter of 2023 for the Ho Chi Minh City area as follows:

Sales target by month

General Trade

45% 3 branch centers, 48 Marketing Stores and more than 725 retail distribution intermediaries.

Modern trade

26,5% Co.op Mart, Lotte Mart, GO (Big C) 12.6617 3.21 3.563 5.8887

Online 28,5% Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, Fanpage,

After recommending Sales Target for Biti's Hunter product line in the second quarter of 2023 in Ho Chi Minh City area, our team proposed a sales strategy based on the company's overall strategy as follows:

Job titleQuantitySource ofrecruitment

Recruimentreasons

timeRecruitment channels

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With an aim of expanding our operation scale, especially in Ho Chi Minh region (because of the increasing and high buying demand), we aim to recruit 200-250 sales people, in which 40% comes from Biti’s company and 60% from outside sources:

Internal sources: With an aim of creating opportunities for Biti’s employees to change to different

positions and departments to fully explore their potential, this internal recruitment will be conducted annually Moreover, hiring internal employee for this position can help us reduce the training time on company’s information, instead we just focus on training them sales skills Those internal “new” sales staff can help instruct the external new staff with new work, which enhance the training quality of Biti’s.

External sources: Opening the door for outside potential candidates is Biti’s priority as we always

need “fresh energy” for our sales department New sales people will bring us new opportunities to expand our business and help us reach more customers

Biti’s currently does not have high turnover rate, which is estimated about 4%-6%, that is why recruiting new sales people also acts as replacements for those retired staff and prepares human resources for unpredictable situations.

The recruitment time will range from 1-1,5 month, depending on numbers of applications and here is the recruitment process of Biti’s:

Figure 14: Biti's recruitment process

Stage 1: Recruitment announcement: This is time for candidates to apply for jobs, which will last 10

days (1/3– 10/3)

Stage 2: CV reception and processing: This is the time when the employers receive all the CVs,

screening those CVs to eliminate the unappropriate ones, which will take about 5 days (11/3 – 15/3)

Stage 3: Testing announcement: The employers will send emails to suitable candidates to do an actual

selling test The testing date will be 3-5 days after the emails are sent (16/3)

Stage 4: Testing the candidates’ sales skill: Sales manager will observe how applicants do the test

(selling Biti’s products), from their attitude to basic skills The testing days will last 5-6 days (19-23/3)

Stage 5: Evaluating the test and choosing suitable candidates for interviewing: Sales managers will

decide which candidates is suitable after the selling test and come up with decisions in 2-3 days (25-26/3).

Stage 6: Interview announcement and dates: Appropriate applicants will receive interviewing emails

along with the test results and a planned interviewing date will be 4-5 days after that (Send email: 27/3, interviewing date: 1-2/4/2023)

Stage 7: Recruitment decisions: The representatives from HR department along with Sales

department will have a meeting to unify the number of qualified candidates, which will take 2-3 days and then send the “Successful interview notification” email to them (4-5/4/2022)

We intend to focus on 2 main recruitment seasons:

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Right after Vietnamese Tet holiday (from March to May): After Tet, a lot of people, especially the young tend to quit their current jobs and move to other companies That is why the recruiting sources at this time is huge, thus Biti’s will have a chance to hire good sales people.

Summer time (from July to September): This hiring period of time will attractive lots of young applicants like students because a lot of high school and university students tend to find a job to increase their experience in summer, in which they do not have classes at school.

To prepare well for the interview, here are what we are going to do:

First, in order to have a successful recruitment, we aim to build a set of recruitment criteria for our candidates By observing the common points, specialized knowledge, the selling style and working motivation of our best sales people, we are able to determine what core elements we need in our candidates:

Education level: At least high school Eager to learn new things and hard working Good communication and listening skill

Good in both team work and independently working skill Good looking, be decently dressed

Be able to work flexibly and under high pressure

Every business including Biti’s, needs a set of interviewing questions, which are built to make sure that we can optimally explore the potential of our candidates and to identify whether these “job seekers” have prepared well and are ready for this interview or not The set of interviewing questions will start with personal questions such as self-introduction, then questions about the candidates’ opinions towards the relevant fields and questions that encourage them explore the ability of solving problems of themselves To have a clear view of our interviewing questions, please visit our appendix at the end of this report.

A specific job description will help the candidates know more about the position that Biti’s is hiring, therefore helping them know whether they are suitable for this job and should apply for this position or not Because of the expectation of hiring more sales people, we develop our own job description for this position This job decription will provide enough and even detailed information of what they have to do when apply for this position, with clear contact information at the end The benefits, working locations and even the

higher level in the future based on the market demand for high-quality work force For clearer view of the job descriptions for Biti’s sales person, please visit our appendix.

Biti’s will both create our own recruiting page on social media platforms and on website and contract with other 3 parties to encourage the recruitment for us Here are our considered recruiting channels:rd

: This is a famous platform for recruiting that lots of companies are using It allows Biti’s to detailed post its job description and smartly overview the potential employees through the “matching function” (help we know whether the profile of the candidates match the requirements of the employers or not).

: TopCV, Vietnam works, Ybox, CareerBuilder, … are some platforms that we are going to connect with to attract more applicants.

: We intend to create our own recruiting page, which is Biti’s Career, on both Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok In this page, our updated recruiting information will be posted and candidates can contact us via the link of email attached.

: Candidates can read the JDs easily and even click the “Apply” button to apply for the desired postions faster.

Make a phone call for each potential applicant to make sure that they will join the interview Moreover, a quick test in 5-10 minutes will help Biti’s screen the most suitable applicants, saving time for the official interview.

While conducting an interview, Biti’s interviewers need to unify the questions and the marking format The interviewing questions should focus on exploring all the abilities and potential of the applicants.

Before giving the decisions of the number of qualified candidates, there must be a meeting between the interviewers to unify the decisions.

After recruiting the appropriate sales people, Biti’s will have to review the whole process of recruiting Looking back at what we have done at each stage, identify our mistakes, problems and determine ways to improve in the next recruitment time.

There are some elements to consider when assessing the whole recruitment process, which are:

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The number of suitable applicants: Suitable here means the target candidates that are appropriate for the sales staff position If the number of suitable applicants is less than expected, we need to find the reasons before that This may takes root from our unattractive job description, the way we post our recruitment news on social medias, internet, …

The quality of the interview: This can be evaluated by observing how the interviewers do their job and the interviewing content If the interviewers interview the candidates in wrong ways or the contents are not unified, we cannot explore the potential of those applicants.

Unappropriate recruitment time or maybe the time for candidates to apply for this job is unsuitable.

:

Our general target is increase the sales revenue and profit, especially in the Biti’s Hunter product line, successfully maintain the number of loyal customers and effectively enhancing the ability of those staff to complete their KPIs on time.

A training plan and process is just successful when each business determine their need and target of this training plan It is also a very important element helping the managers to be able to build the right training program that not only sticks to the employees’ needs and wants but also meets the company’s requirements.

The first target is to make sure that all the sales staff of Biti’s remember clearly the company orientation, the footwear market and industry in Vietnam and our target customers to better serve them.

The second one is to complete the ability of communicating with customers and presenting theproducts’ information to customers of the sales people There are lots of cases, the sales staff do

not have the skill to emphasize the products’ functions and other descriptive information, leading to the fact that customers get bored when receiving consultation That is why when finishing this training course, all the sales staff of Biti’s will be able to confidently communicate and present the products to our customers.

The third target is helping the sales people to comprehend the skill of solving the customersfeedback and complaints In order to understand what customers exactly want when they give

feedback to Biti’s, the sales people need to understand clearly the sales and warranty policies of Biti’s, thus giving proper solutions or compensations for customers.

The next target is to help Biti’s sales staff successfully capture customer psychology to easilyclose the sale There are techniques to know the political opinion, thinking and desire of

customers when finding Biti’s products Understanding this clearly, the sales guys can easily convince customers to buy our products.

Next, we want to ensure that our sales people understand clearly all the legal and ethical issues, thus they are able to know what to avoid during working and obey the important principles strictly.

The final target is to help each sales member of Biti’s knows their strengths to keep promotingthem and to improve their weaknesses Therefore, each of them will know how to cooperate with

their colleagues to perfectly complete their KPIs.

When customers come to Biti’s stores, Biti’s sales staff will know how to approach their target customers to easily understand their needs and want through careful trainings.

Basic attitudes and greetings with customers when they come in and out of our stores are very crucial A friendly smile, a positive energy that the salesguys bring to their customers will greatly contribute to both their buying decision and whether they will be our loyal customers or not

At Biti’s sales training session, we orient our staff to be proficient in 4 main sales pitches:

Offering a sale with a first compliment: Salesguys will need to have a brief observation of what outfits customers are wearing and tell them that their oufits would be more perfect if mix-matching with Biti’s shoes The first compliment will bring first positive impression and feeling of customers, encouraging their buying decision.

Offering a sale based on products’ scarcity: By emphasizing the uniqueness of Biti’s shoes, especially those from limited editions that have traditional and cultural patterns, Biti’s sales staff will easily create a big POD of Biti’s products compared to other brands Moreover, we need to mention about the limited number of shoes launching in each collection, which will affect the customers’ psychology as they will think that if they do not buy these products now, they will be sold out soon and never come back.

Offering a sale based on reciprocity: The sales staff will give voucher of discounts or mini souvenirs like charms, shoes brooches or laces, … to customers first whether they will buy our products or not.

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This helps creating a feeling of “indebted” of customers to us, thus increasing the buying percentage of them as they want to do something for the sales guys in return.

Offering a sale based on current promotions: Customers are often attracted by sales promotion and deals, that is why first sales offer with the promotion will increase the interest of customers about the products, thus easily convincing them to buy Biti’s shoes.

Another additional way to offer sales that we aim to train our staff is business letter Although it is usually used in B2B model, it is free and time-saving so we can make use of the customers data collected to send those emails to customers Sales staff of Biti’s will be trained how to sort the right customers to send mails to, how to create an impressive subject title, appropriate company introduction, sales promotion and especially the price and finally, how to attach the buying link so that customers can provide more information about their expectations about Biti’s products.

To start the talk easily, sales staff are encouraged to use open questions (5W-1H questions) and opening lines such as tell me about, explain to me, give me your opinions, … to let customers fully express their opinions and avoid them to answer us in short sentences.

To deeply explore the need, wants and desire of customers, those following quesitons should be concern: The nature of their job/study: As a large number of Biti’s customers are the young, who are very dynamic and energetic, knowing what shoes they usually wear is one of the effective way to consult them the right kind of shoes, for examples sneakers, sandals,…

Their personal fashion styles: There are customers who do not care about the wearing style so we just need to focus on their purposes of use and the durability of the products However, if customers concentrate on the suitability of the shoes, we must emphasize the highlighted designed and the ocassions on which these shoes should be worn.

Their hobbies and purchasing purposes: It is important for Biti’s salesman to identify who is the user to rightly consult their customers If the buyers buy Biti’s products for giving to other person, we can introduce more about our packaging to close the sales faster.

In the pre-close-the-sales period, there are some common specific open questions which salesguys need to conduct to narrow down the information such as what size, alternative colors, … This is appropriate time to show our deals to encourage customers’ buying decicions through questions like “Today is the end of our sales, do you want to buy now to have special and more affordable price?”, …

In the close-the-sales period, close questions should be used to confirm the order.

Understanding clearly about the products, services and promotion is needed to meet the right customers’ demand That is why training on products knowledge will also be conducted Moreover, there are lots of common sudden situations that a sales person will have to rapidly solve

For examples, customers will compare Biti’s products to other brands like Adidas, Đông Hải, Nike, … At that time, a good salesman need to understand clearly both the PODs, USPs of Biti’s and our competitor’s products to easily consult customers Normally, we often misuse our words, leading to the fact that we illegally bring down our competitors by chance, which will cause many legal problems That’s why Biti’s sales staff need to be trained carefully about the appropriate words to use when mentioning other brands in our consultation.

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Problems often occur on both during the close-the-sales period and the after-sales period That is why Biti’s sales staff need to be equiped with problem-solving skill to solve each sudden situation smoothly

Resolve customers complaints about products:

After buying the products, there are lots of problems emerging The most common one is the mistaked products (opened soles, unstisched shoes, …) In this situation, the salesman needs to remember the warranty policy clearly to consult customers.

Customers want to return the products and receive their cash: The sales staff need to consider carefully, if properly, we should return the cash to customers, otherwise, we should gently explain to them about our return policy.

Resolve other sudden situations:

Customer feel the products expensive: Gently and logically show Biti’s products’ advantages and explain why the prices are different between those brand competitors.

Customers hesitate to buy the products: Confirm again the USPs and PODs of the products and find why they are hesitating, thus having appropriate actions.

Customers pick a quarrel illogically: Talk with them politely first, then if the situation gets worse, getting help from the security man.

Customers questions having no answers yet: Ask customers for later answers after researching more clearly and exactly, ensuring their satisfaction after hearing our explanations.

Customers ask about the “unavailable” products (patterns, styles, service): Sorry them for not having that requirements and introduce them another products with relevant details.

This is also a vital skill because just when listening to customers patiently, you will now what customers exactly want, thus providing the right products to them To listen more

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effectively, the sales staff can slow down the conversation, listening to customers’ emotions when sharing and use open questions to let customers talk more about their personal matters and most importantly, you should not let customers share one problem twice because this will losen their mood.

Make sure all the sales staff remember exactly all the product lines, each different and special points about each product line and especially the price Other additional information that the sales staff need to always remember is the functions, technology and suitable user for each product line

In order to remember huge number of information, we aim to build guidelines and method of how to remember faster and check their memory on a regular basis (once a week or once after 2 weeks depending on different level of staff).

This is extremely important to train new staff about Biti’s orientation because they need to know both the short and long-term target of the company as well as where does the company stand among lots of competitors in the same industry Some information that needs to be popularize to all Biti’s sales staff is relatively the market size, potential, market share of Biti’s and its competitors, Biti’s competitors’ products and services, …

Moreover, the overall information of the company from the organizational structure to the company’s culture is very important This helps create the cohesion of employees in the whole company and avoid misunderstandings between them.

Knowledge about Biti’s targeted customers, their shopping behavior and Biti’s competitors is also very important to help the salesman identify the suitable pool of customers serving Here are some important information about customers that every salesman of Biti’s should understand clearly:

Income 500.000 – 10.000.000 VND More than 10.000.000VND

Occupation Student, housewife, banker,

tutor, … Banker, teacher, physician,doctor, …

Lifestyle Dynamic and energetic young people with creative fashion styles

People who prefer classic shoe models (heels, sandals)

playing sports and social events, outdoor activities Spend lots of time shopping, hanging out with friends, and attending voluntary activities Invest a lot on outfits Likely to show off themselves, buying things which their idols possess (teenagers)

Spend more time relaxing at home rather than hanging out Pay more attention to the product quality, then the price, customer services and designs.

Personality Trendy, creative, extrovert, sociable, more inclined to be helping other people.

Open-minded, kind, and easy-going with everything, including shopping Have good impulse control and clear goals in life, prioritize behavior planned rather than impromptu.

Buying occasions Promotional occasions (Black Friday, monthly big sales, end-of-season sale, )

Special occasions (Tet, X-mas): Buy higher quality products with even higher prices.

Buy products when they have demands (their old shoes have problem, they want to buy new ones, …).

Usage rate 5/7 days a week: Go to school/work

1-2 days a week: Hang out with friends, dating, go to bars, …

1-3 days a month: Enter a party, hang out on holidays (Tet, X-mas, ).

Biti’s salesman need to know clearly how to use common sales management softwares such as KiotViet, Sapo, Hararetail, ABIT, … This helps a sales person easily manage all the complaints from customers, checking the available products and inventory, timely consult customers on multi channels and close the sale, etc…

There are lots of cases, just because of not managing time effectively, the productivity of the sales staff reduces dramatically, that is why training on time management skill is also needed We intend to divide this training into 2 parts:

Personal time management: Biti’s sales people will be trained on how to arrange their work and relax time properly not to get stressed and effectively perform at work This includes weekly plan

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of what you will have to do next week, sort them in the order of priority and emergence, estimate the appropriate time spent on each task and on entertainment activities.

Time management on reviewing all the trainings: There are a lot of training contents and not all of the sales guys can remember all of them That is why we need to divide our time to review those training lessons and allocate the time of review properly.

Health and beauty care time management: You should spend a certain amount of time to take care for yourself such as skincare, bodycare everyday and give yourself an extra care at weekends such as going to spa, message, shampooing, … Additional, try to arrange time for daily exercises at least 20 minutes as a sales person needs to be good-looking Finally, taking note on your phone your periodic health check.

Ethical issues are always matters when doing sales There are some sales people that will do everything to achieve their sales KPI and this is considered a unsustainable way to develop their jobs Biti’s sales staff will be trained clearly about this content Here are some ethical issues that usually happen and need to be avoided: Consult the unappropriate products to customers: “Unappropriate” hare means unsuitable price and products meeting the wrong needs of customers There are some customers who do not know anything about our products and they really need our consultation However, there are some cases that the salesman want to clear the inventory soon and introduce the wrong shoes to customers Some shoes are stored for a long time, although they do not suit the customers’ demand, they are still introduced by the sales people Another meaning for “unappropriate” is the fact that the salesman amplify the functions and technology of Biti’s products to close the sale easily This is considered the unethical actions because for examples, customer wants a pair of shoes that can protect their feet when playing basketball but you introduce the lifestyle shoes for them and you say that they are suitable for playing football When customers use it later, maybe they will have injection just because of wearing wrong shoes and that is your mistake.

Tell the wrong products’ prices to customers and put that extra money in the pockets: This action is not only cause losing trust of our colleagues but also cause bad reputation for the whole company Therefore, the top managers of Biti’s must emphasize this part in the training course to avoid this.

Other ethical issues: Telling a lie about the number of sold products to have commisions, backbite colleagues with customers, …

Team work is considered the very important soft skill when we are working for a company That is why training on how to do team work effectively is necessary Here are some contents that our trainers will inform to our sales staff when conducting this training session:

Listening is always the top priority: We should not assume that all your opinions are correct Everyone has limited knowledge in certain fields so it is crucial to listen to other people When listening, we can learn lots of things that we are lacking in Moreover, listening is the shortest way to let colleagues understand and respect each other more, easier for working together as we are working in teams, not individual.

Organization skill: This is vital for those who want to be managers in the future and also good to assign suitable tasks to appropriate people In some urgent situation, assigning the work rapidly and effectively helps solve the problems or achieve KPI faster.

Responsibility: The trainers will have to emphasize the importance of responsibility in working because lack of responsibility will not only harm those individuals but also negatively affect other people In some cases, lacking in responsibility also means that you are selfish.

Mutual help: It is vital to finish our work on time and perfectly, but it is also important that we can help others compete their tasks if they have difficulties There are benefits from helping each other, which includes improving the colleagues’ relationships and widening our knowledge (as we can know more by assisting others).

Besides team work, independent work is also important There are problems that often occur in doing team work such as one person depends on another person too much and without helping, he/she cannot finish the tasks That is why along with team work, each person needs to independently work so as not to depend on others and improve our self-dependence There are ways to increase this skill that trainers must show their trainees such as comprehending personal skills and knowledge constantly.

We use 3 main training methods, each of which will suit different training contents above:

Role playing: This begins with the trainer describing the situation and assigning the role for each staff This type of training helps the managers easily evaluate how their employees solve the real problems and helps the staff easily fix their mistake for better performances.

On-the-job training: This is considered a costless training method The trainer will explain and do the sample 2 time first and then instruct the sales staff to do it right later Finally, the trainer will evaluate the staff performance and give feedback to them.

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