Read the case below and answer the following questions

Chapter Case

Office Furniture Company

Background

The Office Furniture Company specializes in providing customers with office furniture solutions that are customized and designed to address productivity and aesthetic needs. It sells office furniture from the leading manufacturers, but creates value by analyzing the specific needs of each customer and then developing a customized design to meet these needs. There are several competitors in the office furniture industry, but most of them focus on low prices. Customers usually pay more for an Office Furniture Company solution, but receive more value in terms of increased productivity and business effectiveness.

Current Situation

Naiser & Associates is a small, but growing, accounting firm. The company plans to add more office staff and to increase the number of its accountants.This planned growth means that the firm will have to find new office space, because it will have outgrown its current location. Because it plans continued growth in the future, it is looking for a new office that will accommodate current and future growth objectives. Naiser & Associates also wants to purchase new and better furniture for its new office.

You are a sales representative for the Office Furniture Company and have been meeting with partner, Frank Naiser, as well as accountants and staff at Naiser & Associates. Based on these meetings, you have identified the following office furniture needs:

1. Naiser & Associates has typically met with clients at their offices. It would like to have most client meetings in the future at its new office. This means they desire furniture for these meetings that facilitates these meetings and communicates a professional and customer-friendly image.
2. Their current office furniture did not provide much storage for accountants or staff. Thus, important documents were stored at the end of a long hallway. Employees wasted a lot of time trying to retrieve important documents. Thus, they desire furniture that provides more storage for each employee.
3. Technology is changing at a rapid pace, so furniture that can be easily adapted to new technologies is very important.
4. As Naiser & Associates continues to grow, it will probably have to reorganize itself and is likely to need to adapt the physical office to different organizational arrangements. Office furniture that is adaptable to different configurations is important.

You have created an office equipment design for Naiser &Associates that addresses each of the issues presented above and are preparing for a meeting with the partner, Frank Naiser, the office manager, and a representative for the firm’s accountants. You know that a competitor has already made a presentation to the same group and their offer will cost less than what you will be able to charge.

Questions

1. How will you try overcoming the lower price offer by a competitor?
2. What specific value can you offer Naiser & Associates?
3. How can you most effectively communicate the value of your proposed office equipment design?