October 2015
Teaching Note
HBS Case Collection

Clef Company: Turnover

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:15

Abstract

Clef Company sells keys and other products to retail outlets, which then sell these products to consumers. The case concerns turnover in Clef's sales force in the context of company strategy, financial performance, and a day in the life of a Clef salesperson. Among other things, the case is about managing people but also a certain aggregate call capacity. It illustrates important links (in many companies, not just Clef) between consumer buying behavior, a firm's strategy, and the role of personal selling in that strategy. In turn, analysis of those links places the turnover issue in a new light while raising additional issues concerning the human-resource implications of management's (very profitable) sales policies.