PV Technologies

PV Technologies (PVT) was leading the solar energy industry since the birth of the industry.  While the company paved the way in the growing solar industry, it was only a matter of time when their services would not be the only provider of competitive solar products on the market. PVT was met with a sales dilemma that could potentially impact the companies sales forever.  Solenergy, an innovative energy solutions company, was planning on purchasing a large scale PV system.  Among the competitors for Solenergy's business was PVT.  Morgan, a Solenergy representative had to determine which company had the best product to buy.  Through a competative analysis, taking into account several criteria, Morgan found that PVT was only worthy of the number three spot.  PVT was appalled by this ranking, claiming they were deserving of the number one ranking among their competitors.  In order to gain Solenergy's valuable business, PVT created four potential plans to entice Solenergy to choose PVT. These plans included:

1) Offer to extend original 10 year warranty to 20 years
2) Offer 99% uptime guarantee of reimbursement of energy lost due to malfunction
3) Offer Solenergy a new product that would enhance their PV system
4) Talk to Morgan to confim his findings on PVT and the competition

Each option has potential benefits and disadvantages.  While none of the plans would be able to guarantee Solenergy's business, from a consumer point of view, option 2 would be the most enticing.  The offer of reimbursement of energy lost would guarantee Solenergy that their PV system would function properly and essentially eliminate the need for a warranty.  Solenergy's business is very important to PVT so while it is important to get Solenergy to choose PVT, it shows that staying competitive in an industry is always the key to maintaining dominance in the market.

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• In order for a company to maintain any existing dominance in a competitive industry market, they must be the first to move forward with new innovation and knowledge
• R&D is extremely important to staying competitive  
• PVT was able to push ahead in the solar industry largely due to their focus on research and development, and as a result, they were a leading competitor in the solar market.
• Offering extra services to single customers can be dangerous
• When customers receive special treatment, other customers may feel that they too deserve the extra offers or services, thus, more money may either be spent on providing those service or trying to retain the customers if they feel the need to take their business elsewhere.
• There is never a set way to approach a customer that is not convinced on your product
• PVT had to act fast if they were to save a potential business partner, Solenergy.  They made several plans to conduct should Solenergy not wish to settle with PVT; however, all of these plans had benefits and disadvantages that PVT would have to weigh to determine the best route.
• It can sometimes be necessary to cut your losses
• Solenergy was a very important partner to PVT; however, if their business can impact future and present customers, it can be necessary to not offer Solenergy anything to gain their business
• Always have good competitor analysis to maintain a big picture of your standings in the industry

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Seller's Viewpoint

PVT was working on a hunch when they got word that Solenergy had rated them number three compared to other competitors.  Before even confirming whether these reporting were true, PVT scrambled employees to find a solution to their problem.  Should the case arise that Solenergy really may not choose PVT, PVT must be able to offer the customer an option to gain both trust and credibility.  To do this, PVT should offer a solution that would not affect future customers.  One solution would be to offer discounted prices or services for a limited amount of time to all customers in order to gain credibility. However, as a leading company in the solar industry, PVT has many more options than just Solenergy.