Samenvatting

This research justification is focused on the Dutch department of BRICOFLOR. The company is very international oriented and there is great potential for the Dutch department. Although there are sales and the department are running, the department is not yet the most promising department in the business. Increasing the sales for the Dutch department, focused on the vinyl flooring is thus a must. To be able to identify the problem and elaborate the research, the main research question and subquestions were defined;

Main research question: How to improve sales for the Dutch department focused on the vinyl flooring?
Sub-question 1: How well equipped is the current Dutch department to improve the strategy?
Sub-question 2: What is the current level of communication and motivation in the company?
Sub-question 3: How can the Dutch department adopt the strategy from other offices, as Germany and France, which are already working at full capacity?
Sub-question 4: To what degree should online marketing improve in order to achieve the goal?
Sub-question 5: How important is a good customer service for the Dutch market to achieve a higher satisfaction rate and receive more sales?

To provide the research with valid and reliable information, literature research and field research were needed. For the literature research, internet sources such as scientific articles were used, in order to make the results valid. These sources can be found in the references. Interviews were also conducted with 6 full-time employees of the company. These interviews were very useful as it showed the right connection with the literature research and clearly showed the problem, the research justification was referring to. All the interviews were audio-recorded. Therefore, the interviews could be transcribed, so every sentence was used exactly how the employee said it.
After analysing the research, it was possible to describe where the Dutch department falls short and how sales could be increased. The focus points that needed attention were spread across different elements of the Dutch department. The most important subjects that are related to sales for BRICOFLOR are manpower, online marketing, customer service and communication. Moreover, to give an example of how the Dutch department could improve, the strategies of the biggest departments of the company were analysed. As follows, six recommendations were set up for BRICOFLOR;
Recommendation 1: Expand the manpower for the Dutch department
Recommendation 2: Optimize the web shop with SEO and online marketing
Recommendation 3: Improve the communication and motivation of the company
Recommendation 4: Create more formal and informal meetings for the business
Recommendation 5: Provide new employees with a guide before starting
Recommendation 6: Give the customer service of the Dutch department priority

Further in the research justification is explained at what priority the recommendations are advised to be implemented. For some of the recommendations, a budget is advised, which makes it more difficult to implement it directly.