Raymond James Financial

By: David B. Godes

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Synopsis: Raymond James Financial (RJF) currently sells financial services through two channels. It is considering adding a third in the "middle" of the other two. The current strategy has one channel with employees and another with independent contractors. These attract very different financial advisers with various interests. The new proposal would create a "quasi" employee who would have some of the benefits of being an employee, but enjoy a lot more freedom than a traditional employee in running his or her own business. Raises many important issues at a general level as well as those specific to service industries. First, students must decide how many different services the firm should offer. How targeted should the firm be? How does the firm ensure that the right people select the right offering? Which salespeople should sell in which model? Given the competitive dynamic, the class is able to discuss why an adviser comes to work at RJF as compared with another firm and what this means for his or her business. Offers an opportunity to apply marketing principles to a human resources problem and discuss how test markets differ between business and consumer marketing and between products and services.