Case Studies
1. Customer / Market Analysis
Our client was preparing for an expected downturn in the market, associated with the introduction of GST, and wanted to maintain the same level of production by winning new customers.
Our market analysis revealed more than $50m of potential new business. Details of each sales target were identified, along with its current dollar sales potential, and growth potential, the "Stars" and the "Dogs".
A marketing strategy was developed to attract this new customers. This involved establishing a task force to attract new customers, and developing the tools it needed. This has allowed the company to win new business in a sharply declining market situation.
back to strategy
back to customer focus
2. Sales Force Improvement
An organisation cannot be successful if its sales force is not successful. There are two aspects to this:
- Targeting customers the company wants and can best serve;
- Sales force effectiveness.
A multinational chemical company wanted to better exploit its reputation for high quality products by focusing on the upper end of the market, but its sales people constantly felt themselves dragged into competing primarily on price. An initial assessment of how the company and its products were perceived by the market laid the basis for the Sales Force Development Program. This combined skills training in strategic selling, customer "reading" skills, marketing activity planning and relationship building. The parts of the program were spread out over most of a year, to ensure that the skills were applied in practice and led to bottom-line benefits.
Afterwards, the manager stated that the program contributed significantly to achieving an increase in sales turnover per salesperson of 12%, in a squeezed market situation.
Our Sales Improvement Programs are always developed together with your people and tailored to your situation. They can include:
- Assessment of the performance and management of the sales force
- Identification and analysis of market opportunities
- Training in Strategic Selling Skills
- Training in specific sales techniques
- Product, sales and corporate presentations
- Management of the implicit "messages" given to clients in all contact with them
- Design of telemarketing programs.
back to strategy
back to customer focus
3. Inventory Reduction and Service Improvement
A successful, medium-sized textile manufacturer was risking losing major business with the department store chains it supplied because its delivery service was poor. An analysis of inventory and customer service was carried out, to identify causes and solutions. The solution involved designing a report that used our algorithms, to tell the manager what quantities to make and when. Personnel were quickly trained.
Outcomes: A 20% reduction in inventory levels and an improvement of customer service from 65% to 95%. This avoided the threat to the business and reduced the stress on the service manager.