Challenge

A leading maker of water purification systems had a long track record of double digit growth and significant market share. Recently, the overall sector growth rate had decreased and the client was experiencing difficulty in meeting revenue and market share targets. The overall return on sales force investments dropped significantly.

The client's strategic goals were to rebuild its significant share in water purification systems and create a sales organization capable of maximizing returns on investment for resources deployed. This required understanding the changed market needs, integrating a new sales strategy based on those needs, and restructuring the sales organization to be more flexible and regionally focused.

Proposal

Specifically, the client asked Business Unlimited to:

• Assess the market change impact on sales force needs and conduct a region-by-region market overview and trade sales analysis.

• Analyze the adequacy of current sales force structure and deployment

• Develop a sales strategy to increase market share over the next five years

• Recommend staffing and organizational changes needed to execute the new strategy, for one, three and five year terms.

Through extensive analysis, Business Unlimited determined that the market was saturated and that it was crucial to retain customer base and take market share from competitors. Business Unlimited's research also revealed increasing purchase influence from industry recommendations and trade channels.

Business Unlimited developed a set of key sales strategy imperatives to maintain market share. These recommendations identified new priorities for high value customers, industry pundits, regional capability, strategic account planning, and organizational credibility.

Business Unlimited then detailed a strategy refocus within the client's organization to build sales capability, modify reporting relationships, and increase headcount.

To make the strategic plans actionable, Business Unlimited presented an implementation plan highlighting the activities that were critical to success. These steps ranged from human resource force hiring and promotion, field sales redeployment, customer retention processes, competitor contingencies, strategic account planning, partnerships and alliances, and information systems support.

Outcome

The client took Business Unlimited's market assessment, sales strategy recommendations, organizational changes, and implementation plan and initiated a new sales force strategy for its water purification business. Based on these revised sales force objectives, deployments and tactics, market share and revenues increased. Sales force efficiency went up and successfully aligned corporate strategy with the sales focus. Most importantly, it demonstrated organizational competency to the purchasers and cemented sector credibility.

Growing FMCG Export Sales in MENA Region