Overview of the Situation
The field sales agency wanted to plug a gap in its client portfolio with the inclusion of an audio brand. Well versed in the overall servicing of technology clients, a lot of what they offered to the audio target was effectively business as usual – however being able to provide the solution to the client was the challenge.
The Problem They Faced
The brand had invested in field sales teams previously however budgets had shrunk and they wanted to ensure that they were going to receive significant return on investment before looking at increasing their marketing spend with their chosen agency. They were currently not investing in this service, but would probably look to return to their previous supplier, making the agency challenge even harder.
The Causes of the Problem
There was no personal network from the agency into the client from previous activity and limited understanding of what motivated the brand to make their appointment of their agency partners. There was not a lot of focus from the agency in this sector previously so little to draw on to excite the brand to engage further.
The Impact of the Problem
Not having a brand in this sector would mean one of the agencies key goals for the year would have been missed. With few brands competing in this sector and investing in field sales support, failing to gain this client would impact potential revenue, margin and close this sector off from being one to work in.
The Promise / Plan
We made one simple promise to the business – to engage with the brand and offer such value through support prior to any tender so that when the opportunity to partner appeared, there would be little competition and the agency would be chosen by the brand stakeholders.
The Outcome
Our work meant that we worked (free of charge) with the brand for around six weeks to establish a data model which presented them with a market overview of which stores provided the best return, all things being equal. From this we were able to:
- Position the agency as insight experts who could turn data into executable actions
- Consult with the brand on a broad range of programmes and truly understand the mechanics of the business
- Ensure that the commercial tender was not shared with any other business
- Secure a three-year contract, initially worth £1.4m over the programme period
- Fill the gap in the agency portfolio
