Overview of the Situation
A chilled foods manufacturer needed to drive distribution, and sales growth within the convenience and independent sector, through a programme of symbol group telesales and merchandising along with a cash and carry focused van sales drive. This was the first operation of this size that the manufacturer had conducted with this convenience partner.
The Problem They Faced
The manufacturer needed to excite as many retailers as possible about the product range, and ensure that they presented the offer, gained commitment, and then took orders that could be implemented over the upcoming three months. As this was the first time this type of programme had been implemented by the manufacturer it was vital that it delivered significant return on investment.
The Causes of the Problem
Whilst having key products within the sectors they operated in, the manufacturer occupied very little focus from both retail stores and convenience leads. Therefore, gaining commitment through engagement about a product portfolio which provided little excitement is a difficult task for many brands, and it was vital for the manufacturer to ensure that this programme was executed effectively.
The Impact of the Problem
Failure to deliver significant sales through this programme would have left the manufacturer both out of pocket, and not able to secure ongoing sales traction from within the wider convenience sector. As well as this, a poor performance would not allow the manufacturer to leverage this with other, large retailer negotiations.
The Promise / Plan
Our solutions were designed to:
- Create a combined field and telesales programme which allowed for multiple contact points with decision makers to allow them to have multiple opportunities to order, and a way to overcome initial objections
- Connect both solutions to allow the brand to be sold in via telesales to symbol groups, with orders delivered through group supply chains and for warm leads to be handed to the van sales team within the independent sector
The Outcome
For the project, we delivered:
- Over 4k phone and field visits across three waves of activity
- Almost 2k ordered cases
- Approximately £12,000 of additional revenue from sales
- 20% increase in distribution across the channel (with repeat purchasing occurring in >78% of stores)