In the dynamic FMCG landscape, fostering robust customer relationships while staying ahead of market challenges is paramount.
Total Negotiation Group (TNG), a trusted partner for many globally renowned brands, supports suppliers in building team capability and confidence to manage the complete commercial conversation.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, a large FMCG client of TNG faced multiple challenges. These included not only nurturing customer-retailer relationships but also reconfiguring internal processes and driving realignment of the commercial team.
Moreover, insights garnered from the Advantage Survey pinpointed precise areas where customers sought improvement, prompting a quest for a unified approach to customer management across the entire commercial team.
Recognising the pivotal role of effective sales in this landscape, TNG embarked on a mission: to craft a bespoke Sales Academy that would elevate the commercial team's capability while enhancing the Advantage Survey outcomes and materialise the 2023/24 commercial objectives.
TNG's Two-Year Sales Academy Program - Client Results
The TNG Sales Academy is a two-year bespoke capability program, tailored to the specific capability gaps of the client’s commercial team. This is identified through careful evaluation and introduces a common way of working and language through the full commercial conversation: Account planning, Selling through to Negotiation.
In doing so, it not only built confidence but also underscored the symbiotic relationship between successful selling, value retention, and the bedrock of enduring partnerships—the alignment with customer needs.
The Sales Academy's blueprint encompassed a sequence of strategic steps:
Step 1: Commercial Skills Evaluation Test
The first step involved the utilisation of TNG's proprietary Commercial Skills Evaluation Test (CSET) to assess all commercial teams.
This aimed to pinpoint specific capability gaps in the following disciplines:
- Category and consumer insight
- Omni-channel planning
- RGM/NRM levers
- Financial acumen
- Selling
- Negotiation
- Omni-channel execution
Additionally, the Advantage Survey competencies of Partnership, Execution, Reputation, and Execution are integrated to gauge team perspectives on these opportunities. The CSET results informed the design of the tailored Sales Academy.
Step 2: Understanding customer needs
The journey commenced with comprehensive research into each customer's strategy, needs, and completion of the TNG SWOT+. This data, combined with consumer trends, market insights, and retailer metrics, enabled the commercial team to build tailored customer plans connected to their needs.
Step 3: Customised value proposition
Armed with insights, the sales team formulated unique value propositions for each customer. These propositions showcased how the company's products addressed pain points, drove category growth, enhanced loyalty, and boosted profitability for each retailer.
Step 4: Building relationships and trust
Recognising that selling entails relationship-building and trust establishment, the team focused on authentic connections with retail decision-makers. The team applied behavioural insights from workshops to adapt communication to each buyer's preferences.
Step 5: Negotiating win-win deals
Using gathered insights, the sales team crafted win-win negotiation strategies, encompassing pricing and other aspects such as category management support and co-created promotions. Role-playing upcoming negotiations and receiving live feedback further honed these skills.
Step 6: Embedding skills for sustainable change
To ensure enduring skills, customised embedding sessions were conducted, emphasising skill application, processes, and TNG templates. Delegates practiced selling and negotiating of quarterly initiatives and NPD.
The results of the program were highlighted in the following ways.
- Strong retailer partnerships: Prioritising effective selling and trust-building fostered collaborative partnerships. The company's responsiveness to Advantage Survey feedback positioned them as strategic collaborators, not just suppliers.
- Value retention: Customised value propositions and ongoing support ensured consistent delivery on promises.
- Enhanced Negotiation Power: Skilful management of commercial conversations enhanced negotiation efficacy, preserving value.
- Competitive advantage: The Sales Academy provided a competitive edge, aligning propositions with retailers' strategies, making displacement difficult.
The Two-Year Sales Academy journey showed that understanding customer needs and effective selling underpin prosperous partnerships. Customised value propositions, relationship-building, and delivering sustained value, coupled with Advantage Survey insights, elevated team confidence and customer relationships. This study underscores that selling is the foundation for enduring, mutually beneficial relationships driving shared value.
Reach out to the team at apac.info@totalnegotiation.com today to learn how they can help to transform your own team's capability.