Newsflash

Springboard uncover “core weaknesses” in Customer Management practices...

Our BIG messages :–
If you want to develop your customers – actively manage them
If you want to feel good, send your team on a negotiation skills course
if you want results to improve – SUPPORT them...

Read on to find out more...

During 2003 we developed our Customer Management Benchmarking tool – it is fully software supported and based around some 350 “Good Practice” standards of Customer Management. We use this “master file” to select a set of c.150 standards that reflect your organisation and sector. The software allows us to accurately measure and analyse the quality of your commercial operations both against our standards and against chosen peer group companies.

Our model of Customer Management is shown below and covers the entire spectrum of commercial excellence – from your strategies and plans, through to the experience your customers are receiving and finally to the measures which run your business. This holistic approach to Customer Management Assessment guarantees that our solutions drive business improvement – all too often if you simply fix one piece of your “commercial jigsaw” the desired improvement cannot be realised as other failings in the business hold back any progress – we ensure you pull all of the necessary levers to guarantee success.

Our findings using this tool  have been surprising...most commercial directors believe that their issues rest in the selling and negotiation skills of their people [ this is what they tell us when we interview them ] ....this appears NOT to be the case.....

The following are the areas which hold back most commercial operations :

> 15% of customer relationship failings are due to a lack of any development / management plan. We find that customer relationships are ad hoc and informal, even when CRM systems are involved. In reality the systems potential is being wasted and used as little more than glorified record cards
> 18% of Commercial people manage customers without any reference framework regarding importance, value or development potential.
>27% of performance failings are driven by lack of adequate SALES SUPPORT from Sales Operations or Customer [Trade] Marketing functions. We find that the selling team do have adequate skills in selling and negotiating but simply do not receive the necessary flow of information to allow the construction of great selling storylines.
> 16% of performance failings are driven by lack of well thought through SYSTEMS AND BUSINESS PROCESSES...for example the customer planning process is not integrated into the overall business planning cycle and so unrealistic [ not founded in the commercial/customer reality ] targets end up being imposed on the account team. As the targets are both unrealistic and imposed they are never adopted or aspired to and the whole MBO process breaks down...

DOES ANY OF THE ABOVE RING TRUE FOR YOUR COMMERCIAL OPERATION ?

< 10% of our clients had failings in pure selling and negotiation skills !

In conclusion therefore, sending commercial teams on more and more selling, presentation or negotiation skills courses can prove an entire waste of time and money...active and targeted management of customers and putting your support systems and processes in order is the real route to commercial success....so often in business it is not the obvious solution that pays dividends...its acting on real business INSIGHT...our benchmarking process provides the insight – you then need the management drive to make your CM improvement action plans happen.

By using highly experienced commercial evaluators and our unique analytical software we can quickly establish your start point.. Our aim is to move to CM improvement action planning as quickly as is possible.

Customer Management Assessment & Benchmarking Take a look at our process in a little more detail.  <click here>

“Case Study – GESeaco" This business had a problem – globally over 50% of their business was concentrated into the hands of only c.10 shipping lines and yet they had no Global Account Management organisation in place. This meant that they were missing out on the rapid growth in global shipping lines and progressively being marginalised into regional/local account business. The CEO recognised the issue and employed the Springboard Commercial Benchmarking approach. Within only c.6 weeks we had both identified the issues and designed a road map to the successful management of their global customers. Over the following eighteen months with our help GES both recruited and trained an industry leading team of Global Account Managers – today they outperform their competitors in Global Accounts and their customers recognise them as the best in the industry.

If you would like an informal discussion about Commercial Benchmarking and its benefits – please call one of our directors directly – Mark Hollyoake on 0870 224 3380 or Chris Hudd on 0870-224 3381

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