>> suppliers must update their approach to trade investment
>>THE ISSUES THAT MATTER, FROM THE PEOPLE INVOLVED
It was great to meet so many of you at our seminar in London last week where we discussed one of the hottest issues in grocery at the moment: how suppliers can maximise returns from trade investment budgets that today account for anything up to 40% of their turnover.
As you would expect, there are no easy answers. But one of the key themes to emerge from our seminar was the lack of leadership in some boardrooms when it comes to tackling this issue. It seems that too many CEOs still cannot answer some very simple questions about the what, why, when and where of their trade investment. And that lack of knowledge is mirrored among other board members. Research shows, for instance, that finance directors typically under-estimate the true levels of expenditure by as much as 30%. Hardly surprising really, when you consider the fact that consultants Commercial Advantage have found more than 55 different ways in which suppliers can ‘invest’ money with their retail customers. How many do you know about?
As speaker after speaker made clear last week, if those at the top of a business do not take ownership of this issue they will see their spending spiral out of control as the competition between retailers intensifies.
We cover the leadership issue in our report on p32, where you will also be able to read some of the other top tips that emerged from our seminar.
Nobody is claiming any of this is easy, particularly in the current trading climate. But if CEOs want to get a bigger bang for all those bucks they are spending then they need to fundamentally change the way they do business. And this change will affect everybody in their organisation - particularly those in the front line.
NAMs need to become BAMs, we were told last week. In other words: say goodbye to the national account manager and welcome the business account manager, who is focused on delivering profitable growth for your business. These BAMS still need know when to say ‘no’ to customers, of course, and have the skills to do that. After all, the interface between buyers and sellers is no place for wimps. But the days of the maverick salesman doing spurious deals within the confines of an opaque trade spend budget are over. As, it seems, are the days of the CEO who prefers to turn a blind eye to what is happening.
It’s no place for wimps...
>>THE ISSUES THAT MATTER, FROM THE PEOPLE INVOLVED
It was great to meet so many of you at our seminar in London last week where we discussed one of the hottest issues in grocery at the moment: how suppliers can maximise returns from trade investment budgets that today account for anything up to 40% of their turnover.
As you would expect, there are no easy answers. But one of the key themes to emerge from our seminar was the lack of leadership in some boardrooms when it comes to tackling this issue. It seems that too many CEOs still cannot answer some very simple questions about the what, why, when and where of their trade investment. And that lack of knowledge is mirrored among other board members. Research shows, for instance, that finance directors typically under-estimate the true levels of expenditure by as much as 30%. Hardly surprising really, when you consider the fact that consultants Commercial Advantage have found more than 55 different ways in which suppliers can ‘invest’ money with their retail customers. How many do you know about?
As speaker after speaker made clear last week, if those at the top of a business do not take ownership of this issue they will see their spending spiral out of control as the competition between retailers intensifies.
We cover the leadership issue in our report on p32, where you will also be able to read some of the other top tips that emerged from our seminar.
Nobody is claiming any of this is easy, particularly in the current trading climate. But if CEOs want to get a bigger bang for all those bucks they are spending then they need to fundamentally change the way they do business. And this change will affect everybody in their organisation - particularly those in the front line.
NAMs need to become BAMs, we were told last week. In other words: say goodbye to the national account manager and welcome the business account manager, who is focused on delivering profitable growth for your business. These BAMS still need know when to say ‘no’ to customers, of course, and have the skills to do that. After all, the interface between buyers and sellers is no place for wimps. But the days of the maverick salesman doing spurious deals within the confines of an opaque trade spend budget are over. As, it seems, are the days of the CEO who prefers to turn a blind eye to what is happening.
It’s no place for wimps...
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