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The Marketplace Situation |
The evolution of category management from
shelf space management technology, allowed leading manufacturers’ sales forces to
offer “value-added” selling programs to the trade for the first time. By 1990,
manufacturers began to look for other ways to add value, and thus gain a competitive
advantage. At the same time, category management – versus product line buying –
was spreading with retailers, making them more open to manufacturer involvement. Today, continued competitive pressure on retailers is forcing them to manage their assets smartly. Manufacturers that have credible information or value adding analysis will have the chance to work with retailers to influence the business. Those manufacturers that don’t offer the information will have to accept the decisions made by others. |
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The Compass
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We have been working in the area of
category management since its inception in our industry, helping leading manufacturers
develop their category management strategies and programs. We have developed unique
approaches that make category expertise immediately applicable,
thereby avoiding the “analysis paralysis” that kills other programs. Three key benefits make our approach different from other firms. Systems Approach Our approach addresses all elements of the category management strategy. These include strategy development, organization structure, the category expertise platform (the actual presentation), sales force training and support systems. Our approach ensures that all elements work together to support the strategy. Depth of Experience Through this experience we have learned what works and what does not. We bring fresh ideas for creating and using category management programs. Implementation Expertise Some firms are great at the theoretical or academic level but fail to successfully bring true implementation expertise to the salesperson. With our approach, your sale force knows exactly what to do, and the rest of the organization knows how to support them. Manufacturers using our approach have had tremendous success securing category management roles at retailers. One Northeastern retailer, viewed as a leader in category management, recently told one of our clients that their category management program was the best they have seen. We would be happy to show you how you can put this to work for your company. |
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