The growth conundrum
So you’ve weathered the recession so far. In a bizarre way the lack of demand has helped in controlling costs. Now revenue is picking up, where are resources going to come from to enable you to fulfil the orders ahead of the competition?
Northlight Associates can provide support from a basic review of your current practices right through to a comprehensive overhaul of your strategy and the design and implementation of the business transformation program to put it in place.
• Commercial Strategy
• Voice of the Customer research
• Product positioning
• Market segmentation
• Business Development process design
• Forecasting and planning
• Sales pipeline analysis and management
• Supply chain optimisation
Growth starts with the customer and the market, so Northlight Associates’ starting point is to talk to customers and systematically collect ‘Voice of the Customer’ information. Many businesses rely simply on feedback from their sales team about what the customer is looking for, but there is a weakness in this approach. However good your sales team are their relationship with the customers and the market is rightly distorted by a focus on offering what you already sell. To balance the information and perspective they have already we need to ask questions independently so that we can identify the strengths in what you do currently and identify gaps or weaknesses in your offer.
Northlight Associates can provide support from a basic review of your current practices right through to a comprehensive overhaul of your strategy and the design and implementation of the business transformation program to put it in place.
• Commercial Strategy
• Voice of the Customer research
• Product positioning
• Market segmentation
• Business Development process design
• Forecasting and planning
• Sales pipeline analysis and management
• Supply chain optimisation
Growth starts with the customer and the market, so Northlight Associates’ starting point is to talk to customers and systematically collect ‘Voice of the Customer’ information. Many businesses rely simply on feedback from their sales team about what the customer is looking for, but there is a weakness in this approach. However good your sales team are their relationship with the customers and the market is rightly distorted by a focus on offering what you already sell. To balance the information and perspective they have already we need to ask questions independently so that we can identify the strengths in what you do currently and identify gaps or weaknesses in your offer.
When you’re in the jungle being chased by a tiger you just have to run faster than the other guy
From this information and market research we’ll know how to position the business and where necessary develop its products and services and adapt its market reach. The key here is to develop competitive advantage. You don’t need to be the best imaginable (that’s expensive) you just need to be the best there is (a little bit better than the competitors). “When you’re in the jungle being chased by a tiger you just have to run faster than the other guy”
The next focus is on the sales pipeline. Simple metrics such as ‘book to bill’ ratios and key lead times through from first contact to delivery of the order will help to target improvement activities in the sales and forecasting processes.
All businesses need to be clear about how they perform at Creating Leads, Converting Leads in to Opportunities, Progressing Opportunities through to Bids or Quotations and then finally in Converting Bids and Quotes into Orders.
Building on the forecasting focus mentioned above, getting stability and a degree of predictability in to the supply chain is essential. The work described above does not provide results overnight. Depending on the nature of your business it can take weeks or months before improvements in these areas begin the bear fruit. In parallel we can work to stabilise and optimise the supply chain to deliver three things:
▪ Immediate improvements in customer service
▪ Create a platform to deliver when the pipeline fills
▪ Provide funding to the business by releasing working capital to fuel growth
The next focus is on the sales pipeline. Simple metrics such as ‘book to bill’ ratios and key lead times through from first contact to delivery of the order will help to target improvement activities in the sales and forecasting processes.
All businesses need to be clear about how they perform at Creating Leads, Converting Leads in to Opportunities, Progressing Opportunities through to Bids or Quotations and then finally in Converting Bids and Quotes into Orders.
Building on the forecasting focus mentioned above, getting stability and a degree of predictability in to the supply chain is essential. The work described above does not provide results overnight. Depending on the nature of your business it can take weeks or months before improvements in these areas begin the bear fruit. In parallel we can work to stabilise and optimise the supply chain to deliver three things:
▪ Immediate improvements in customer service
▪ Create a platform to deliver when the pipeline fills
▪ Provide funding to the business by releasing working capital to fuel growth