The Client
Highlands has worked with our client, a leading consumer products groups company, in the USA for many years, helping them build a multi-million dollar ‘away from home’ business.
The Challenge
Replicate the successful model from the USA, considering the different dynamics that exist across the UK and Europe.
The Highlands Difference
The product categories offered, while highly successful in consumer markets, were not considered a priority for many B2B distributors. Therefore, any plan needed to not only secure listings but also required market education to explain how they could become an integral part of the distributor’s core offering.
- Determine range most appropriate for distributors and their customers.
- Identify wholesalers and distributors that could benefit from the range and meet the minimum investment requirements.
- Leverage the brands and category opportunity to create a compelling presentation.
- Lay out downstream sales engagement processes.
Once everything was in place, Highlands activated the plan. The key steps were:
- Phase one was to focus on the UK market. Using Highlands contacts, meetings were setup with identified partners.
- Ensure all marketing collateral and assets are made available to the sales teams.
- Organise and deliver the value proposition and training program for distributor sales and support teams.
- Establish communication, review and update program between all stakeholders, ensuring C-suite engagement when relevant.
- Deliver category profitability and opportunity analysis for distributors, and product / sales training.
- Identify specific customer opportunities by vertical market and usage estimates.
- Phase two was to expand across Europe, using the UK success as the template for growth.
With so many moving parts, the key to delivering a successful program was rigorous execution of the plan and sound communication:
- Multi-tier update and review processes aided effective communication.
- Ensured the client became part of the ‘communities’ that we were selling into – important to be ‘seen’.
- Manage programs and leverage online / digital opportunities alongside the sales effort.
RESULTS
“It’s been a whirlwind journey however we are rightly proud of what we have achieved in the UK and mainland Europe,” said Jade Wilson, Managing Director, Highlands Europe. “The customers we’ve opened and developed are with us for the long haul, thereby creating a truly sustainable model for our client.”
