How Do You Anticipate What Key Retail Customers Will Do When You Consolidate Your Sales Force?

The Problem
A major manufacturer planned to consolidate two sales forces into one. Prior to making this move, management wanted to anticipate the retailers' reactions. It also wanted to understand why it's market share strength did not merit higher stature as a retail partner.

The Approach
WSL Strategic Retail proposed telephone interviews with key executives at leading retail chains to obtain an objective evaluation of this company's sales team vs. its competitors. A topic guide was created to measure the sales force on key attributes, and to solicit reaction to the sales force consolidation.

Management identified the retail accounts and executives to be interviewed. Based on our strong relationships with these executives, we learned: where the sales force met retailers' expectations, where it fell short, and, most importantly, what needed to be done to improve the manufacturer's stature as a partner to each retailer.

The Result
The company was surprised to learn that the real concern among retailers was its reluctance to be a stratetgic thinking partner, to provide consumer insight, and to share its vision of the future of the category. Once defined, action steps were identified to adjust the attitude of senior management toward retailers, and train the sales force on skills for collaboration.