Aligning the full sales team to deliver a price increase in the UK market delivering more than £1m of incremental value

The Client  

TNG’s client is a leading FMCG manufacturer, within non-food, who have a track record of year-on-year growth. They have well respected brands which are distributed throughout the UK and strategically in multi-national markets. They face strong competition from global players with greater marketing and discounting funds

Their Challenge 

Significant investment in innovation and in acquisitions meant they had limited funding to support retailers. They had benefitted from the impact of earlier price increases by their main competitors, however, they needed to increase their own prices across much of their brand portfolio and in all customer sectors. The client knew that previous cost prices had been met with tough resistance from the trade, although they had eventually been adopted. 

Objectives of the engagement 

Our client decided to build the sales team’s negotiation skills using this price increase discussion as an immediate opportunity to leverage the training. In some accounts, they aimed to leverage their investments to review and improve range and distribution agreements. 

The solution 

Total Negotiation Group designed a full workshop and coaching programme to ensure the team were challenged and that the training was very realistic and based in the real world. New information and theory were directly applied to the day job.  

Outcome 

Across 4 key retailers, the client achieved over £1m in incremental margin and saved investment. 

Negotiations were often complex and for some teams, coaching and support was called upon. To quote one Sales Manager, “A great result, given the client did not speak to us for 4 weeks during the process. Again, this was the subject we worked through in the coaching sessions.” 

Future 

The client’s continuing success is underpinned by innovation and tailoring their strategy to meet local consumer needs. They recognize that building negotiation skills is an important ingredient and continue to use Total Negotiation Group globally to train and coach sales teams.