Two brands, one future.
Situation, problem, goals
Following an acquisition at group level, there had been two separately operating brands and organizations with uncoordinated corporate, sales and pricing systems at national level for over 10 years. The differences between retail sales and direct sales as well as competitive behavior had previously prevented top management in sales from agreeing on a uniform line with regard to market prioritization. This increasingly created risks, conflicts and cannibalization at sales and customer level for the market-leading manufacturer brand.
Aims of the merger and integration:
Growth: eliminate the problems and risks of damage to the premium manufacturer brand. Better exploit the reach and potential of the contract business and standard business types and generate the benefits of increasing professionality and organization of sales channels, service and branding.
Profitability: set prices not solely on a cost and competitive basis, but according to customer benefit with differentiated positioning into commodity, quality and premium products.
Reduced cost base: exploit synergy potential in finance, administration, human resources, production, logistics, controlling, IT and quality management through complete integration.
Measures
Without a structured, holistic plan and defined priorities, even experienced sales staff find their work difficult. The starting point was hence to create transparency and define jointly agreed strategic goals. Targeted sales and profit management requires the systematic implementation of the resulting, jointly developed recommendations for action across company and departmental boundaries.
Better Organization: crucial was the complete involvement of managers and key specialists. The attitude and culture of the two companies were very different. Clear role allocations and guidelines were defined, which were aligned with the corporate goals and oriented towards customer benefit. This led to a structural organization in divisions (trade, industrial systems) with common contact persons for product groups (SBU / business units) in purchasing and marketing.
Marketing, repositioning, product management: the starting point was a detailed market segmentation based on industry- and application-specific criteria. The definition of concretely accessible, truly relevant market potential. This was followed by the allocation of relevant target customer segments with prioritization to the two brands. The decision was made to integrate the smaller company with the help of a “dual brand policy” with an independent sales organization and adjustments and differentiation in the product ranges. This also required a revision and the consistent implementation of value pricing for new and existing products. In addition, the means of communication were adapted to targets and markets (online/print, catalogs, sales support). The targeted approach to construction engineers, architects, construction and installation companies was completely new.
Sales, G-T-M strategy, order processing: the new price positioning was based on the premium, quality and standard classes from a product perspective. The two sales teams were linked to the new internal sales structure with redesigned contact points and CRM information management. Customers were assigned to individuale employees on a one-to-one basis and budget planning was redesigned at divisional level. Incentives for sales management were revised with quarterly meetings between the sales teams. The optimization of order processing and logistics for project sales was completely new.
Result
The basic organizational features of the integration were successfully implemented in 12 months. One of the key success factors was the design and implementation of the integration process with those involved and a conscious focus on market and customer orientation. Fears of losing customers and sales did not materialize. Discussions that flared up were conducted selectively and constructively. In retrospect, the dual brand strategy proved to be a useful transitional model. The premium manufacturer brand was able to realize the greatest benefit of the operation over time and significantly increase its market share in the relevant target market of project business over the years.