Question

Topic: Strategy

Writing A Value Proposition To A Sale Director

Posted by Anonymous on 8/4/2005 at 11:48 PM ET 250 Points
My product (bottled water)is in a chain of groceries and is given less shelf space by individual store managers in preference to a competitor. I have been invited by the sales director to show reason why I feel my product deserves more shelf space throughout the chain.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by wnelson on 8/5/2005 at 12:27 AM Accepted
    Wikipedia.com defines value proposition as "In marketing, a value proposition is a statement summarizing the customer targets, competitor targets and the core strategy for how one intends to differentiate one's product from the offerings of competitors." There are a couple of good articles on value propositions here on this website, but you need to join to see them.

    The place to start is with the answer to, "How does my bottled water satisfy the needs of the customers better than the competitors' water?" Then, "How does my water add more value (additional sales, profit, etc) than the competitors' brand for the store owners?"

    Hope this helps.

    Wayde
  • Posted by ReadCopy on 8/5/2005 at 3:54 AM Accepted
    Not sure a value proposition will do the whole job for you, but you can find guide here: https://blackwhite.uk.com/articles.htm

    I would have thought the sales director would want cold, hard
    facts, how much you have sold in relation to competing brands with the space you have. Research on the market and trends that back up your brand etc.

    Good Luck
  • Posted by wnelson on 8/6/2005 at 9:38 AM Member
    As I reread the question and all of my colleague's answers, a thought runs through my mind. We've been answering as if the sales director is legitimately asking you to do a marketing task. As Virago said above, "Many account managers spend alot of time working on account relationships. " Is the sales director reacting to someone requesting that he increase sales at the chain and directing responsibility to the product and away from the relationship? In gathering the data per SageHill's recommendation, involve the sales director and chain account manager. You define what it is you need, write it down, lay out a spreadsheet for the data, prepare a "script" to talk with the store chain managers, and even go along to the store visits(s) with the sales director and account manager, but let them do the talking - make it their responsibility. And during the discussion of this with the chain managers, watch for signs of how the relationship is - body language, attitude, willingness to help, etc. Also, talk with the sales director and identify other customers for which sales/shelf space is good. Repeat the exercise there. This will give you a comparison of where things are going good versus where there is a problem. Compare the account managers' relationships too. I think this would make a more complete look at the problem.

    Hope this is helpful.

    Wayde
  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 8/7/2005 at 7:44 PM Accepted
    Short of time so this must be brief:

    The fundamental problem with some of the suggestions here is that they presume the Sales Director of the chain actually cares about value to the retail customer in their store.

    The only thing the chains are interested in is how much that shelf space earns for them.

    Whether the chain generates revenue through margin on product sold, gondola-end premiums or marketing/catalogue/advertising subsidy payments from the manufacturer, every square centimetre has to earn its keep.

    I think you would be wise to analyse the total return per square whatever unit of shelf space for your product versus competitors.

    Then any shortfall in the chain's acounts you will have to make up to the retail chain in cash subsidies.

    Your ROI comes from the increased sales you get from the increased shelf allocation.

    There will be a break-even point - you need to model it to know how far you can go!

    Hope this helps.

    chrisB

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