Proactivity in your sales and aftermarket processes

We are a specialized consulting company focusing on sales and aftermarket processes for engineering and manufacturing companies operating internationally across various regional markets. Through systematic processes and high data quality in CRM, we work with your teams to bring clarity and proactivity to the markets and therefore ensure greater economic resilience in the face of major global changes.

What we believe in

Empowering european engineering & manufacturing SMEs

to achieve long-term success through customer centricity, proactivity in markets, high CRM data quality and international cooperation

We believe that European engineering & manufacturing SMEs will be successful in the long-term as technology leaders in international markets.

We believe that the bridge between Europe, the US, China and India is an essential factor for the market success of European SMEs in terms of culture, market-strategy, data-exchange and inter-company collaboration.

We believe that high CRM data quality in Sales and Aftersales is crucial for identifying market developments early on and encouraging entire organizations to transform.

We believe that posing questions and conundrums serves a more constructive purpose than providing quick responses, because doing so compels individuals to discuss and collaborate to attain shared objectives.

Who we are

We are a specialized task force for market initiatives

Our clients know their need for transformation and have clear long-term goals, but often struggle with the “how”. We bridge this gap by transforming broad strategic visions into actionable, market-driven initiatives. These initiatives not only garner the enthusiasm of sales teams but also foster a sense of integration across the entire organization. Leveraging high-quality data, we collaborate closely with our clients, tackling complex market challenges as a unified team. Our commitment is to “fight alongside them in the arena”, driving towards measurable, impactful results.

Why our clients choose us

Our 5 principles for project work:

Measurable Impact

All initiatives have a direct impact on order intake, sales or contribution margin, a strong focus on data-quality in CRM and progress is continuously evaluated with the team.

Conundrum gene

By presenting challenges as conundrums to be solved, your team members feel engaged and driven to participate in the problem-solving process. This method promotes a collaborative working dynamic where we combine our efforts to devise solutions and execute their implementation cohesively as a team.

Customer Centricity

By keeping a strict eye on the market, you’ll bring a customer centric mindset into the organization and increase proximity to your customers. This will enable you to derive how much transformation the market currently expects.

Bridge Building

You form your regional teams (e.g. India, China, US, ...) into a global business unit that works together where it makes sense, but at the same time respects "local for local".

Clear Scope

Scope the market initiative and the specific conundrum down to a feasible initiative that people can grasp.

Our clients

Over several years, we have been working in close collaboration with: 

Our project partners

We are continously working in a trusting cooperation with: 

How we work

Navigating your market conundrums

Various factors, from overarching trends such as geopolitical shifts, environmental concerns and recycling initiatives, the rising social economy in India, and the skilled labor shortage in Europe, to more immediate business challenges like soaring energy costs across Europe, are exerting mounting pressure on executive boards and top leadership, straining profitability. At the strategic level, the imperative areas for action in the markets become swiftly apparent – whether it’s the need to venture into a new segment, innovate within an existing one or establish a novel business model, or the necessity to exit a particular segment altogether. This urgency reverberates across regional management and business units, prompting the planning and undertaking of corresponding initiatives. However, over time, a realization dawns upon the executive board that the desired transformation is not progressing rapidly enough, as multiple initiatives are underway concurrently, often without adequate synchronization. This lack of alignment only amplifies the pressure.

scope

solve

How we support to reach your goals

Within the overarching market initiative, scope & solve serves as the “moderator”, facilitating cooperation and bridging gaps between the various people, departments, and regions integral to solving the market conundrum. scope & solve, embedded within the sales organization, assumes the role of a “consultant,” contributing its specialized expertise and methodologies, as sales acts as the organization’s conduit to the market. Even during the “solving” phase, progress may stall, prompting us to pause, reflect, and potentialy revisit the scoping stage, as we may have new insights into the conundrums complexity. In such cases, we re-engage with our project team and sponsors to set the scope accordingly.

Our clients seek a partner who can not only guide but also actively spearhead and participate in implementing these crucial, market-responsive transformations alongside them.

What our clients approach us with

Thriving amidst turbulence: strategies for sustained sales growth in dynamic markets

Our clients frequently stand at the forefront of technological progress within their core business domains. However, these core domains face mounting pressures from the reverberations of the coronavirus pandemic and evolving market trends, such as the ever-rising quality standards in India and China. Consequently, they must concurrently develop new market segments, whether exploring regional markets, uncovering novel applications within existing markets, or pursuing alternative strategies. This delicate balancing act – defending the core business while cultivating new opportunities – necessitates a profound organizational transformation, as both imperatives demand simultaneous attention.

Thanks to efficient tracking, we've already managed to convert approximately 
15% more opportunities from the 'quotation' funnel phase into orders.

Foto_Robert_Koert_Truetzschler

Robert Koert, Director Service, Trützschler Nonwovens

Our service

We extend our support and moderation expertise to our clients throughout the market initiative lifecycle. Starting with a core team, we gradually involve the rest of the organization. At strategic junctures, we introduce one of the 18 methodologies that have been rigorously developed and validated through numerous customer engagements. In close collaboration with our clients, we define a project or annual budget tailored to the agreed-upon scope. Experience has shown that transformation projects typically require 2-3 years before tangible market impacts become noticeable, although internal effects often manifest earlier.

Get in touch

Scope

Recognizing that all initiatives, be they in sales, marketing, product innovation, IT, supply chain operations, or any other domain, must ultimately deliver value to customers and align with market demands, our approach commences with a comprehensive market-oriented scoping exercise. In collaboration with the Management Board, we identify the prevailing market objectives and the accompanying “market conundrums” – the intrinsic challenges underlying those objectives. This rigorous analysis lays the groundwork for a well-defined scoping process, addressing key considerations:



1) Which specific market segments and targets are we pursuing?

2) What departments need to be integrally involved?

3) Which regions or business units must be aligned?



This scoping phase crucially determines the core team composition and the appropriate KPIs to gauge success. The overarching goal of this scoping is to formulate an initiative that is eminently implementable.

Solve

With the scoping phase complete, we then transition into the “SOLVING” stage. This entails first articulating the current state of affairs in quantifiable, measurable terms. From this baseline, we begin unraveling the core conundrum – the inherent challenge of realizing those defined market targets. Our approach allows for the strategic planning of multifaceted initiatives that can influence various facets: market segments, operational processes and methodologies, digital solutions and product offerings, systemic factors, data quality standards, interdepartmental teamwork and collaboration across regions. Moreover, we ensure synchronization with any other concurrent projects or initiatives already underway.

Team roles

As organizations grow, the demand for “more capacity” becomes pressing. However, in times of skilled worker shortages and tight budgets, this is not easy. An alternative approach is to think in terms of “roles” and “hats” teammembers inhabit. This involves identifying which “hats” the entire sales and aftersales organization wears throughout their processes and initiatives. Thinking in terms of “hats” and “roles” and to consider how these need to be distributed throughout the team, supports the people to embrace the organization’s growth. This method also helps to alleviate the burden on individuals juggling multiple “roles”, allowing managers to refocus on planning and structuring.

Main benefits

The Sales Funnel

The sales funnel serves as the foundation of a results-driven sales strategy, clearly illustrating the stages of customer decision-making and the status of sales opportunities. By establishing a shared understanding of the funnel phases—typically ranging from 4 to 7 stages—we enhance sales management and improve forecasting accuracy.

Key benefits

Agent Management Process

This structured approach to collaborating with local agents in target markets doubles as a mechanism for identifying key criteria for agent selection and development. It quickly becomes evident which agents are committed to market development, while also highlighting areas where your organization can support these efforts onsite.

Main benefits

Strategic Opportunity Management

Strategic opportunity management (SOM) is a process for the proactive development of sales opportunities within the sales funnel. The aim is to win the opportunity or to find out as quickly as possible that we will not win it (“Lose fast”). This allows important resources to be freed up for the generation of new sales opportunities. Working with the SOM sheet allows the organization to work as a team on an opportunity and identify the next key meetings and actions needed to help the customer make the decision and win the opportunity.

Main benefits

Customer Centric Communication

Customer centric communication (CCC) is the meeting process within the sales funnel and SOM processes. It ensures that meetings with customers are used to obtain the important commitments that represent the next step in the decision-making process. Through structured preparation, as well as follow-up and the tools for conducting important meetings, we ensure that meetings with customers are effective for both sides. For example, meetings that the agent has with the customer can be prepared without the sales manager having to be present every time.

Main benefits

Methodology in Motion

The use of tools only becomes sustainable when the responsible managers are able to coach processes and tools. In the beginning, this can be bridged by external parties, but in the medium term, the implementation of processes and tools that make a real difference for the customer is clearly a management task. Methodology in motion (MiM) helps the manager to grow into this coaching role and to ensure the consistent implementation of the tools and thus also the proactive management of sales.

Main benefits

Win-Loss-Analysis

The win-loss analysis (WLA) is one of the most important processes for continuous improvement and the occasion for distributing insights into various departments (marketing, R&D / innovation, …). Each opportunity, regardless of whether it is won or lost, and whether we have canceled it or the customer has, represents an important opportunity to learn something. The win-loss analysis collects these insights.

Main benefits