Interim manager for the SME market
Many companies have no idea how to efficiently approach the SME market in a result-oriented way.
At the start of our mission for one of our clients, the SME team, which had been operating independently until then, had just been integrated in the consumer department.
Management was not happy with the results, which remained below target.
The objectives of 4P square’s mission were to:
- Integrate the SME department in the consumer department (change management)
- Approach the SME market more successfully, in line with the company and marketing objectives.
Realise a restart
At the start the entire team had no idea how the integration of the SME department in the consumer department would happen in practice, what were the priorities and who had which task.
After the required internal discussions an initial action plan was presented to the team after two weeks, with a clear distribution of the roles and a prioritisation of the projects.
As the interim SME manager I was in charge of operational management and change management.
Development of a vision
The company lacked a structured vision for its approach of the SME market, nor did it have a real marketing and sales plan. It was unclear what type of organisation had to be set up to achieve the company’s objectives and improve the results.
The SME Manager’s priority was to develop and implement these matters. An important challenge in this frame was a vision on the channel strategy, on channel management and customer segmentation.
Optimisation and start-up of new sales channels
The possibilities and priorities were mapped for every existing channel. Two new important sales channels were identified and started up.
Organisational optimisation based on customer needs
SME customers with standard needs remained with the consumer department while SME customers with more complex needs were transferred to the business department.
As a result all the businesses in the SME market enjoy products and services that are tailored to their needs.
The outcome
- A motivated team: after two weeks everyone understood the approach and structure and their role in it. The team was fully motivated to contribute to the further development of the SME segment. The change process was successful.
- Results quadrupled: at the start the sales were 50% below target. When the project ended the realistic last forecast overshot the target by 100%. A quadrupling of the results in other words.
- Needs segmentation: we clarified the next steps in strategic and organisational terms for the SME market and the various segments in this market.
