- Obtaining unfiltered and unbiased feedback on what sets you apart from other CPGs in the category. By using a third party to conduct the win/loss you can be sure that the feedback is not filtered or downplayed on critical areas that could help you improve your outcomes in the future
- Get past basic supply and demand-driven commentary, understand how your innovation presented was received, and discover truly how receptive the retailer was to your market analysis and advised marketing strategy
- Uncover missed opportunities to implement COOP programs, better usage of trade funding and preferred ways of working between your organization and the category buyers
- Most importantly of all, benchmark yourself against your leading competitors in the category by obtaining feedback and comparisons to tactics, strategic advisement, and trade support your competitors are providing vs. what level of influence they are given in return
By Patrick Sturgeon, VP Financial Services Many consumers of grocery staples, like soft drinks, yogurt, pet food, and more, don’t understand the complex sales process CPGs undergo with leading retailers. While engagements for large manufacturers can last all year long through category management relationships, often the manufacturer’s best chance at expanding their share of the shelf comes during annual joint business planning (JBP) sessions. While a lot goes into these sessions, at the end of the day they are a business-to-business transaction, and as such benefit from regular win/loss assessments. At its heart, win/loss is a systematic review of business deals and identification of the key drivers for the deal’s outcome. While the JBP process entails significantly more than many traditional sales of a product or service, it still can benefit from the win/loss methodology. CPGs that implement a win/loss program with their retailers have found significant value in the findings, including:
