Hi Andy,
Welcome to your July newsletter and thank you for taking the time to read it. With only a matter of days to go until my own impending wedding I started to consider how businesses, individuals and teams celebrated their own successes. So please ask yourself when was the last time you recognised a success within your business and then did something to celebrate it!
To kick us off:
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Inside the heads of retail, continues our series of interviews with senior retail managers and directors.
- Can you spare 1 minute? The second of our 60 second case study series ~ Category growth is harder to come by...
- Do you waste money with your promotional planning? Take a look at our matrix and identify where you are!
Inside the heads of retail
Continuing our series of interviews with senior retail managers and directors. This month’s instalment comes from Henry Burgess ex Sainsbury's category manager and now Senior category manager for DVD and Digital services with the Dixons group.
More about Henry here
Here's what we asked....
1. What did you enjoy and not enjoy about the job as head of trading at a major multiple retailer?
2. Those suppliers that you held in high regard - What did they do to earn that status?
3. What 3 things could suppliers do to make a buyer’s life easier?
4. How would you rank the following needs from a supplier; service level, price, consumer understanding, category understanding, people quality, proactive, and food quality.
5. What traits did you see common across suppliers that were successful in SBRs/tenders?
6. What is your advice to retailer’s suppliers about the coming 12 months and 3 years?
7. Share a brief story of something that a supplier did which impressed you and has stayed with you ever since?
Here are Henry's answers.
Click here to download the PDF
Would you like to ask Henry an additional question?
Click here: add your question and contact details
60 second case study
Category growth is harder to come by – we need a different approach.
Problem:
A large meat supplier was struggling with growth in their category and had been challenged to step change sales. The supplier’s approach over the last few years had delivered great gains but growth was becoming harder to come by and they felt as though they needed a path to follow.
Solution:
The supplier’s category team and the MBM team agreed to meet for a series of 7 on-line days and 7 off-line days. On-line days are where both teams meet and off-line days where two or three people might meet to discuss a specific piece of the project. The whole team were facilitated and led through MBM’s 7 stage planning process involving understanding the consumer, identifying opportunities, and planning implementation.
Result:
The supplier won millions of pounds worth of business.
Cost: £21,000+vat.
Contact us and we will explain more
Our book recommendation of the month
Coaching For Performance by John Whitmore
Our review: Many people think they can coach but the reality is often rather different. When in a ‘coaching’ situation, they revert to what they learnt as a child from their parents..."why doesn’t little Johnny go for a wee now”...which basically is a telling style of management! John Whitmore breaks down the mystique of coaching often using sporting analogies. He talks about how many sports coaches work hard with their sports people on technique and fitness (translated to knowledge and experience in business) and forget about ‘attitude of mind’. Having seen England’s first two performances at the Football World Cup, we know the players have the technique and fitness (as witnessed for their clubs) but Fabio Capello seems to have failed to alter their attitude of mind. Here’s another sporting illustration from the book. Tennis coaches often shot ‘watch the ball’...I know I’ve got to watch the ball that’s obvious! How about if the coach asks the player ‘which way is the ball spinning as it crosses the net?’ or ‘how high over the net is it this time?’ In order to answer these questions the player needs to watch the ball! The questions hone the attention and increase the awareness resulting in better focus from the player on what the ball is doing as it travels towards them and hay presto they start to make a better stroke when returning the ball. Read this book to truly understand what coaching is all about and see how your impact with the people you work around improves.
Richard Booth, Project Manager, MBM
More about us
Through our approach to category management, we always achieve outstanding results in conjunction with the teams that we are working with. A category plan is a bit like using a personal trainer at the gym. A personal trainer has experience, can guide you to achieve more in less time and keeps you going. Rather than help people get physically fitter, we help companies to get fitter categories.
Download more about us
Click here to visit our website
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