Improving sales effectiveness
Developing a sales pitch for a leading premium coffee brand’s B2B division
A leading B2C premium coffee brand realized it was facing growing competition, and beginning to lose the competitive advantage it had gained by creating the market in which it operated.
It decided to diversify by accelerating growth in the business environment, covering two distinct markets:
- Workplace: high quality coffee provided by companies to their employees in order to provide a relaxing break
- Service industry sales (banks, car dealerships, insurance companies…): high quality coffee offered to clients to welcome them, and support the sales process.
The challenge: Articulating an offer that goes beyond coffee
Strategic Research was selected to help the brand’s sales teams for large accounts conquer new markets.
The central question: how to convince the market that a high quality offer represents a better investment than a low cost option that may satisfy the procurement department, but leaves end users disappointed?
Reaching a customer value proposition through extensive research
Our research targeted buyers, sellers, and end users. We began by interviewing account managers to understand the issues they faced on a day-to-day basis. We then interviewed representatives of the brand’s target profiles from buyers and human resources directors to managers responsible for customer satisfaction and CEOs of medium-sized companies. The aim: to understand their priorities and the potential barriers to adopting a premium coffee system.
We also ran quantitative research with companies who had recently acquired the branded coffee solution. Online questionnaires assessed the reactions of users to the coffee, and measured the satisfaction gap between the company’s former solution and the new branded coffee solution. It focused on key measurements including employee perception of their employer or the company brand.
We used the results of the qualitative and quantitative research to formalize the key elements of differentiation between the brand and its rivals, using the Strategy Canvas tool.
Finally, we worked with our communications expert and the brand’s central marketing department to create a Sales Pitch adapted to each of the brand’s various target profiles.
The Sales Pitch document represents a valuable tool, used as a base for all the brand’s B2B sales efforts. The research behind it is unequivocal and has enabled the company’s sales teams to enter into meaningful dialogue with customers about the issues that matter to them.
