Since my last post, I’ve had the opportunity to work with various PE firm and company leadership teams. With most firms paying higher and higher multiples, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that financial engineering alone will not produce satisfactory returns.
Besides considering longer hold periods, most teams are also concluding that they can’t save their way to prosperity. They understand that profitable growth is key to creating value. There are several ways to generate growth within organic and acquisitive strategies. For this post, I’m going to focus on organic growth.
Many teams I work with create growth on a reactive basis. Although you can produce growth this way, it may not be with your most successful and profitable products. Sources for these opportunities may include Internet inquiries, trade shows, channel partners, etc. In several cases, I have found companies working on new projects and products centered on their least profitable business.
I like to start with 8020 first to focus on the products and customers that represent the company’s core success – Quad 1. If you’re not familiar with 8020, please see my post on this topic: https://sensiblemfg.com/2018/05/08/what-exactly-is-8020/ Hopefully, Quad 1 is also where most of your margin exists. Simply stated, Quad 1 is where the market has embraced you as a supplier or partner. You already have credibility here, so why not leverage this position as much as possible?
When looking at organic growth for Quad 1, I like to use a 4-tier approach. Each tier typically takes more time and needs more investment.
Tier 1: This tier is one of the most overlooked opportunities I see. Let’s sell more products to an existing Quad 1 customer. Obviously, this takes the least amount of time and investment. You already have mindshare! Believe it or not, there are only a handful of cases where I found a customer aware of all a company’s products and services.
They started doing business with the company with a certain product line and continued down that well-trodden path. When I have shown them other lines the company offers, the standard response is, “I didn’t know you guys did that!” The other lines may involve different commodities or buyers, engineering teams, operations folks…
You already have the best inside introduction and recommendation in hand that you could dream of. Your current contact can help you navigate the organization and help you set up an introductory meeting. It takes less time and effort compared with cold calling from the lobby. Also, the conversion rate is usually much higher.
Tier 2: This tier is like Tier 1 but may take a little more time and investment. Again, assuming the company is well regarded by a customer, getting them to introduce you to key players at other locations accelerates success. The most cited reason for opportunities in this Tier is the other locations are in different territories that involve different channel partners. If the customer uses central purchasing, the number of opportunities may be limited.
I like to use Hoover family trees to tee up targets for sales channel partners. Once you have identified and qualified new targets in other locations, you may have to set up some form of compensation for the incumbent channel partner to help with introductions. There’s always a perceived risk and some investment of their time to get things going to include joint calls.
Tier 3: In this Tier, you’re interested in leveraging your industry and application savvy to chase your customers’ competitors. Much like Tier 2, The most cited reason for opportunities in this Tier is the customers’ competitors are in different territories that involve different channel partners. If the company is well known and regarded in the industry, getting past the lobby to meet key players is better than a pure cold call. Remember that given all the efforts to optimize supply chains, breaking into any new account takes time and investment. They often need a good reason to consider adding you to the AVL (Approved Vendor List).
Again, I use Hoover’s to set up an initial target list. NAICS & SIC codes get you a broad listing. If you’re a paying customer, you can download the results with a great deal of information. From here, you can begin filtering the data and get to a solid target list. Just remember that since many of the firms are privately held, the detailed data may not be perfect.
Tier 4: Tier 4 typically takes more time and investment. In this Tier, you are likely attempting to apply your core competencies into new applications in new markets with new customers. This Tier may also reflect brand new product and process development launches. If you’re using LPPD (Lean Product and Process Development), required time & money can be reduced significantly.
Summary: This is a quick summary of the basic tactics within an organic growth strategy that I thought you might find informative and useful. First, use 8020 to focus in on your areas of success and then leverage this through all 4 Tiers.
The most successful firms I meet have something going on in all 4 Tiers at any given time. This ensures a continuous flow of opportunities in their sales funnel that are centered in their most successful competencies.
Thanks & Good Wishes for a successful 2019!
Mike