Introduction
A category leader in specialty chemicals revised their corporate strategy, placing a greater emphasis on selling solutions and establishing partnerships at specific, global key accounts. The executive team was confident in their strategy, but less certain if their commercial organization had the marketing capability needed to execute the strategy in all regions.
The Marketing Capability Assessment
The client used the Marketing Capability Assessment to test knowledge and skill in ~150 commercial individuals in all four regions. The Assessment was tailored to include two client specific chapters: Solutions Value Creation and Pricing; and Key Account Management.
Senior stakeholders were introduced to the Assessment through a series of small group webinars to set expectations and align communication. The Assessment was positioned as further investment in the company’s new strategy to prioritize capability development and employee investment.
Results compared individual scores with regional and role specific averages globally. Gaps were prioritized for each business unit and region. Areas of strength were identified in some regions (e.g., Pricing in N. America) and presented an opportunity to share “internal good practice”.
Company averages were compared to industry benchmarks, providing senior leaders with a clear indication of the gap between current and required capability.
Closing the Gap
An Insights Workshop was held with Organizational Development, Marketing, and Sales Leaders to create a two-year Capability Development Road Map. Each Region agreed their top capability priorities and the sequence for development based on their business calendar and other commercial commitments.
Results and Impact
In its second year of implementation, the capability development initiative is providing a positive return on investment in several areas:
- N. America Regional transactional pricing tools have been shared globally, leading to immediate identification of pricing ‘outliers’ and corrective action
- Customer segmentation has refined account targets and a new engagement process with key accounts
- New tools and selling skills have improved value-based pricing in complex solutions
- New Product Introductions now include a globally consistent, rigorous campaign design and execution
Based on twenty-five years’ experience with category leading B2B companies, Market Edge Capability Assessments evaluate and benchmark capability in Marketing, Finance, and Sales. Prioritized gaps lead to development road maps that build the capability required to achieve your strategy. For a deeper discussion, contact info@mkt-edge.com.
Experience our sample assessment HERE