Apparel Manufacturer Case Study

Aligning the sales force with revised customer segments and improving sales force management and effectiveness is restoring sales growth.

Situation and Challenge

The company had experienced double-digit annual sales gains, but growth slowed significantly in the prior two years
Blue Ridge was asked to define a customer engagement strategy, which included analyzing the market, developing a customer segmentation, identifying opportunities for improved sales effectiveness, and developing an implementation plan

Blue Ridge Partners conducted over 100 employee and customer interviews, performed a quantitative survey of the customer base, and analyzed the company’s historical performance
An actionable segmentation of customers was developed by integrating the historic company data with the market sizing data from the quantitative survey and feedback from interviews
Our analysis led to four key recommendations:
Refocus the outside sales organization on the largest customers and those with the highest potential for growth
Create an inside sales organization to manage smaller accounts at a lower overall cost per customer
Develop a standardized method for sales planning and selling
Enhance management of the salesforce with a more directed approach to sales and utilize improved tools to aid the salesforce