STRENGTHENING YOUR DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY IN AN EVOLVING MARKET

Because we are going through a period where the adaptability of companies is being put to the test, they must know which direction to take. Having a clear vision of your business strategy allows you to navigate through storms. In this context, how can we boost business and develop the customer portfolio? This is the question asked by our client, a Guarding and security company offering its services in a growing but highly competitive market. WAT&CO carried out a marketing analysis to identify concrete solutions. An intervention that allowed our client to evolve, boost its business and reposition itself optimally on the market.

IN SUMMARY :​

IN DETAIL

A MARKETING STRATEGY TO BOOST THE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF A SMALL BUSINESS

A security company, an entity of a Cameroonian Holding, offering simple security agents, dog handlers, commandos, receptionists, and security kits, wanted to take measures to boost its business and increase its customer portfolio. Since its creation, the company had developed well and had even managed to retain the loyalty of a large part of its customers (the other entities of the Holding). Its main difficulties lay in acquiring new customers and expanding into new geographies, which prevented it from operating at full capacity.

Aware of operating in a highly competitive field, the client called on WAT&CO to identify solutions to boost its business. A first interview with the client allowed us to understand their expectations and establish the framework of the mission: first, it would involve carrying out analyzes in order to understand the real causes slowing down business development. Then, it would be necessary to create a business strategy broken down into concrete marketing and commercial actions because, like many SMEs, our client did not have a clearly defined business strategy. Our consultants, members of the IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis) have taken the initiative in hand.

DIFFERENT AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT AND CONCRETE SOLUTIONS

Thanks to the collection of primary and secondary data, we began by carrying out marketing analyzes from an internal and external point of view. We were thus able to assess the current level of the company in terms of marketing. In collaboration with management, it was also essential to define the company's vision, mission and values.

These different elements validated, we created the marketing strategy itself, including very concrete elements such as:

• Marketing objectives defined in the short, medium and long term
• Solutions to implement a new positioning against the competition
• A strategy and plan to optimize communication, increase awareness and expand geographic targeting
• Ways to innovate in terms of distribution channels
• A better tailored product portfolio proposition, focused on higher value activities
• A revaluation of services

SUPPORT TO SUSTAIN THE STRATEGY

This mandate also included operational support for the deployment of face-to-face training, coordination and monitoring of courses for each service. Our expert took charge of the company's commercial responsibility, complementing online resources. To carry out the project with our client's teams, our expert joined the company full-time for several months.

REORGANIZE THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT? YES, BUT NOT WITHOUT A CLEARLY DEFINED MARKETING STRATEGY

Our first mission for this client was to carry out an organizational audit of the marketing department. This audit resulted in several recommendations aimed at improving and reorganizing the functioning of the department. It also made it possible to make several observations, including the fact that there was no marketing strategy. However, as mentioned in one of our recent articles on the subject of organizational transformation, organization and strategy are two closely linked disciplines. This is why, in order to better organize its marketing department, it was essential for our client to have a defined, structured and formalized marketing strategy.

A METHODOLOGY STRUCTURED INTO 6 PHASES

As always, our expert acted methodically. The mission took place in six main phases:

In the elicitation phase, we collected data from several internal company stakeholders concerned by business development activities. We have carried out several analyzes such as market analysis, environmental analysis, competitive analysis and customer behavior study. The objective was to understand our client, their needs and the strategic directions followed so far. It was also a matter of better understanding the environment and the market in which it operated and the challenges it faced in terms of marketing. We quickly noticed that:

• The security sector is under pressure (Approval from the President of the Republic himself, drop in prices by non-approved players, presence of increasingly global players, impact of the strong franc, etc.)
• Customer expectations had evolved significantly;
• There is a real lack of innovation regarding our client's marketing activities;
• Despite its past success, our client's activity was now in decline and the competition, better armed, was eating away at market share.

The results of our analyzes made it possible to lay the foundations for relevant marketing objectives and to develop an innovative business strategy, taking into account market developments.

Once the strategy was created and written, we moved into the more operational phase. This involved defining the appropriate marketing mix, defining the strategic actions to be implemented in the form of a roadmap and proposing operational marketing performance indicators ( KPIs ) making it possible to easily assess the impact of the actions. carried out.

FORMAL DOCUMENTS ARE ESSENTIAL TO BETTER MANAGE YOUR BUSINESS

During the different phases, we interacted with the stakeholders concerned in order to validate each step. Thus, at the end of the process, our client had in hand several formal and validated documents, constituting essential tools for good management of activities and, in particular, for rethinking and better organizing the sales department.

IN NUMBERS

• 12 months elapsed between taking charge of the mission and the final presentation
• +20% Improvement in monthly turnover
• 1 business strategy
• 1 repositioning of the company
• 1 global action plan (roadmap)
• 03 New clients (French multinational, American multinational, and Cameroonian group)

IN CONCLUSION :

SMEs operating in a highly competitive environment have a lot to gain by using a consulting firm. This type of intervention allows us to gain perspective in order to obtain objective solutions and also to benefit from the expertise of the participants in order to improve their skills. Essential elements to guide the business towards a sustainable model.

In this specific case, our global approach and our analyzes made it possible to highlight different avenues for improvement to boost business. Our intervention also made it possible to reveal a strong axis of differentiation in the market, offering our client a sustainable competitive advantage. Thanks to a clearly defined business strategy and a concrete action plan, we implemented the first actions which generated a 20% increase in turnover and subsequently, our client was able to implement quickly the following actions.

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