When we talk about growth hacking, we often think about how to accelerate sales, revenue, or user growth in sales contexts that we might describe as “simple” or “easy.” In these contexts, channels are often direct and often digital, solutions are not complex, and customer relationships are transactional. But what opportunities does growth hacking offer in a very different environment: that of complex sales in B2B contexts?

Complex B2B sales (CB2BS) occur in an environment in which many companies operate, if not in all of their commercial relationships, at least in relation to their major clients or key accounts. The CB2BS environment is marked by complexity on three axes (see table 1):

Sales hacking in complex sales: getting back to the basics 

1. SOLUTIONS. On the first axis, the solutions that are found in this environment are inherently complex. Some examples would be a CRM system, a production line or a consulting project. Their complexity lies not only in the technology, but also in the degree of co-creation of the solution with the client. Complex solutions are not ready out of the box, nor are they “plug and play”, as is often said in technological jargon, but always require a process of customization and adaptation to the client’s needs.

2. CUSTOMERS. The second axis of difficulty in CB2BS is defined by the clients, who are often also sources of complexity. An example of a complex client would be one that has a complex organization, with several business units, which may be in several countries, and with different production or work centers.
Also included in the definition of complex clients would be those in whose decision-making processes several functional departments are involved. The complexity of the client is defined, in this case, by the context of the sale, and may change depending on the number of actors involved.

3. CHANNELS. The third axis of complexity is defined by the channel. In CB2BS, non-direct channels usually appear, with more than one actor involved in the delivery, implementation, start-up and maintenance of the solution. An example of a channel that adds complexity would be that of telecommunications solutions, where a service provider needs hardware companies (for telecommunications and also for computer systems) and installers, or companies that can carry out maintenance.

Malvasía was facing a perfect storm scenario

Malvasía was facing a perfect storm scenario. Raw materials and energy had reached unprecedented prices, with great volatility in an environment of high inflation, and it was not out of the question that the European economy would enter a recession. In addition, the avian flu epidemic in France had caused a shortage of its main raw material (day-old ducklings), which had not reached breeding and fattening farms for months. Its great innovation of recent years (FoieGood) was being questioned by major French operators.

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In this context, Malvasía was considering its future, and Esteban Casado, partner and general manager, had the challenge of drawing up a strategic plan for the coming years, despite the great difficulties that the environment was presenting to them. There were several issues that had to be resolved in order to set a course and align efforts in order to achieve the objectives: What should Malvasía's positioning be? Where should commercial efforts be focused?

 the Question of What to Do to Save the Situation 

On a more tactical level, the question of what to do to save the situation at that time was added: Use the FoieGood line, which is more respectful of animal welfare, to replace the lack of conventional product, or maintain it as a different and differential product, as had been thought when it was developed?

The Malvasía company was the main commercial brand of Canard SA, a second-generation family business dedicated to the breeding, fattening, slaughtering, processing and sale of duck products, with duck foie gras being the star product.

Malvasía carried out its activity in excellent facilities in very good condition, although scarcely automated. These facilities included the slaughterhouse, the cutting room, the factory, the kitchen classroom, the laboratory and the offices. The capacity of the facilities more than doubled the needs to meet the demand of recent years.

The general management of Malvasía

Casado had joined the general management of Malvasía in January 2020 with the aim of promoting the growth and development of the company. 

The development of salespeople and the calculation of the potential value of each client in order to adapt the sales structure to them are two of the main challenges for sales managers and general managers in Spain. This is one of the conclusions of the study Excellence in customer management, carried out by everis.

Without a doubt, responding to this concern is not easy. However, there are good practices in the market, in different sectors, that are giving good results and that focus on the main levers for network management (customers, middle managers and salespeople). The three key actions aimed at offering customers the products and services that best suit their needs.

Which customers should you target?

No one doubts anymore that the secret to business success lies in having a customer-centric organization, and to achieve this, it is necessary to move from being a product-centric company to an organization whose main strategy is based on customer value. But what is meant by value? Generally, it is related to the value of the sale minus the commercial margin of the product or service and the salesperson's expenses attributable to said action, that is, the "margin."

Every customer portfolio is made up of three segments: customers with whom the company makes money, customers who cause losses, despite the fact that products are sold to them, and target or potential customers in whom an investment has been made.

To maximize the productivity of sales visits, it is interesting to establish in a matrix the current value of each customer (vertical axis) and the value in the australia whatsApp number data future or potential value (horizontal axis) and determine the actions that are planned to be carried out for each of them.