Business Development
Method and substance to grow turnover
More customers in Italy and abroad, provided they are the right ones. We combine sales skills, digital tools and rigorous process management to turn market potential into real customers and measurable turnover.
The starting point
Sales happen, but nobody knows how
Many SMEs sell well as long as the market comes looking for them. Then something jams and it becomes clear that the sales function was never organised: it grew on its own, around the owner and a few good salespeople.
The signs are always the same
- A few customers make almost all the turnover: one of them changing supplier is enough to put the year at risk.
- Salespeople wait for requests: they answer whoever calls well but nobody goes looking for new customers.
- The quotation is sent and forgotten: nobody follows it up and nobody knows why an offer was lost.
- Agents sell whatever comes along: they have no targets and bring back to the company nothing of what they see in the market.
- Exporting means trade fairs: you come home with a pile of business cards and that is where it ends.
- Nobody knows what each sale earns: turnover is celebrated and the margin is discovered at year end.
The link with controlling
Numbers first, then customers
Business development starts with controlling, and the first number to look at is COGS: the cost of the raw materials or goods sold, adjusted for the change in inventory. Applying the bills of materials to sales shows how much it weighs on each product and each customer: it is the CT scan of the company. It often turns out that part of the turnover runs at close to a loss and that the most profitable customers are not the largest.
The quotation, built on real costs, becomes a tool for selling: it is presented and discussed, not just sent. The sales budget says how much to sell, and to whom, to reach the profit the owner has set.
From there, the work goes two ways
- With existing customers: prices revised where there is no margin, more attention to those who pay their way.
- With new customers: we look for companies similar to the most profitable ones, by sector, size and type of request. That is how the sales database is built, not from bought-in lists.
The method
A system, not scattered initiatives
The same method applies in Italy and abroad. Every contact, every analysis and every decision serves to build lasting relationships and sales that leave a margin.
Selected database
Companies and contacts chosen on objective criteria (sector, size, role, needs): effort goes only where there is real potential. Fewer wasted calls, more useful meetings.
Preliminary research
Before every contact we study the prospective customer, its current projects and the market, to open a relevant dialogue from the very first call.
Flexible script
Every call follows an outline, with the questions to ask and the topics to cover, that leaves room for conversation: it serves to understand the other party’s objectives, constraints and priorities. Structure and method, without rigidity.
Digital follow-up
Technical materials, interactive presentations and tailored in-depth videos: they keep the relationship alive after the first contact and carry it through to the order.
Up-to-date, shared CRM
Every interaction is recorded: the whole team sees the same sales process, up to date.
Offer management
From the first request to the signing of the contract, with a single point of contact and a linear process: quick answers and no request lost along the way.
From fragmented sales activity to a structured process: every step is measured, every activity can be improved, and the customers stay with the company even when the salesperson changes.
The team
- Export Manager, to develop foreign markets;
- Area Manager, for sales growth in Italy.
How we work
An experienced sales director, at a fraction of the cost
The work is led by one of our sales directors under fractional management. They spend a few days a month in the company, coordinate the sales team and report to management, which keeps the strategic decisions. The relationship is ongoing: not a project that comes to an end but a steady guide that grows with the company.
The stages
- Sales audit: active and lost customers, turnover and margin by customer, the path from offer to order through to production, the role of salespeople and agents.
- Strategy and sales budget: targets by sector, geographical area and customer size.
- Method: every request is recorded and qualified with the information needed (end use, technical aspects, what drives the customer’s decision, competitors in the running), then becomes a quotation and is followed up until the answer comes.
- Weekly meeting: open offers, lost offers and why, corrective actions.
- Visit plan: customers divided into A, B and C bands, each with its own visit frequency, even when no negotiation is under way.
- Agent network: regular meetings, targets by area and by agent, information on the market and on competitors.
- Growing people: coaching and training, so that salespeople become advisers and one of them, in time, can lead the sales department.
How the result is measured
Every month the same indicators, shared with management: new customers, number and value of offers, how many become orders, why the others are lost, visits made, turnover and margin by customer. You see straight away what works and where to correct, and the data stays with the company.
A case history
A quotation is not just sent: it is sold
A company that works to order, with loyal customers and a sound technical reputation, and a sales effort that stopped at answering requests.
The problem
Selling was passive: requests were answered, the quotation was sent and the file was closed. Nobody measured how many offers became orders or why the others were lost.
Customers were visited only when an offer was under way, and the multi-firm agents were a sales channel and nothing more.
Numbers first
- Industrial analysis of the profit and loss account: costs by cost centre and by processing stage, to know what each operation earns.
- Quotation model: built on real costs and in use today. It is the one described on the Quotations page.
- Control with the Simulator: every month the Rolling Forecast shows in advance where profit and cash flows are heading.
The sales method
The sales method rests on those numbers, led under fractional management, with clear rules:
- every request is recorded in the management system and linked to the order, so you know how many offers succeed;
- the quotation is presented and discussed, not just sent;
- the status of every negotiation is always up to date, with the reasons for lost offers;
- customers are visited to a plan, band by band;
- the agent network is coordinated with regular meetings and targets by area.
The result
The offer closing rate has gone from 30 to about 40%, and with the visit plan dozens of customers who had moved away are ordering again. Thanks to a precise knowledge of the costs that make up the selling price, negotiations with customers are conducted with full awareness: the contribution margin has in fact risen by three percentage points, with 1.2 million euros more profit. A fractional management engagement costs a small fraction of that sum.
Another case
International expansion in food chemicals
An Italian chemical company that turned a sales crisis into a successful internationalisation path.
The problem
Falling sales and customers almost all in Italy. Declining domestic consumption and growing competition were eroding profitability: new outlets and sales channels were needed. The products were of high quality and the customers included multinationals, but there was no strategy to take them abroad.
The plan
A twelve-month internationalisation plan towards Asian markets, starting with China, the most promising in terms of demand, production capacity and consumption growth.
- Market. The trade fairs in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou; the Italian and international competitors already present, with their sales models, prices and channels.
- Partners. Customers selected for volumes, reliability and technical and commercial compatibility, met on the ground thanks to an Italian correspondent who has lived in Shanghai for more than fifteen years.
- Rules and customs. China’s regulations on food additives: the national standard GB 2760 sets out which colourings may be used and in which foods. Then the checks by Chinese Customs (GACC) on incoming goods and the cost of entry: duties of around 6.5% on colourings and pigments, and import VAT at 13%.
- Logistics. Transport costs, times and methods, with the specific rules for food products.
The results
- the first supply contract with Unilever, after meetings, visits and direct negotiations;
- a subsidiary in China (WFOE, Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise) for local distribution;
- an export model that can be replicated in other Asian markets;
- a stronger internal sales structure, more experienced in foreign markets.
The impact
From stagnation to a new international growth path, founded on method, market knowledge and a direct presence. Today the company deals with large global groups, keeps control of the supply chain and brings the quality of Italian chemistry to the Asian market.
Selling more, and selling what pays
The first step is knowing which products and which customers really make the profit. The second is finding more like them.
Let’s talk