Five Steps to translate your CPG Growth Strategy into action    

Industry leaders are intensifying efforts to enhance their CPG growth strategies, while managing costs, effectiveness, and evaluating new avenues of opportunity. Technology can play a vital role here, simplifying the process, providing a bird’s-eye view throughout, and improving efficiency.  

However, translating the CPG strategy into actionable plans that drive revenue and optimise results is a challenge. To empower sales teams in CPG, it is essential to follow a systematic approach that aligns with the CPG growth strategy. In this blog, we will explore five steps that can help CPG companies transform their growth strategy into actionable and effective plans. 

CPG Growth Strategy – Step 1: Start with Insights 

Any CPG growth strategy must be built on a solid foundation of consumer, shopper, and customer insights. These insights offer valuable information about market trends, consumer behaviour, channel development and competitor activities, all of which are critical for developing a winning strategy. Commercial teams need to understand the relevant market dynamics, customer preferences, and emerging trends to tailor their approach and drive growth effectively. 

CPG Growth Strategy – Step 2: Define Specific KPIs and Incentives 

Once the growth strategy is in place, it is crucial to identify specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and incentives to measure progress and success. These KPIs should align with the strategic goals and focus on both top-line growth and profitability. For instance, KPIs could include net sales growth, gross profit margin improvement, and return on investment for promotion initiatives. Revenue and profitability targets are often set by headquarters. If this is the case, commercial teams often face the challenge of disaggregating those targets and mapping them to underlying customers and categories as well as setting supporting KPI’s, such as distribution targets. Defining these metrics helps sales teams stay on track and work towards achieving the growth objectives. 

CPG Growth Strategy – Step 3: Allocate Adequate Tools and Resources 

Revenue Growth Management (RGM) in CPG requires robust analytical capabilities and access to the right data. To avoid excessive manual work, it is key to have software which can automate the combination of relevant data sources, preferably adding prediction models. Commercial teams need to have the expertise to translate these valuable insights into action plans and recommendations. It is essential to hire professionals who can interpret data, identify opportunities, and develop actionable plans that drive profitable growth. Adequate resources and skillsets ensure that the strategy can be effectively executed from a strategic level down to the operational level. 

CPG Growth Strategy – Step 4: Leverage Data, Insights, and RGM Tools 

In today’s data-driven world, CPG companies often have an abundance of data. However, the key to success is leveraging the right data and insights to make informed decisions. With the presence of skilled resources and dedicated software, sales teams can focus on making data-driven decisions, combining internal and external sources such as consumer research and syndicated data. This enables them to form concrete and actionable plans that align with the CPG growth strategy. 

Basic tools like Excel may be sufficient for those taking the first steps into growth management. But as both ambition and complexity grow, CPG companies will find they must invest in more professional RGM tools. These tools help streamline processes, optimize decision-making, and uncover hidden opportunities, contributing to more significant revenue growth. 

CPG Growth Strategy – Step 5: Implement a Continuous Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle 

To ensure the success of the CPG growth strategy, it is crucial to adopt a continuous improvement approach. The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle is a valuable tool for sales teams to achieve this. It involves: 

Planning: Developing actionable plans based on the CPG growth strategy, KPIs, and insights. 

Doing: Executing the plans efficiently and effectively in the market. 

Checking: Reviewing the execution and measuring performance against set targets and KPIs. 

Acting: Making necessary adjustments and improvements based on the findings and insights from the check phase. 

The PDCA cycle helps sales teams identify success stories, gaps, and root causes of performance variations. It allows for data-driven decision-making and helps companies stay agile in the face of dynamic market conditions. This imposes a range of demands on a company’s selected tools: preferably, the software should be both capable of supporting strategic planning and enable continuous reviewing and adjustment of the plan. Having full integration of internal and external actual results is key, creating a timely data feedback loop to review results to review the performance versus target.  

Takeaways 

Translating a CPG growth strategy into action is a crucial step in driving revenue growth and optimising results in the CPG industry. To empower sales teams effectively, CPG companies should follow a systematic approach that encompasses insights, specific KPIs, adequate resources, data-driven decision-making, and a continuous improvement cycle. 

By starting with a strong foundation of insights and aligning KPIs with the strategic goals, sales teams can create a clear roadmap for achieving success. Adequate resources, skilled personnel, and the right software ensure that the strategy is executed efficiently. Leveraging data and commercial insights enables sales teams to make informed decisions, leading to actionable plans that deliver results. Lastly, the PDCA cycle helps sales teams stay agile and continuously improve their performance to seize growth opportunities in the dynamic CPG landscape. 

By integrating these five steps into their operations, CPG companies can unleash the full potential of their CPG growth strategy and propel their sales teams to greater heights of success. A well-executed growth strategy translates into increased market share, improved profitability, and stronger customer relationships, positioning CPG companies for sustainable growth and long-term success. 

Visualfabriq offers advanced revenue forecasting and optimisation software solutions tailored to the specific needs of the CPG industry and supports key RGM processes. Our software empowers commercial teams with innovative tools to efficiently manage data, analyse commercial performance drivers and optimise revenue growth and profitability. With Visualfabriq, you can seamlessly align your CPG growth strategy with actionable plans, set and track KPIs, and make data-driven decisions for sustainable success.  

If you want to explore how our software can revolutionise your revenue management and growth efforts, we invite you to book a personalised demo with us. Our team of experts will walk you through the features and benefits of our software, demonstrating how Visualfabriq can be the catalyst for your CPG company’s revenue growth journey. Book your demo today and take the first step toward unlocking your full growth potential.