An Australian manufacturer, with subsidiaries in a number of countries where the company was active led to many redundant activities and inefficiencies across the sales and marketing function. Developing any marketing materials was a lengthy process due to the number of stakeholders involved. With the cost to deliver materials too high to be competitive in the long term, sarmat was hired to define the optimal marketing ecosystem.

Our Approach

A comprehensive program was defined to simplify the sales and marketing processes. In many cases business processes were re-engineered to allow for digital interactions while the country organisations were reshaped as pure sales organisations. Supporting functions were set up as common services, run centrally. The processes, organisation and supporting marketing systems were redesigned to support the new operating model. A new CRM platform re-used some of the existing systems in conjunction with new, innovative, web based applications. A comprehensive program was set up to define, realise and manage the transformation.

Results

Our involvement at the start of the program, allowed us to – jointly with the client – define the program (scope, objectives, approach), design its different components (processes, organisation and technology) and play a leading role in its implementation. The client made a big leap forward by executing the program. Besides the direct impact the program had on the company’s cost structure, the newly implemented operating model allowed the client to be much more effective in implementing process and technology innovations across the value chain. This resulted in the ability to gain better customer insights, increased supply chain visibility allowing inventory optimisation, increased ability to manage financial risks and a consistent approach to the different markets the company serves.