TCII :: Management Consultants

This electronics company approached TCii to help them instigate a “sales drive” that would help them turn their losses into profits.

Although the company made a unique product, they had been losing money for three years.

TCii’s challenge

When TCii obtained the client’s accounts, it was apparent that the business was running at breakeven level only!

At the meeting with the MD we recommended undertaking a thorough analysis of the profitability of his products, before attempting any sort of sales drive.

What we did

Very few performance measures were in place prior to our arrival, so we began by obtaining information on costings from the production manager. We also set up a spreadsheet to show the last sales prices and the calculated margins. The spreadsheets were then ranked by margin. This revealed that 47% of all products sold in the previous 6 months were sold at low or negative gross margins!

The production plan on orders booked was reviewed for the next 2 to 3 month period. From this information an action plan per client and product was undertaken.

Training was given to the MD and his team on negotiating and raising prices as well as identifying opportunities to changing specifications, and lower costs where possible.

Customer negotiations started immediately and within a few weeks price increases were secured.
We then reviewed the features and benefits, marketing literature, website and mail shot enclosures. We also worked with the MD to clarify his accounts and put in key performance indicators.

The outcome

The order book improved. The company went into profitability within weeks. Six months later, at the year end, the company had covered its losses and achieved a small annual profit.