Sales and Marketing benchmarks and analytics are available in the following areas:
1.Company, Sales and Marketing structure and organisation effectiveness benchmarking
Metrics such as incremental growth and costs are evaluated alongside headcount, levels of busyness, cost of people, and management layers. Ratios are used so that companies of different sizes and complexity can compare “apples with apples”.
2. Investment effectiveness: money, data, people, time/focus, merchandising materials
Metrics include: trial, activation, consumer advocacy, sales and speed-to-market, for the resources that are planned and spent in each plan period. Ways of working evaluated: strategic, cross-functional planning, channel, portfolio planning.
3. Portfolio and brand strategy/function and activities
Metrics of new products vs line extensions vs existing brands, channel-specific products, and competitive intensity are benchmarked against direct and indirect competitors. Ways of working: brand, customer, ATL/BTL/social media planning, cross-functional project management.
4. Channel distribution strategy, channel marketing, and category activation functions and activities
Metrics include: cost-to-serve, capability of different channels to build share, availability/visibility, incremental growth from different customer types. Ways of working: field sales/channel management.
5. Big data, analytics, consumer and shopper insights functions and activities
Metrics include: spend levels, and growth from insights, budgets. Ways of working: strategic planning, process for determining insights, and turning insights into strategies.
6. Key customer and small customer engagement and strategy performance benchmarking
Metrics include: the drivers of customer satisfaction/engagement, trading terms, spend and effectiveness. Ways of working evaluated: managing large organised customers and small independents or local convenience stores.
7. Field sales force efficiency and value-add; third party effectiveness
Metrics include: cost of salespeople, call frequency, headcount, days between calls, objectives per call, and activities per call. Ways of working evaluated: use of technology vs use of paper, and effectiveness of training and coaching.
8. Digital and Social media integration, planning, execution and measurement.
Metrics include all standard measures, such as engagement and share rations, earned media value and reach…but focus is put on evaluating and measuring how these integrate with brand and sales objectives.