5. Decline

What goes up can sometimes come down

This is a challenging time. Sales growth moves to negative. Profits decline. Competitive activity is high and often with those competitor actions the inclination is to reduce prices and margins in order to maintain cash flow and market share.

The company cannot maintain sales of a particular product or service and you need to understand the critical reasons for the decline. Is it that the product is now obsolete? Or a competitor has a superior way of delivering the benefits you once delivered.

Have your marketing & communications simply failed to promote and reach potential customers or your distribution network is not able to reach your available market in sufficient numbers?

Our work can include:

• Communicate and focus distribution to maintain long-tail sales to established repeat clients.
• Analysis. Understand and present the facts rather than anecdotes. Options for new channels, product or service reformulation. What is filling the space you have lost?
• Model the financial, reputational impacts and other factors critical to making decisions.
• Sales and Marketing strategies to arrest the decline, relaunch or deliver substitute subject to resources available.
• Evaluate the value of the business including the Intangible Assets of brand, marks, know-how and customer network. Exit the business via trade sale to competitor who could achieve economies of scale. Or purchase a competitor. Or merge with a competitor.