Case Study: Consumer Packaged Goods
Value selling drives animal health company’s success and increases sales by $2.23M
Inside sales team sells to smaller accounts, supports field sales reps, and provides a 2.7x ROI
$2.23M increase in pet health YoY sales
$1.4M in sales at cattle feed stores
400 hours saved for field sales teamClient background
The client is an American animal health and pharma company that produces medicines and vaccinations for pets and livestock. They believe in helping pets and food animals lead healthy, quality lives by developing new and innovative animal care products and practices.
Business challenge
The client had over 5,000 pet health clinics and 4,000 cattle product stores that were not actively being pursued by the field sales teams, due to the small size of the accounts ($3K sales) and/or their geographical locations.
Field reps were already tasked with handling much bigger accounts. Adding smaller accounts to their workloads would not make for good ROI, even though cumulatively, it would mean additional revenue for the client. The client was looking for a solution to tap into this revenue stream in a cost-efficient manner.
The solution
HGS created an inside sales team of FTEs, specifically looking for people with relevant experience in animal care and pet health.
Training
These teams were tasked to build long-term business relationships via phone and email with the pet health and cattle product stores. They were trained in “value selling” – asking the right questions to arrive at the root of the customers’ problems and providing the right products – rather than giving a laundry list of what was on offer. Brand training, thorough product portfolio knowledge, and best practices in sales helped in the transition from a customer servicing role to a sales-focused role.
Relationship building and focus on customer experiences helped in benefits such as rebates, discounts, promotions, and more.
Execution
In 2019, a team of 4 FTEs was set up to handle the cattle feed stores with each inside sales agent handling over 800 accounts. The same model was replicated in 2020 for pet health clinics with 10 FTEs handling over 500 accounts each. The team supports the client’s field sales team, handling direct sales for both portfolios.
The client is now reviewing what other accounts can be moved to the inside sales team in order to maximize the field team’s time on more profitable accounts.
Results
This program has increased overall revenues and saved time, effort, and money for the client. Along the way, the team has also gathered 89 insight-driven market pulse reports focused on product feedback.
Cattle product stores
$1.4M sales with a 4:1 ROI (2019)
$800k sales/month in order support and account management
$48k sales from special call projects
Pet health clinics
$2.23M increase in sales over previous year (2019/20)
$200k per month in additional sales within 3 months
2.7x ROI through the inside sales team
Savings realized by comparing costs incurred by HGS inside sales team vs. field sales team
| Cost per hour | HGS inside sales team (for cattle products): $46.51 | Field sales team (for cattle products): $86.00 | HGS inside sales team (for pet health clinics): $46.51 | Field sales team (for pet health clinics): $86.00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per month (21) | HGS inside sales team (for cattle products): $7,813 | Field sales team (for cattle products): $14,448 | HGS inside sales team (for pet health clinics): $7,583 | Field sales team (for pet health clinics): $13,760 |
| Calls per month | HGS inside sales team (for cattle products): 525 | Field sales team (for cattle products): 102 | HGS inside sales team (for pet health clinics): 240 | Field sales team (for pet health clinics): 96 |
| Cost per call | HGS inside sales team (for cattle products): $14.88 | Field sales team (for cattle products): $141.65 | HGS inside sales team (for pet health clinics): $31.60 | Field sales team (for pet health clinics): $143.44 |
| Savings per call | HGS inside sales team (for cattle products): $126.77 | HGS inside sales team (for pet health clinics): $111.84 |
