Family Dollar’s Reiser explores the ‘new normal’
WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. — “Twenty percent of public companies experience growth stalls, losing 50% of their capitalization due to poor strategic decisions. They start losing their consumer; their differentiation fades, and they become replaceable. At some point, everyone will lose their advantage,” said Elevation Forum founder and strategist Dan Mack, throwing down the gauntlet at a Friday morning meeting of Mack’s Elevation Forum, which brings together a group of leading sales and marketing executives from a number of fast-growing health and beauty companies in the CPG industry.
At the April 15th meeting, keynote speaker Jason Reiser, EVP and chief merchandising officer at Family Dollar, led a discussion on the value economy, examining how companies can create innovation and loyalty with the new value consumer. “There’s a new normal in the value channel and within the value economy,” Reiser told Elevation Forum attendees. “And if your marketers don’t understand my consumers’ financial pain, you don’t understand my business, or this consumer.”
According to Bain Consulting, the average U.S. company loses 50% of its customers every five years, a defection rate of 10% to 30% per year. At some point every company loses its advantage. Such events as the Elevation Forum “keep organizations and leaders in tune with their blind spots and discovering new trends effecting the industry,” Mack told Drug Store News.
Executives from 40-plus Forum member companies engaged in a wide-open dialogue on The Pareto Principle — also known as the Law of the Vital Few, but perhaps more commonly known as the the “80–20 principle.”
“There is an unbalance between effort and reward, and threats versus risks,” Mack told attendees. “We all know that 20% of your customers deliver 80% of the revenue, but we fail to recognize that 20% of competitive threats create 80% of the risk. These risks often arrive as new, disruptive business models, emerging technologies and consumer behavioral shifts.”
The group examined the challenges that companies experience “because we don’t know what we don’t know, or we fail to understand new trends that will disrupt our business,” Mack said. “Everyone needs a trusted advisor to help them uncover personal blind spots and biases.”
Recognizing that elite sales organizations are purpose-driven, Elevation Forum members explored the traits, behaviors and philosophies that characterize elite sales organizations. Key themes revolved around sharing uncommon insights, addressing the retailer’s high-agenda priorities and cultivating a stubborn resolve to see the best ideas through to the end. “The elite [sales organizations] never let a great idea die,” Mack explained. “They are courageous and they think winning is when the retailer and brand win with the customer. [They] learn to deliver bad news about their own items before the buyer does. [They display] insatiable curiosity, [they are] present and [they are good listeners]. The elite also understand the broader context of the industry, emerging new trends and what’s next.”
The next Elevation Forum event will be held next month in an intimate meeting in New Jersey, featuring Wakefern Food VP health and beauty care Chris Skyers. The theme for the discussion will be “Disruption, agility and corporate flexibility: How to drive advantage for your organization.” For more information, visit MackElevationForum.com/.
At the April 15th meeting, keynote speaker Jason Reiser, EVP and chief merchandising officer at Family Dollar, led a discussion on the value economy, examining how companies can create innovation and loyalty with the new value consumer. “There’s a new normal in the value channel and within the value economy,” Reiser told Elevation Forum attendees. “And if your marketers don’t understand my consumers’ financial pain, you don’t understand my business, or this consumer.”
According to Bain Consulting, the average U.S. company loses 50% of its customers every five years, a defection rate of 10% to 30% per year. At some point every company loses its advantage. Such events as the Elevation Forum “keep organizations and leaders in tune with their blind spots and discovering new trends effecting the industry,” Mack told Drug Store News.
Executives from 40-plus Forum member companies engaged in a wide-open dialogue on The Pareto Principle — also known as the Law of the Vital Few, but perhaps more commonly known as the the “80–20 principle.”
“There is an unbalance between effort and reward, and threats versus risks,” Mack told attendees. “We all know that 20% of your customers deliver 80% of the revenue, but we fail to recognize that 20% of competitive threats create 80% of the risk. These risks often arrive as new, disruptive business models, emerging technologies and consumer behavioral shifts.”
The group examined the challenges that companies experience “because we don’t know what we don’t know, or we fail to understand new trends that will disrupt our business,” Mack said. “Everyone needs a trusted advisor to help them uncover personal blind spots and biases.”
Recognizing that elite sales organizations are purpose-driven, Elevation Forum members explored the traits, behaviors and philosophies that characterize elite sales organizations. Key themes revolved around sharing uncommon insights, addressing the retailer’s high-agenda priorities and cultivating a stubborn resolve to see the best ideas through to the end. “The elite [sales organizations] never let a great idea die,” Mack explained. “They are courageous and they think winning is when the retailer and brand win with the customer. [They] learn to deliver bad news about their own items before the buyer does. [They display] insatiable curiosity, [they are] present and [they are good listeners]. The elite also understand the broader context of the industry, emerging new trends and what’s next.”
The next Elevation Forum event will be held next month in an intimate meeting in New Jersey, featuring Wakefern Food VP health and beauty care Chris Skyers. The theme for the discussion will be “Disruption, agility and corporate flexibility: How to drive advantage for your organization.” For more information, visit MackElevationForum.com/.