Commercial strategy

We all have a pretty good idea of where our existing growth comes from and what building blocks we have used to get there. However, time and time again we see our clients expecting to achieve double-digit growth in the future, without having an actionable answer for how to achieve such growth.

Designing for growth

A commercial strategy is a decision-making process. It is the answer to five simple questions:

1. What is our winning aspiration? Commercial strategy is like a puzzle, and you need to know what your vision and aspiration is, so you know what level of financial growth you are striving for.
2. Where will we play? Start by co-creating a firm market game board and use that to make critical growth choices about what to do and what not to do: which markets will you play in, who are you serving and with what products and services. Then ensure that those key choices are translated into a financial reserve to ensure you can achieve your future growth aspiration.
3. How will we win? How will we position ourselves optimally in the chosen playing field to differentiate ourselves and win over customers? With what value proposition and what business model design?
4. What capabilities must be in place to ensure that the right people are equipped with the needed tools and the capabilities to make the change happen?
5. What management systems are required? In other words, how do we design our operating model to support our growth, and how do we track performance?

All these steps – nothing more and nothing less – will truly enable you to achieve sustainable commercial growth that is fit for humans and fit for the future.

How are leading organisations designing and implementing commercial strategies to accelerate growth?

In our experience, the companies that are most successful in designing and implementing commercial growth strategies have some things in common.

• They always start with outside-in customer insights and use this as a foundation for decision-making. They dare to ask questions instead of building new solutions based on outdated assumptions. They turn real people’s real needs into new business opportunities.
• They facilitate strategy as a co-creation process. They engage stakeholders while developing growth options and they consider how to make the company’s growth journey a movement for everyone at the company to rally around.
• They focus on actionable commercial choices. They know that financial goals do not drive change – people who change behaviour and work in new ways do. This is why they are obsessed with understanding the implications of their growth choices and the specific commercial behaviours that will drive real change.
• And they test and calibrate the commercial system. Meaning once they have decided on their growth bets, they consider what implications this has on their customer experience, value proposition and portfolio, go-to-market model and channel choices, and their operating model and capabilities.

How we have supported clients within commercial strategy