Share this
by RepSpark Team on August 20, 2019
Is your company being considered for a merger or acquisition? Or perhaps you may be in the process of acquiring a brand? Leading Apparel, Footwear, Accessory Brands are highly desired in today’s marketplace. We read about transactions that happen every day with different brands being acquired. While this process is not for the faint of heart, there are ways you can be smart during the process by fully understanding the value of the brand.
Much of the value is based on the brand’s sales growth, market strength, and consumer following. Strong consumer brands have value and are hard to reproduce, that is why larger companies or investors buy these brands. However, in all cases the eventual price paid is based on the brand’s ability to deliver consistent sales growth, high bottom line profits and a growing EBITDA, Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization.
One of the main contributor factors to a successful brand’s growth in EBITDA is a comprehensive Sales Automation System (SAS). Such a system is essential in today’s very competitive selling environment. It is the essential component to:
- Optimizing Sales
- Cutting Operating Costs
- Driving High Inventory Turnover
- Reducing Markdowns
- Meeting the expectations of retailers
- Maximizing Profits
Having a SAS technology in place that does all of the above can all be accomplished with RepSpark. Today, we want to take a closer look at how you can successfully add value to your brand during the M&A process and how we can help.
We were able to earn at least a 30% higher price for Sanuk due to the company’s ability to generate high gross margins and an exceptional EBTIA due to high gross margins. Never would have been possible without RepSpark. -Dac Clark, CEO of RepSpark, LSpace and Sanuk
Optimizing Sales
There is no denying that the optimization of your sales is a direct result of the quality and abilities of the efforts of your team. It takes a smart strategy to be successful and part of the process is equipping your sales force with the right tools to maximize sales and leverage efficiency during the process.
How RepSpark can help: With quick Reporting and Meeting Prep for Intelligent Selling tools, your sales team can optimize sales. Our Reporting utilizes a wealth of reporting data to better understand the health of your brand including total dollars & quantities sold, top products, trends across accounts, and much more. The Meeting Prep for Intelligent Selling tool provides key account data with a touch of a finger.
Reducing Operating Costs
For a sales organization, a SAS will assure effectiveness in what is usually a chaotic operating environment and reduce costs. It is imperative for your sales people to have access to current Available to Sell Inventory, account sales and order history, order status information without having to call into headquarters and chase down information they should always have accessible.
How RepSpark can help: Our Communication Hub and Order Reporting comes to your aid with reducing operating costs and making information easily accessible. Our proprietary CRM tool allows brands to view, document, manage, and execute communication between management, sales reps, customer service, and retail accounts.
Driving High Inventory Turnover
The key to sales optimization is to have access to real time Available To Sell information. Knowing what is in stock and future available inventories is essential information to building accurate orders that will be shipped. It’s also important to understand what customers are buying and what is driving quick inventory turnover.
How RepSpark can help: RepSpark tracks current available inventory for fast and efficient reorders. All future cuts are listed with delivery dates for Pre-Books. Essentially you issue orders for inventory that will be shipped. You can also drive high inventory turnover with our Reporting software by digging down into the sales by channel, product category, and retailer, then also manage all Inventory. Furthermore, you can dive even deeper with the Product Segmentation tool which helps drive sales and in store traffic with a custom curated product assortment for specific retailers.
Reducing Markdowns
It’s no surprise that surplus inventory causes an increase in markdowns. To help maximize your profits, the proper planning and forecasting needs to happen to ensure your retailers order the styles available in the proper time the SKUs are available.
How RepSpark can help: With Sales Forecasting, it’s easy to identify current sales volume to goal by time, sales reps, account, category, or product type. This tool helps with all planning and ensures an optimal product inventory for specific retailers.
Meeting the expectations of Retailers
Not only is SAS essential but it also serves the expectations of your B2B buyers. Today, retailer’s expect suppliers to fulfil the following expectations:
- A professional line presentation system that saves time and delivers shippable orders.
- Curated line presentations, custom catalogs access to real time Available to Sell information.
- For B2B functions to operate with the same efficiency as B2C by having the ability to fill in and to track their own orders.
You can learn more about fulfilling the expectations of today’s retailer via this blog post.
How RepSpark can help: With our Digital Catalog and Whiteboard creator, retailers can buy directly from the online brochure against live inventory. After making the purchase, then the system will automatically handle all invoicing and packing tracking. All updates will be sent and archived for future reference. Not only does this meet expectations, but it also reduces operating costs.
Maximizing Profits
To maximize your profits, it’s crucial to understand your goals and what makes your company money. Your sales force and product distribution is critical to the life of the company and you should know exactly how you can continue distribution, enter new markets, beat the competition and expand the growth of the company.
How RepSpark can help: By having key historical data and in depth details of how accounts have grown with Reporting tools. This is a great way to enhance the value of your organization by showcasing the sales number by product and by clearly showcasing the multiple revenue streams by product category.
If you are in the process of selling your brand, it’s not too late to set up our software in your systems and increase the value of your brand. The average onboarding process takes anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months. If you are ready to experience our SAS software, then Schedule a Demo today.
