Creating a Strategic Alliance with an
Important but Intransigent, Prospective Customer

One of the World's Largest
Bio-based Chemical Companies

 Situation:

The sales department of one of the world's largest bio-based chemical companies (our client) tried for several years to get the procurement  department of a $500 million company (prospective customer) to use our client's unique chemical in the prospective customer's product formulas. Our client's product cost 5% to 10% more than competitive chemicals, but offered performance attributes that some of the world's largest consumer packaged goods companies valued more than "low price." The prospective customer's procurement department was motivated by "low price" more than "product performance." Our client felt that their product-performance story was not being heard by higher-level executives whose performance incentives required break-through sales growth, not necessarily "low prices." How could our client get their message heard by higher-level decision makers?

Solution:

OCW's principals applied their "back door, top down"(c) marketing model to gain access to a "like-minded" high-level executive. (The back door, top down model identifies the type of executive the Wall Street Journal once referred to as an "unorthodox insider.") This unorthodox insider, when briefed on the client's product attributes became an inside sales missionary for our client.

Outcome:

Within a month, the inside sales missionary and OCW's principals lined up and executed a day-long "New Product Development Brainstorming Session" that included the prospective customer's top marketing, sales, R&D, and procurement executives, and our client's general manager and sales, marketing and R&D team. Of the dozens of new product ideas that used our client's proprietary chemical, half a dozen were deemed worthy of immediate investigation. This cemented a mutually profitable relationship between client and customer that still exists, several years later.