Client Profile
Product: Enterprise wide software solutions
Market: Meat, food and other processing industries
Position: Existing $80 million European company serving world wide markets

The Assignment:
When Company S first contacted PH&A, Company S had no industry presence in the North American market, despite several unsuccessful attempts to penetrate the marketplace. Company S is a 27- year old developer and manufacturer of enterprise-wide, fully integrated business (ERP) software systems. Its primary markets are processing manufacturers world wide, including the food and beverage, chemical, paint, and pharmaceutical industries. Company S's "ERP" module provides seamless integration of all administrative elements of the processing industry including procurement, production, warehouse, sales, inventory and accounting. Sales run from $100,000 to several million per application and clients span the range from mid-sized firms to global giants. Company S contacted PH&A, Inc. to assist in establishing a North American headquarters to penetrate the U.S. and Canadian markets.

The Method:
PH&A's goal was to create a lean, internal structure based on expansion through sales, and to affect an aggressive relationship-based system for long-term expansion.

PH&A initially recommended two major markets for Company S to target in the United States: the meat and food industries. The program included everything from finding a suitable US headquarters to recruiting the staff, ongoing consultation, market profiling, establishing regional markets, aggressive lead generation, sales and marketing controls, public relations, trade advertisements, and collateral material.

After developing all structural elements, including a long term organizational plan, standard operating sales procedures, policies, etc, PH&A wrote and developed job descriptions and incentive plans. To position Company S in the marketplace, PH&A conceived and developed several four-color sales collateral brochures to address both the meat industry and the food industry markets. PH&A also designed, produced and placed a number of trade advertisements and public relations releases to help position the company and to complement lead generation efforts. In addition, PH&A recruited an inside Sales Representative and a Western Regional Sales Representative prior to rolling out the first segment of an 80,000- unit direct mail campaign over a two-year period. Furthermore, PH&A traveled to Company S's European headquarters to coordinate a uniform marketing campaign for all of Company S's international offices.

The Result:
At the end of the first year, Company S successfully penetrated both the meat and food processing markets in North America and established enough accounts in the meat process industry alone to surpass the first year's sales goal of $1,000,000. Company S accomplished this goal with a staff of only seven individuals. This was the fastest national startup in the company's history.

Since adopting the PH&A program, Company S has approximately doubled sales each year and subsequently authorized PH&A to establish additional regional offices in the Northeastern and the Midwestern United States.