Doug Kent Background Success Stories

Summary Background

  • Proctor & Gamble, 10 years
  • Franklin Farms, General Manager, $30 mm to $100 mm, tripled the business in three years and sold the company, primarily through new product development
  • $180 mm P&L responsibility for very large merchandising company, 9 years, finishing as division head in charge of North East, New York, with some United Kingdom responsibility.  Ran largest division, #1 in sales and new account penetration for several years, division head of the year 5 out of 7 years
 

 

HQ Call Sales Success Stories*

(401) $0 to $100 Million of Revenue in 3 Years:  Private Label and Branded Water at Wal*Mart.  Pulled together 11 different water manufacturers to supply private label and branded water on regional and national basis.  (DK) 

(402) Budget Launch of Big New Product - $0 to $180 Million in Three Years, Fruit2O Launch.  Veryfine, (juice manufacturer) was losing money, losing share.  Needed help launching concept of “flavored water”.  Associate put together entire program including a sales plan, marketing and merchandising plan to launch.    Manufacturer could not afford slotting fee of $100,000 per SKU at Stop & Shop.  Solution was to surround Stop & Shop with product in competing channels.  Three years later, Associate got product into Stop & Shop for slotting fee of $5,000 per SKU.  Gained distribution at Wal*Mart, Kroger, Albertsons, Publix, Safeway and Wakefern.  Owner then sold company to Kraft for $185 million after Fruit2O launch in 2004. (DK)   

(403) Budget Launch of Big New Product:  $0 to $35 Million in 18 months, Friendly’s Ice Cream Cake. Ice Cream Cake was strong in restaurants, but not being sold in grocery stores.  Associate developed and executed sales and merchandising plan.  In 6 months, pulled together distribution data, cost data and executed merchandising at 100% distribution.  The product became so profitable that the manufacturer ultimately brought the HQ call selling in-house.  Product is currently the #1 brand of Ice cream Cake in North East. (DK) 

(404) $0 to $7 million in one year, $49 million over 7 years, from Excess Product:  Developed veggie burger as bulk product using excess mushrooms that manufacturer could not otherwise sell.  Partnered with Costco to use their excess capacity in processing, resulted in finished veggie burger that became big seller for Costco.  (DK) 

 

Services and Merchandising Success Stories*

(209)* 50% Margin Services Niche, $0 to $1.2 Million in One Year.  Closed General Mills, Conagra, Dole, Reckitt Benckiser, a few smaller accounts at 50% margin.  Accomplished by Working from Existing Strength in New Item Promotion.   Added new item service, guaranteeing 90% ACV on-shelf within four weeks.  (DK)

 

(210)* Found Higher Margin Services Niche, $0 to $16 Million in Two Years***.   Accomplished by adding in-store sampling program to existing strength in New Item Promotion.  Included working with retailer to set display up, restocking periodically.  Program worked because CEO got 200 sales people on conference call, demanded six new customers within 30 days – and got it!  Spent significant time, money, sales incentives.  Category:  Grocery (DK)  ***Note:  Associate worked alongside this team, but did not actually contribute to results personally.

 

·         Generated Approximately $21 Million in Additional Sales for Manufacturer, Best out of 36 Teams at New Item Speed to Shelf, Three Years in A Row*:  Associate sold and led effort against major competitors.  For three years in a row, Associate's team conducted a total of 12 new item launches and finished first among 36 teams all three years.  Approximately $21 million in additional sales were attributable to Associate's team.  Sales increase was due to effectiveness of Associate's team at getting new items on shelves, highlighted by 100% attendance of Associate's people at every launch for three years in a row.  (DK)

·         $871,000 in Revenue, $217,000 in Profit Earned for Merchandising Company by Understanding Ins, Outs, & Hidden Tricks of Homestore / ISE Work*.   (DK) 

·         22% Annual Increase In Diaper Sales For 56 Store Chain, Completely Displaced a Competitor*.  By placing a space analyst at retailer, Associate’s team discovered extreme dissatisfaction with a diaper manufacturer.  Associate went to a competitive diaper manufacturer, jointly developed a new planogram, closed retailer and completed resets in three weeks, completely displacing the original diaper manufacturer.  (DK)

·         “Clustering” of Projects in Health and Beauty Results in Affordable Merchandising for Manufacturers.*   Associate was able to negotiate an agreement with three non-competing manufacturers to share the cost of merchandising.  Through careful scheduling and knowledge of local conditions, reps with right skills and field management structure that was able to execute, Associate’s team was able to consolidate work so that reps got all the work done for three manufacturers in a single one hour call.  (DK)  

·         Gained Approximately $11.1 Million in Incremental Cosmetics Sales for Manufacturers in One Year, Took The Business Away From “No-Show” Competitors.  Associate’s Team Was Able to Earn $49 for 18,000 One Hour Calls Through "Clustering"* Associate discovered that a competitor’s merchandising team did not show up for a 210 store cosmetics reset.  Associate’s team was able to convert 30% of competitor’s shelf space to their manufacturers.  See discussion of clustering in health and beauty success story.  (DK) 

·         Won $5 Million Reset Project, Sole Source Bid*.  Associate led team that sold this project to a 120 store chain.  Won contract as a sole source provider, without competing bids, because Associate's team had performed consistently for the customer.  (DK)

·         Doing $600,000 Reset Project Well Results in $5 Million of Continuity Work* for a nationwide retailer.  Associate led team that pulled together multiple confectionary manufacturers.  Key was, again, performing over time for the customer.  (DK) 

·         Won $700,000 Reset Project, Displaced a Major Competitor of Associate's Manufacturer*.  By effectively servicing a rural set of 140 stores, Associate was able to aid his manufacturer in significantly displacing a major competitor.  (DK) 

 

International Products Successfully Introduced in U.S.

 

(112) International Brand Introduced in U.S.: $0 to $10 Million Year One, $75 Million+ by Year Three.  Accomplished With Less Than $10 Million Spent on Introduction

Manufacturer:  European HBC Manufacturer, Acquired by U.S. Manufacturer

Solutions Notes:   Associate assisted with product introduction in Northeast U.S.  Success keys included:

  • Positioned product as "European / Hip"

  • Slow, deliberate, methodical, inexpensive approach to gaining new retailers and new sales.  Sold product to CVS, Walgreen, and a Grocery retailer BEFORE APPROACHING WAL*MART

  • Product was so successful that problems were in Supply, not in sales (as is usually the case)

Category:  HBC, Cosmetics  (DK)

 

(114) International Brand Introduced in U.S.: $0 to $150 Million+ Year One.   Success Achieved Through Enormous Advertising and New Product Introduction Spending

Manufacturer:  European HBC Manufacturer

Solution Notes:  Associate assisted with introduction in Northeast U.S..  Manufacturer "did everything right" PLUS "spends more money on advertising than Proctor & Gamble" (as percent of sales.)

Category:   HBC, Hair Color, Shampoo, Makeup  (DK)

 

 

(402.1) Learned from International Success - How to Launch New Product For Less Than $10 Million - $0 to $180 Million in Three Years.  Manufacturer) was losing money, losing share.  Needed help launching new product concept

 

Solution Notes:  Associate put together entire program:

  • Slow, deliberate, methodical, inexpensive approach to gaining new retailers and new sales.

  • Sales plan, marketing and merchandising plan to support launch.   

  • Manufacturer could not afford slotting fee of $100,000 per SKU at the dominant retailer.  Solution was to surround retailer with product in competing retailers. 

  • Three years later, Associate got product into dominant retailer for slotting fee of $5,000 per SKU.  Gained distribution at Wal*Mart, and multiple other retailers. 

  • Owner then sold company for $185 million after successful launch

Category:  Similar to HBC (?) (DK)

*  Success stories, client quotes and payback estimates are provided as general illustrations of past performance and represent summaries of long term, complex efforts.  They are often used to teach concepts and lessons learned, and may have been simplified considerably.  Estimates of financial impact are estimates only, and not intended to convey exact financial information.  Some have been altered to protect confidential information.  We ask that prospective clients contact our references and request specific details of relevant success stories prior to any decision to use our services.