A Finnish food producer that had long been the market leader in its own product area in Finland needed help for finding a suitable sales partner. The company has been facing tougher competition over the last few years after some new competitors became active in this product area. Company Z sells its products mainly through major retail chains. They had difficulty getting information about product sales and selection from individual stores, which made it hard for them to target their marketing and sales activities. The company’s revenue was still under 1 M€, which meant it did not have opportunities to hire its own sales and marketing personnel. Konsulttiyhtymä AIKA helped the company build a model of operation where field sales were outsourced to a sales partner familiar with retail chains. Konsulttiyhtymä AIKA surveyed key candidates in Finland, evaluated their suitability, helped the client make the final pick and the contracts and supported the launch stage of the partnership.

A similar consulting process can be used for choosing sales partners for other product manufacturers selling their products through a retail channel.

Responsible partner Antti Lehtimäki