Our expert, Gergő Nidermayer, is the founding and managing director of ENDORIENCE
Sales promotion is a classic business field that has been approached by a large variety of methods in recent decades. In “prehistoric times”, it was possible to encourage sales, specifically control them, and influence them in-person at the point of sale. Then marketing and sales became a little more convenient. The excuses have come — some are valid, others are not — about why traditions no longer play such a leading role, and the digital revolution has only added oil to this fire. But the “back to our roots” trend that has been observed in several areas in recent years is applicable here. With a changed background, a whole new dimension of technology, and a heightened level of strategic consulting, sales are experiencing a reboot.
Encourage with experience, not sell
First, it needs to be clarified that “sales promotion” itself is no longer an appropriate term for what the business environment expects in 2021. Although the incentive remained, this profession turned much more towards “providing an experience” (while of course not crossing a certain limit that can no longer be clearly linked to business). An important change is that more and more business units and locations are now considered a “selling point”. The mindset that has traditionally focused on stores and business locations directly involved in sales has changed. The modern businessperson knows too well that the reception of an office, the reception of an office building, a lobby — anything that can be associated with a particular business — directly influences that business’s success. It specifically encourages the potential customer to buy from the business. Even if there is never a specific sale at these locations, the amount of profit or loss they bring to business results can be accurately measured. It is not surprising, then, that companies with a more modern approach, following the trend or just ahead of it, are placing more and more emphasis on transforming even functional premises into quasi-sales points. This change has produced a new direction that could best be classified in the group traditionally referred to as POS, but it goes far beyond that. Mostly because it puts the issue of motivation and experience enhancement in the business at a strategic level, and in addition to material needs, “experience” gets the biggest role in the work. This type of strategic consulting is still relatively unknown, as it can be offered by companies with the most established professional background in creating serious sales promotion sites. However, they usually provide an operational version of the advice to their partners, also incorporating it into product delivery.
“ENDORIENCE is the first company in the international arena to focus exclusively on point-of-sale promotion consulting at the strategic level. We wanted the company name to indicate that we think differently about this profession, despite its long tradition. That’s why we put the words “endorphin” and “experience” together. Behind ENDORIENCE, of course, we also have a design and construction firm with a history of more than 20 years, but we have learned from the inquiries received from us in recent years and from the projects implemented from them that although strategic consulting focuses on encouragement, at the end of the process, there is no direct connection with the operational areas. Or, at least, you shouldn’t have a relationship because that can cripple your strategy. That’s why we built a separate company and concept for this, because in this way, the strategy can be a truly unique end product with a serious impact on business results”, explained the founder of ENDORIENCE.
Strategy vs operational work
All businesspeople are well aware that strategy is important, as is being born apart from operational work. This provides serious control over operational activity while not eliminating dreams.
“One of the most important roles of strategic consulting is to be able to build a unique vision and solution based on the partner’s ideas. Of course, it is important that these dreams come to fruition. In fact, this can be ensured by bringing together professionals with extensive practical experience in design and construction. In their careers, they’ve reached the point where it’s already boring to just “cut wood”, and so they’re already branching out from the operational area. This ensures that they want to push boundaries, but at the same time, they know exactly what can actually be manufactured and installed. It also works very well at ENDORIENCE, and it gives our best professionals a new career path, as they can progress professionally without having to leave the company”, analysed Gergő Nidermayer.
The field is very new, so the specific consulting products and services are not yet well-known in the field. As one might expect, the demand has not fully developed, as how would a businessperson know what to ask for something they do not know about?
“Yes, I think this is the biggest task now for us and the profession: we need to show what levels of promotion exist today. We have identified four distinct areas that we believe will fundamentally affect sales numbers, and ultimately the professionalism of the business. The “strategic experience review” provides a comprehensive overview of the point-of-sale incentive currently in place and defines suggestions for change. An “execution and budget review” is an examination of the plans and concepts of an external partner used by the company for point-of-sale promotion, and last but not least, their feasibility. The “hardware-software solution plan” manages the use of digitalisation in incentives. And “complex experience management” focuses on the entire process and includes the execution or management of tasks defined during strategic consulting”, said the company’s founder.
Strategic consulting is a well-known concept that is increasingly important. It can also be seen that the sales processes and mindsets of customers have changed drastically since 2020 in both B2C and B2B areas. You definitely need to keep track of these changes for businesses to be successful in the future, and a brand-new version of point-of-sale incentive can provide some serious support for this.