In a previous blog, I wrote about the importance of business acumen, which is the ability to assess an external market and make effective decisions. Or more simply put, it’s understanding how YOU and the work you do fit into the bigger picture.

Working with many manufacturers and retailers is a great privilege for me, and one that gives me the unique perspective to help identify broader issues and opportunities for our industry.   A recent opportunity that was identified by Tom McDonald (Category Management Association) and I was to improve the connection of what we do in category management to the Shopper.    How do we better connect with Shoppers?  It starts by focusing on the big picture - including defining your department's purpose, and identifying your expected outputs AND inputs.  By delving deeper into your inputs - including data, tools, strategy, processes and people (based on where your biggest gaps are) - you can uncover ways to improve your overall approach. These improved inputs can change your game!  Are you ready?  Although it may be difficult to get out of your comfort zone and start to think about ways to make changes to improve the future for your department, there are three steps that can get you started.

Business acumen is the ability to assess an external market and make effective decisions. You need the skills and tools to think more like an owner of the business and to understand, set and execute business strategy while being able to measure the effectiveness of their business strategy through financial performance – skills that I think many of us can improve upon. Think about what you’re responsible for in your job. How often do you think about or consider the impact of your decisions on other areas in your company?  For example product supply? Or finance? Or your implementation team?

Retail has changed significantly over the past 20 years – new data, technology, tools, analytics, Shoppers, omni-channel … How much have you changed your internal approach to reflect these changes? I recently co-facilitated a “Retail Leaders’ Forum” for retail executives responsible for category management, with Tom McDonald of the Category Management Association. We talked about the importance for this audience to evaluate their current catman approach in 3 areas.

We spend a lot of time analyzing our business, but we need to ask whether we are looking at the entire picture or just scratching the surface.  Are you looking for the big opportunities? Developing next year’s category plan? Identifying weaknesses when business is soft? Determining the next big innovation? Evaluating the post results from an initiative? Or analyzing a specific tactic? Identifying the question will help you achieve your goals.

If you’ve made cuts to next year’s training budget or plan to, there’s still time to avoid: Productivity losses, Missed opportunities, and Strategic misfires … All for a fraction of the cost of Data, Technology, and Shopper Insights. Here’s how …

Our industry is changing. Has your organization responded? Are you stuck in a holding pattern or waiting for a signal? This blog will help you to get started in leading the journey for your organization.

The direction you need to achieve your goals. You’ve completed a category review or category assessment, ultimately identifying your biggest areas of opportunity to help you achieve your target goals and objectives in the category. Now what? 

We’re all searching for better ways to tap into Shopper insights data to address the “why” in category management — why aren’t we finding it?

Today, many Manufacturers are spending more dollars than ever before on data, technology and Shopper understanding. While the complexity of the data and technology increases, resources are being cut, requiring us to do more with less.