A Lesson in Numbers

Volume, profit, and share are the spice of a client’s life. Tell me what you want, what you really, really want.”

The Spice Girls, a musical group known more for its promotional talent than its musical ability, sang those words repeatedly a few years back while looking for dating and mating advice. But they could easily have been speaking for agencies, vendors, and other marketing partners who have been known to ask, “What is my Client thinking?” or lament, “I could do such good work if it were only for my Client.”

In short, what does the Client want? What does the Client really, really want?

I am here to tell you what the Client wants, what he really, really wants. The Client wants to make his numbers. That is it.

It is very simple: Manufacturers are in business to deliver goals to their management – volume, profit, and share goals. These goals are measured numerically. Hence, when a manufacturer “makes its numbers” it is, in fact, meeting volume, profit, and share goals for the year.

But, you might ask, “Isn’t there more to business than making numbers? Didn’t I learn in school that marketing was about building a brand, not delivering a profit goal? Shouldn’t a manufacturer concentrate on developing great new products, fabulous positioning statements, first-class television commercials, and inventive promotions? Shouldn’t Clients be driven to win awards and be recognized in their industry? Don’t Clients know that their consumers couldn’t care less about whether they make their numbers that year?”

Speaking for the Client, I can say that we absolutely care about our consumers. We care about developing products that meet their needs better than our competition. We care about creating advertising and promotion programs that will lead to changes in our consumers’ behavior.

We care about all of these things. But nothing affects Clients more day-to-day than whether or not we are making our numbers.

Three Kings Volume is the first thing we think about. When volume grows, profit follows. There are more funds available for investment, our plants run more efficiently, our trucks are full, and retailers like to keep our product on their shelves because it moves quickly, providing them with more profit as well. Volume equals top-line growth.

Profit is also the first thing we think about. (Note the multiple first priorities; we learn to do that early on as a Client.) Sometimes we are unable to make profit grow by moving more volume. Sometimes we need to raise prices or cut costs. All of the time we must provide our management and stockholders with an increasing return on their investment. Although things have cooled a bit, in this dot-com world we are competing for investment dollars against companies that are providing returns of 30 percent, 300 percent, or 3,000 percent.

Finally, there is share. You might think that share is not as important as volume and profit. But it is one of the primary things the investment community looks at in determining the health of a brand and its parent company. Anything with a strong impact on our stock price is important to us – because the stock price affects our bonuses, employment, stock options, and daily life in the office.

If we don’t make our goals, we may not have the investment dollars required to do the “right things.” If we don’t make our goals, we may not get as big a bonus, or any bonus, and that’s a very bad thing. If we don’t make our goals, work is not fun. If you spend your days explaining why you’re not making your numbers, you have less time to do the “right things” needed to build the brand – like developing great new products, fabulous positioning statements, first-class television commercials, and inventive promotions.

When all is said and done, it is easy to remember what drives Clients, because the concept is inherent in the word “Manufacturer.”

Make All your Numbers.

You got it. The first three letters remind us to make all our numbers. And the remaining letters remind us of the consequences if we don’t:

Unless you want to be Fired, Axed, Cut, Tortured, Uncomfortable, Reviewed, Eliminated, or Read the riot act.

Life is no fun for a Client not making his numbers. Missing goals is what he really, really doesn’t want.