This is not the first time that GML and Simply Chocolate have formed a successful partnership.
GML has assisted with recruitment, the formulation of values and leadership training, and Simply Chocolate has in every case been highly satisfied with the results.
The Company
Simply Chocolate is a high-end chocolate brand based in Copenhagen, with a strong emphasis on using high-quality, natural ingredients – because taste and quality are absolutely crucial.
The Case – The World’s Best Chocolate Bar
Nothing less is the ambition for Simply Chocolate, which set a clear target of 66% growth. GML, represented by Partner Mogens Fog, was selected to ensure the achievement of this goal. Together with Simply Chocolate’s employees, Mogens acted as facilitator in the work with channel strategies, follow-up and execution.
The Consultant
Mogens Fog is GML’s lead on the project. Mogens has more than 16 years of experience in leadership and business development with some of the country’s largest companies.
Mogens on the collaboration: “The work with Simply Chocolate represents the heart of the GML set-up. We have this palette of services that all complement one another. After successful recruitment and leadership training, we move on to business development – which becomes just as great a success. The collaboration has been a real pleasure throughout, with competent and motivated people on both sides.”
Niels Østenkjær (CEO, Simply Chocolate):
“We run a channel strategy seminar every year – the results are beyond expectations. This works.”
The Three Steps: Ambition, Solution, and Result
The case consists of three stages: the ambition, the solution, and the result. We will go through them one by one below, with the greatest focus on the solution, so you get an overview of GML’s work process and what it means for each individual customer.
The Ambition: The world’s best chocolate bar must sell 66% more
Simply Chocolate needed to get more chocolate bars into the hands of more people – precisely 66% more. The ambition of creating the world’s best chocolate bar had to spread, and this required a focus on relevant sales channels.
The motivation for growth was clear: consumers deserve a chocolate bar based on quality ingredients. Chocolate bars filled with palm oil are no treat for the human body, which thrives much better on natural ingredients.
CEO Niels Østenkjær gave Mogens a thorough briefing on the strategy and motivation behind it, after which Mogens began shaping the right solution.
The Solution: Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up – making the complex simple
Many companies make plans and strategies on a grand scale, but little actually happens. That is why we establish what we call Simple Rules before the work begins:
- Only decisions that can be implemented are welcome.
- Intentions do not drive business – actions that can be executed do.
- When we decide something, we must always describe how – not only why. If you cannot answer how, it does not go into the action plan.
Brief and Backbrief
Key people from Simply Chocolate and GML gathered in inspiring surroundings, with a strong sense of energy in the room. After a thorough and efficient review of the strategy, Simply Chocolate employees began their most important task: each person had to create an individual channel strategy that followed the simple rules.
Mogens applied the brief and backbrief method here. Management can explain the what and why, and employees must be able to answer the how.
Eliminating dead weight and focusing on follow-up
At the same time, it is important to recognise that you cannot just add more work without changing the existing workload. Therefore, we also worked to eliminate all dead weight.
As the aim was to increase sales, it was natural to increase volume and reduce complexity. This meant, for example, that all unprofitable customisation of chocolate products was removed from the range.
Throughout the process, Mogens worked intensively on the importance of follow-up. Once you return to day-to-day operations, it is easy to fall back into old habits. That is why it is crucial to have firm structures for following up on the strategy – ensuring that it is still executed. Weekly briefings therefore included the brief and backbrief method.
The Result: Target achieved
The work with Simply Chocolate paid off, and the growth target was reached.
Key highlights at the conclusion of the case:
- Relevant channel strategies succeeded.
- The growth target of 66% increased sales was achieved.
- The focus on follow-up and simple rules fit perfectly with Simply Chocolate’s business mindset.
The next seminar is already scheduled, with the same plan: new goals and strategies will once again be secured through the right focus on channel strategies. Implementable decisions and follow-up remain the key to success.
