Alexandra Schörgenhofer

One post about us, and ill be back "blaba´ ing" about BtB sales & Marketing We are in the middle of a brand refresh - visually, but also revisiting our narrative and positioning. This process, professionally facilitated by Nils Lindner Koch, has also helped us shed some light on who we are. Business is messy and gritty. Sometimes you need to stop up and ponder. Some of the themes we landed on (my words): MAKING THE GTM ENGINE AN ENDURING ASSET: Reality is that many of our clients (mid-sized companies and global enterprises) don’t necessarily have products that sells themselves. Most of our clients are fighting every day to steal market shares and expand margins. For these companies one of the most enduring assets they have is their GTM engine. We want to be the consultancy that helps them design, build and run this engine. WHITE COLLAR CRAFTSMEN: Sales, marketing and commercial strategy have a scientific and arty flavours to them – but mostly it is a craft that you build and hone through contemplation, trial, and error. While we love a proper analysis and strategy, we also pride ourselves on being in the trenches with our clients doing the leg work needed to put strategies into action. BALANCE HUMILITY AND EXPERTISE: Client often ask us for advice and expect expertise. If we just respond with another question and a post-it I’m not sure how much value they get. That is why we are never afraid to say what we would do if it was our money that was on the line. That being said consultants have a reputation as being fixed-minded & arrogant. We want to tear down the stereotype and lead with curiosity and humility to see the problem behind the problem behind the problem. This is delicate and difficult to be frank, but we want to reside in that intersection. STAY SOLUTION AGNOSTIC: Avoid any bias in terms of technology, content or channels. We will not yell “SALESFORCE” or “60 second TV ad” to all problems clients throw at us. OPTIMISE THE CHAIN AND THE PARTS: We bring a bird’s eye view on the whole commercial engine from brand, demand, deal and success. VERY few challenges reside solely in one function. We would like to help optimise the whole chain while bringing experts within each domain to work on the parts. KVADRANT CONSULTING AS A PLACE TO WORK: While there is a lot of talk about how the “new generations have entirely different expectations to work” my experience is that they want the same things as I did: Development opportunities, being heard & respected, getting paid their worth, have fun at work. We want to be the best place for commercial talent to work, and where leadership and development are taken seriously. Full stop (Thomas Børve gets all the credit for this). But we are also keen on “crowdsourcing” many things related to culture, strategy, investments, marketing, hiring, and socializing to the whole company, which might be a bit different compared to how things were done decades ago.  I hope we succeed with both.  🚀 💕

59

10 Kommentare

„Doing the right thing even if no-one is looking“ - that is a good definition of #integrity. How to improve your skills to be able to do so is one of many questions to be answered for a good corporate culture. It was a pleasure to share my experience and thoughts about it with some distance in this podcast. Thanks #BCG and Dr. Katharina Hefter for the opportunity. Spotify Link to the podcast below in the comments. #compliance #corporateculture #leadership #crisismanagement

67

2 Kommentare

I have stilll in mind your keynote speech at ManCon. One key take away - start thinking - start change.

1

🔥 Get exclusive access to the Product Discovery Cheat Sheet 🔥 with 26 Product Discovery Methods that will enable you to "build the RIGHT THING" and not just "build the THING RIGHT" for your users. At konversionsKRAFT AG, we collected the most relevant methods that we have used in order to help our clients build and grow their digital products - you can use this board to evaluate your status quo and select the matching methods based on where you stand. To get access, follow these simple steps: 1️⃣ Connect with me and Anastasia Shvedova 2️⃣ Like this post ❤️  3️⃣ Comment on this post ("Brilliant, I want access!") 🚨 Disclaimer: this is the first version of the Product Discovery Cheat Sheet and we are looking forward to your questions and feedback while you are using it. Please feel free to approach us any time with your thoughts! #productdiscovery #discoverycheatsheet #productexperimentation #cromethods #testing #experimentation #growthmarketingsummit #growthmindedsuperheros #productmanagement

69

64 Kommentare

Join AI expert Christian Brugger at ai:NOW DACH edition in #SofitelBayerpost #Munich on Oct 10th to learn how to develop tangible #AI #use #cases in consumer #retail.  Identify and #implement impactful #solutions while leveraging AI to enhance #customer experiences, #optimize #operations, and drive #revenue growth. Gain practical insights & unlock AI's transformative #power for your business.  #AI #ConsumerRetail #aiNOW #Munich #SofitelBayerpost

23

1 Kommentar

📣 LATEST RESEARCH: Making omnichannel strategies work for you Many brands pushed to adopt direct-to-consumer (D2C) distribution over the last decade. But faced with numerous challenges many are turning back to multi-brand and offline channels. In their report for Roland Berger, Faris Momani, Theresa Werkhausen, Nicolas Wüthrich, and Lukas Stoner surveyed 1 800 consumers in three major markets – the US, Germany and Japan – to explore shopping patterns and expectations of different channels of lifestyle, fashion, and sporting goods. Some key insights: 💡 Multi-brand stores remain an important consumer touchpoint 💡 But, omnichannel interactions remain crucial as consumers access multiple channels (for different purposes) before purchasing 💡 Channel preferences differ by age - younger consumers are more likely to consult various channels 💡 Consumers have clear expectations of different channels These insights highlight that brands must adopt an omnichannel approach that leverages both multi-brand and D2C channels: ✅️ Companies should evaluate their presence in each channel – and develop an individual strategy for each ✅️ To avoid conflicts between channels, brands must define the assortment and price strategy for each channel, while also seeking out cross-channel synergies ✅️ Finally, companies must invest to deliver a seamless, consistent, and personalised customer experience across all channels Download the full study here: https://lnkd.in/dhjTwBjw #strategy #leadership #research #fashion #retail #omnichannel #customerintimacy #customers #customerfocused #multichannel #branding #sales #marketing Vlerick Business School Kurt Verweire Carine Peeters Martin Weiss Brett Hamilton Kerstin Fehre Esha Mendiratta Robyn Hanssens (she/her)

11

1 Kommentar

An increasing number of corporations decides to establish a #pricing_manager in their organization - there is longtime evidence in our empirical research. In our pricing projects for international corporations as well as midsize companies (what we call #Mittelstand) we see that not all of these pricing managers seem to be successful. In this #Pricing_Newsletter I will dive into some reasons. I discussed this topic with Stefan Baumert, CEO of TUI Germany, with Frederick Wurr, pricing manager at Hansgrohe Group, with Dr. Tobias Schaefers, Professor of Marketing in Copenhagen and Bielefeld, and Dorian Rieger, responsible for pricing at Sartorius. See below my findings. I will be happy to have your comments!

3

Technologies such as AI have no value, unless we come up with a clear vision what to do with them! 🤔 Thank you Martin Szelgrad for inviting me to take part in a group discussion at Austrian Federal Computing Centre about the role of AI in the Austrian and European economy. And thanks for featuring my statement in the latest edition of the Report Verlag magazine! 🚀 I highlighted 2 things during this discussion: 👉 We need to build up our own expertise in Europe and we need to do it quickly. A great opportunity is to link AI to areas where we have already a leading position, such as tourism in Austria. Österreich Werbung / Austria Tourism is already taking big steps in this direction. AI Hubs where we proactively advance our own developments in a collaborative approach will accelerate the process. 👉 A clear vision is what we would like to achieve is essential. Where are we headed? The vision motivates all players to contribute and more importantly to stay here and strengthen our economy rather than moving abroad. What can we do to accelerate to speed up the uptake of AI in Austria and Europe? Thanks for an inspiring discussion! Lara Spendier Borislav Nikolov Günter Stessl Dr. Gerald Bader Thomas Steirer We missed you Martin 👥 Giesswein, such a bummer you couldn't make it! #techinnovation #AI #humantech #digitization

15

Interesting new episode of the Kassenzone podcast with Peter Pernot-Day from SHEIN, who talks about the history as well as current developments and the general business model. Three interesting tidbits: SHEIN has been active in Germany since 2015. As a company, it has also been profitable since that year - despite the low prices. SHEIN's goal is to create "High Engagement Experiences": Unlike purely search-driven retail, customers should open the app regularly, even if they don't want to buy anything specific. SHEIN is primarily an e-commerce company, but they explicitly use pop-up stores to enable interaction in the physical world - Pernot-Day calls this "ephemeral retail". Find out more in the podcast (it starts in German, but the interview is in English):

1

I took a 2 month #parentalleave as a Partner at Roland Berger to take care of my son and spend more time with my wife. Are are my 5 learnings and recommendations how to make it happen: 1. #Enjoy the moment: Just be there for your family, don't overload the time with special activities every day. Go out in the forest, swimming or go to the playground brings a lot of joy 2. Align timing with #business cycle: Put the leave ideally in the summer months of July and August or whatever time is best for your industry 3. #Delegate all tasks and enable the next leadership generation: Don't think that you are irreplaceable, instead try to hand over all responsibilities, potentially except for having a look at your direct reports from time to time 4. Spend time with your #partner: Do things you did not manage to do in the last months such as a romantic dinner or going to the cinema while your kid is in daycare or relatives have a look 5. Do a private #project: My wife and I build a gigantic mud kitchen for our son and I trief to swim every day for 1h while he was sleeping You could also reconsider if a formal parental leave, i.e. being 100% out is right or if you want to move to a 80 or 90% contract with 2 or 3 months vacation in a year but more flexibility. And finally: Just do it. The time with your kid never comes back. A big thank you from my side to my mentor Carsten Bock , our Industrials head Norbert Dressler and the Roland Berger Advanced Technology Center and Electronics practices for covering me, in particular: Falk Meissner Dr. Joerg Schrottke Alexander Fey Dr. Sebastian Schams Andrew Yi Carina Kiessling Maurus Wüthrich

120

4 Kommentare

Two weeks ago, my wife and I started the winter season with a weekend in Saas-Fee. It was unusually crowded and we learned the reason why: the “Magic Pass”. This is an all-you-can-ski pass for the entire season… and not just for Saas-Fee but 80(!) ski areas in CH, IT and FR. It costs 750 CHF… but only if you buy it BEFORE the season goes into full swing. Sounds like a lot of money, but break-even is after 10-15 days of skiing. With more and more resorts applying dynamic pricing for day passes (depending on day of the week/vacation periods/weather, some expect them to be 200-300 CHF, soon), break-even might even come quicker. This post is not an advertisement but there is a fascinating economical “GAME” going on: Climate change makes resorts at lower altitudes struggle. A resort near where I live had two terrible years with only ~20days with enough snow for full operation. Cost for personnel and infrastructure and maintenance however are fairly fixed… and thus bad weather results in financial distress quickly. But if your customers are paying you UPFRONT, they have a hedge on the weather. And the more resorts are participating, the better for the customer (more flexibility, less dependent on local weather). A good example for PLATFORM ECONOMICS, where the attractivity of the #1 makes it very hard for others to compete. Which likely means that sooner or later their dominance will result into price raises both for the skiers and the participating resort. Which puts them into a dilemma: On one hand, they need the hedge, on the other (at least in good winters) they obviously would prefer selling their way more profitable day passes. Modelling the right strategy from a Game Theory perspective would need an entire project and so I can’t give you the answer here today, but it would be interesting to have Game Theory discussions with the resort managers. Unfortunately, way to often I see firms that would need such advice most, doing cost-cutting on consulting spend. In the US, these passes have transformed the entire industry in less than 20 years! “Epic Pass” started in 2008 with just 5 resorts and now owns 41. The industry has consolidated rapidly to become pretty much a duopoly. However, even these players seem not having thought through their longer term game play in all aspects well enough: Their enormous success causes severe issues with long waiting queues at the lifts, traffic jams and parking chaos, accommodation prices skyrocketing, making rent-out through Airbnb more attractive than ever, in consequence living cost for staff got unaffordable,….   Which is now causing some other resorts to implement a complete opposite strategy: For instance, the Yellowstone Club in Montana offers EXCLUSIVE skiing for an upfront fee of $400k, an annual fee of $40k and you have to buy or build a $3+m property in the area.    Long story short: Enjoy the winter! And watch the very interesting "game" that, whether you like it or not, you are a part of!😊

14

5 Kommentare

In January 2024, the acquisition of interim-x.com marked the first strategic acquisition in the history of Horváth. This synergy is paying off: In the first half of 2024, the interim manager platform was able to accelerate its growth and increase its revenues by 19%. ⬆   And we both benefit from the close collaboration when it comes to mediation: Horváth's clients increasingly make use of the services offered by interim-x. The companies are primarily looking for expertise in the following areas:   💶 CFO-related topics such as improving cost and profitability structures. 📈 CRO-related topics like restructuring, liquidity management, carve-outs, etc. 💻 Technological transformation such as the digitalization of business processes, cybersecurity, ERP implementations, or e-Procurement. 🛒 Further development and reconfiguration of the supply chain and procurement, thus realigning significant parts of the value creation. We are very pleased with the successful integration of interim-x and aim to continue writing success stories with Martin Franssen and his outstanding team! 🤝 #SuccesfullyTogether #RoadtoValue #Horváth #InterimManagement #ManagementConsulting

151

7 Kommentare

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk to Daniel Nerlich, founder of CONSULTANT career lounge. We talked about INVERTO | A BCG Company and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), about the challenges the economy is facing and discussed why procurement and supply chain teams are so integral to make our clients businesses stronger.   Thank you for the interesting conversation, Daniel Nerlich!   Please read the whole interview here: https://lnkd.in/eFcdcY_3 Let me have your thoughts!   #Procurement #SupplyChain #Wearehiring #BCG #INVERTO

46

2 Kommentare

BACK TO GROWTH! For our latest #CxONews, we interviewed 160 top executives from German and further European companies as well as US companies about their growth prospects, growth strategies, and biggest challenges. To gain even further insights into the key success factors, we also analyzed the corporate development of 4,000 of the world’s most profitable organizations. Three central growth levers emerged: 🧭 Path - a directional strategy 🚀 Power - well-positioned growth resources 👥 People - a growth culture and the right mindset Here you can read all the details behind this approach, as well as fascinating interviews with high-profile executives and growth experts from top-tier companies like HUGO BOSS, DuMont Group, and Enpal, in our “Back to Growth” edition in the link of the comment below: Special thanks go to Daniel Grieder, Christoph Bauer, and Benjamin Merle for their time and trust in sharing their “growth secrets” with us. And of course, many thanks to the great team behind this issue of the CxO News! 🙏    

90

3 Kommentare

🚀 A big step towards the future! 🚀 Yesterday and today, Bernd Scherf, Mike Brauner, Werner Willms, Dan Rades and I worked intensively on a joint #product vision and laid the foundations for a corresponding #MVP. 🧩 What exactly did we develop? I won't reveal that at this point - but I can promise you one thing right now: 🔧 Our solution will make your system landscape more efficient 💸 Significantly reduce costs 📊 Enable seamless data across the entire customer journey 🚀 And above all: help medium-sized companies make rapid and sustainable progress on their path to greater digital maturity The next steps are exciting and I look forward to sharing more soon! 💡 What do you think this idea might be? #Innovation #Digitalisation #Transformation TALLENCE AG

25

1 Kommentar

Because they have to. Amazon.at - a mirror page of Amazon.de Temu.com - Chinese sellers eBay.at - majority non-AT sellers Only willhaben.at is a local marketplace let’s say it clearly, when it comes to Top5. #ecommerce #austria #marketplaces

11

2 Kommentare

#Amazon is a key economic factor in Germany—this is primarily due to more than 47,000 merchants who use the marketplace. For over 25 years, Amazon has been active in Germany and has become an important factor for the German economy during this time. In 2023 alone, Amazon contributed an estimated eight billion euros to Germany’s GDP, according to the economic consultancy firm Keystone (though the total GDP was 4.5 trillion euros). Since 2010, this contribution has amounted to more than 50 billion euros overall. With investments totaling 77 billion euros and the creation of 40,000 jobs, the figures highlight the significance of the corporation in Germany today. Amazon’s logistics centers, in particular, are now an indispensable part of the country, and they receive the majority of the company’s investments. However, one of the biggest cornerstones of Amazon’s success is the small and medium-sized businesses that earn with and through Amazon.

6