The challenge

Every B2B company is subject to obsolescence and competition and the only defence against this is the ability to outpace both through innovation. The question being addressed is not whether or not this strategic reality has an impact on the certainty of growth forecasts, because it clearly does, but can this impact be easily measured, and if so, how?

 

The answer starts by recognising that a company’s customers hold the key because their retaining them as a supplier, or not, is based on their confidence in a company’s ability to adapt, innovate and execute solutions that meet their current and emerging needs.

 

Having identified the adjudicators, the next part of the question considers the extent of each customer’s confidence and whether it is sufficient to retain the services of a supplier without thinking about an alternative, and whether this presents the company with new opportunities.

 

Certifying Growth Forecasts

From previous years of innovation in the consulting space and experience working with a variety of companies, a single-criterion rating from customers was been developed that gets to the core of the seemingly complex issue of obsolescence, competition and innovation and its impact on growth forecasts. Customers are asked to rate their expectations of a supplier as an innovative problem solver to measure the value they place on the company’s product or service solution in the context of the pace of change they are experiencing in their business, and the likelihood of them retaining the company as a supplier into the future.

 

Algorithms then apply weightings to customers’ rating scores based on their current spend to calculate the business’s likely Future Revenue and Growth Rate. This provides the hard evidence needed from customers on:

​

1. How vulnerable client company revenue is to competitors

2. ​Whether they have an innovative advantage

3. ​Where they fit into customers' growth plans

4. The impact of this on their future revenue and growth rate