Many times companies make the mistake of thinking that the growth of their sales and gross contribution will translate into greater profitability, however in practice this may be different, so it is important to support customers to grow in a sustainable way This was stated by Fernando Espinosa, Frank Maes and Thomas Shimada, partners of Sintec, a Mexican business consultancy with 28 years of experience in Latin America.
The three partners of the Mexico City office shared with Forbes Mexico that over more than two decades, the firm has worked on more than 300 projects with leading companies in 17 countries, which has positionedSintec as a leader in the region.
The Mexican firm has established itself in Monterrey, Mexico City, Bogotá and São Paulo, offering a value proposition based on the profitable growth of its clients’ companies, through the design of a specific strategy.
“We seek to help our clients grow profitably. In the past we have observed that very few companies manage to grow profitably, because their operation becomes much more complex and what we do is help them manage that complexity that occurs when they grow ”, says Fernando Espinosa, partner Sintec.
Among the tangible benefits that Sintec has achieved in these years, is the impact on sales growth of between 20 and 50%, an increase of between 5 and 15% in operating profit, the increase in asset utilization of between 10 and 15%, the reduction of working capital of between 15 and 25% and the improvement in the level of service of between 5 and 15%.
The partners explain that the model that has been successful, both for companies and for Sintec, has been to go from the design of a strategy to an implementation, that is, to indicate to customers what to do and accompany them during the process, ensuring that companies develop organizational capabilities.
“The most successful projects have been those in which there has been a diagnosis, a design and an implementation,” they detailed.
A highly competitive portfolio
Sintec’s model to boost the profitability of companies has helped the firm become a leader in the segments of commerce, consumption, industrial products, construction materials and telecommunications sector at the national and international level.
Among the consumer clients that stand out in its portfolio are multinationals such as Bimbo, Coca-Cola, Gamesa, Campbell’s, Herdez and Bachoco.
In the construction sector, Cemex, Grupo Lamosa, Interceramic and Vitromex stand out.
While in the telecommunications industry there are giants such as Telmex, Iusacell, Nextel, Alestra and various telephone companies in South America and the Caribbean. Other clients that Sintec has provided its services to are Chedraui and Farmacias del Ahorro.
For now, the partners anticipate that Sintec sees an important opportunity in the energy sector and financial services in Mexico, which will be triggered by the structural reforms promulgated by the Federal Executive.
The crucial moment in decision making
Currently, companies are exposed to large amounts of information, which makes it difficult to operate a business, therefore, it is vitally important to have tools that provide companies with specific information when making decisions.
Sintec has implemented the Business Analytics and Optimization tool (BAO), which specializes in the prediction of the different possible business scenarios and suggests courses of action.
In this regard, Thomas Shimada, Sintec partner explains: “Although today there are highly trained people in companies, the reality is that many decisions are still made by intuition. What we seek is that the decisions of our clients are made based on hard data and with BAO we use technology for that data exploration ”.
Likewise, the partners comment that another of the big mistakes that companies make when making a promotion is the lack of ignorance about whether the offers are profitable or not.
There are ways to understand through data if promotions will be attractive to the public, but the problem lies when businesses instead of making money give away money.
Creating success stories through Client Strategies
Once companies are positioned in the market, they face the challenge not only of growing profitably, but also of meeting the needs of their target market, however another mistake that entrepreneurs make is wanting to diversify their services and products to all the world.
It is important that companies specify who their audience will be, since by doing so, mechanisms can be established to increase sales and encourage customers to stay within the consumption strategy.
“One of the tools that Sintec offers to companies, so that they can get closer to their audience is the practice of customer strategy, which is focused on finding and optimizing the company’s resources to reach that market. We think about how companies can use their sales force and the marketing area to reach each segment of the market and continue creating success stories for our clients ”, explains Frank Maes, Sintec partner.
The partners warn that the first step for a successful sales strategy is to segment the market, that is, the company must define towards which segment of the population it wants to direct its products and be clear about its most profitable customers, in order to avoid unnecessary expenses, by trying to attract consumers who will not be interested in the brand.
Sintec becomes a business ally of companies by advising their executives, which allows them to create a personalized development plan focused on the areas of opportunity or skills required to more efficiently face the challenge of growing with cost effectiveness