Bigger Mutual Wins in Sales, Profit, and Market Share
When the concept of Joint Business Planning (JBP) emerged 25 years ago, it promised transformative collaboration between retailers and their key vendors, driving exceptional growth in sales, profits, and market share. Initially, it delivered impressively—I know firsthand, having stewarded Target’s pioneering JBP initiatives with partners like P&G, Unilever, Hanes, and General Mills, resulting in significant mutual benefits.
Today, however, JBPs have devolved into mere annual contract negotiations—competitive, tedious, and transactional. Merchants and vendors get bogged down in complex financial models that obscure real opportunities and stifle collaborative growth. Instead of jointly solving problems and expanding opportunities, both sides frequently begin with extreme demands, making genuine strategic alignment nearly impossible.
After a decade of working closely with retailers and vendors nationwide, we are convinced it is time to revitalize Joint Business Planning to meet its original promise. Enter the Conlego JBP—our renewed vision for JBPs focuses on true collaboration, strategic and financial alignment, innovation, and significant mutual gains. Where we have instituted the principles of the Conlego JBP, retailers and suppliers have consistently yielded extraordinary results, nearly doubling sales and profits compared to traditional transactional methods, while identifying innovation opportunities.
What Makes Conlego’s JBP so Successful?
- Mutual Mindset – Effective JBPs require retailers and vendors to adopt a cooperative, growth-oriented mindset. Partners should approach the process with the intention of jointly “expanding the pie,” rather than simply maximizing their slice. Without this foundational mindset, genuine collaboration and the resulting growth are unattainable.
- Strategic Partner Selection – Choosing JBP partners thoughtfully is critical. Partners should align strategically and financially with your long-term growth objectives—not necessarily your largest vendors, but those with significant untapped potential. Given the investment of time and resources, partner selection should be deliberate and limited to maximize effectiveness.
- Comprehensive Omnichannel Approach – Unlike past JBPs that have narrowly focused on in-store merchandising, JBPs must embrace an omnichannel strategy. It should integrate marketing, retail media, and supply chain discussions to identify expansive opportunities and drive greater innovation and efficiency.
- Transparent Information Sharing – Openness is essential. Partners must share strategic insights, priority investments, product innovation, and core business needs. This transparency reveals opportunities and fuels innovative solutions that traditional negotiations typically miss.
- High-Level Executive Involvement – JBPs demand engagement from the highest organizational levels, including CEOs, CMOs, Chief Sales Officers, and Chief Merchants. Executive commitment at kickoff and critical stages ensures meaningful progress and resource alignment, driving breakthrough innovation.
- Dynamic and Continuous Management – A successful JBP isn’t static; it is continuously reviewed and refined. Regular quarterly meetings allow both parties to assess progress, address challenges, and evolve strategies to meet changing market dynamics effectively.
Success Stories
We recently worked with a regional grocer that saw millions in incremental investment from just a handful of strategic JBP partnerships, just five. By investing the time and commitment in these five, the grocer saw an increase of over $25M in new value in just its first year. For the size of the grocer, this was a significant increase to its profitability, while developing strategic initiatives that grew sales significantly after the first year of JBP planning.
At a specialty retailer, we helped implement a JBP program that grew to over $100M in incremental investment by year three of the program, with a resulting significant increase in market share. As the Chief Merchant noted, “It was the combination of a disciplined process with an open mindset and trust, that made all the difference”.
How to Successfully Implement the Conlego JBP
- Preparation: Conduct thorough pre-meeting preparation to clearly understand each party’s motivations, opportunities, interests, and potential collaborative gains.
- Executive Kick-off: Launch with senior executives present, using a mutually prepared agenda. This sets a collaborative tone and ensures commitment from all parties.
- Transparent Financial Modeling: Develop shared, transparent financial models, ensuring clarity, alignment, and trust throughout the process.
- Ongoing Management: Assign dedicated representatives from each organization to manage and evolve the plan actively. High-level executives should periodically re-engage to resolve significant roadblocks and renew commitments.
Why the Conlego JBP Works
Our approach to JBP works because it fundamentally shifts how partners collaborate, moving from adversarial to cooperative relationships grounded in trust, openness, and mutual innovation. This approach creates sustainable competitive advantages and compounds success year-over-year as trust and collaboration deepen.
Accelerating Success
To unlock the full potential of the Conlego JBP, consider these enhancements:
- Process Improvement: Structured and thoughtful planning ensures consistent execution and optimal outcomes. Conlego has the tools, structures and processes to accomplish this consistently after years of experience.
- Technology Enablement: Utilize advanced collaborative planning tools like Portager.ai, removing complexity and mistrust inherent in traditional spreadsheet-based methods.
- Training and Coaching: Equip your teams with the negotiation, facilitation, and strategic skills essential for effective collaboration through training and coaching from Conlego.
- Professional Facilitation: Engage neutral facilitators to bridge gaps and drive alignment, unlocking innovative solutions even when initial alignment is challenging. Conlego offers facilitation of Joint Business Plans for retailers and suppliers seeking to quickly align and drive growth.
At Conlego, our extensive experience with JBP uniquely positions us to support you in building robust, strategic partnerships that drive growth. Let’s explore how we can help drive mutual growth and extraordinary results together. Reach out today—we’re ready to help your organization embrace the power of Joint Business Planning.
