At the start of the first COVID lockdown in Germany, the interim manager was hired by Liftstar Marketing GmbH as a marketing consultant. The new marketing managing director had just taken up his position. At the same time, the figures (inquiries, website visits and sales) quickly plummeted due to the COVID situation. The leading German manufacturer of stairlifts commissioned the interim manager to advise the marketing organization on team setup, internal processes and agency selection (pitch consulting).
Weaknesses in the setup identified with an audit and GAP analysis
At the beginning of the mandate, the agency and marketing expert created an audit with a GAP analysis and status check. He also gained an overview of the customer lifecycle journey. Among other things, he identified a lack of employees required for the repositioning. In addition, the company was working with an in-house agency that was intertwined with the parent company in terms of company law and family ties - but was not performing satisfactorily. A key challenge in the mandate was also to mediate between the stakeholders, in particular between the new marketing managing director, employees and the owner family.
Recruitment of marketing specialists | selection of new agency initiated
In order to remedy the lack of employees, the interim manager initiated the recruitment of new marketing specialists. These included a head of brand management, an online marketing manager and a call center agent. He also introduced the project management tool Trello in order to better plan and manage tasks.
In order to challenge the old agency and prepare for its replacement, the interim manager managed the agency selection process. He created the briefing, made the agency selection/invitation and led the pitch presentations. At the same time, he advised the company on marketing/media planning and campaign rollout.
Inquiries, website visits and sales above pre-crisis levels after just a few weeks
The interim manager's initiatives played a key role in quickly ending the downturn in inquiries, website visits and sales. By Easter 2020, the company was already back to its pre-COVID level. In addition, the team and processes were set up in such a way that marketing took a significant step forward in terms of quality improvement.
After a two-stage pitch with a total of 4 agencies, the company opted for a renowned marketing and communications agency, which started work in summer 2020 and was able to prepare the new campaign.
