BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Ongoing market management

Once the research is done, EFC keeps working your buyer contacts with you, every month. We send the approaches you approved, follow up, set up meetings and brief you before each one. You get a written report each month and a call every two weeks, without having to ask.

Two people working through a list of retail accounts, with a calendar of follow-ups and each account's status on the board behind them.

The gap

What keeps research from stalling

Research rarely fails because the map is wrong. It fails because nobody keeps working it once it is delivered. This is the monthly work that follows the research, as part of our business development work.

The contacts age. The review window passes. The research was never the missing piece. The missing piece was somebody whose job continues after the file is sent, and that is the part we take on.

A research supplier is paid on delivery of the document, whatever happens next. Part of what we earn is a commission on the sales the work generates. That is a different contract, not a different promise.

The monthly work

What happens in a typical month?

Six things happen every month, for as long as we work together. Around them sit a call every two weeks and a written report each month, so you always know where things stand.

Contact map maintenance.

Chains, distributors and named contacts from the contact map updated and extended, including candidates that surface from the work in the field.
Approaching buyers.

Approaches go out in the wording you approved, to new contacts and to those already in conversation.
Following every conversation.

Every open conversation: who is in process, who is waiting on a reply, who needs a follow-up and when.
Setting up meetings.

Meetings coordinated with the contacts who responded, including a short briefing before every meeting, so you walk in knowing who you are meeting, what their account cares about, and what we suggest you open with.
What buyers are saying.

What the market is actually saying: the objections that recur on price, availability and lead time, the questions that keep coming back, and the trends emerging from the conversations.
What we change as answers come back.

The priority order between markets and channels, and the outreach messaging, updated with you against what the actual responses show rather than against the original plan.

The rhythm

How the month runs

Every month runs to the same pattern, so you can plan around it.

Approach

Approaches go out against the approved scripts, continuously, to new contacts and to contacts already in process
Follow up

Every open conversation is tracked: who is waiting on a reply, who needs a second touch, and when
Call

One coordination call every two weeks. Pipeline state, what the market returned, and what goes out next
Report

One written report each month: approaches sent, responses, meetings arranged, and the state of the pipeline

Approaches and follow-up run all month. The call comes every two weeks and the report once a month, and what buyers tell us shapes the priorities for the next month. The call is a working conversation, not a formal status meeting.

Coordination calls: one every two weeks, for the whole term
Written reports: one per month, for the whole term
Engagement term: twelve months

The outcome

What you can expect

Steady, well-timed work on named accounts: we approach them when they decide, follow up, and report every step to you.

What you get is a steady flow of real conversations. No one can promise a meeting or a sale. How many contacts we work each month depends on the markets you approve after the research, how fast your category responds, and your materials, so we set it with you then.

Once a door opens, your product, your price and your own follow-up carry it forward. We report every approach, response and next step to you.

How we charge

How is this charged?

Here is how the monthly work is paid for, and why part of it is a commission.

We give indicative figures after a first call, once we know how many markets and channels are in scope.

A monthly engagement, on a twelve-month term.
A commission on the sales the work brings in.
The research, included when we work together over time, with no separate charge.
Or the research alone, if that is where you want to start. Working the contacts afterwards is agreed separately.
One coordination call every two weeks, included, for the whole term.
Invoiced and paid mid-month, within the same month.

When you work with us over time, all of the research, the chain map, the shelf analysis, the named buyers, the distributor candidates, the buying calendar, the entry route and the approach material, is included. There is no separate charge for it. The research alone is also available, priced on its own.

Why part of our fee is a commission

The monthly fee covers the work itself. The commission ties part of what we earn to the sales the work brings in, so we care about which chains are worth approaching, not how many we approach.

Not included, quoted separately: paid media, production of new marketing materials beyond what you supply, physical attendance at trade fairs including travel and accommodation, and the logistics, storage and shipping side, which is quoted as part of the operation.

How EFC charges across the whole offer is set out on How we charge.

EFC operating base: Portugal, inside the European Union (source: EFC LDA, NIPC 519154606, Amadora, Portugal)

Questions

Questions manufacturers ask before starting

How long is the commitment?

Twelve months. Notice and termination are set out in the agreement.

What do I get in writing each month?

One written monthly report covering approaches sent, responses received, meetings arranged, and the state of the pipeline, plus the updated contact map. Between reports, a coordination call every two weeks.

Is the research included?

Yes. When you work with us over time, the research is included, with no separate invoice line and nothing to buy beforehand. The research is also available on its own, priced separately.

Who holds the customer relationship?

You do. You remain the principal in every conversation. We approach and coordinate under your instruction, under a service agreement, and the relationship, the pricing and the contract are yours. We are not your commercial agent and do not act as one.

What if the market says no?

Then the monthly report says so, with what the objections actually were. Recurring objections on price, minimum order, shelf fit or lead time are findings, and we use them with you to change the priority order and the messaging. A market that says no clearly is more useful than one that says nothing.

Can we change the scope during the engagement?

Yes. Which markets and which channels are in play can change inside the twelve months. That conversation happens on the call every two weeks and the change is agreed in writing. Notice and termination are governed by the engagement itself.

What do we approve, and when?

Four points. The scope, which markets and which channels, before work begins. The first research results, which decide where the contact work goes next. The market and account priority order, before any approach material is drafted. And the approach material before it goes out, because it carries your name. Between those, one contact on your side keeps the work moving.