A day in the life of a Sales & Marketing Director: data dramas and breakthroughs

A typical day

8:30 – The Monday morning reality check

My week begins as always: inbox full of “urgent” data questions:

• CEO: “What is the ROI of that online promotion?”
• CFO: “Why are the sell-out numbers 30% different from our forecast?”
• Brand Manager: “Can we see which SKUs are running best by region?”

The honest answer to all these questions? “Give me a week.” But that’s not an option in a market where retailers shift gears faster than we can collect data.

9:15 – The distributor drama

Conference call with distributor. They’ve been promising to provide sell-out data by pharmacy for three months. What we get: an Excel with totals by region, delayed two months, in a format that is different again from last time. My analyst spends half her time “cleaning” this data.

The irony? The distributor just has that detailed data. They supply it to our biggest competitor – who has 5x our sales and therefore more leverage.

10:00 – The promotion-evaluation chaos

Trade Marketing meeting. We evaluate the 3+1 promotion on our top supplement. Sales cheers: “Sell-in up by 250%!” Marketing scratches behind the ears: “But social media engagement was minimal.”

The truth? We have no idea. Maybe they flew over the counter. Maybe they are still in the warehouse downstream. We’re guessing €200k trade budget based on…. yes, on what exactly?

11:30 – Excel archaeology

Together with my analyst, we dive into the “data.

• Sell-in figures from SAP (reliable but tell half story)
• Distributor reports in 5 different formats
• Sporadic sell-out data from a few chains
• IQVIA market data (3 months old and aggregated)

After two hours of puzzling, we have a picture. Sort of. With enough disclaimers to make a lawyer happy.

14:00 – The budget battle

Budget discussion for next quarter. Sales wants more promotional budget for pharmacies (“That’s where our growth is!”). Marketing wants to invest in online (“That’s the future!”).

My data substantiation consists of:

• A trend line based on 6 data points
• Anecdotes from account managers
• A ‘gut feeling’ after 15 years of experience

We split the budget as always: 50/50, everyone half satisfied, no one really happy.

15:30 – The retailer negotiation

Call with a buyer. They want deeper promotions and longer terms. Our negotiating position? “We think the product is running well.” Their response: a sigh and a spreadsheet showing our dramatic stock-turn.

If I could show in real time that we perform 3x better in their premium locations, I’d have a story. Now I have hope and a PowerPoint.

16:45 – The moment of clarity

A fellow director tipped me off about a data platform they use. “We’re finally seeing what happens after the distributor,” she says. I’m skeptical – we already have two BI tools gathering dust – but also desperate enough to listen.

Three months later: the new reality

Monday Morning 2.0

Same questions from CEO and CFO. Difference: answers within minutes, not weeks:

• ROI Multipharma promotion: -12% (oops, but now we know)
• Forecast deviation: due to out-of-stock in Southern Netherlands (action!)
• Best SKU by region: vitamin D wins in North, magnesium in South (who would have thought?)

The big revelations

Channel shock: Pharmacies generate 65% of our margin with 30% of volume. We were pumping budget into retail while our gold was in pharma.

Promotional myth: Our “successful” 3+1 promotions? Pure stock shift. But 2-for-€X does work – attracts 40% new buyers.

Regional reality: Our main product flops in Flanders. Reason: local competitor we didn’t have on radar. Now we approach that region with customized proposition.

The team dynamics shift

Sales stops celebrating sell-in, focuses on sell-through. Marketing tests and learns instead of hoping and praying. Finance forecasts based on patterns, not wet fingers.

Best change? Discussions are about strategy, not whose Excel version is correct.

The downside of transparency

Honestly: those first dashboards were confronting. Sacred cows turned out to be money guzzlers. Successful partnerships were margin eaters. My ego took a dent.

But rather painful truth than comfortable illusion. We made more strategic shifts in 6 months than in 2 years before:

• Trade budget reallocation: €1.2M to better-performing channels
• Assortment restructuring: 20 SKUs out, focus on winners
• Promotional calendar: based on data, not “this is how we always do it”

Practical tips for fellow directors

Start today, not perfect
Don’t wait for 100% accurate data. 70% accurate data today is better than perfect data never.

Make it a team thing
This is not an IT project. Involve Sales, Marketing, Finance from day 1. Resistance comes from fear of transparency.

Celebrate the small wins
First time seeing real-time what’s happening in a key account? Celebrate it. Momentum is everything.

Accept the learning curve
Month 1: data overload. Month 2: initial insights. Month 3: strategic shifts. Month 6: new normal.

Choose the right platform
No customization adventure. Not an IT megaproject. Just something that works for companies like ours.

The bottomline

Am I now a data guru? No. Do I still have frustrations? Yes indeed. But the difference is night and day.

I used to be a director who hoped and gambled. Now I’m a director who knows and steers. In a market where retailers are becoming more powerful and margins are under pressure, that’s the difference between surviving and growing.

The investment? A one-time investment in a partner and a mindset shift. The return? Finally answers instead of assumptions. Strategy instead of spreadsheet wrestling. And yes, a better night’s sleep.

Because believe me, “I don’t know” is the most expensive answer in our business.