PepsiCo: Supporting sales growth in must-win regions

Through our work with PepsiCo we learned vacancies within the Territory Management team were a challenge, in particular for their strategic must-win territories.

FMCG

Selling Smarter and Merchandising Better through Partnership

CROSSMARK and PepsiCo originally partnered on an ad-hoc basis for promotional execution. Through our work together we learned vacancies within the Territory Management team were a challenge, in particular for their strategic must-win territories.

Territory Gaps

PepsiCo faced Territory Manager vacancies in key grocery regions, creating execution gaps that allowed competitors to gain share in store.

Execution Challenge

Sales reps were spending significant time merchandising deals they had sold, limiting their ability to focus on selling, negotiation and customer relationships.

Initial Partnership

CROSSMARK merchandisers stepped in to support vacant territories, ensuring promotional plans negotiated at head office were executed effectively in store.

Collaborative Model

A new model emerged where PepsiCo Territory Managers focused on selling while CROSSMARK merchandisers led execution, improving reach and in-store impact.

National Rollout

Following a successful trial, the program expanded nationally across corporate and independent grocery with dedicated, brand-trained merchandisers.

Commercial Impact

The partnership delivered strong results including up to 57 dedicated merchandisers, ~856,000 cartons replenished and increased sales activity in territory.

“The support provided by Crossmark merchandisers in our dedicated merchandising program has been excellent. The additional support in stores has helped our Territory Managers build stronger relationships with our customers, merchandisers knowledge of our brands and processes has led to more effective execution – resulting in more cartons of product being displayed in stores.

The Crossmark management team works closely with our business to ensure the Dedicated Merchandising program runs smoothly. They are proactive in aligning candidates with preferred skills to each role, and importantly, if any issues arise, they are reviewed and resolved quickly and efficiently. We value the collaboration, professionalism, and commitment the Crossmark team brings our go to market strategy.”

— Emily Stevens, Sales Effectiveness Manager, PepsiCo

Insights

In corporates the promotional planner is negotiated at H.O., however reps can influence the size of displays and cartons.
In independents the reps impact can extend to home site and share of shelf.
A vacancy for PepsiCo in strategic territories means that competitors are able to take market share & quickly.
Beyond vacancies, internal teams have gaps when employees take parental, sick, or long service leave.
Sales reps spend a lot of time merchandising the deals that they’ve sold in.

Driving growth

Strategy & Solution

Across a long standing partnership, our solution rolled out in three phases:

Phase One

CROSSMARK merchandisers filled vacant territories, executing promotional plans in corporate grocery. During the overlap with PepsiCo Territory Managers, both teams found the collaboration highly effective - reps focused on selling, while merchandisers handled execution.

Phase Two

A trial in high-value territories paired PepsiCo reps with dedicated CROSSMARK merchandisers. This increased territory reach and speed. CROSSMARK merchandisers were upskilled by PepsiCo teams to drive brand-aligned execution.

Phase Three

The trial’s success led to a national rollout and expansion into independent grocery. The flexible model allows PepsiCo to scale resourcing for peak selling periods without altering their fixed-team structure.

Continual Improvement

Throughout this whole process it has been a truly collaborative process and we continue to work together to design what the future of field looks like.