• Participants deep dive into the commercials of a chosen client
• Total cost-to-serve and contract non-compliance blind spots are found
• Margin leakage is valued & margin recovery plans are created
• Difficult customer conversations are constructed and rehearsed

• 5 Weeks
• 15 Hours
• Diagnostic workshop (full-day) – Melbourne: Monday 20th March. Yarra Yarra Golf Club, 567 Warrigal Rd, Bentleigh East VIC 3165
• 5 Modules – Weekly Webinar (90 mins)
• Mondays – 27th March to 1st May

Note: This course begins with a full-day workshop before transitioning to webinars.

• Increase client profitability
• To give customers all they want on your terms – Not theirs

Mr Paul Allen

Managing Director, Margin Partners MBA, BBus & BA

Paul Allen is Australia’s Leading Authority on Supplier Margin. For over 25 years, he has been immersed in business-to-business categories, from beer to pies and paper to glass, helping organisations to unlock value with their contracted business partners.

He routinely helps clients reclaim upwards of 15% of their customer specific net margin entitlement – profit that would otherwise be lost or silently absorbed as an unfavourable “operational variance”.

Prior to launching Margin Partners, Paul worked with some of Australia & New Zealand’s best-known companies and brands, including Lion, Simplot, TABCORP, Australian Paper and O-I Glass. He has negotiated with relentless procurement teams across Europe, Asia and America – and sold millions of dollars of goods to globally recognised brands.

Paul’s insights will compel you to rethink your ‘true cost to serve’. He exposes the fallacy of over-servicing and invites Suppliers to contemplate how they can inadvertently relinquish millions of dollars every year by failing to monitor customer-specific net margin.

Paul is the Author of “Take Back Your Margin! He is a sought after public speaker, regular media commentator and personal mentor to senior leaders.

Participants receive a copy of Paul’s book Take Back your Margin! and a Diagnostic Tool Kit

• Business owners and leaders who can no longer afford client squeeze
• Suppliers who have been reticent to “poke the bear” & hold clients to account
• Key Account Teams who share the ownership of customer profitability & growth
• CEOs, CFOs, Sales Directors, and Commercial Leaders

• Calculate how to put a price on everything your staff do in and outside your service agreements
• Build a ‘Net-Margin Calculator’ to measure and track total customer profitably
• Embed ownership of material contract clauses and trading terms into staff KPI’s
• Construct a menu of suitably priced ‘up-sell’ service items
• Build a framework to allocate customer profit and performance responsibilities across functional teams
• Define the benefits of regular Customer service innovations
• Prepare and practice for those “tough-conversations” with Customers

I first came across Paul Allen when squaring up with him to renegotiate a billion-dollar bottle supply agreement. My business had recently acquired Carlton & United Breweries in Australia, and there was an expectation of massive price reductions from the suppliers—particularly glass bottle makers.

Paul brought a new approach to the table—unpacking the true value that was being delivered free of charge. His approach held a mirror up to the customer, showing how our behaviour was creating cost and uncertainty in their operations. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, new channels of communication and collaboration were established between all levels in our respective organisations. Paul’s approach and methods uncovered a multitude of those unclaimed $50 notes that he refers to in this book.

Through his approach and insights, both sides were able to deliver the value that their respective companies demanded. A more connected and better-articulated relationship was built—laying the foundation for a more robust global alliance.

As a highly experienced procurement expert who has worked globally in the FMCG environment, I can recommend Paul’s innovative approach for unlocking sources of untapped value for both sides of the negotiation table. This book is a must-read for buyers and sellers in any B2B context.

Richard van Breda, Global Category Director, SABMiller Procurement

Since the early 1990s, Australians have witnessed a progressive revolution in customer service ethos across B2C, B2B, and Government-to-C channels. We’ve moved away from the old-world customer indifference model to a new found enthusiasm for the customer experience; with more and more organisations wearing their Net Promoter Scores as a badge of honour in the customer service stakes.

While this is arguably a good thing, over the years, the margin pendulum has swung a little too far in the direction of the customer. Take Back Your Margin! is a timely wake-up call to anyone in business. After reading Paul’s book, you will be emboldened and empowered to pursue fair value for your products and services in a way that engenders respect and trust.

Harry Petropoluos, AWN

Paul has just completed a six-month program working with our Sales, Operations and Finance team with a primary focus of knowing the cost to serve our customers in an effort to improve our margins.

Working with all levels within our business from Field Technicians through to Senior Management, Paul was able to engage with the entire team to use simple processes and tools for initial assessment and periodic validation throughout the term of a contract.

The process has uncovered significant gaps within our processes which offer opportunity to recover eroded margins and reduce exposure. Additionally, the process and teachings have helped improve team unity, open communication and to give all participants a voice.

James Agius, Managing Director, ECOTECH Pty Ltd

I had the pleasure of engaging Paul for running a workshop with our Leadership Groups at TEC for CEO’s and C suite executives to identify areas to improve their business by improving the engagement and contract management with key customers.

Both groups had some real breakthrough moments on discovery of margin given away that could be reclaimed and new areas of potential up sell.

The workshops were highly interactive, fun and practical; with real takeaways for participants to improve their bottom and top line immediately.

I highly recommend Paul to any business looking to improve margin with their key accounts.

Steve Gallagher, Director and investment advisor

Paul’s ideas and techniques are real, simple and they work. I implore you to read his book, implement what he suggests and drive better value through your organisation.

Jason Smith, PeopleScape

Take Back Your Margin offers powerful insights for all FBA Members and highlights how they can guard against the costly issue of margin erosion, whilst keeping their client relationships intact.

Greg Griffith, Family Business Australia

Paul’s book “Take Back your Margin” is a call to arms for suppliers across all sectors … his 9 “accelerators framework” will empower business owners to rethink how customer profitability can be proactively managed.

Ebbe Dommisse, Circa Group

I engaged Paul in Western Australia to improve efficiency, define responsibilities and drive accountabilities across a large and diverse administration structure.

His performance was outstanding.

John Dalton, Veolia