External Consultant: Marketing, Branding, Sales and Networking- Basatine

Context & Background  

Bolstering Agriculture Systems’ Ability to Invest, Nourish, and Employ (BASATINE) is a four-year project that aims to support farmers and other value chain and associated sector actors in areas of Beqaa and Akkar focused on the production of wheat and vegetables, seeking a territorial approach, and promoting linkages with other value chains. Through complementary interventions designed in alignment with the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, the project will immediately address food insecurity and provide needed income and technical support to farmers to survive this tumultuous time, as well improve the capacity of food systems to maintain employment and growth in the longer term via stronger domestic production and system linkages. This will ultimately contribute to greater economic stability – particularly for women, improved rural development, and more positive social cohesion between host/refugee communities at a local level.

For this purpose, Berytech, through the BASATINE Project, will hire consultants who will be able to deliver a consultancy to address constraints in networking, branding, marketing, and sales to optimize the customer relationship segment of an SME’s business operations.

2. Objectives:

The primary objectives of this consultancy are as follows:

• Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the business' current marketing, sales strategies, and branding history to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.
• Thoroughly assess the business' current branding strategy, align brand activities with overarching goals, vision, and mission, and develop an effective networking strategy. This strategy aims to establish a distinctive and resonant brand identity, thereby elevating market presence and relevance, while concurrently increasing market visibility, expanding market shares, and fostering valuable business connections.

3. Scope of Work:

The Consultant is expected to fulfill, but not limited to the following:

Networking Enhancement:

• Conduct an in-depth analysis of the targeted business' current networking strategies.
• Identify and assess opportunities for strategic collaborations within the organic fertilizer industry.
• Formulate a comprehensive networking plan to establish beneficial connections with distributors, suppliers, and other stakeholders crucial for business growth.
• Facilitate initial discussions and negotiations with the identified key stakeholders.

Marketing and Sales Optimization:

• Conduct a thorough analysis of the targeted business's existing sales and marketing strategies, processes, and performance.
• Conduct a detailed market segmentation analysis to identify target customer profiles.
• Analyze competitors' strategies, pricing, distribution channels, and marketing efforts.
• Design targeted promotional campaigns based on market segmentation insights.
• Implement refined sales techniques to bridge the gap between high production capacity and current production volume, fostering increased market penetration.

5. Deliverables:

The consultant is expected to deliver the following:

1. A thorough and comprehensive marketing, branding and sales assessment report detailing the current situation of the targeted business in Marketing, Branding, communications and networking, and sales functions reflecting weaknesses, strengths and opportunities for improvement.
2. detailed report on the implementation of refined sales techniques, providing an overview of the executed strategies. The report should include a comprehensive sales plan that reflects the action points developed during the refinement process. Additionally, it should encompass detailed recommendations and anticipated outcomes resulting from the implementation of these refined sales techniques.
3. marketing strategy that integrates networking and communication plan, specifically targeting distributors, suppliers, and key stakeholders within the agriculture sector and fertilizers industry. The developed strategy should consider the in-depth analysis of market segments conducted as well as the identified target audiences to achieve greater market penetration, and the anticipated outcomes encompassing enhanced brand visibility, increased collaboration with industry partners, and a strengthened position in the targeted market segments.

6. Qualifications and Expertise:

The consultant should possess the following qualifications and expertise:

1. Proven experience in marketing and sales strategy development for agricultural products and inputs.
2. Knowledge and understanding of the agricultural fertilizers, techniques, and equipment.
3. Experience in working with cooperatives or small-scale producers is an advantage.
4. Proficient in data analysis and interpretation to identify customer trends, preferences, and areas for improvement.
5. Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, to effectively convey recommendations and strategies to the client and internal teams.
6. Comfortable working collaboratively with cross-functional teams to implement changes and improvements.

Intervention Modality 

• Upon selection, the implementation timeline is expected to fall between March 10, 2024 till June 10, 2024. 
• The consultant will prepare and submit an end-of-intervention report as part of the consultancy job and attend all onboarding meetings that are required by the program team. It is understood and agreed that the provision of this report should be provided free of cost and included within the scope of the consultancy services. 

For technical clarifications on the scope of work, deliverables, work timeline, or for any relevant questions please contact Mr. Slayman Fawaz (Program Manager) at slayman.fawaz@berytech.org,  Mr. Hussein Sheet (Senior Business Advisor) at hussein.sheet@berytech.org.