ASHTON CONSULTING Co. Sales Excellence for Managers Sales and Distribution optimization: Top performance and efficiency

1. ASHTON CONSULTING Co. Sales Excellence for Managers Sales and Distribution optimization: Top performance and efficiency for growing companies. A concept based on Lean management principles Brazil: Helping you do business in Latin America´s biggest country Seek truth Understand truth Love truth

2. ASHTON CONSULTING Co. Sales Excellence for Managers In modern times, top competitiveness has become the very essence of entrepreneurial success. Unfortunately, nobody becomes competitive just by desire. There are many ways to improve competitiveness, many of which base on complicated, complex and essentially ineffective methods. And also costly methods, more often than not. After many years of dealing with failure, we have learned what really works in enhancing general productivity in companies worldwide. And it has to do with sales and distribution. We have become LEAN in the concept: take out everything that cost time, work and money and brings no tangible results, and focus on those things that really make a difference for your company and for your customer - over time. Surprinsingly, those things do not necessarily demand big investments or process reengineering. It demands a new way of thinking: LEAN thinking. LEAN, combined with a clear understanding of what the focus of all companies activities should be, provide an extremely powerful tool to achieve a high-level, long-lasting competitiveness. We call it the Sales Potency Concept. The key to high productivity levels and a long-lasting competitiveness: Continuous improvement. We are your coaches on the way to the top. No waste of time, money nor human resources. Just results. Seek truth Understand truth Love truth

3. ASHTON CONSULTING Co. Sales Excellence for Managers The most important thing, if you want to make your company competitive and successful, is to understand certain principles. The most important one: YOUR PRODUCT MUST BRING YOUR COMPANY SUCCESS AND VALUE TO YOUR CUSTOMER Many times people say "The customer is King!". That is only half the truth. He is as King as your company. In many cases, sadly, LEAN consultancies focus excessively on internal processes rather than understanding the customer as the defining element to shape the operative reality of a company. To excel is to effectively combine entrepreneurial vision and customer satisfaction – on a continuous basis. So what is the real meaning of those two things combined? It means to learn how to constantly improve your product and processes in order to efficiently and sistematically generate new USPs that set you apart from your competitors – also in the eyes of the customers. The Celts are the people that gave birth to most of europe´s societies from the iron age on. Their success as a civilization is the foundation for the success of all modern European societies. One of the most fundamental moral principles of the Celtic people was to establish truth as the common sense that defines social, political and economic life. The CelticTriskele is the symbol for that: Seek truth Understand truth Love truth No matter what. It is the shortest way to success, regardless if one considers a group, a government, an enterprise or simply individual people. We base our work on the very same principle: only if one is prepared to look for, to accept and in the end to enjoy all that truth means and brings, one is in a position to become truly competitive and successful. Truth is the best antidote for stagnation. Seek truth Understand truth Love truth

4. ASHTON CONSULTING Co. Sales Excellence for Managers About the origins of LEAN  by R. Ashton Bu = Loyal; Shi = SoldierDō = Way, pathBushidō = Way of the loyal soldierLEAN is largely the way of the Samurai. The iconoclastic Japanese warrior whose moral and personal values shaped the whole country´s political evolution from the 13th century on, describes his own philosophy of life and creed in one single word: Bushidō! This codex of behaviour finds its origins in the Budō, the way of the warrior, a concept born with the Samurai military elite in medieval Japan. Back then, it was supposed to make the warrior more disciplined and effective. In modern Japan and throughout the world, the same principles apply, to make companies more productive and thus more efficient and competitive. Bushidō, the way of the Warrior, was established to one end only: make the warrior effective in everything he did, including of course killing. This philosophy, which combines effectiveness, individual discipline, leadership, loyalty and supreme purpose, was the ground on which Toyota built its TPS or Toyota Production System. The TPS started out with the concept of the just-in-time, a tool intended to secure competitiveness regardless of raw materials shortening imposed by the american isolation policy of the post-war years. The concept of LEAN Manegement came as a natural consequence of the evolution of the TPS, and is now a standart productivity enhancing tool well known and used all over the world. Translated into an industrial environment, it means uncompromising effectiveness, absolute respect for (avoiding unnecessary) costs and for people, discipline and loyalty in pursuing the company´s interests, and last but certainly not least, courage in taking risks, without which no capitalistic system can exist. And it also means that mistakes lead to failure. The discipline and workload required to implement Lean are considerable, and if the upper management does not understand and entirely support the implementation of LEAN as a necessity to become more competitive, LEAN will not be implemented successfully. LEAN, as well as becoming a warrior according to Bushidō, does not come easy. It requires learning effort and preparation, strategy and time. And as in any evolution, it is a process. Lean translates into constant improvement within a framework of principles and guidelines, a process that will make any company evolve and grow and become stronger as long as LEAN remains its core philosophy, for it will promote long-term competitiveness and provide for an enhanced ability to overcome hard times. However, LEAN in sales and distribution cannot be implemented in the same way as it is in other areas of a company, such as purchasing and manufacturing. That is because other than in those areas, the efficiency in process management is not given by objective, but essentially by subjective criteria. That means that implementing LEAN sales and distribution does not simply mean cost reduction and process revision, it means a more efficient human resources management. One should never forget that one of the most frequent forms of waste is the waste of human capacity. People will make you successful. Only. Always. Seek truth Understand truth Love truth

5. ASHTON CONSULTING Co. Sales Excellence for Managers THE WORKSHOPS AND THE COACHING First Phase (6 Months) The Basic Principles for a continuously successful Distribution – Month 1 4 Workshops (first month, 1 WS per week*,  1,5 hours each *Or each second week, depending on customer preference The group effect of the Basic Principles on Distribution – Month 2 4 Workshops (second month, 1 WS per week(*),  1,5 hours each) Implementation - problem studies – Month 3 4 Workshops (third month, 1 WS per week, 1,5 hours each) 1 WS case analysis, 3 WSs implementation work simulations Securing Sustainability – Month 4 4 Workshops with 1,5 hours eachWS 1 - Resistance and challenges WS 2 - HR DevelopmentWS 3 - Leadership processes for a sustainable distribution WS 4 – Identification of critical points and controlling measures - general management Optimization potentials in the interfaces with Distribution – Month 5 4 Workshops with 1,5 hours eachWS 1 – Product and / or Service portfolio WS 2 – Marketing and After Sales WS 3 – Bookkeeping and Controlling WS 4 – IT and communication (Applications) Preparation and Implementation – Month 6 4 Workshops with 1,5 hours eachWS 1 – Priorization WS 2 – Chronological planningWS 3 – Internal communicationWS 4 – Process controlling Second phase (4 Months) 4 months Coaching, 1,5 hours per week – Months 7, 8, 9, and 10. Seek truth Understand truth Love truth

6. ASHTON CONSULTING Co. Sales Excellence for Managers What do you gain through LEAN Sales and Distribution? Your company will reorganize itself in a way that none of your processes has weak spots anymore. The whole operation gets straightened out and streamlined, and it then serves one purpose only: Make the company more successful and the customer more happy. And this is what it looks like. You will never be the same anymore. Seek truth Understand truth Love truth

7. ASHTON CONSULTING Co. Sales Excellence for Managers What sets us apart from the mainstream of sales/distribution consultancies? We charge very reasonable fees We bring you tangible results also in the long term We do not use the name of our customers to promote our company We tell you the truth as we see it We do not teach, we show We do not know better, we understand We keep it simple We keep it practical We make things work We do not lose your time We help you grow Better. Leaner. Stronger. Seek truth Understand truth Love truth

8. ASHTON CONSULTING Co. Sales Excellence for Managers BRAZIL: The moody giant Brazil is one of our core topics in international consulting activities. For all companies that want to do business in Brazil, be it to create a subsidiary or simply to sell and purchase in this country, we offer a custom-made, coaching-like consulting that paves the road to this exciting, promising and, more often than not, complex new global player. As a first step, we offer a preparation work which gives you all necessary data and information to make the right decision from the very beginning. As attractive as it certainly is, Brazil remains an extremely complex and peculiar country one must understand and know before starting to make decisions. All you need to know about Brazil, you get from us. We do not only speak the language, we are Brazilians and we have spend most of our professional and also personal lives there. We have formerly been in the board of the German-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, helping German as well as other International companies coordinate their efforts for a successful entrance in Brazil. in a second phase we can assist you by coaching you through the first concrete steps towards Brazil all the way through to a controlling consultancy on continuous performance improvement. You also want to be a part of the Brazilian market? We will be delighted if we can help you with that. Seek truth Understand truth Love truth

9. ASHTON CONSULTING Co. Sales Excellence for Managers BRAZIL: Making it work Brazil is a difficult country. It is bureaucratic, controversial, complicated, it is not always safe and predictable, it is illogical and many times frustrating to work with. However, Brazil still is a great place to expand and to invest. And certainly a long-term market, viable and internationally acknowledged as possibly the best alternative to India and Russia. Working in and with Brazil is quite like learning to fish. It has its tricks and trades, but once you get acquainted with it, you will not stop. It is rewarding, more stable than you would imagine and definitely a grown-up, rich, fascinating culture from which you will learn a lot. Using the analogy of fishing, we are your fishing gear and coach. We make Brazil work out right for your company. From the preparation phase through decision-coaching and development coordination, Ashton Consulting is the perfect partner on the road to Brazil: we will make you feel at home there. Like a fish in the water, so to say. Seek truth Understand truth Love truth

10. Where we have been working so far ASHTON CONSULTING Co. Sales Excellence for Managers Brazil Coaching www.ashton-rohling.com Unter den Linden 35A28759 Bremen - Germany+49 (0) 421 70821838+49 (0) 176 83075211roy.w.ashton@gmail.comjanete.ashton@gmail.com Carretera Zaragoza, 4912180 Cabanes - Spain+34 663 122549+33 625 350185pbay.consulting@gmail.com Partners for Brazil: Esteves Assessoria Comercial VERLAM Empreendimentos e Serviços Seek truth Understand truth Love truth