“Our services are demanded when new products want to conquer the market, well-known brands aim to strengthen their market position and when customers want to spend money for a good product,” sums up Managing Director Thomas Linke. “We are a service provider for all areas of marketing and sales services.”
Founded in Munich in 1998, the company started growing quickly. In 2000 already, FMS established its second subsidiary in Leipzig. “FMS’s development is connected to the marketing specialist COMBERA Group, the current number one in the German market. COMBERA is an affiliate and minority shareholder in FMS. On European level, FMS operates within the European Sales Solution Group,” points out Mr. Linke.
Today, FMS in Leipzig has 20 employees, a staff of 300 people in the field and a turnover of six million EUR. “We are not really affected by the crisis,” says Mr. Linke. “Actually, there is a lot of movement on the market, and our services are in high demand. In times of crisis, there is always a budget to strengthen the market position or even improve it.”
FMS mainly focuses on the marketing services leasing sales forces, travelling/merchandising and promotion/event. “Outsourced sales forces are an important part of marketing and sales distribution,” explains Mr. Linke. “They create greater flexibility and boost efficiency. FMS offers both contract sales forces and temporary sales drives. It is important that we stay anonymous. We are working on behalf of our customer as an ambassador of the customer’s brand.”
FMS’, merchandising activities are generally related to products and point of sales. Typical challenges include product presentations, sales point decoration and the assembly and maintenance of shop-in-shop systems in order to bring a brand to life. FMS also supplies promotional staff and hostesses for marketing events such as product launches, in-shop samplings and demonstrations.
“Today, outsourced sales forces are our most important challenge,” says Mr. Linke. “We still see a lot of potential in this area because it is not only a temporary fashion thing but a strategic instrument.”
Companies from all different industries, among them global players such as Coca-Cola, Heineken, Lactalis and Procter& Gamble, as well as smaller companies, are FMS’s satisfied customers.
“We are doing a good job, and our customers are happy with us,” adds Mr. Linke. “As a medium-sized company, we are among the top five in the market. In five years’ time, we want to double our turnover and to realize new ideas in order to connect online and offline trading. There are already ideas in the pipeline.”