Customers The Carlsberg Group fully recognises the  critical importance of superior execution at  the point of sale. Growing the beer category  in both volume and value terms can only  be achieved in close collaboration with our  customers, not least in times of regulatory  restrictions in several of our markets.  channel marketing capabilities and execution,  commercial capability building and on-shelf  availability. To ensure a high standard of per- formance across the Group, we will execute  and measure wherever we do business. This strategic lever has two priorities. We have an ambition to drive growth in  the beer category in a profitable way. This  can only be achieved by understanding  customer and shopper drivers and having  best-in-class value, key account and channel  management.  While all our customers are important to us,  we want to primarily support and invest in  winning customers with a principle of “invest  for performance”. SELECTED ACTIONS AND PROGRESS 2013 WIN WITH OUR CUSTOMERS EXCEL AT POINT-OF-SALE EXECUTION Excelling at the point of sale is becoming  increasingly important in the beer industry.  Carlsberg aims to develop best-in-class  point-of-sale standards, including In 2013, we continued the further roll-out of  our value management programme. Value  management is a Group-wide initiative that  aims to drive category growth and market  share to achieve “win-win” outcomes  with our customers. Value management  leverages customer, consumer and shop- per insights to drive commercial strategy  and initiatives as well as optimise sales  processes and tools.  The key focus is on the value drivers of price  management, assortment optimisation,  promotional effectiveness and trade terms.  Within this approach, we are also focused  on portfolio architecture by customer and  channel. Our value management approach  is being continuously developed and has  been rolled out across regions, building on  experiences from markets across the Group. In addition to value management, we have  developed a global contract management  tool for the on-trade channel enabling local  markets to manage their many on-trade  contracts in a structured way and further  drive category development, customer satis- faction and management, and profitability.  Furthermore, we are continuously improv- ing our key account capabilities, ranging  We joined forces to improve on-shelf availability, the launch of big innovations  and the activation of promotional themes  such as football or category development  projects. In 2013, all key account sales people across the Group participated in key account capability programmes to further grow and strengthen their sales  skills and competences. from in-store execution programmes to joint business development initiatives.  23 Management review STRATEGY Carlsberg Group Annual Report 2013