Case Studies

Situation

Our client was a medium sized distributor in a business-to-business selling environment. They recognized that they had a variety of skill sets among their sales team and that they had not been able to ramp up any of the newer members. The sales team clearly fell under the classic 80/20 rule, where a small number of salespeople were delivering the lion’s share of the sales results. Turnover was high among new sales associates because of their inability to earn their draw within a 12 month period. The top performing sales people (top 20%) were often unmanageable because of their relative sales success in relation to the other 80%.

Objectives

  • Provide a sales process for each of the sales representatives
  • Provide a skill development system for new and experienced sales representatives
  • Provide a model for ongoing new account management

Consulting Process

We conducted Advanced Facilitation sessions to define clear performance objectives for the sales force. We reorganized the sales force in terms of three tiers, with different client responsibilities for each tier. The sales group was engaged in a Sales Planning Process to identify target markets, account acquisition strategies, and action plans for a one year sales period.

Sales skill development was provided for each of the three tiers of account representatives. We helped them identify milestones for their Ideal Sales Process. We created a 14 week new hire development process and provided a pipeline management system for ongoing account management. Reinforcement strategies insured new skills were maintained over time.

Client Outcomes

  • All sales team members improved their sales performance.
  • Account representatives’ morale was greatly improved.
  • Ramp up speed for new hires was greatly reduced.

From the President of Company

“Some of the things our team is doing now because of our participation in the sales development process include: weekly measurement of sales activities and results, call planners, post-call follow-up, and personal action plans including work on our critical success factors. Your process insured that the important skills we learned are now being used.”

Case Studies Creating a Complete Sales Process - Lewis Associates, Inc.

Creating a Complete Sales Process

Our client was a medium sized distributor in a business-to-business selling environment. They recognized that they had a variety of skill sets among their sales team and that they had not been able to ramp up any of the newer members. The sales team clearly fell under the classic 80/20 rule, where a small number of salespeople were delivering the lion’s share of the sales results. Turnover was high among new sales associates because of their inability to earn their draw within a 12 month period. The top performing sales people (top 20%) were often unmanageable because of their relative sales success in relation to the other 80%.

Case Studies Creating a Leadership Team - Lewis Associates, Inc.

Creating a Leadership Team

A mid-sized publishing firm purchased a competitor located geographically near them. While the physical plant was somewhat outdated, the products, customer base and management talent were worth the investment. The challenge then for the firm was to not only retain the new managers, but have them fully engaged side-by-side with the managers of the purchasing firm.

Case Studies Creating a Sales Culture - Lewis Associates, Inc.

Creating a Sales Culture

A large, multi-site organization had a 100 year history of being a service based organization that serves the public. With changing technology and competition eroding their revenue streams, top leadership recognized the need to transform the service based culture to a sales based culture. The challenge was to change the beliefs and habits of 750 employees in an integrity preserving fashion.

Case Studies Creating a World Class Call Center - Lewis Associates, Inc.

Creating a World Class Call Center

What used to be called the Customer Service Department has now become the Call Center with added technology to monitor calls. A large office products manufacturer recognized that the majority of their customer interactions were conducted by a high stress department experiencing low morale and high turnover. The call takers felt they had little control over their work environment and higher levels of stress, because their work was even more scrutinized. A negative environment prevailed. Senior management recognized that each customer interaction was a critical moment of truth that impacted customer satisfaction rates and eventually the overall profitability of the company. The challenge was to create a world class call center with lower turnover and absenteeism and higher customer satisfaction rates.