Situation
In 2012, one of the three largest global credit bureaus was preparing for a major sales transformation. The bureau was roughly two years away from going public, and senior stakeholders hired a globally renowned management consulting firm to conduct a salesforce optimization analysis. The results revealed that changes needed to occur for both the sales structure and selling skills. In parallel, data also seemed to suggest that customers were yearning for a more insight-led skill set from their sales representatives.
Balance the long-term vision with the need to drive incremental business across all global channels, while creating consistency and retaining local sensitivity.
Challenge
Change was imminent. First, how could the company improve the skills of the salesforce, moving them from “product pushing” to “customer problem-solving,” without taking them out of the field? And second, how were they going to go about creating consistency across multiple business units, regions, and vertical teams? They would have to be able to move away from transactional interactions and elevate sales conversations to higher decision-making levels within their client organizations. By doing that, the organization could recast the conversation from one competing on price to one competing on value.
Solution
The bureau’s sales management team worked with GP Strategies on the task of finding a transformational approach to meet the needs of their customers and exceed growth targets. GP Strategies understands transformational need and recommended a unique solution that would provide a competitive advantage.
Realizing the need to depart from legacy training interventions, senior leaders requested five skill parameters be taught in a threepart learning model. The model consisted of eLearning primers, virtual instructor-led training (VILT) sessions, and performance support in the form of job aids, worksheets, and leader coaching guides.
In addition to the blended learning approach, the sales leadership team and GP Strategies jointly developed the five critical sales themes that would make up the five customized modules of the sales enablement journey. These modules included:
- Share a Tailored Point of View
- Connect with the Right Buyer
- Have Successful Meetings
- Establish the Shared Definition of Success
- Make the Value Tangible
Results
The company’s sales management team developed an effective change management plan that secured sponsorship and engaged the right leadership levels throughout the project. They implemented a communication plan that managed expectations throughout.
This approach also allowed the sales management team to experience one of their best performing years in the history of the company and helped the sales organization focus on incremental growth.
As a direct result of the sales transformation training, there has been an increase in pipeline opportunities, average deal sizes, number of deals won, size of wallet, as well as a decrease in length of sales cycles. The organization has seen a significant improvement in revenues and last, but certainly not least, they have optimized as a matrix organization.
