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Client
Need
A sales director of a large corporate organisation was in the
process of transforming his sales team from box sellers to solution
account managers. This was the only way the organisation could
retain its competitive advantage, deliver to their customer needs
and achieve their sales targets.
Prior
to our involvement the organisation had invested in a launch of
the new ‘solutions’ to the whole sales team and explained
what this meant for them. Though a couple of the sales team embraced
this new approached the remaining 100 plus failed to make the
transition.
The
director’s job was dependent on the sales team’s success
over the coming year and decided to ask Evolve International for
some individual coaching to help him achieve this.
Our
Approach
Initially
we conducted some research across the sales team and the rest of
the organisation so we were clear of the current situation and the
attitudes, beliefs and behaviours that currently existed within
the team.
We
also carried out personality profiling and 360 degree feedback
on the director around leadership so we were clear of others perceptions
of his style and success.
We
then spent time with the director breaking down the situation
in to more detail to establish the real root cause for the changes
not happening, this process highlighted the following:
•
The sales team did not fully understand why they needed to change
and what the  benefit
was to the organisation and did not perceive it as critical
• No-one had articulated to the sales team what this meant
for them and how they needed
to change their behaviour and approach to become true account
managers
• The sales team were still being targeted and paid on selling
‘boxes’ so had an
incentive
to continue operating in the traditional way
• When individuals weren’t performing the sales director
would step in and take over
disempowering
the account manager and creating a perception with the
customers
that only he could help
We
spent a day face to face with the director pulling all of these
out and developed a clear action plan for the director to implement.
A number of the issues were addressed by very tangible actions
including:
•
Creating a communication strategy that explains all the reasons
for the change
• Celebrating successes so far and continually reinforcing
the key messages
• Working with HR to develop a new targeting and commission
structure to
support
the new way of working
The
real impact came when looking at the behaviours of the director.
He was finding it easier to spend his time stepping in and taking
over and therefore was spending less time leading, coaching and
developing his people. We radically changed the following:
•
The way the director spent his time on a daily basis
• Developed his coaching skills
• Changed his beliefs about each member of the sales team
and their ability
to achieve.
This
was a considerable change that took huge commitment from the director
which he was willing to give. We shared some psychological tools
to help the change process and to create the new behaviours and
sustain them and offered continuous support over the year. We
met face to face for shorter sessions a number of times to review
success and any challenges and to start to move on to the next
stage of the action plan. Regular phone calls and emails in between
ensured that we were driving the actions and able to offer support,
motivation and inspiration to the director.
The
Results
The result was amazing.
•
The sales team made the transformation required
• The sales team are more motivated and energised now then
they have ever been
• The targets were exceeded
• Their customers were delighted with the new level of service
offered.
• The director is much more fulfilled, his new leadership
style has created more time
for him
and he has a better work-life balance
• The directors success has resulted in a promotion that
he had previously believed
to be three
years off
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