Case Studies Miscellaneous

Business Challenge

We realised that our team needed to be more proactive rather than reactive, however we did not know how to shift the culture and ensure that the proactive approach was adopted as the new norm. – Manager, Australian Media Company

Understanding of their needs

An Australian Media company wanted a shift in their call centre team’s reactive service culture. The main issues for the organisation were:

• They wanted their telemarketers and supervisors to have a stronger, more proactive sales approach, however people did not see themselves in a sales role and were not converting as many opportunities presented to them.
• The managers and supervisors were not equipped with the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to facilitate this change in culture.

Our Recommendations

We ran a 2-day Leadership Conference with 60 managers and supervisors that incorporated modules from our people training, team training and leaders training. Some of the key areas were situational leadership, sales coaching, performance management, recruitment, sales prospecting process and overcoming prospecting hesitations. The Prospecting Fitness Assessment was used to provide management with insight into underlying sales behaviours of the team.

Outcomes

The project was very successful for both the teams and management. The organisation recorded a 43% increase in sales and subsequently a substantial growth in business. The organisation also used the Barrett Recruitment Kit to recruit people more suited to their newly defined culture which supported the standards established over the three month training period.

Business Challenge

My goal was to clearly define the boundaries of both management and leadership so that I become more leadership oriented. Teams and individuals have experienced a new level of support and encouragement. Results have been clearly communicated and appropriately celebrated. The legacy of this experience has already been invaluable in my business life. I am empowered to exercise the learnings on a daily basis. – Senior Manager, major Australian Bank

Understanding of their needs

The coachee was very committed to their management role and the organisation was keen to develop them further. Some of the key areas that were holding the person back from moving forward in the career were:

• Developing a more strategic orientation and develop business thinking
• Successfully executing the vision and ownership of planning
• Gaining a more accurate role perception
• More confidence in dealing with senior stakeholders
• Enhancing leadership presence through greater self-awareness and application
• Building a strong business network

Our Recommendations

A 3-month Coaching and Development Program applying the Barrett Coaching approach. This time frame was recommended to allow for time to facilitate behaviour change and see the outcomes from initiatives. We ran a 1-hour coaching session over the phone every 2 weeks with clear goals and objectives set for the coachee to apply and self-reflect on in between sessions.

Outcomes

The coachee felt empowered to excel in the different areas of their role and continue to advance their role. They were also able to provide “teams and individuals with a new level of support and encouragement” and become a leader. Overall, in the words of the coachee “results were clearly communicated and appropriately celebrated.”

Business Challenge

You know for many years we did know not how to articulate or define what our core values. We couldn’t get to the essence or heart of what we stood for. This sales force profiling process, besides giving us the structure and framework we needed for our sales teams, gave us our 6 core values and why we are who we are. What a pleasant surprise. Thank you – CEO, major Media company

Understanding of their needs

A major media organisation with 500 sales people and managers selling across 4 sales channels wanted to profile the ideal sales styles across the business and build an end-to-end Recruitment Framework and Performance Framework.

There had been nothing in the past by way of structure and they wanted to improve the quality of recruits coming into the business and develop a more transparent performance management system. They had 18 different Sales and Sales Management roles across 4 channels and no way to plan for succession, training or recruitment. They wanted to:

• profile ideal sales styles across the business
• develop a Recruitment Framework: selection matrices including Assessments, Interview Questions, Guides
• categorise of sales staff, especially around capability frameworks and remuneration structures
• develop a Sales Performance Framework

Our Recommendations

Best practice job design involving sales competency profiling for all sales, sales management, general management and sales support roles. A Sales Recruitment Kit Framework was also customised to include a selection matrix encompassing behavioural interview questions, relevant Assessments, role plays, reference checking questions, and screening templates. The Performance Management Kit Framework was also integrated into the business. We worked with the management to ensure that the Frameworks were effective and internal ownership was adopted.

This project also involved conducting Job Analysis Questionnaires, Focus Groups and one-on-one interviews with key stakeholders.

Outcomes

Within 5 months, complete end-to-end Recruitment and Performance Management Frameworks were delivered and being used in the business.
The initial 18 unstructured sales and sales management roles were developed and refined into a structured capability framework spanning 14 roles across 4 channels and 5 levels, complete with individual job descriptions and person specifications.
Capability framework allowed the business to manage and implement succession planning fairly and achieve more effective and consistent recruitment outcomes.
Delivered structured sales recruitment process and kits for all 14 roles including identified markets and industries where they could locate talent.
Able to bring in new talent from other industries to broaden capabilities of the business.
Structured, equitable, transparent Performance Management Framework based on behavioural measures, inputs, and outputs.

Understanding of their needs

We were approached by a division of a major Australian Bank to design, develop and implement a process to help their team deliver a professional and sustainable sales and service approach. One of the key issues the team faced were limited capabilities of the majority of their front line people to demonstrate the behaviours, skills and know-how necessary for successful business development and relationship management of accounts. In particular they were concerned with:

• lack of confidence in their own abilities
• limited business acumen and focus on product
• lack of business development and client management skills
• poor negotiation skills
• limited or no solution based selling experience

Our Recommendations

We implemented a 4-month Sales Training Program that included people training the areas of Sales Planning, Prospecting and Communication. This sales training was supported by management training in sales coaching and how to run interval sessions with their team to reinforce and support the people training. As part of this project we also used the Sales Preference Questionnaire or Prospecting Fitness Assessment to provide insight into the teams sales behaviour.

Outcomes

The results have been favourable with substantial increases in sales activities, business in the pipeline and actual sales results in the business. Within 5 months of the Sales Training Program commencing, total sales in that period of time have increased and out preformed total sales results achieved in the previous 18 months.

The key performance areas are:

• disciplined sales approach introduced in each team
• substantial increases in sales activities: client calls, referrals, pipeline
• lifted performance around new customer growth
• lending draw downs are up approximately 25-30%
• growth in the balance sheet running at twice the rate compared to the same time last year
• sales approach has become a ‘way of life’ for their business and not just a fad