This division of a multinational conglomerate designs, markets and manufacturers a comprehensive portfolio of technology products. Their goal is to secure more "design-wins", where customers engineer new products specifying a certain component. Their primary sales channel is independent rep firms, supported by a team of regional sales managers.
Problems:
- No common language of selling created difficulty in communication between marketing and sales personnel. Specifically, marketing was unsure how they could add value during the sales process, and sales management was uncertain what support to ask for.
- Rep firms, and our client's sales managers that assist them, were experiencing difficulty getting to higher levels of the buying organization where major design decisions are made.
Solution:
To get marketing and sales to share a common focus on the customer, a two-day Customer's Head workshop was delivered to the entire sales management team and select marketing personnel.
Results:
Following the program, the Vice President of Sales stated, "The common sense of purpose that came out of the session, and the beginning definition of a common language that can be further utilized were key initiatives realized" with Customer's Head. He went on to say, "I was very pleased to see the high marks coming back in on the survey forms after the workshop, with a high percentage of "very good" and "excellent" ratings. Some of the people we consider our best and brightest gave some of the highest marks."
