Qeep

Month: September 2017

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Welltec

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Unrealistic Goal: To reach a billion dollars in revenue by 2015

Outcome: 41% growth in sales in one year

Solution: Sales Breakthrough Program – Tour de Billion


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“Our sales reps and sales managers wanted to shoot for a billion in revenue, which I thought was impossible”
— Jørgen Hallundbæk, CEO, Welltec

The Challenge

After 15 years of strong growth, sales at Welltec stagnated because the sales organisation did not share the senior management’s ambitions. They needed a cultural revolution in sales and a common vision for the company. Welltec was to be a billion-dollar business – hence the project name: Tour de Billion.

The Process

For the first time in the company’s history, Qeep brought together every sales manager and sales representative from seven regions for a three-day Possibility Workshop. Qeep challenged them all to set individual, ambitious breakthrough goals and to think outside the box in order to achieve them.

Despite the fact that the sales representatives had not achieved their sales targets for several years running, the groups set new goals that seemed unrealistically high. The sales representatives and management also identified a number of areas that were critical for achieving results.

Subsequently, Qeep provided the managers with training in results management and coaching methods using on-the-job training, making it easy for each manager to provide sales management that was effective, inspired involvement and encouraged everyone to take responsibility.

Old Habits

The Qeep process revealed several challenges, which everyone agreed needed to change. A key challenge was that the sales representatives at Welltec lacked ambition. They didn’t share the senior management’s vision and consequently didn’t take their sales targets seriously. In the minds of the senior management, Welltec was a supplier of complete solutions to oil companies, but the sales reps sold the company as a single-service provider.

Meanwhile, execution in the sales organization wasn’t up to par. Newly developed products weren’t selling, experiences with global customers weren’t being shared among the regions, and the CRM system wasn’t being used as an active management tool. All in all, there was a lack of leadership and insufficient follow-up on sales efforts.

New Behaviour

The breakthrough for Welltec came in several areas.

First and foremost, the entire sales organisation came together around one common billion-dollar ambition and a vision to create a united company.

This inspired enthusiasm and targeted efforts within the organisation to follow through on the increased activity needed to achieve the goals set by the sales representatives and management. Their sales approach evolved from reactive to proactive.

On the whole, the management and sales representatives began to follow up more consistently on their efforts and goals and to share information across the organization.

The Results

  • Sales increased by 41% in one year
  • Sales trends improved in four regions
  • The CRM system was used more consistently
  • Strong growth in the number of jobs for both new and existing customers

Furthermore, the process – especially the Possibility Workshop and the continuous use of result meetings– quickly brought about a culture change within the company, resulting in a sales organization that is much better equipped to follow through on its goals.

The Hero

Jeremy Ray was sales manager at Welltec in Canada. The sales team in Canada had not previously defined specific goals and most certainly never challenged themselves to achieve breakthroughs. They simply grew with the market! However, Jeremy set out to change that. He wanted his team to achieve growth of +50%. The team doubted whether it was possible, but Jeremy was adamant. In 2011, he was named “Results Hero of the Year” by Qeep AS. 

The Unrealistic Goal

“One Billion Dollars in revenue by 2015.”

The Organisation

Welltec develops and supplies solutions for the oil and gas industry. Since its founding in 1989, the company has seen remarkable growth and now employs around 800 people in 24 countries. The global sales organisation is divided into seven regions.

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Cases Commercial Excellence

Alm. Brand

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Unrealistic goal: Sales growth of 10%

Outcome:  Sales growth of 48%

Solution: Performance Management Program


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“I have come to understand the importance of having a highly structured workday with operational results goals to guide my way. The follow-up process keeps me sharp! You only go unprepared to a Results Meeting once. Anyone with a result they need to achieve can benefit from a Results Process. Suddenly, you can achieve the impossible”
— Henrik Høy, Key Account Manager

The Challenge

The competition’s sales resources are three times those of Alm. Brand. The sales organisation was thus satisfied with limited annual growth. Then, Carsten Rothmann, head of distribution, decided that slightly better was no longer good enough. Thus the challenge: To perform a lot better!

The Process

Qeep was brought in to help the sales organisation perform a lot better.

Each member of the sales staff – and the organization as a whole – set a number of extremely ambitious goals. There was follow-up at brief weekly Results Meetings attended by every member of the sales staff. All the old excuses were replaced by a strict requirement to focus on achievable goals for each individual.

Old Habits

The sales staff at Alm. Brand had a variety of habits and convictions that kept them from achieving the ambitious goal. Initially, they didn’t believe they could do any better. Sales were already up by 9% – which in their view was good enough. They also believed that increased sales efforts would have a negative impact on quality. Finally, they didn’t collaborate much – a common phenomenon in sales organisations. Sales representatives have a tendency to think it’s everyone for themselves.

New Behaviour

Alm. Brand put an end to all the old habits and convictions.

The sales staff and managers worked hard – together with Qeep – to achieve the seemingly unrealistically high goal of boosting sales by 28%.

Consequently, the sales staff and the sales organisation had to think outside the box! The sales staff took a critical look at all activities based on one simple criterion: Does this activity improve sales? If it didn’t, it was abandoned.

Meanwhile, managerial involvement in the daily sales efforts increased by means of weekly sales meetings. As a result, long explanations and excuses were replaced by demands for action and results.

The Results

  • Qeep worked with three centers – located in three different Danish cities – and helped them to achieve growth of 48%.
  • The growth rate of the three centers was 38% higher than for the other centers that did not participate in the Qeep process.

The Hero

With the vision that his sales team could perform much better, Carsten Rothmann initiated the comprehensive growth process at Alm. Brand. He was ready to break with both his own paradigms and with those of his team. He kept his eye on the goal when the team’s courage waivered. He supported those who fell behind and praised those who succeeded. He is a true results hero! 

The Unrealistic Goal

The sales staff at Alm. Brand could use the excuse that the competition had three times the sales resources. They and their managers could thus be satisfied with only limited growth each year. But they weren’t. Instead, they set the unrealistic goal to do much better than their strong competitors.

The Organisation

Alm. Brand is a Danish financial institution that provides insurance, banking, life insurance and pension services. Its 1,700 employees generate revenue of around DKK 7 billion a year.

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Holm & Schmidt

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Unrealistic goal: To create organic growth and become an attractive and equal merger partner

Outcome: Leading party in the 2009 merger with the law firm Nordia Advokater

Solution: Performance Management Program


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“Qeep helped us change our behavior from just waiting for the next case to proactively building client relations, which landed us new clients and full-service agreements with several of our existing clients. Qeep challenged our view of what it takes to run a law firm and the attitudes that traditionally characterize our sector. All lawyers can learn something here”
— Michael Vesthardt, Senior Partner, Holm & Schmidt, Nordia – now MAQS

The Challenge

The partners at Holm & Schmidt had come to the realisation that the future couldn’t be built on the firm’s founding business principles. The group of partners had been joined by two young, ambitious attorneys without their own clients. The future was clear – they would eventually have to specialise as a niche law firm or consolidate via a merger.

The Process

Based on a Possibilities Meeting of the partners, it was decided that a merger was the way forward. But in order to succeed, Holm & Schmidt needed to bolster its position and ability to achieve organic growth. Otherwise, they would not be an interesting merger partner. 

The process involved most of the firm’s 30 employees, who ultimately made a commitment to set goals for new sales, additional sales and efficiency. During the process it became clear – with help from Qeep – that a number of results groups and units could be formed, each headed by one of the partners.

All partners received intensive coaching in results management.

Old Habits

Holm & Schmidt were very reactive in their sales efforts.

The partners did not actively contact clients, because they believed that clients did not perceive any value in their calls. The attitude was: “They know that I’m here and they’ll call if they need me.”

They also only focused on selling their own individual specialisations – not those of the other partners. The attorneys were all concerned that a colleague could ruin their business if given access to a good and loyal client.

The sales efforts primarily took the form of attending conferences and dinners the partners were invited to.

New Behaviour

The partners divided themselves among groups of employees and embarked on a process of professional management via concrete results plans and regular follow-ups.

The two young partners began working professionally with their own networks – and actively seeking out prospective clients.

The most important change, however, was in the partners’ behaviour towards existing clients. They began to contact existing clients in an effort to expand Holm & Schmidt’s share of wallet. These efforts were surprisingly well-received and the firm achieved growth in business. Clients proved interested in proactive dialogue and continuous sparring. And they were willing to pay for it.

The Results

  • 25% organic growth in fees
  • 12% growth in earnings
  • Successful merger with a larger firm, Nordia, with Holm & Schmidt’s partners leading the negotiations  

The Hero

Attorney Niels Jensen took it upon himself to develop and launch an environmental evaluation solution for Danish local governments. The solution was launched with huge success and increased revenue by 29%, making him a genuine Results Hero. 

The Unrealistic Goal

Holm & Schmidt set the goal of playing a leading role in a merger with a bigger law firm.

The Organisation

The law firm of Holm & Schmidt was established in 1994 with five partners and a total of 30 employees. The firm is strong within charities/NGOs, life science and corporate law in general. 

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Updates

Demystifying the Customer Journey

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The fact that monitoring and improving customer experience is essential for boosting loyalty and customer lifetime value does not come as a surprise to many companies. Unfortunately, many companies take an approach that is too simplistic, thinking that regular satisfaction surveys will do the trick. In reality CEM programs are most successful when built around the entire customer experience across every facet of the organisation. In this article below, Satmetrix explains how companies can get the most out of their CEM programs and maximise their customer satisfaction by taking a customer centric approach. The article shows that understanding the Customer Journey plays an essential role as it helps companies think like their customers and identify critical touchpoints. The article recommends creating a customer journey blueprint and to align functional areas to journey stages in order to create the most optimal customer experience.

At Qeep we have worked intensively with Customer Journey mapping and Customer Loyalty with major clients such as Hardi and Nets. In both cases, customer satisfaction boosted rapidly, proving the fact that CEM programs are most successful when a customer centric approach is taken. We believe that the people that are in contact with your company always should be your number one priority. If you don’t have happy and engaged colleagues, they will work inefficiently and turn theirs backs at you and so will you customers. The next generation of business leaderes should put their people first!

If you want to be part of a new and more fulfilling way of running a company, then lets break with the old habits of doing business. We can help you implement a technological platform that lets you measure both customer and employee satisfaction in real time. We can help you analyse and leverage this data and drive change in your company. The method is a proven tool that has been used for more than 10 years by companies such as Apple and Lego.

If this sounds interesting contact us.

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Are you really listening to what your customers are saying?

In the last decade, customer-experience metrics have proliferated, but many companies struggle with acting on feedback and experience that the metrics doesn’t always seem to explain big swings in customer satisfaction. In this article, McKinsey argues for a journey-centric, customer-experience measurement system and states that traditional top-line metrics are leaving companies deaf to what their customers really are saying. Customer feedback is essential for the development of a business. Companies needs to implement an effective and complete system that measures the experience of the customer journey and implement a mindset across the entire organisation that focuses on quickly closing the root problems. This  allows a company to reap the true rewards of customer feedback!

In Qeep we collaborate with RelationWise, a technological platform that allows companies to measure customer and employee satisfaction in real time. Our experience shows that many companies struggle to measure and react on what the people they interact with really are thinking about them. They measure satisfaction once maybe twice a year and they don’t react quick enough. We encourage and support leaders that moves towards “Real-time Management” through better employee and customer engagement.

Measuring relationships in real time is a new concept. It requires a shift in the mindset among leaders and changes to our existing systems. However, employees and customers are ready because they already live in real time on social media. They get feedback from their Facebook friends five minutes after posting their exam results or when posting a holiday picture. In Qeep we can help you implement a platform that allows you to measure, analyse and react swiftly on what the people around you are saying about your company. This will give you the true rewards of customer feedback!