Qeep

Category: Cases

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Cases Perfomance Management

Daimler Automobiles

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Unrealistic goal: Turn loss of DKK 47 million into profit in one year

Outcome: Profit

Solution: Performance Management Program – 10/10/85


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“If I had chosen a traditional consulting firm, I would have been given a nice report telling me to reduce my stock and to do this and that to achieve results. But we would have never achieved results that way because at the time we needed something completely different!”
— Per V. Rasmussen, CEO

The Challenge

Daimler Automobiles was a top-down organisation where the employees did not take responsibility for common goals. This resulted in a loss of DKK 47 million. To turn the situation around, new CEO Per V. Rasmussen sought in 2003 to change attitudes among management and middle management, inspiring them to embrace greater responsibility.

The Process

Qeep initially helped Daimler Automobiles set a number of breakthrough goals, which they dubbed “10/10/85”. The sales department was to earn DKK 10 million, administration was to cut costs by 10% and the service & repair centers were to increase invoiceable hours by 85%.

Qeep coached management and middle management to help them execute their personal action plans while tracking the goal and results.

Old Habits

Daimler Automobiles was a top-down organisation. When something went wrong, it was more important to explain why than to look at what it would take to achieve targets. Management and middle management did not assume responsibility and work towards the common goal.

New Behaviour

Management and middle management began focusing on what they could change to reach their ambitious goal instead of on how they could avoid making mistakes. They assumed responsibility!

Numerous concrete changes culminated in the realization of 10/10/85. The parking facilities were modified to save time when a car was in for service. The spare parts assistants were transferred from the warehouse to the service & repair centers so they could fetch parts for the mechanics, who used to have to wait in line. The supervisors signed an agreement with key accounts to call cars in to service on short notice when an opening appeared in their schedules.

The new attitude among the managers also resulted in major organisational changes. Communication improved and they began to work in a more results-oriented manner based on new procedures.

The Results

  • The annual results improved by DKK 52.5 million before tax
  • The sales department gave a profit
  • The gross profit per car sold increased by several hundred percent
  • The efficiency of the service & repair centers increased from 57% to 82%
  • The invoicing time for all service & repair centers increased significantly
  • Shorter waiting time for spare parts
  • Faster decision-making

The Hero

Supervisor Erik Bo Pedersen is the hero of this story! He successfully boosted efficiency, while maintaining a high utilization ratio at the Hillerød Service & Repair Center.

The Unrealistic Goal

Daimler Automobiles set the unrealistic goal of transforming a significant loss into a huge profit – and achieved it!

The Organisation

Daimler Automobiles, now known as Mercedes Benz CPH, is one of Denmark’s largest car dealerships, employing more than 100 people at showrooms and service & repair centers located throughout Greater Copenhagen.

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Cases Uncategorized

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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Cases Uncategorized

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.