Qeep

Category: Commercial Excellence

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Cases Commercial Excellence Perfomance Management

Sterling

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Unrealistic Goal: To turn a loss of DKK 800 million into profit

Outcome: Operations became profitable

Solution: Executable Strategy and Performance Management Program


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“We went from thinking in terms of traditional service and coffee breaks to thinking in terms of commercial efficiency and execution speed. Our employees went from the slowest and least willing to change, to the fastest and most productive in the sector – in 15 months. We went from Team Maersk Air vs. Team Sterling to a unified low-price airline that profitably outperformed all the others in innovation and efficiency”
— Stefan Vilner, CCO, Sterling Airlines A/S

The Challenge

In 2005, Sterling Airlines and Maersk Air merged via a new Icelandic owner, while posting a loss of DKK 800 million (€ 105 million)The newly consolidated airline had a total of 1,600 employees – 70% of whom came from Maersk Air. In contrast, nine out of ten members of the management were from Sterling and sought to spread Sterling’s low-price business model to the entire company and make it profitable within 12 months.   

The Process

At a Breakthrough Workshop, the management pledged to make Sterling profitable via the goals they set, which they called 7-9-13 (operating cost per aircraft seat of max. DKK 700 (€ 94) – operating revenue per aircraft seat of min. DKK 900 (€ 120) – min. 13,000 aircraft seats sold per day).

Then, together with Qeep, they developed a design process that involved the company’s middle management. More than 200 middle managers and other staff members identified the critical factors for achieving 7-9-13 and devised solutions to address them.

The middle management received coaching to foster their support for the solutions and to enhance their ability to communicate these solutions to staff. The coaching also included an intensive focus on results leadership to help them achieve the goal.

Old Habits

A variety of old habits had kept them from achieving their goals. Management normally developed plans and was responsible for ensuring implementation. As a result, only about 50% of the plans were actually implemented. Follow-ups took place only once a month, after the financial reports were completed – the logic being that the finance department could not get the numbers ready in time for more frequent follow-ups. The pilots took the stance that “I won’t fly with a Team Maersk/Team Sterling colleague in the seat to my left” (the captain’s seat). Finally, most of the staff believed that success was simply a matter of following the rules and procedures for their positions. Achieving results was the management’s responsibility.

New Behaviour

The pilots overcame their resistance and began to work efficiently in the cockpit with a combination of staff from both companies. And everyone began to focus on results, with “on time performance” and “fuel saving” providing a new sense of solidarity.

The supervising flight attendants assumed responsibility for in-flight sales results. The realization that each extra sandwich sold per departure could contribute an additional DKK 2 million to the bottom line inspired in-flight sales drives, resulting in significant growth in sales. Meanwhile, the extra focus on in-flight sales was perceived by passengers as an improvement in customer service because they felt much better informed about their choices.

Flight attendants, pilots, maintenance, ground staff, management, finance and customer service followed up on all their results on an hourly basis – as well as daily and weekly. They also communicated their results directly to management and to their colleagues. Middle management – instead of the finance department – became the go-to source for “business intelligence” on the status of the company.

The Results

  • Sales increased by 500% in one year
  • Operations became profitable
  • The consolidated company went from an EBIT of DKK -800 million (€ 107 mill). to an EBIT of DKK –(€ 10.7 million) – in 12 months
  • 30% reduction in cost per km flown
  • Sales per passenger increased by +1000%

The Hero

Online Marketing Manager Morten Vilsen came to Sterling from a small travel agency. Morten set out to make Sterling Denmark’s first online airline. By the end of 2006, 86% of all Sterling bookings came from online customers and Sterling had Scandinavia’s largest commercial customer CRM database.   

The Unrealistic Goal

Sterling achieved all three goals; however, the DKK 700 goal for production cost per aircraft seat was reached so late in the year that the company ended the year with a loss of DKK 80 million (€ 10.7 million) on the bottom line.   

The Organisation

The company was founded in 1962 by Ejlif Krogager as a provider of airline services to the package tour operator Tjæreborg. Reestablished in 1993 following bankruptcy, the company was then acquired by the Norwegian shipping company Fred Olsen, which had previously supplied air transport. This incarnation of Sterling was then sold in 2005 to a group of Icelandic investors headed by Palmi Harraldsson via his investment firm Fons Eignahaldsverlag. 

At that time, the Sterling Airways limited partnership company had a fleet of ten Boeing 737-800 aircraft and 600 employees. The company entered into negotiations with A.P. Moller-Maersk on the acquisition of the loss-making Maersk Air. After the takeover of Maersk Air, the company now known as Sterling Airlines A/S had 29 aircraft and 1,600 employees.

In the period 2005-2007, Sterling Airlines A/S underwent a dramatic turnaround.

Categories
Cases Commercial Excellence Perfomance Management

SAS Cargo

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Unrealistic Goal: To gain market share

Outcome: 3.8%: increase in market share

Solution: Sales Breakthrough Program – Gain Market Share


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“We now have a finely tuned organization that is much more results oriented. We are much more ambitious about achieving the goals we set for ourselves!”
— Rasmus Enderslev, Director of Sales, SAS Cargo

The Challenge

In 2007, SAS Cargo lost market share despite strong growth in the airfreight market.

The Process

At the end of 2007, Qeep and the SAS Cargo management held a series of possibility meetings where they set very ambitious goals for 2008.

Qeep then coached and trained the managers, helping to change the mindset at SAS Cargo in the course of the 52-week process.

Old Habits

At SAS Cargo, staff generally thought their job was to take incoming orders: “The customers call when they have freight that needs transporting.”  Bringing in new customers and meeting demand was considered “someone else’s” job.

New Behaviour

Customer service representatives took responsibility for proactively maintaining contact with their customers. They began to contact customers to ascertain future demands and in the process were able to determine whether competitors were in play. The new activities included keeping tabs on customers, following up on employee performance and taking action on any initiatives necessary to achieve their goals.

The Results

SAS Cargo exceeded its goals for 2008:

  • After one year, sales exceeded budget by 21%
  • Individual sales increased by 58%
  • 3.8% increase in market share

The Hero

Susse – a customer service representative – increased her sales by 234% in three months. Susse became proactive and chose not to give up on customers who used alternative freight solutions. She aimed for 100% share of wallet when it came to her customer’s airfreight. And she succeeded!

The Unrealistic Goal

To turn declining market share into positive growth.

The Organisation

SAS Cargo is an independent company within the SAS Group. Every day, 165 employees provide airfreight services on 1,000 flights throughout Europe and weekly flights to North America and Asia. 

Categories
Cases Commercial Excellence Perfomance Management

Rambøll

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Unrealistic Goal: To supply local governments in the Zealand region

Outcome: Sales to all “White Spots”

Solution: Sales Breakthrough


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“The effect of setting goals, assessing and launching initiatives, and addressing critical factors improves our results. Cultivating relations at a high level and involvement across the Ramboll organization became a natural part of the process for achieving success. The cross-organisational collaboration was particularly vital for developing the market. We owe a great thanks to our area managers, to our customers and to Qeep!”
— Michael Schad, Director of Marketing, Ramboll

Challenge

The local government sector is an attractive and highly competitive market. Despite targeted efforts, Rambøll had not had much success landing jobs for local governments in the Zealand region, where the Danish capital, Copenhagen, is also located.

The Process

Qeep and Rambøll worked together for nine months to set and achieve a series of goals, which would ultimately lead to increased sales to the local governments in the Zealand region.

The first step was to define the goal. For the sake of visualisation, the attractive local governments were marked in white on a map of Zealand – giving rise to the name of the project “White Spot Warriors”. The team of warriors initially comprised Rambøll’s Director of Marketing, Michael Schad, and seven area managers. They worked to identify a number of critical factors, drew up personal results plans and met once a week at results meetings, where they shared their successes, followed up on execution and evaluated what worked and what didn’t.

Throughout the process, Qeep’s consultants coached the warriors and ensured the project was firmly rooted in the organisation. They also provided training for area managers in areas where their competencies could be given a boost. This process ensured that the area managers worked in a serious and targeted manner to achieve their goals – without losing touch with Ramboll’s original values and corporate culture.

Old Habits

Ramboll had attempted to increase sales to local governments in the Zealand region without much success.

Area managers were highly focused on sales of their own particular product. When in contact with potential customers, they failed to consider the need for Ramboll’s many other services.

New Behaviour

As a result of the process:

The area managers began to understand that they could involve other departments in their sales efforts – and benefit from this. They started out by selling each other – not just themselves. Then, they stepped out of their comfort zones and began to visit the local authorities more often, discovering a definite interest – not only in their own services, but in many of Ramboll’s other services as well. The success snowballed. One successful call leading to a positive and fruitful conversation made the next call that much easier. And so on.

The Results

The outreach activities and cross-organizational collaboration resulted in a successful breakthrough:

  • Ramboll now conducts business with 12 out of 15 local authorities – all new customers
  • More than 10% of company revenue stems from these new customers
  • Most of the area managers increased sales by 40%
  • Three out of seven area managers doubled their revenue

The organisational outcome: Ramboll’s employees are now better at execution and achieving their goals – even after completion of the process with Qeep.

The Hero

Area Manager Michael Vedel experienced fantastic growth during the process!

Prior to the process, he had neither the time nor the resources to approach new customers in the local government sector.

The role of area manager with greater cross-organisational responsibility for accounts and sales was new at Ramboll. Michael took on the task – in addition to his usual operational duties – and performed with flying colours. He generated new business and landed three new local governments in his own area (100% success) via renewed focus, the use of targeted sales activities, increased meeting activity, and interdisciplinary involvement of competencies across the Ramboll organisation.

Michael is an excellent example of the benefits of questioning paradigms and of dropping an “it can’t be done” attitude in favour of an “it works if you focus your efforts” attitude.

The Unrealistic Goal

Qeep challenged the seven area managers to set unrealistic goals. They set the goals of landing new customers in selected local governments and boosting sales across the region by 40%.

The Organisation

Ramboll Denmark is a leading engineer, design and consulting firm, supplying knowledge-based turnkey solutions in construction and design, traffic and infrastructure, environment and water, energy and climate, and industry. The Ramboll Group employs around 10,000 people and operates globally, with 200 offices in 23 countries.

Categories
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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Commercial Excellence Updates

Qeep initiates collaboration with Otometrics

Otometrics is one of the leading companies within the hearing device industry and  operates in more than 80 countries worldwide.

Due to its size and wide market span, the company wants to develop a clearer best practice approach to sales in order to increase the company’s global transparency, predictability and the internal collaboration. In cooperation with Qeep, Otometrics is working on creating an identical and focused commercial excellence approach across the entire sales organisation with the purpose of establishing an identical culture and ultimately improve the company’s margins and operational profits.

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Commercial Excellence

Nets chooses Qeep as supplier of Customer Journey program

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The digital payment business is in rapid development and users are looking for unique solutions that matches their business best. In this regard, Nets is collaborating with Qeep to establish a strong commercial excellence plan in order to target customers in the most optimal way. This will contribute to improving the commercial and sales execution program to ensure that Nets continues as a leading company within its field.

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Commercial Excellence Updates

Konica Minolta chooses Qeep to help improve their sales execution program

Konica Minolta is a publicly traded company, world leader within the business of industrial picture products such as copiers, laser printers and multifunctional peripherals. The company has costumers worldwide and offices in 49 different countries.

Konica Minolta is currently launching several new IT products and services targeted to new and existing customers. Konica Minolta is collaborating with Qeep in order to improve its sales execution program and the operational strategy that goes with it. This is done in order to ensure the maximal amount of cross and up-selling to existing customers and to attract the highest number of new customers.

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Commercial Excellence Updates

Qeep initiates collaboration with Hardi

Hardi is a world leading Danish company within the agriculture spraying business. Hardi operates in 120 countries and employs more than a 1000 people worldwide.

Hardi International wants to establish a better understanding of the customers decision-making process including the thoughts and considerations that goes into the process. In this regard, Hardi and Qeep has engaged in a collaboration to lift the customer loyalty through a better understanding of the end-user. Through these initiatives, Hardi wishes to reach the maximum value in the sales and marketing activity across the organisation.