Qeep

Tag: Breakthrough Thinking and Strategy

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Cases Perfomance Management

DCC Energy Denmark

Five-fold growth in new customers

Unrealistic Goal: 5,000 new customers in 6 months

Outcome: 100% achievement of the goal

Solution: Performance Culture Program


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“We had a strategy, but we doubted our ability to execute. We heard about the results Qeep had achieved in a similar situation for another company, had a talk with them and initiated the transformation of our company. What we didn’t realize in the beginning was how strongly we were influenced by the old Shell culture. We can see now how that would have been fatal in the long term in an energy market under pressure. My mandate as CEO has grown, my managers have grown as a team, and the company is ready for the energy fight in the Danish market”
— Christian Heise, CEO, DCC Energy Denmark

The Challenge

The challenge for DCC was to attract more customers in a recessive energy market – without negatively impacting earnings.

For some time, the company had seen weak and unsatisfactory growth in market share in the Danish energy market. The introduction of gas distribution had not resulted in the desired customer influx.

The Process

Each employee at the company set very ambitious goals. The employees in corporate and private sales, in particular, set extreme goals for growth in new customers and they carefully considered what it would take to achieve them.

Everyone agreed that the results couldn’t be achieved. At least not without new thinking and putting an end to the old “Shell paradigms”.

The managers were challenged to their very cores in terms of leadership style, ability to work cross – organisationally and internal communication. Responsibility, prioritisation and focus on the end result took over the agenda, pushing aside the old Shell culture. Following up on activities that yield results became an integral element in achieving success.

Old Habits

First, it should be nice to go to work; second to that comes results. That was the culture at DCC – with the results to prove it. It was always someone else’s fault if something went wrong; employees subconsciously resisted each other and took a reactive stance to internal and customer-related challenges.

As a result, productivity remained unsatisfactorily low.

New Behaviour

After massive resistance from management in the early stages of the project, every manager now drives the company towards the end goal via weekly or biweekly results meetings. Responsibility for achieving goals now rests solidly with the individual employee. The “impossible” goals are achieved by focusing on the results, something that managers and employees thought to be impossible just nine months earlier. Consistency has become a trademark of top management and innovative thinking combined with process optimisation are part of daily life for the vast majority of employees.

The Results

  • Five-fold increase in the first 6 months:
  • 5,000 new customers in 6 months
  • 5 new sales channels established in the market
  • 5 new products introduced to the customers

And all with earnings on budget for the period.

The Hero

Operations Manager Kirsten Ramsing has always had a good handle on the business, always knowing what needed to be done. In the beginning, she resisted the “rigid results-oriented method which doesn’t suit our business”. But as the process progressed, she embraced the results-oriented method and began coaching her employees to help them achieve results instead of giving them directives. The outcome is “win/win”, in Kirsten’s own words. She is now a better boss, while her employees assume responsibility and profit from the good results.

The two middle managers in marketing and private sales who report to Kirsten have both exceeded their targets for new customers. Together, the three of them have established a fantastic results partnership.

The Unrealistic Goal

For DCC Energy Denmark to grow significantly and gain market share in an energy market under pressure.

To grow from approx. 1,000 new customers in the first half of the year to 5,000 new customers in the second half. The vital result, however, is how the corporate culture at DCC Energy Denmark has transitioned from a reactive energy supplier into an agile, proactive and results-oriented distributor in the energy market.

The Organisation

DCC Energy Denmark has approx. 70 employees and is an energy distribution company seeking growth in the Nordic market. DCC specializes in the distribution of heating fuel, diesel, natural gas and lubricants to private customers and businesses.

DCC Energy Denmark is owned by DCC plc Ireland, which employs approx. 9,500 people.

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 Perfomance Management

MTH Construction

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From project focus to customer focus – sales growth of DKK 700 million

Unrealistic Goal: To establish a commercial organisation and boost revenue significantly

Outcome: Growth in revenue from DKK 2.9 billion to DKK 3.5 billion – in 12 months 

Solution: Executionable Strategy


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“We set out to design a new strategy for profitable growth. Qeep challenged us directly at the very first meeting by asking what we wanted to achieve. They weren’t interested in just writing a strategy report for us, they wanted to ensure execution and help us achieve the agreed result. That was something new! They pushed us hard – but respectfully – and established a relationship that I don’t normally experience with consultants”
— Jens Nyhus, COO, MTH Construction

The Challenge

MTH Construction had made several attempts to get their engineers and building contractors to adopt commercial and customer-oriented thinking – and had given up time and again. With the cooling of the construction sector caused by the financial crisis, MTH Construction managed to achieve results by tightening its belt.

Now management wanted to change tactics and give the sales and tender function a boost to achieve a higher hit-rate and profitable revenue growth. The sales function had recently been centralised – in theory. However, in practice, the sales staff were still located in the regional offices and selling locally. National coordination, purchasing criteria segmentation and sales management were insufficient.

The Process

From the outset, Qeep involved both the sales staff and management in the definition of MTH Construction’s commercial breakthrough.

An impartial customer analysis revealed a clear gap between MTH Construction’s view of things and the real life situation. A performance and profile assessment also exposed disparities between the current competency level, the corporate attitude and customer expectations.

The involvement and analysis process identified the need for a new organization that matched the relevant customer segmentation. Meanwhile, a commercial director with experience managing solution sales representatives was appointed.

In phase two, Qeep coached management and new/existing sales staff to help with development and operation of the new function. With the launch of the “win sheet, personal results plan, and weekly results meetings” tools, this process ensured that MTH Construction’s commercial staff executed the planned initiatives, despite in-house resistance encountered by the department. And they achieved their ambitious goal!      

Old Habits

The MTH Construction sales staff believed they were responsible for identifying future projects and ensuring that the company had the opportunity to bid on them. However, responsibility for MTH Construction actually winning the bids rested with the tender function – not the sales department.

The sales staff were also convinced that MTH Construction was well known in the market. According to the sales staff, there was only one reason why the company lost orders – they were too expensive.

Sales to national customers were managed centrally. Thus, when necessary, MTH Construction would bid aggressively on national customers, who also had to respect the fact that they might be too busy locally to bid.

New Behaviour

MTH Construction hired a number of market managers. In the centralized commercial function, they began coordinating key customers at national level. Key customers now received regular visits and their wishes could be implemented in all projects – across the country.

Sales staff members were assigned the title of Customer Managers, with responsibility for project win rates. They were tasked with identifying, prioritizing and coordinating customer contact from the initial meeting to the landing of the order. The customer managers now coordinated all the resources and the next step was to make it easier for customers to choose different strategies. For example, customers could now negotiate directly with MTH Construction – instead of always having to put a project out to tender in order to obtain a good price.

The Results

  • 25% hit-rate – up from 13% the previous year

  • Growth in order intake from 2.9 billion to DKK 3.6 billion in a declining market

The Hero

Sales Manager John Sommer is the type of person who devotes all his energy to achieving what he sets out to do. As a consequence, people around him sometimes had trouble keeping up. When John was appointed head of the customer managers, he took on a huge management task that would take more than just energy to fulfill. John proved that he could get everyone to work as a team without losing sight of the goal. John has learned to pace his energy in order to ensure a high degree of execution among his customer managers. 

The Unrealistic Goal

Growth in profitable sales of DKK 700 million in a declining market

The Organisation

MT Højgaard is one of the leading building and construction companies in the Nordic region. The company collaborates with customers all over Denmark and abroad on projects of all sizes, from small construction projects to large-scale and complex works, infrastructure projects and the installation of foundations for offshore wind turbines.

Categories
Cases Perfomance Management

Hillerød Hospital

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Unrealistic Goal: To reverse a budget shortfall and reduce waiting lists

Outcome: Budget deficit turned positive and waiting lists are shorter

Solution: Performance Management Program – Stay on Budget


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“In the beginning, I thought it was really irritating because they were so damned persistent. And they would sometimes interrupt things that were planned in meetings and such. But after a while we could see that it really helped us drive the process. Because as health professionals, we have a tendency to say: The patients come first!”
— Annelise Bertelsen, Chief Nurse

The Challenge

In 2005, the OB/GYN department at Hillerød Hospital, located north of Copenhagen, exceeded a budget of DKK 100 million by the enormous sum of DKK 15-18 million. This made it difficult for the department to function smoothly. Thus the challenge: To stay on budget!

The Process

Qeep helped and coached the department management throughout the process. The managers began to set goals and keep close tabs via progress via weekly results meetings.

Old Habits

The patients received proper treatment, but spending exceeded the budget.

New Behaviour

Everyone at the hospital began to view their job as not just to meet the patient needs but to do so within the given budget. Proactive planning and follow-up on expenses for temps, material consumption, occupancy, etc. ensured that the staff assumed responsibility for patient satisfaction and budget compliance.

The Results

  • Budget shortfall of 15% transformed into a profit
  • Staff sick days reduced by 2%
  • Waiting lists reduced by 12%

The Unrealistic Goal

The projected budget shortfall of DKK 15 million made it difficult for the department to function smoothly, leading department management to set a goal of reversing the budget shortfall.

The Organisation

Hillerød Hospital serves 310,000 people in Northern Zealand. The OB/GYN department provides prenatal and birth care, fertility treatments and female pelvic medicine. The department has 283 employees.

Categories
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.

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.