Case Studies
#1 International Sales Strategy Adaptation
Customer
A global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Germany with sales units in other European countries, including the Czech Republic and Slovakia
Challenge
The Sales Director CEE & SEE was a member of the HQ team that developed a unified sales strategy for the company. His task was to implement this strategy in various local units, a challenge that required effective change management and a boost in revenue. Drawing from his experience, he understood that the regional sales units would only readily accept the global strategy if we tailored them to their local markets and culture.
Solution
I conducted a comprehensive analysis of the existing sales processes through a collaborative effort. I worked closely with the sales teams through joint visits and workshops. Guided by the key findings, we tailored the sales strategy and developed a robust segmentation that effectively mirrors local conditions. The approach also encompassed creating and implementing standardized tools and processes customized to the local markets. Alongside segmentation, the teams adopted a sales scorecard and a unified sales process that took into account local market conditions and cultures.
Results
The solution led to a significant increase in revenue and significant improvements in customer and employee satisfaction. Implementing standardized tools and processes improved visibility and performance across the company’s sales units. Seamless integration of new strategies resulted in more efficient operations and a consistent sales approach across regions.
#2 Sales and Customer Service Integration
Customer
A multinational FMCG company with sales teams in Germany and Austria. The customer service teams are in Hungary.
Challenge
The teams needed to improve the coordination between sales and customer service. In addition, there needed to be more effective communication and cross-cultural competency, which would result in operational challenges and decreased customer satisfaction. Throughout the last few years, overall satisfaction with the customer services team in Hungary has been declining. The sales managers were reporting increasing issues.
Solution
We kicked off the project with a series of workshops to align both teams on new processes and identify critical areas for improvement. My approach included:
- Workshop: At the beginning, I facilitated a workshop with sales teams to identify the challenges from their perspective.
- Joint work sessions: Shortly after the workshop, I conducted joint work sessions with Customer Service team members to learn about their operations and challenges.
- Development plan: Based on the analysis results (workshop and joint work sessions), I developed a training and coaching plan to address missing skills, focusing on cross-cultural competency, effective communication, and excellent customer service.
- Training and coaching sessions: The team members have learned new skills in tailored training. The following one-on-one coaching sessions focused on reinforcing the latest skills and addressing specific personal and interpersonal issues.
- Enhanced communication channels: The teams agreed on how they wanted to communicate and which voice they wanted to use toward the customer. New communication standards and protocols were implemented to facilitate better information flow and coordination.
- Regular check-ins: The teams also agreed on regular check-ins between sales managers and their customer service counterparts to ensure ongoing alignment and communication.
- Feedback mechanism: Finally, we established a mechanism to continuously monitor and improve team collaboration.
Results
The reorganization led to significantly improved cooperation between the sales and customer service teams. Key outcomes included:
- Higher customer satisfaction: Enhanced service delivery and responsiveness.
- Employee loyalty: Increased job satisfaction and commitment among employees.
- Reduced employee turnover: Lower fluctuation rates due to better working relationships and a more supportive environment.
- Improved efficiency: Streamlined operations resulting in faster issue resolution and higher productivity.
- Enhanced cross-cultural competence: Teams better understood cultural differences, improving overall communication and collaboration not only among the teams but also with the customers.
Contact
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