Moving from product-focussed to customer-centred, interactive behaviour to gain market shares
Our client and their needs
This company is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality injection moulding machines for plastics processing. Its trademark is its modular product range made up of energy-efficient, electric, hybrid and hydraulic machines and corresponding peripherals. Based in Germany, the company employs 2,700 staff and generates an annual turnover of around 600 million Euros.
Competition in this market is set to become increasingly tough in the future. Looking ahead, the company aims to increase its market share with the help of training. The strength of the company – its solid customer relations – should be expanded further, whilst honing the expertise of sales staff. The goal is for sales staff to sell products and create customer loyalty through a consulting approach.
Our design and delivery
During the preparatory phase, the sales strategy had to be revised by studying the market segmentation. Once it was clear which companies were to be targeted, new and innovative sales channels were developed that no longer focussed on the product, but rather on people and their requirements.
Which topics were dealt with in the training?
- Basic attitude towards customers and employees’ own task areas
- Improving personal impact
- Confident demeanour
- A customer-oriented approach
- Confidence when dealing with customers
- Self-motivation
- Dialogue techniques and effective sales pitches
- The art of negotiation in difficult situations
- Effective telephone calls
- Introduction to sales
- Written correspondence with customers
- Creating effective offers
- How do I seal the deal?
- Complaints are personal opportunities
- The weight of the price is a matter of perception
Our results and their impact
Our training sessions imparted knowledge, but it was the real-life practice in between those dates that really brought about behavioural changes and sustainability, and ultimately generated positive results. Participant feedback showed that the physical tools, such as memory cards and manuals, were highly appreciated as memory aids, and are still used regularly today. The participants also reported that far from being just another training course, several ‘light-bulb moments’ had followed since.