About Partena Professional
Partena Professional is a leading HR services provider in Belgium, supporting entrepreneurs and organizations with payroll, HR advice, and broader workforce solutions. With a large and diverse workforce, including payroll consultants, legal experts, and customer relationship managers, the company operates in a complex ecosystem where many employees interact with customers but are not traditionally salespeople.
Only the business developers that need to sign up new logo’s had that commercial spirit but could benefit also from another approach than the classical “diagnose” and then “propose” sales process.
The challenge: from task-driven to customer-driven
As Partena evolved, so did expectations. Employees were no longer expected to simply execute tasks. More and more, they also needed to identify opportunities, understand customer needs, and contribute to growth.
But that shift wasn’t easy. Many employees focused narrowly on their specific role: payroll consultants on salaries, legal experts on legislation, accountants on financial accuracy. Conversations remained operational and reactive. This limited both customer insight and commercial potential. The risk was clear: missed opportunities, shallow customer relationships, and increasing price pressure in a competitive market.
We realized that if we expect people to detect & convert opportunities, we need to support them. Our customer relationship managers didn’t know how to get out of these operational discussions.
says Kim Claesen, Area Manager at Partena Professional
At the same time, Partena faced a broader strategic challenge: how to activate cross- and upselling across a large, diverse population of customer-facing employees – more than 800 people – without forcing them into a traditional sales role.
The solution: a customer-centric conversations program
To address this, Partena partnered with Perpetos to design and implement a tailored program focused on customer-centric conversations and effective selling skills. At its core, the program aimed to build a proactive, “outside-in” mindset, which means: starting from the customer’s goals rather than internal products.
Instead of teaching product knowledge, the program focused on:
- Asking the right questions
- Understanding customer context and ambitions
- Detecting and developing the triggers for change
- Structuring impactful conversations
- Handling objections and guiding next steps
The approach was highly practical and customized. Exercises were adapted to each role (Customer Relationship Manager or Business Development Manager) ensuring immediate relevance.
What made the difference for me was how pragmatic the program was. We could translate the workshops to every role – account development or business development – by adapting the exercises and implementation assignments to their reality.
says Kim Claesen
The program combined classroom workshops for Sales and CRM’s, individual coaching follow-up by their management and experience sharing sessions, with real-life application exercises and a Coach-the-Coach program to develop the coaching skills of the management.
After each session, participants received a clear assignment to apply what they had learned with customers and prospects and to reflect on their experience. They were then coached and followed up on by their manager and learned from each other in experience sharing sessions. This ensured one critical outcome: bridging the gap between knowing and doing.
This hands-on approach seems to be typical of Perpetos, and can only come from an organization that has proven sales experience in the field.
says Kim Claesen
A true co-pilot approach
What set Perpetos apart was not just the content, but also the way they worked together with Partena. Rather than acting as a traditional training provider, Perpetos embedded itself as a co-pilot throughout the journey. There was continuous alignment, feedback loops, and adaptation based on real-world experience.
It wasn’t just ‘we give the workshop and you’re on your own. There was a clear rhythm of workshops, interviews, briefings and debriefs. That’s exactly what you need when you want to achieve behavioral change on the work floor.
says Kim Claesen
The results: measurable impact and mindset shift
The impact of the program is visible both in behavior and in hard results. Partena saw a strong increase in lead generation (+90 % thanks to the Customer Centricity Program & setting clear targets for Leadgen) and conversion (almost +20%) thanks to sales and customer relationship managers focusing on having more relevant customer centric conversations. This clearly shows that more employees are identifying and acting on opportunities as well as materializing them.
At the same time, the quality of customer conversations has improved significantly. Employees are asking broader, more strategic questions and moving beyond purely operational topics. They now have inspiring conversations with customers and prospects rather than operational or diagnostic meetings. Instead of simply executing tasks, they explore customer ambitions, challenges, and future plans, which leads to stronger relationships and increased cross- and upselling opportunities.
“Mindset doesn’t change overnight; people need to be inspired or energized. That is exactly what they give at Perpetos, they also act as a personal coach, and in this role, they have the ability to transfer genuine energy and drive, not just to me, but to every group they guided.”
While mindset change takes time, early behavioral shifts are already visible. As Kim Claesen explains:
I hear people asking different questions now. That’s coming directly from the workshops. You can see the change starting.
The program also introduced a common commercial language and framework across teams, helping align how employees approach customer conversations and opportunities. This creates more consistency and makes collaboration easier.
“I also worked together with the Perpetos team to create & roll-out the customer-centric conversations program for our payroll consultants and other experts, so I was wearing 2 different hats. That made me see the advantage of having a common knowledge between sales, the customer relationship managers and all other customer facing roles. Everybody understand and is looking for “triggers to change” at the (potential) customer. That’s what will make it stick.
says Kim Claesen
From training to lasting impact
Instead of a one-off training, the collaboration with Perpetos has laid the foundation for a more customer-centric way of working, one that Partena continues to build on. By shifting the focus from tasks to conversations, and from products to customer needs, Partena Professional has unlocked new commercial potential across its organization. With Perpetos as a co-pilot, the company is reshaping how it connects with customers, today and in the years ahead.
