THE CHALLENGE: global collaboration and uniform working method
The label solutions company had gone through an impressive growth in recent years. Unfortunately, this had gradually complicated the global organization of sales. Because of several acquisitions, the sales organization no longer had a uniform way of managing key accounts or setting key account targets. Despite its scale advantage and growth potential, the label company’s organic growth slowed down. This prompted management to take action.
THE GOAL: proactive account planning
The label company wanted to implement a unified team approach for managing global key accounts. This approach would not only benefit the company, but also its customers. Perpetos was the ideal partner for this assignment. The company’s experience, references, methodology and pragmatic approach convinced the label company to work with Perpetos.
Initially, the focus was on the company’s 14 largest global accounts.
The goal was to:
- Implement a uniform, proactive account planning for global accounts
- Support the sales team with a structured approach for managing and following up on key accounts
- Gain more insight into customer potential and drivers, and to easily visualize that knowledge for all stakeholders
- Reinforce and build deep, broad and long-term relationships with key people in all relevant departments and regions, as well as with external influencers
- Support and facilitate the sales team in achieving breakthroughs
In a second phase, the company wanted to extend this new approach to all global accounts and regional key accounts.
One of the things I am most proud of is our ability to build strong and trusting relationships with our key accounts worldwide.
THE SOLUTION: on-the-job implementation
The program helped key account managers to develop their accounts in a proactive way, identify breakthroughs and translate these into follow-on activities.
Program highlights:
- Customer-centric design: The program included on-the-job implementation based on a structured Perpetos methodology. It provided account managers with a daily working tool that allowed them to proactively approach and monitor their accounts.
- The program started from clearly defined, ambitious, but realistic growth objectives. The basis was a deeper and broader knowledge of the customer and its environment.
- These objectives were translated into concrete strategies and tactics, that were easy to memorize.
- The program promoted team selling. A unified way of working throughout the organization allowed account managers to respond more quickly to new situations. A good example of this is the Quarterly Business Reviews (QBR). A QBR was now preceded by an individual review of the account plan by all stakeholders. Questions and comments were answered and processed digitally in advance. In this way, a time-consuming presentation meeting could be avoided and the QBR could be used to discuss more strategic topics based on shared knowledge.
- Thanks to a data-driven approach, everything is traceable in Salesforce. This ensures interaction between colleagues and better visibility to the rest of the organization, resulting in measurable impact.
- The strength of Perpetos is that the program is implemented together with the customer. This closes the gap between knowing and doing and the methodology becomes embedded into the organization. Perpetos provided the methodology, training, and individual mentoring of the key account managers and their management. Reporting systems, processes, CRM and other tools were also aligned with the new approach.
The experience and methodology of Perpetos helped me as a project manager to always be one step ahead of the typical obstacles in change projects. This enabled the project team to respond to needs in the field in an agile way.
THE RESULT: more growth, more conversion
The program resulted in pipeline growth, improved sales conversion and a significantly higher market share.
After 8 months, the label solutions company reported:
- A net growth of 18% in Net New Business
- 64% growth in share of wallet
- 59% increase in average knowledge/skills
This was made possible through:
- A planned, proactive approach to key accounts based on well-defined plans and objectives instead of a reactive approach
- A structured customer engagement strategy focused on retention of existing business (churn avoidance) and growth through well-defined up-sell and cross-sell strategies
- Growth for global key accounts that was 3% higher than business growth, as well as overall better farming results with better pipeline and project visibility
- Improved group dynamics:the team sharedcontacts and best practices more easily. This resulted in less regional silo formation. Perpetos provided tailor-made playbooks, enabling the company to embed the methodology in the organization.
- A positive evaluation from customers, who experienced that the organization was more collaborative and proactive in offering solutions
- Possibility of introducing strategic innovations more easily
We have experienced Perpetos as an international player
who could also support us globally.
