Project Initiator:
General Manager
Assignment Period:
April 2009 – current
Outo Kumpu business need:
While revenue was strong at around $65 million, we recognised that our sales function was not enabling us to capitalise on new opportunities. Our sales team spent the majority of their capacity on farming and servicing current customers, with little time spent on hunting for new signings.
We were unsure whether to create a separate hunting function or review the current sales model in order to free up more time for hunting. We also needed to take a fresh look at our sales function at a strategic level and implement more stringent activity principles and practical guidelines.
The Next Level Business Solution:
The Next Level’s suite of modellers challenged the existing notions of our most valuable market segments, and in doing so enabled us to better prioritise our hunting and farming functions within the existing sales team, while reducing time spent on servicing. Their training and resources ensured that the sales team charged with these functions were armed with appropriate training, tools and capacity. They developed and undertook a lead generation and qualification program that streamlined the team’s hunting activities with the aim of achieving optimal efficiency.
The Results So Far:
We have enjoyed an excellent commercial year, with an improvement of around 30% on last year. The lessons we have learnt from The Next Level have assisted us in developing a more structured, prioritised and accountable sales function.
Looking Ahead:
We look forward to continuing our work with The Next Level. We will review and reassess our hunting and farming priorities for the coming year, as well as extending their hunting solution to a business development function with asset owners and project leaders at the end of our value chain.