The Goal
A nationally recognized financial services company had a disciplined rhythm around the number of interactions the company’s sales managers had with its frontline sales consultants. However, leadership wanted to improve the content and focus of each meeting.
Wanting an outside perspective, the company brought in VantagePoint to assess the current interactions sales managers were having with their frontline sales consultants and bring new ideas to the table that would improve the value of the interactions.
The Diagnostic
VantagePoint assessed the company’s sales management framework and existing sales processes, revealing the following:
- Inconsistencies in the adoption of the sales management framework across teams
- The sales force had variances in the application of the framework
- Interactions between sales managers and consultants were generally focused on inspecting past events, with minimal time available to focus on planning
Unifying Sales Managers
VantagePoint implemented a “train-the-trainer” strategy to ensure that the sales managers were equipped to help the sales consultants on how to effectively operate within the sales methodology. The custom sales management training program is rooted in VantagePoint’s Sales Management Code methodology, which improves sales managers’ ability to drive specific activities that directly affect sales performance.
VantagePoint also unified the sales managers’ approach, creating consistent training across the company. This training helped sales managers shift the focus from inspection-based conversations to strategic forward-planning conversations.
“We liked that the VantagePoint coaching program is compatible with any sales methodology, so we were able to align it with our existing sales framework, which is very important to us,” said the Northeast Region Managing Director.
Increased Consistency, Adoption, and Sustainability
Due to the successful roll-out of the training program across sales consultants, sales managers, and executive directors, the company was able to reach its goal of consistency, adoption, and sustainability of the sales management methodology among all teams.
Post-training, sales consultants reported the following:
- Enhanced preparation for meeting with prospects
- Better equipped to identify high-value target clients
- The ability to develop strategies to engage target clients
- Provide relevant solutions that address clients’ needs