Cargill Sellers Increase Revenue by 30%
The Results
30%Revenue increase among top performers
10+New large accounts acquired in one business unit
2xVolume reported in one of Cargill’s largest preferred accounts
The Challenge
To enhance the customer experience and evolve sales practises from demand fulfilment to demand creation, Cargill launched a Sales Effectiveness initiative aimed at improving selling efforts across the world. This initiative was launched to maintain Cargill’s number one position, expand market position, grow shares of business in key accounts, and increase margins to drive profitability.The Sales Effectiveness initiative focused on aligning sales functions around consistent sales knowledge and skills; establishing a common sales language, and putting in place key practises for how salespeople qualify leads, position the Cargill storey, and serve a diverse range of customer needs. The entire solution is supported, reinforced, and sustained by a Sales Manager Development programme, with the specific goal of building strong sales coaching cadence and skills.
The Approach
Working with Richardson Sales Performance, Cargill evaluated its existing sales processes, compared strengths against best practises, and established a sales cycle that would resonate among all teams. The Cargill Sales Framework addressed six stages of the sales process: Explore, Discover, Create, Present, Close, and Strengthen and Expand Relationships. For each stage, high-impact activities and specific measures of success were defined.Richardson Sales Performance worked with Cargill to customise a curriculum to train salespeople to effectively engage, sell, serve, and retain customers, as well as train sales managers to coach and train sales leaders to lead organisations. An additional goal was delivering rapid value to the organisation in three main areas: customer satisfaction, market share, and overall financial return.
In addition to the comprehensive instructor-led training, Cargill employs diagnostic instruments as well as post-training sustainment tools, including gamification, manager-led reinforcement sessions, newsletters, e-learning, and webinars. All of these assets are used as part of a measurement system in accordance with Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation Model. Cargill’s Learning and Development team designed a comprehensive change management strategy to ensure long-term programme success and to get crucial buy-in from the leadership of each business unit. Cargill’s Sales Effectiveness programme guide summarised goals, details, workflows, timelines, and change management models and served to gain executive sponsorship.
It pushed me outside my comfort zone. Richardson Sales Performance’s customised approach gets people out of their chair and into role-playing that ignites learning. These concepts will stick with me much longer.
Solutions that made this possible
Sprint Coaching™ At a Glance
Richardson’s sales coaching training programme, Sprint Coaching™, teaches an agile approach to sales coaching that turns professional development into an iterative and flexible process. It helps sales managers shift from being an expert who commands team members, to being a coach who empowers self-motivated learning and improved results.
Sales Manager Coaching Tools
Richardson Sales Performance’s Manager Meeting Toolkits are a collection of Leader’s Guides built specifically for frontline Sales Managers to use in leading training reinforcement sessions with their teams.
Sales Skill Assessments
Find clarity on where your team is today and where you need to go with our proprietary sales skill assessments.