Sales and Management Development for leading private medical healthcare provider
The ClientOne of the leading providers of Private Medical Insurance in the UK, part of one of the world's largest insurance companies, sought to develop the performance of their sales, account management and sales management teams. The 'Sales Academy' has since developed over the course of 4 years, with over 100 delegates receiving individual bespoke sales development. The ProgrammeWith the marketplace in decline and with what is sometimes seen as a homogenised product offering, our client wanted to create some 'clear water' between themselves and their competitors by creating a leading sales organisation. The key drivers were to:Increase revenueTo create stronger relationships with their key clients and brokers to enable them to improve the percentage of business referredRetain their top performersDevelop an industry leading reputation to attract high quality staff. The Scope of the WorkThe programme was developed in close collaboration with the sales leadership team and the internal training team; it has been in place since 2003. The stages in the project were:Development of a series of sales competency benchmarks (at basic, intermediary and advanced levels foreach role)Development Centres to assess skills against the agreed benchmarksData collected and reviewed with Solution Cell and the internal training teamA series of bespoke training modules were designed and delivered to fulfil individual and group development needsMigration of the development programme to the internal training team to form part of their sales inductionSolution Cell remained the preferred partner for bespoke development where the internal team where under resourced or did not have the appropriate skills in houseAssessment of the teams after three years through revised Development Centres. Critical Success FactorsManagement buy-in and support at all levels from day oneCollaboration between the internal training team and Solution CellFocus on the reinforcement of training by line management to ensure the longevity of results. The Benefits and Outcomes of the ProgrammeIncrease in revenue for 3 years following launchIncrease in positive feedback from brokers and hence uplift in referral businessStaff survey showed some top performers (15%) had considered leaving before Sales Academy - this reduced to zero, with many staff still there 6 years onHave an attitude of growing their talent "It was important to understand how our business really works, before undertaking anytraining. With Solution Cell's help we have been able to capture the good things wehave - motivation, good ethos etc. - and reflect these in skills training that is imbuedwith company culture."Director of Commercial Sales