A German mechanical engineering company with around 1,000 employees worldwide was looking to drive growth and profitability through the targeted expansion of sales of after sales products and services. To this end, the company engaged the after sales expert as an interim manager. The main task was to realign sales and related areas accordingly.
Software for sales processes optimized and resources reallocated
During the analysis, the interim manager discovered that the processes in the after-sales area had been neglected for years. This was mainly due to the fact that the sales department, to which the after-sales area had previously been subordinate, had primarily focused on selling new machines.
The interim manager realigned the area by first optimizing the use of existing software tools. This enabled him to more than halve the processing times for creating quotations and order confirmations. He used the resources freed up in sales to follow up quotations and orders more actively. As part of the reorganization, the interim manager also relieved the sales staff by shifting administrative tasks to the back office. This created even more capacity for more intensive customer support.
Professional marketing for after sales and service products developed
After the interim manager had improved the internal foundations for the successful sale of service products by reorganizing the after sales area, he turned his attention to the external image. Together with the after-sales team, he developed comprehensive concepts for the previously rudimentary marketing activities. This included, among other things, presenting the after-sales services and products more prominently on the website and in the web store. Representatives, branches and customers are now also informed about new and current service products in a targeted manner with flyers, presentations and video events.
New product management for after sales as an interface to business units
In order to further professionalize the after sales service, the interim manager convinced his client to implement product management for the after sales area. Product Management is now responsible for developing service products in line with the current market situation. At the same time, product management forms a proactive interface to the affiliated business units from product development to production and sales.
Detailed information material created for customers and sales
Another focus of the mandate was the training of the company's own sales team and external organizations. To this end, the interim manager worked with the business units involved to create a series of detailed product sheets and other sales documents. This not only facilitated the sales work, but also relieved the entire organization by significantly reducing the number of internal and external inquiries. Almost more importantly, the new sales material was received very positively by customers and the external organization and immediately created a good first impression that built trust - and therefore significantly more inquiries.
Optimized pricing improves margin by more than 10 percent
The new processes and strict control of quotations and orders made a significant contribution to increasing the margin in the after sales area by more than 10 percent. Moderate price increases, which the interim manager initiated together with the executives after carefully analyzing and revising the master data, made a further contribution.
Follow-up assignment to restructure branches in Asia
In a further sub-project, the client entrusted the interim manager with restructuring two branches in Asia. Thanks to greater efficiency in the processing of offers and orders in the region, the interim manager with experience in Asia was able to reduce local costs by a 6-figure amount in the first year. At the same time, the new and faster processes increased customer satisfaction - and improved incoming orders in the sales region.
