The management and parent company of a surface coater for automotive, mechanical engineering and aerospace components were dissatisfied with growth. While market growth in the automotive sector averaged 6 percent, the company was only able to generate 0.5 percent growth with 19 plants. The interim manager was tasked with analysing processes and markets as well as developing strategies and concepts that would lead to significantly higher sales growth.
Sales activities reorganized into three segments according to sales potential
As the interim manager quickly discovered in the as-is analysis, the main reason for the poor performance was the organizational structure of the sales department. The 19 plants operated independently of each other and many processes were implemented differently. There was little exchange between the plants. As the sales employees only acquired orders for their own plant, orders were lost that could not be serviced in their own plant. In addition, the sales department was essentially reactive.
The interim manager restructured the sales department. Previously, each customer had been assessed according to their actual turnover and managed by a sales representative. The interim manager introduced a new support concept, the segmentation of which was based on the sales potential of the customers.
- The internal sales team now looks after a large number of customers with low sales potential.
- A regional area sales team is responsible for customers in the medium sales segment.
- Key account managers deal specifically with large Tier 1 suppliers and internationally active customers.
A main contact person was assigned to each customer and new customer. Area sales was also given a list of named accounts to work on. New customers are first looked after by Inside Sales, the sales potential is determined and then assigned to the sales employees accordingly. The interim manager attached great importance to keeping the number of customers in area sales manageable - to ensure perfect support at all times and guarantee maximum sales.
Shared sales targets and commission models improve overall acquisition
The interim manager introduced and filled the new sales roles. By redistributing the roles to key account management and inside sales, the number of sales employees and costs were not increased. In addition, the interim manager introduced sales targets and commission models based on sales across all plants. This arrangement motivated the sales staff more strongly to also acquire for the other plants and thus drive overall growth. The interim manager also increased the frequency: customers with high sales potential in particular are now actively approached on a regular basis instead of just waiting for incoming inquiries.
More transparency through ERP and CRM system as well as new KPI and controlling models
In further steps, the interim manager supported an expansion of the ERP and CRM systems and introduced new KPI and controlling models, which enabled further potential to be identified and exploited. He also set up new, optimized processes. For example, the time required to process a regular request for quotation was reduced from 25 to 5 minutes.
New potential of 25 million euros - turnover increased by more than 15 percent
As a result, new potential of more than 25 million euros was identified with existing customers within just a few months and turnover increased by more than 15 percent - despite the slowdown in market growth. The basic capacity utilization of the plants was increased significantly without increasing personnel costs. The plant in China was able to win major customer orders in the high single-digit million range.
The client was very satisfied, as the operating profit developed disproportionately to the increase in turnover. The successful sales model was later expanded to include additional employees, as the sales trend allowed for this.
