Customer Success Story: UNIT 4 Agresso
It’s getting pretty difficult these days to come up with any silver linings in the black clouds that have gathered over our collective heads, as technology companies in particular start to feel the full impact of the economic slowdown, but it is a truth often overlooked that it is in these market conditions that really innovative thinking can have dramatic effects: companies are forced to think much more creatively and consider strategies and tactics that in the good times would have been considered too risky or just plain unnecessary. You might call it another timely reminder that necessity is the mother of invention. It’s certainly the reason why some more aggressively-minded CEOs would consider this recession a chance to build a competitive edge and steal business from lazier rivals. When business is good (and this only becomes obvious in hindsight) it is easy to get complacent and under-invest, particularly in the client-facing and selling parts of the business - even though the funds are there. Paradoxically, when the tough times are upon us, the funds to invest in doing anything new or different have disappeared. This is a Catch 22 that is right now catching out a lot of technology companies.
An exception might be the UNIT 4 Group company Agresso, which is a leading developer of mid-level ERP, Finance and HR systems for more than 2,600 public sector and medium to large enterprises around the world, such as EasyJet, Halcrow and LogicaCMG. The company, headquartered in Bristol, employs over 3,500 staff worldwide, and over 1,000 staff in the UK with more than a third of these in roles with direct, regular customer contact. However, of these, only about 50 staff are in traditional Sales roles; all the rest are in fee-earning consultancy, implementation or project management roles, working with customers in post-sales systems implementation. An obvious and very significant business improvement opportunity presented itself when Anne Bark, Agresso’s Director of Professional Services, came across Redline Associates, a company principally focussed on helping technology companies improve sales performance. Unlike most companies of this type, Redline is not just a sales training outfit, content to deliver training courses to the Sales team. “If you want to make genuine, lasting improvements in sales performance, you also have to pay attention to the behaviours and skills of everyone who comes into contact with your customers, especially project delivery staff, who are guardians of much of the credibility of the solutions you are selling.” says Nick Constable, Redline’s Managing Director. “That means aligning what the professional services people are doing with the sales team’s efforts, and giving them an insight into why the client is spending its money with you. At its simplest, it means training technical people to appreciate the sensitivities of the buying process and not put their foot in it when talking to clients. At a more sophisticated level, it is about helping them to understand value concepts, client motivations and the importance of maintaining often complex relationships, rather than just turning up to offer a technical solution. After all, customers will remain in ‘buying mode’ throughout the implementation of a project and rarely feel ‘sold’ on a system until the ink’s dry on the final acceptance form.”
Anne Bark’s team of over 180 professional services staff attended Redline’s Sales Awareness for Consultants workshop programme throughout 2008. “The Redline programme was delivered to our project managers and consultants in the Professional Services team to help improve their commercial effectiveness and client management skills. The training had an overwhelmingly positive response, with delegates appreciating the relevance of the content to their roles, the depth of experience of the trainer and the enthusiastic, interactive style of the presentation.” says Anne. The training classes were supported with personalised coaching for key members of the team and team leaders. “Changing behaviours for the better doesn’t happen just because someone attended a training course.” says Nick Constable. “Managers and team leaders need to support and re-enforce the adoption of new skills in everyday situations, and the coaching support from us helps the individual feel that they are part of a continuous learning process.“
However, Redline’s approach to sales performance improvement is to ‘treat the whole patient’ and skills development is only a part of the therapy. A typical improvement programme could include the development of a company-wide sales strategy, which complements and involves other business functions, such as HR, Marketing and Finance; a sales management programme to develop performance assessment methods, best practice benchmarks and new processes; and a review of compensation plans and the whole motivation and incentive culture of the company. To this end, Agresso’s Sales and Services management teams are working together to change the way both teams are paid bonuses, in order to encourage co-working and seamless communication with clients. “Redline took a partnership approach to working with us. A lot of ground has been covered, with good concepts implemented for differentiating our approach to client projects and learning to be more aware of sales processes.” concludes Anne Bark.
Into 2009, and Agresso’s sales management team is embarking on a Sales Performance Management programme with Redline Associates, in a concerted effort to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the sales team in the face of renewed challenges in the market. “There’s less business out there now, so smart sales teams need to be raising their game and improving not just their skills, but also their activity levels, attitudes to winning, and they way they work with client-facing colleagues,” comments Nick Constable, “and sales managers generally need to rely less on what the CRM system is telling them and more on their observation of behaviours and communication with salespeople.” Whilst other technology companies shut down on all investment in their people, just at the time when they need to improve the most, Agresso, true to its name, is aggressively pushing forward with a sales improvement programme that is innovative and timely.
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