[Testimonial] TRND: How to better transform your leads?

1-Could you briefly introduce your business and your clients?

We help brands grow by activating their consumers, turning them into true « brand ambassadors », in order to benefit from this incredible power of recommendation and generate in fine more deals.

The community that we lead contributes to promoting these products in various ways: for example, by making suggestions for improvement to the brand, by posting customer reviews on the internet, or by simply making these products known around them through simple word-of-mouth.

Our motto: "Who better to talk about a product than a satisfied customer?"

We advocate a 'real-life' marketing approach (as opposed to mass advertising), where success is based on the quality of the products and their alignment with customer expectations.

Our clients include major FMCG brands (Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, Unilever, Nivea, Coca Cola...), High Tech (Samsung, HTC, Sony...) and small appliances (Braun, Bosch, Philips, IRobot...).

I am in charge of defining and implementing the sales strategy on the French market with our clients, partners, and specifiers.

2- Why did you call on KESTIO, and with what objectives regarding lead conversion?

The training and support project with KESTIO originated from an analysis of our sales cycle: like any sales manager, I initially asked myself 'how to increase the conversion rate of our sales team' to win more deals.

I then focused on the different stages of our sales cycle and our conversion funnel (targeting, prospecting, conversion, etc.) to identify areas for improvement at each stage and positively impact our sales performance.

Based on this analysis, I initially contacted KESTIO to implement a training program focused on the closing stage. However, through discussions with Dominique SEGUIN, which took place within a global support approach, the reflection broadened and took a different direction.

I had expressed an objective like: 'go from 10 conversions for 100 prospects to 20 conversions for 100 prospects'. You led me to consider things from a new angle by expressing this objective differently: 'go from 10 conversions for 100 prospects to 20 deals won by only working on 60 prospects'.

This is the strength of your approach and the Chessboard Method, which relies both on better targeting and on a new way of approaching prospecting to leave nothing to chance and optimize the conversion rate.

3- What system have you implemented with KESTIO to improve lead processing and win more deals?

Together, with the KESTIO consultant, we designed the training and support system and defined the pace for the training sessions and coaching follow-up.

In practice, we first implemented 3 fairly intensive training days. We scheduled them over about a month and a half, in order to allow some time between sessions to allow for an initial application of the principles discussed.

This time has proven useful for integrating the concepts taught, as some of them are quite disruptive and really require changing one's approach, radically shifting one's posture, especially in one's relationship with clients, and therefore questioning so-called 'acquired' knowledge or habits.

I had warned my sales representatives about the rather 'disruptive' aspect of the Method in order to prepare them to welcome this change favorably. This point really contributed to the success of the training, I think : the sales representatives immediately got involved in a very voluntary way in the process and really changed their practices and applied the method, immediately after the training.

Secondly, the implementation of "coaching" and monitoring sessions – at a rate of 1.5 hours per month for each salesperson for 3 months – has helped to embed these new practices.

This personalized support over time also seems to me to be one of the keys to the success of this approach. I even think it would have been useful to extend this very beneficial 'coaching' stage to our sales representatives.

4- What results did this training produce? Did it help you achieve your lead conversion goals?

The training is recent, and I don't yet have enough perspective on the commercial results in terms of conversion rates.

Already, the attitude of our sales representatives and the way they support our customers have considerably evolved, which is very promising.

The new concepts discovered in training have become so obvious that you sometimes wonder how you could have done things differently before!

Today, for example, all salespeople practice note-taking in 'verbatim' mode during their sales meetings, and we exchange information based on richer and more objective data.

The vocabulary of sales representatives has changed: the use of common concepts not only helps them individually in how they handle deals, but also makes their interactions smoother.

Their relationship with customers has evolved: there has been a very strong awareness around the idea that this relationship must be balanced, that the effort provided must be proportional.

Much like in dating, you also need to know how to 'play hard to get'! Don't systematically trigger a meeting or send a proposal; the desire needs to be genuine and shared.

Sales representatives manage their schedules differently; it's no longer about the "appointment marathon," and, above all, they approach these appointments with a different mindset.

As a result, we have optimized the sales cycle and are truly focused on the customers who really need it, to support them in their decision cycle.

In terms of management, the method also has an impact on the monitoring and management style of sales representatives: during my monthly "business reviews" with each sales representative, I use new monitoring points, shared with all sales representatives and comparable from one deal to another.

The « scoring sheet » allows you to gauge the level of qualification of an opportunity in an objective and structured way, it forces you to remain attentive to the points of vigilance inherent in the method: have we identified all the decision-makers, the budget, the decision timeline, etc.?

Previously, we sometimes tended to rely on the salesperson's 'feeling' about a deal. Now, we have a completely different analysis of deals!

This new sales approach aligns perfectly with our strategic goals for the coming months: to stand out in an increasingly competitive market, increase the value of our support to our clients and prospects, and continue to optimize our sales cycle.