Gemalto

The challenge
The digital security and identity system company Gemalto, wanted to further evolve the sales approach of their key account managers towards creating solutions.

Rather than asking customers about the type and volume of product they required, teams would need to sit down with a white sheet and identify bigger customer needs. These could then be the foundation for more comprehensive solutions. To make things interesting, this new approach needed to be introduced as the company was merging with another major player in the industry.
​
A story-based approach
Rather than putting all the account managers through a traditional solution selling program, my team took the view that people in the organisation were quite intelligent and could figure out customer problems by themselves. They just needed a strong framework for conversation, as well as examples of the way their solution oriented colleagues used these conversations to get results.
 
Additional support
Together with the partner firm that introduced us, we created a program in which we:

• Identified remarkable solution practices from around the world. These were cases where account managers had achieved exceptional results by listening to the customer's deeper needs and then provide a solution for them. We turned these experiences into stories which ere emotionally engaging and easy to repeat.
• Created a new format for commercial conversations which replaced all traditional Powerpoints with a paper-based presenter.Based on the company’s updated mission statement, this format served as a framework to help account managers have the right conversation in a formal, informal and ‘elevator’ environment.

Organised a global series of workshops,in which all account managers, and their leadership teams, were introduced to this new approach.


​Not by giving 
# countries affected: 
# consumers affected: 

This service was provided through Management Centre Europe, during the time I was an associate for this business.