All too often organisations approach us because they think they have a specific need and training is the answer. The truth is, there is nothing “off-the-shelf” about what we offer. In our experience every company or individual’s circumstance and setup is entirely different and so we go out of our way to understand the operation and come up with a tailor-made approach to each and every client. And, yes training is part of the answer but there is much much more…

In this particular case, the client told us they needed a mystery shopping programme because their approach to customer service wasn’t working. We challenged them: “Why do you want to invest thousands of pounds in a mystery shopping programme to tell you what you already know?”

Fortunately, the organisation agreed and we kicked off with our familiarisation phase. Instantly, we recognised a skills gap at all levels and that the operational infrastructure was lacking. The senior management team hadn’t agreed a common language or set of behaviours to underpin a people-focused culture. The managers didn’t know how to lead from the front or coach to embed the “right way of working” and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and measures were driving the wrong behaviour. Added to this, the incentive plan didn’t support the organisational objective, and the sales techniques of the frontline teams weren’t supportive of a customer-centric organisation.

• Facilitated engagement from the top. Senior Managers became far more visible and spent time with colleagues and customers. They encouraged colleagues to challenge the norms. Think outside the box. Do things differently.

• Secured recognition that a robust operational process overhaul was required in order to underpin a new culture that focused on the customer and the colleague.

• Developed a cultural template to create a safe and common language for people to use for decision making and communication.

• Developed a bespoke modular training programme that incorporated new KPIs, performance management processes, coaching methodologies and sales through service techniques that were attended by colleagues at all levels.

• Increased sales conversion rates by 10% year on year.

• Up-selling saw a 25 per cent year-on-year increase.

• 97% of staff increased their performance month-on-month.

• Poor performers were identified and managed out.

• An overall ROI of 1200%.