INTERNET SOFTWARE & SERVICES:
10-FOLD INCREASE IN AVERAGE ORDER VALUE
| Client: |
Intelligent Environments Group Plc |
| Challenge: |
To address areas of sales under-performance as identified by Quantum's sales assessment |
| Approach: |
'Surrogate management' initiative in conjunction with sales planning and value-added selling skills development |
| Results |
10-fold increase in average order value
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| Footnote: |
On two occasions, Quantum directors have acted as interim Sales Director whilst a permanent appointment was recruited |
The Success Story
Intelligent Environments is a fast-growing Internet software and services company. It provides its clients who work mostly within the finance industry with the IT capability to address core business issues such as customer service, product information provision and sales transaction handling. It is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market, and had an annual turnover approaching £3.5m.
Intelligent Environments has been working closely with Quantum for some 5 years now. "The collaboration has seen our two companies become so close that Quantum is now quite literally one of our team," says Intelligent Environments Chief Executive, Roger Willcocks. "On two separate occasions, a Quantum director has acted as Sales Director for us. They've just been interim appointments of course, while a permanent replacement was found -- but they symbolise how hands-on Quantum are and how much we value their input."
The relationship dates from when Quantum was invited to carry out a full audit of Intelligent Environments' sales operation. The assessment was exhaustive, and included interviews with the relevant directors and senior managers with a searching analysis of the sales management methods and front-end sales practices.
The assessment identified three key areas to focus on in order to achieve significant sales improvements:
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A radical re-assessment of the central Sales Propositions. Roger Willcocks continues: "Quantum helped us to carefully analyse these so that we could highlight precisely what was unique or potentially significant to the customer about Intelligent Environments' offering. The Sales Propositions were then re-modelled to fit the markets we were targeting and to take into account what the competition was offering. Our ensuing sales approaches were subsequently built around these propositions."
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The need to develop a more structured and systematic approach to sales management.
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Assessment, then improvement of the way major client business relationships were handled.
Quantum director Steve Jessop explains: "We used the newly constructed Sales Propositions as the qualitative focal point of "Value-Added Selling" coaching workshops based on real-life case studies. We approached the improvement of key business relationships by constructing an account planning framework with the team which we subsequently applied to live clients and prospects in review and action planning workshops. Building on some of the systems already in place, we helped individuals to assess and plan for the changed activities needed to achieve their sales targets, then reinforced this by implementing the necessary support mechanisms such as a more accurate and objective sales forecasting system."
"The results have been impressive," Roger Willcocks concludes: "Average order value has increased 10-fold and is now in six figures. But that's not the end of the story. We continue to use Quantum in a mentoring capacity - another sign of just how completely we have learnt to trust their judgement."
 
Roger Willcocks
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