Best Sales Leadership Development Program

Brandon Hall Winner 2012 Best Sales Leadership Development Program 2 Business Conditions & Business Needs 3 Overview and Outcomes 5 Design and Delivery 7 Measureable Benefits

Business Conditions & Business Needs DHL Express is a division within the German logistics company, Deutsche Post. Through a network spanning more than 220 countries and territories and more than 500 airports, it provides courier and express services to business and private customers across the world. In 2011 its revenue was 11.8 billion Euros and it handled over 468 million shipments across its 2.5 million customer base. Having gone through two years of cost reduction and stabilization, the primary objective for DHL Express was to grow market share its market share and raise EBIT by 20 per cent in two years. To do this, DHL Express realised that increasing the effectiveness of its 6,000 sales team was key to achieving this goal. This would not just mean enhancing the performance of the sales team it would also encompass changing the whole culture of the sales team internally and externally, so that an effective community of sales managers could be realised. This would in turn foster a coaching culture, which would help each and every member of the sales team in their development. Previously sales training at DHL Express had been fragmented and country specific. The company had over 14 training workshops and lots of elearning packages, but it had no global curriculum or consistent approach to training across country borders. As a result, there was a lot of duplication across the workshops with multiple suppliers delivering the same content, but in different ways. Plus some territories were missing out, as translation wasn t being addressed. This meant that DHL Trainers were not confident in delivering sales management material, which in turn meant that the majority of the material wasn t being delivered and shared. This was resulting in untrained community of sales management having a knock on effect on the quality of the sales output. The company knew that they needed a strategy to engage with every salesperson within the business, starting from the top down and ensuring that the management were leading by example. The CEO devised a concept called the Certified International Specialist (CIS) program in order to align the sales force. However, the company needed guidance on how it could be rolled across the whole company, in a way that would educate, motivate and mobilise the entire sales force. 2 Brandon Hall Winner 2012

Overview and outcomes At this stage, DHL Express approached Strategy To Revenue (STR), a global sales effectiveness consultancy with offices in the UK, US and Singapore. 90 per cent of STR client base are global enterprises and it works in partnership with these businesses to transform the way their sales force sells by developing and executing integrated marketing and sales campaigns that are consistently executed from the sales management team, across each region, then each country to all frontline sales staff. STR worked with DHL Express to define and break down its sales management goals. It was agreed that the focus needed to be: Developing a coaching culture inside DHL Express Bringing all sales managers to the same high level of competence Improve forecasting accuracy by 20 per cent Reduce sales staff turnover by 10 per cent Increase customer loyalty measurement STR used the Anatomy of a World Class Sales organisation model (Corporate Executive Board 2009 Copyright) to benchmark DHL Express on a number of key factors that drive Sales Talent Management. One of the most important stages within this process was getting under the skin of a business s challenges by engaging with the field. With that in mind, STR met with DHL Express top 50 sales managers across the world to identify what had previously helped and hindered them in their sales management and what they believed to be most influential to get the best results. DHL also conducted a Coaching Feedback survey with the sales representatives to gain their insight into how effective the sales management were in the area of coaching. The conclusion of these findings was that DHL Express needed to create a true coaching culture within the organization. The sales manager needed to improve how they supported and developed the sales person through coaching and mentoring ultimately moving from a manager/ coach to a coach/ manager. In order to fully understand the current sales situation, STR analysed all of the inconsistencies and inefficiencies that has resulted from the old approach to sales management, to ascertain what would be required from the new programme so that the manager could take accountability in their learning and deliver change within their teams and ultimately the organisation. 3 Brandon Hall Winner 2012

With that in mind, STR developed a journey themed programme based on a mountaineering metaphor The Sales Manager being the Guide; The Sales Reps the Climbers; both working together to achieve one goal reaching the summit. To support this mountaineering theme, DHL Express interviewed a famous mountain climber; Rebecca Stephens; who was once sponsored by DHL Express on her mission to climb Mount Everest. This mountaineering theme was intended to align the overall business by helping each member of the sales force including sales management reach their potential which in the short term would bring the Certified International Specialist (CIS) Sales concept to life and over the long term will enable DHL Express to achieve its wider objective of becoming the number one sales force in the logistics industry. For the sales manager, the key goals of the CIS Sales program were as follows: To lead a high performing sales team in support of the DHL Express Go to Market Strategy Using the pipeline information to produce accurate forecasts Using data on individual sales performance to direct coaching and development activity Manage and develop the sales team to deliver a consistent performance that meets or exceeds the company s expectations So far the following activities have been completed: A CIS Sales Kick Off two day workshop was rolled out to the top Sales Leadership in each of the four regions (Americas, Europe, Emerging Markets and Africa/ AsiaPac.) It was essential that the top sales leadership in the regions were behind the program and could communicate the benefits through the rest of the sales organization. Train the Facilitator (TTF) concepts for the top DHL Express Sales Trainers were used to deliver the Sales Management program The Sales Management program was delivered in 13 languages Rebecca Stephens, who was once sponsored by DHL Express on her mission to climb Mount Everest 4 Brandon Hall Winner 2012

Design and delivery As outlined, the concept behind the CIS Sales program was to create an engaging and well executed learning journey. The learning journey comprised of five key stages, with stages one three being completed within an eight week period. Each stage of the journey represented a different mountain to climb, each of which has different characteristics and challenges. The mountaineering metaphor was used for a number of reasons; the Learning Journey and the metaphor can be considered to have a number of common characteristics: facing a challenge, realising a sense of achievement on completion, working with others, sometimes being guided, using different approaches for different aspects, occasional setbacks, and ultimately being representative of peaks and troughs. Stage five Mount Fiji and beyond Continuous improvement and reinforcement Results Focused The time that each employee spent on each stage would be dependent upon their requirements and the progress they made, but there were certain check points for which they would get a stamp in their learning passport as recognition of how they were advancing. Employees will monitor their progress within their learning diary. Along the journey there are stamps and accreditations. To complement their learning journey, sales managers were equipped with a Learning Diary which instructs the sales manager through their learning; providing selfassessments and linking them to coaching conversations with colleagues and senior management. Stage one The Rockies Journey preparation Overview, Goals, Motivation Stage two The Alps Welcome to History, Brand, Global Network, Countries, Functions Stage three The Himalayas Application and execution On the job delivery Stage four Mount Kilimanjaro Continuous improvement and reinforcement Results Focused Click here to view Sales Managers Knowledge Transfer video 5 Brandon Hall Winner 2012

Knowledge Transfer Portal To further support their learning journey, STR developed a Knowledge Transfer Portal. This was a hub for information, led by a video presenter introducing a library of sales management learning topics including online modules, whitepapers and PDFs. The Knowledge transfer also linked to a number of offline activities to be completed through the Learning Diary. To further complement the Knowledge Transfer Portal, STR developed a series of regional ACTIONsessions high impact face-to-face workshops. These sessions enabled participants to learn effective application and execution of the principles learnt through the Knowledge Transfer. To support the DHL Express trainers, a facilitator portal was developed to provide an automated approach to sending out invitations; ordering the Learning Diaries and materials for the ACTIONsession and to send out evaluation feedback surveys post the training. The portal was integrated with the ordering system of the printer supplier Knowledge Point and also with DHL Express own online shipment tracking system. This has radically reduced the burden on the DHL trainers and ensured a scalable approach to roll out the program. Click image below for CIS_Facilitator_Portal_Demo video As part of their learning journey, participants also have access to an online coaching feedback survey whereby the sales managers can assess themselves and then all of their sales team can also anonymously feedback on their progress. The results of these reports are delivered in the ACTIONsessions. To promote the programme, DHL Express developed comprehensive marketing communications materials. This included a dedicated CIS Sales Microsite to help promote the Sales Management program and also the release of a CIS Sales Magazine, explaining the program and its benefits to the people and the business. 6 Brandon Hall Winner 2012

OSA topics covered by Sales Manager Knowledge Transfer 1. The role of a Sales Manager Expectations of a Sales Manager Sales process overview 2. The effective Sales Manager Effective leadership Time management Conflict management Selling Value Building a business plan 3. Performance and pipeline management Pipeline management Managing with metrics 4. Performance improvement Leadership styles Coaching styles including TGROW Portfolio planning sessions Joint visits and calls Motivational factors Behaving assertively Managing change 5. Effective team management Good and bad meetings Managing a remote team 6. Managing talent Managing talent Measurable benefits How did we measure ROI/Impact & What were results (Kirkpatrick) Level 1 Feedback from KT & ACTIONsession Level 2 Are people using it in their daily work Level 3 Change in Behaviour Level 4 Change to the business (forecast accuracy, attrition, customer loyalty) Level 5 Measurable ROI Recent results published show that DHL Express continued to boost its revenues and earnings in the first quarter of 2012. Revenues climbed by nearly 10 percent to more than EUR 3 billion in the first three months of 2012 (2011: EUR 2.8 billion). The CIS program as been seen as a fundamental initiative to support this upward trend. What is next Integration of DiSC methodology to enhance coaching and customer interaction We are rolling out a DiSC POWERsession for Sales Managers to deliver to their teams to help reinforce the importance of understanding personality profiles when engaging in both coaching and with your customer selling activity. Advanced Sales Management Programme We are embarking on research and analysis behind an advanced program for elite sales management Coaching Playbook to support sales managers with root cause analysis and the specific coaching conversations with sales executives This is an online coaching playbook that will increase the effectiveness of the coaching interactions between managers and sales reps. Managers will be able to access this on the web via their laptop or tablet device. 7 Brandon Hall Winner 2012

David Wilson, Chairman of Global Sales ExComm & VP Sales Europe, DHL Express explains: Yes, I m David Wilson, I m the Head of Sales for Europe. We have just had our CIS Sales launch here in Europe, launched it to the Sales Managers and I think everybody is just really excited. It s about time we put the focus back on our sales people and gave them the training and the coaching that they really deserve. We have had a good portfolio of training over the last few years but it definitely needed to be revamped and the fact that all the core elements of the training are there, it is just the way we are going to roll it out is very exciting. It is another one of the things about DHL over the last couple of years that is really well ahead of the competition and we re really delighted about that so I hope all the sales people around the world really enjoy the training. It s going to be a very exciting time ahead and we are going to make sure that when you sit in front of a customer, that you are able to demonstrate why DHL is the number one for air express and industry. Charles Brewer, Managing Director, Middle East & Sub Saharan Africa, DHL Express: It s much, much more than just a badge; it really is what is going to ensure we are sustainable for a very long time. If our couriers are going to I say this to my couriers who go to the Foundation Course, if they go into a customer and their experience with the customer is significantly different to FedEx s courier or UPS s courier or TNT s courier, the customer will remember that and they will say that s why I use DHL. The same with Customer Accounting, the same with Customer Service and the same with Sales, so it is much, much more than a badge. Jerry Shu CEO Asia Pacific & Emerging Markets, DHL Express: At the end of the day we want to be able to attract, retain, develop, motivate our sales people around the world. In my mind, without sales this world won t move. You have got to convince your customers, convince yourself, conquer their mountain and conquer yourself and that s where our difference begins, that s where we will generate the bottom line. It is not the mountain that we conquer, it s ourselves. 8 Brandon Hall Winner 2012