The company

Portuguese company specialising in the production of ceramic solutions with more than 40 years of history and present in more than 50 countries. It is often associated with works of great impact for special projects, and has already been awarded several distinctions in the areas of design, marketing and innovation.

The challenge

With a strong international presence, the exploration of the best business opportunities develops more and more in a global context. The market poses new challenges and demands more from organisations. Companies must be prepared to constantly adapt their products and processes so that they can make the most of the opportunities that arise.

Customers do not wait to feel their needs, to demand that organisations and the market satisfy them. The need has to be identified in advance so that when it becomes real, companies are prepared to provide the product or solution immediately.

During the diagnosis phase of the commercial area, opportunities for improvement were detected in the organisation and management of the sales teams, and in the sales process and monitoring of activities.

The approach

The creation and standardisation of weekly meetings allowed the teams to have a formal moment to follow up and monitor indicators, to launch and implement improvement actions, as well as to share good practices. This has improved internal and cross-team alignment, and planning, created an effective tracking and communication system, and helped the sales team to achieve and sustain results. The improvement of communication between the commercial and marketing departments was of particular importance for the project's success.

The definition of a plan with the frequency of visits to each type of customer, and the development of a visiting standard for resellers and architecture offices, allowed resources to be allocated more efficiently and with a high impact on sales.

With the aim of creating a visual tool and methodology that would allow critical analysis of the status of projects, and the number and value of projects per phase, a sales funnel aligned with the customer's buying journey was developed. This funnel made it possible to analyse the evolution of the status of projects, and to know at any time the predictable success rate and the expected outcome.

Another focus of the project was the reorganisation of the sales teams and the allocation of customer portfolios to salespeople. There was an uneven distribution of the customer portfolio among the sales team, and the geographical distribution paradigm created inequalities in the distribution of the salespeople's time among customers. Customers have been reallocated according to the new principles to optimise productivity and efficiency thus levelling out the workload and enabling sales managers to fulfil their plans.

Results

The improvements implemented resulted in a 25% growth in sales. The implementation was carried out with the company's teams which allowed them to leverage their knowledge and experience, as well as to develop their continuous improvement skills.

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