The sales force of a company in the service industry was seriously underperforming. Revenue was not growing and profits were dropping. Competition was taking business away and there was a lack of information about what was going on in the market due to poor feedback from sales. There was a high sales expense relative to sales production and as could be expected, the owner was under a huge amount of stress.

In order to address this company’s problems, PACE conducted a review of the sales force and identified which people could perform if supported, which ones could not and should go and what other problems were causing poor sales. The existing sales management process was reviewed and a new one was implemented to establish goals and monitor results. A sales coaching process was also set up to improve performance and recruit new sales people to replace those who could not make the grade. A high level of communication between sales and the rest of the company was put in place in order to provide market feedback and highlight any issues the company should be dealing with.

Due to these measures, the sales force was culled and high quality replacements were found. Sales people were at last operating at high levels of competence with ongoing coaching in place. The sales management process was tight and results were being monitored closely. The company’s revenue increased 50% in 12 months — sales are no longer a problem.