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Training delivers higher sales for Pitney
Bowes
Revenues, productivity and order values improve at franking and mailstream company
A
500-employee franking and mailstream company has improved revenues,
productivity and order values through award-winning training for six key members
of its sales staff.
Pitney Bowes is an American company with international headquarters in Harlow,
Essex, UK. Over the 90-year history of the company, which began with the invention of
the franking machine, Pitney Bowes has evolved into an organization that offers
software, hardware and services that integrate physical and digital communication
channels.
Pitney Bowes identified a large growth opportunity to cross-sell to its large number of
customers who were loyal to the company for its traditional products, but were not fully aware
of the company’s latest innovations.
The mail-creation accreditation course was designed to improve the skills of the current
sales force, increase the company’s share of this particular market and reduce attrition by
retaining sales staff.
Market changes driven by Royal Mail’s sized-based pricing had forced customers to review
their external communications in order to meet cost expectations. More and more
businesses were forced to manually fold and insert mail into envelopes and struggle with
address data and accuracy.
Through the training, Pitney Bowes sought to increase revenue, the value of the average
order and the number of orders per head, while reducing the number of clients defecting to
other suppliers.
‘‘It was a tall order to structure a program that would achieve all these goals,’’ said Kevin
Short, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing (UK and Ireland). ‘‘However, it was felt that
these criteria were essential if the training function was to successfully support the business,
while improving current practices.’’
Practical and theoretical training
Six people attended the program, which was based upon practical and theoretical training.
It won a National Training Award from UK Skills.
Trainees were identified by working with area business managers on criteria such as length
of service in sales and proven ability to manage a customer account and deliver positive
growth and revenue.
DOI 10.1108/09670731111101570 VOL. 19 NO. 1 2011, pp. 23-25,Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0967-0734 j HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST j PAGE 23
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Candidates were also required to fulfill at least one of the following criteria:
B proven good performance in areas other than mail creation;
B identified as a high-potential sales person;
B identified as a sales manager of the future; and
B identified as a person who would be able to use the skills gained across the diverse
divisions of the company to promote business growth.
‘‘It was important to the development of the business that candidates showed both an
understanding of the critical nature of the sale as well as the skills to demonstrate theircapability,’’ Kevin Short explained.
Through the training, the company sought to achieve a 15 percent improvement in both
revenue and average order value, and a 20 percent rise in orders per head, per month.
A training-needs analysis highlighted the need for the training to improve product
knowledge, marketplace knowledge, customer-applications knowledge, questioning skills,
proposal-generation skills, business-planning skills, and vertical marketing knowledge.
The success of the course would be measured using the standard sales report employed
throughout Pitney Bowes for performance management and tracked on a monthly basis.
The mail-creation accreditation course was designed with the assistance of
product-marketing manager Colin Forrest. It was delivered by the company’s internal
training department.
‘‘It was decided that the best delivery method was classroom-based learning to provide for
the hands-on product knowledge that makes up 25 percent of the program,’’ said Kevin
Short.
Senior-management mentors were identified from within the business to provide support,
coaching and a wider perspective of business management as opposed to account
management.
‘‘Each participant would have to provide a business plan, before the learning, on his or her
individual territory and objectives. This would form a platform for growth and development
throughout the program and would be used as a working document,’’ Kevin Short explained.
Structure of the course
The course was delivered to six trainees by the UK mail-creation trainer, Geoff Burns, over
two separate three-day courses, staged three months apart. He was helped by Lee Graham,
the UK Training Manager, Colin Forrest and various product experts from the technical
support team.
On review of the training, it was felt that too much time was spent adding to the business plan
at each stage of training. Some of this time was reallocated to additional training on customer
scenarios and competitor equipment.
Part 2 of the training was seen as a motivational tool to drive revenue. The criteria for
attending part 2 were proof of the application of the business plan and improvement as
‘‘ Through the training, Pitney Bowes sought to increaserevenue, the value of the average order and the number of orders per head, while reducing the number of clientsdefecting to other suppliers. ’’
PAGE 24 jHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGESTj VOL. 19 NO. 1 2011
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detailed in mail-creation performance. One individual failed to meet the expectations set and
did not attend part 2.
In general, however, performance exceeded expectations. Revenue improved 193 percent
after part 1 and 61 percent after part 2. Average order value grew by 58 percent after part 1
and by 47 percent after part 2. Orders per head increased 116 percent after part 1.
One delegate has left Pitney Bowes since the start of the program. Another has been
promoted to a corporate-accounts role.
Major changes to the market
‘‘The results of the training were immediately recognized,’’ said Kevin Short. ‘‘This has
reinforced to Pitney Bowes the benefits of investing in similar courses to further cascade the
diverse skills required in the organization.
‘‘The company believes that nurturing talent provides insight into how knowledge can be
used across the company, while at the same time capitalizing on the ability of the talented
individuals that drive the organization.
‘‘The market we operate in has undergone significant changes in the past five years.
Deregulation of the UK postal market and Royal Mail’s new postal-price structurehave driven
all consumers to review how they communicate with their customers. The perception of
Pitney Bowes as the ‘franking company’ needed to be changed.
‘‘Interest in the course has increased and it now forms part of our development curriculum for
senior sales roles and sales management. We have increased skills and at the same time
shown that success can be drawn from solution selling and, in turn, customer retention can
be enhanced.’’
Keywords:
Mailings,
Training,
Organizational performance
Note
David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest Editor, wrote this article.
‘‘ On review of the training, it was felt that too much time wasspent adding to the business plan at each stage of training.Some of this time was reallocated to additional training oncustomer scenarios and competitor equipment.’’
VOL. 19 NO. 1 2011 jHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGESTj PAGE 25
To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected]
Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints