How We Evaluated 400 Salespeople in Four Weeks

By Sanja Hovilainen, Group Director
Region: Finland

Sector focus: Industrial technology

A GLOBAL COMPANY REACHED OUT TO US FOR HELP WITH A TIME-SENSITIVE PROJECT. THEY WANTED TO RESTRUCTURE THEIR SALES ORGANISATION GLOBALLY, AND SELECT THE RIGHT PEOPLE FROM THEIR EXISTING SALESFORCE TO TAKE ON SALES LEADER ROLES IN THE NEW STRUCTURE
IN ORDER TO DO THIS, THEY WANTED US TO CONDUCT AN AUDIT OF OVER 400 SALESPEOPLE ACROSS SIX CONTINENTS. ON TOP OF THAT, THEY NEEDED ALL THE ASSESSMENTS TO BE COMPLETED WITHIN FOUR WEEKS.
ALTHOUGH THIS PROJECT WAS INTIMIDATING, WE DECIDED THAT MU COULD DO IT. TO BEGIN, WE MET WITH THE EXECUTIVE BOARD TO MAKE SURE WE UNDERSTOOD WHAT THEY WANTED. IN THESE IN-DEPTH CONVERSATIONS, WE DISCUSSED THEIR STRATEGY AND GOALS, WHAT COMPETENCIES THEY WANTED US TO ASSESS AND WHAT THEY ENVISIONED FOR THE NEW SALES ORGANISATION STRUCTURE.
FROM THESE MEETINGS, WE BUILT A COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK AGAINST WHICH OUR DELIVERY TEAM COULD ASSESS THE COMPANY’S SALESFORCE. FOR EACH PERSON, OUR TEAM PERFORMED A FULL ASSESSMENT WITH OUR STANDARD TOOLS AND METHODS.
IN ORDER TO ASSESS ALL 406 PARTICIPANTS IN FOUR WEEKS, THE DELIVERY TEAM OF 27 CONSULTANTS AND 8 COORDINATORS SPLIT INTO SHIFTS. WE WORKED 24 HOURS A DAY FOR THE DURATION OF THE PROJECT, WHICH ALLOWED US TO ASSESS SALESPEOPLE FROM 24 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN VARIOUS TIME ZONES.
FOR EACH SALESPERSON, WE PRODUCED AN INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT REPORT. WE ALSO PROVIDED TEAM-LEVEL REPORTS AND SALESFORCE-WIDE BENCHMARKS COMPARING THE COMPANY’S SALES COMPETENCIES WITH THE INDUSTRY.
IN ADDITION, WE PROVIDED THE EXECUTIVE BOARD WITH AN ANALYSIS OF THE TOP, MIDDLE AND BOTTOM PERCENTILES OF INDIVIDUALS IN THE SALESFORCE AGAINST THE COMPETENCIES THAT WERE ASSESSED. FROM THIS ANALYSIS, THE EXECUTIVE BOARD IDENTIFIED THE BEST CANDIDATES FOR LEADERSHIP POSITIONS ACROSS THE ORGANISATION.