 |
Company: INTERNATIONAL PAPER
Entry Submitted By: Paradigm Learning
Company Description: International Paper (NYSE:IP),founded in 1898, is a global company that produces uncoated paper and packaging, with markets and operations in North America, Europe, Russia, Latin America, Asia and North Africa. With headquarters in the United States, IP employs approximately 54,000 people in more than 20 countries and serves customers worldwide. Annual sales are about $22 billion.
Nomination Category: Best Organization Achievements
Nomination Sub Category: Sales Training Program of the Year
Nomination Title: International Paper: Masters of the Game
How many people are in your organization's entire sales department?
68 People
What is your organization's annual sales volume? If this information is confidential, simply enter "Confidential" in this space:
$22 Billion
Provide a brief biography of the leader(s) of your sales organization (up to 100 words):
Steve Sullivan has spent the last 22 years in sales and management, the last
four developing sales training for and delivering it to International Papers
sales force. Sullivan?fs title, customer value service manager (CVM), was
developed by International Paper to describe the type of approach its
salespeople are moving toward a more supportive and consultative role rather
than a traditional transactional, price-driven approach to sales. Sullivan co-
wrote International Papers CVM playbook, which is the companys main sales
training guide used by sales, support and customer service professionals.
Sullivan graduated with a bachelors degree in economics from Ursinus College
in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.
Describe for the judges your achievement in this category (up to 100 words):
In 2000 and 2001, International Paper received awards of excellence in sales
and marketing from Champion International (later purchased by International
Paper).
In 2002, 2003 and 2004, IP’s customer account team won the RR Donnelley
Supplier Excellence Gold Award for their work with Six Sigma initiatives. In
2005 and 2007, the sales team leader (Sullivan) also received the International
Paper’s Chairman Award for an excellent job in developing, training and
executing CVM with these tools across the paper sector.
International Paper has achieved exceptional sales results by using its CVM
process and increasing business acumen for all sales, support and customer
service employees. This is where International Papers consultative approach
to sales is critical. IP implemented the principles of CVM and continues to
make great efforts to improve customer success by demonstrating how the
companys tailored solutions deliver value to its stakeholders and customers.
The five elements of CVM are identify, discover, create solutions, deliver and
manage.
International Paper sought a way for its sales professionals to better
understand its customers businesses by having them speak the language of
their clients and understand how each salesperson can impact customer success.
A familiarity with business finance was gained by using Paradigm Learnings
award-winning board game Zodiak®: The Game of Business Finance and Strategy for
Sales Professionals.
By playing Zodiak, International Paper’s sales professionals gained a better
understanding of their customers’ businesses by building business models of
customer operations, analyzing financial and strategic planning information,
and identifying how to sell bottom-line results to top-line managers. More than
300 people (sales and support) have participated in Zodiak, experiencing the
rush of business ownership and realizing the importance of critical business
fundamentals, such as making a profit, generating cash and increasing
shareholder value. That’s how profitable solutions are created and delivered.
Briefly describe the 3 keys to the success of your initiative (up to 100 words):
The company, which benchmarks its success against 11 other companies in the
industry, ranked ninth (in return on investment ROI) out of those 11 companies
in 2003; it ranked sixth in 2004, fourth in 2005 and second in 2006.
1) Targeting the right customers and using the CVM principles. This allowed the
salespeople to sell more and to improve their margins and their service
platforms.
2) Gaining a broader and deeper knowledge of the customer base. Salespeople
secured more yeses from customers than they had in past years. They
transitioned from transactional to consultative in their sales approach.
3) Sharpening sales skills. As a result of sales training and improved business
acumen, the account teams had more structure and better guidelines.
List the 3 most important lessons your organization learned during this process (up to 100 word):
1) Its important to invest the right amount of time, effort and resources
with targeted customers to make them more successful, and International Papers
sales professionals learned how to make that investment.
2) International Paper?fs sales professionals learned to ask questions about
how to help customers grow, how to help them grow profitably and how to enhance
their service platforms.
3) The company took costing complexity out of the sales cycle relationship and
improved its partnership margins with suppliers. This allowed customers to sell
more products.
|
|
