In Haarlem, the beautiful, modernly equipped feather factory Avek-Haarlem is located. A family business led by the third generation. Dennis Abels took over the baton in 2011 when the company was somewhat recovering from the financial crisis. There was an immediate realization that things had to change, and a decision was made to invest heavily in Automation and Robotics. This paid off with a growth of more than 80%. The largest market for Avek is the automotive industry, which certainly contributed to this growth based on the right steps taken at the right time.

The challenge

The start of 2020 was exceptionally good, and everything indicated that Avek-Haarlem was going to have its best year ever, and then came Corona, and everything came to a standstill. This was due to declining sales at major customers in the Automotive industry, where production came to a halt for 2 months. Avek was also active in other sectors, but mainly because these customers found the factory themselves and appreciated the in-house engineering and very high quality. When the factory came to a standstill, Dennis immediately realized how vulnerable a company can be when one specific industry, for whatever reason, decreases its demand. But where do you quickly find new customers? How do you approach leads, and what skills do you need, in this rapidly changing time, to highlight what seems to be a regular product to companies that don't know Avek and vice versa?

The solution

A sales analysis was started with extensive discussions with the relevant people from management, management team, sales, and engineering. Then, the organization was examined, and it was inventoried what was missing in the 5 domains according to Sales Improvement Group. This resulted in a clear action plan that Jan Stroo (sales improver) translated into concrete and immediately actionable actions to achieve the new goals. Monique van Run (sales (management) trainer) ensured that the sales staff became comfortable with the implementation towards new customers from different sectors in parallel with the improvement process.

The result

As technicians within a company where customers and orders have always come in, the trajectory with Sales Improvement Group has become an "eye-opener." There was an immediate connection with Jan and Monique, which is an important part of the success. Jan has taught us that sales is fun and helped us with all aspects that are important within a well-functioning sales department. He helped us develop our Unique Buying Reasons, improve our external image, and fill our "briefcase" so that sales can hit the road. Monique made us aware that asking the right questions is incredibly important, not only to talk about technology but also to discuss the human side of collaboration. This is aimed at establishing cooperation and converting quotes into orders.

It's beautiful to see how sales has gone from a side issue to a main issue thanks to Sales Improvement Group.