Industry
Global manufacturer of market leading brands such as Cannon, VEAM and BIW Connector systems, providing connectors and interconnects for the military, aerospace, industrial, oil & gas, medical and transportation markets.
Key Stakeholders
Tracey Peacock, VP and Director, Strategy and Business Development
Skip Paterson, VP Human Resources and Administration
Rick Catoe, Director, North American Sales
Establishing a common global sales process to increase efficiency and discipline
New leadership at ITT’s ICS division recognized a need for developing a more sophisticated discipline around meeting numbers—establishing a methodology for prioritizing where to focus efforts to maximize outcomes.
Creating a consistent and simple sales message that could be delivered by the sales team but also by distributors and partners
ICS recognized there existed pockets of sales excellence, but huge variations within and across regions, driving a need for consistent messaging. The message would need to be powerful yet simple—applicable across languages and cultures, and still easily internalized and delivered by ITT teams as well as affiliated distributors and partners.
Increasing the internal authority of the sales team with the goal of growing business
In the company’s classic engineering culture, the sales team was not properly recognized or heard. So, the leadership wanted to upgrade the visibility of the sales team and shift toward a more sales and market-driven culture.
“While there had been previous training (canned solutions), there was not a unique and clarified ITT/ICS sales process. Explaining our process to a new employee was difficult because it was not captured in any one place. Working opportunities internally from early identification, qualification, proactive engagement to accurate forecast was inconsistent and difficult to describe through various functions within the organization.”
RICK CATOE, ITT DIRECTOR NA SALES
DSG worked with the ITT Interconnect Solutions team on a transformation focused on four areas:
“What I really liked about DSG training is they brought the science of sales to the organization. This was necessary to get buy-in from a technical sales organization, and really, from the rest of the organization. This was very powerful.”
TRACEY PEACOCK, ITT VICE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR, STRATEGY AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Specific contributions by DSG that accelerated the transformation at ITT ICS:
“DSG customized a solution and met us where we were instead of forcing us to meet them where they were. The DSG approach allowed their team to understand our current state and customize processes that standardized while uniquely uplifting our teams in each region.”
RICK CATOE, ITT DIRECTOR NA SALES
ITT revenue grew 15% year over year following the engagement with DSG. The company’s leadership credits the transformation process in conjunction with driving clear priorities, streamlined processes and greater accountability across all functions as the keys to such results. The sales team now delivers the right messages and positioning to create business in net new accounts.
“Each sales rep is now managing their territory as a business and better communicating issues and needs. They do the detective work to identify big opportunities and clearly articulate the support they need in order to close.”
TRACEY PEACOCK