Hitachi Energy is a $10 billion global technology company that provides sustainable energy solutions to customers in the utility, industry, and infrastructure sectors in more than 140 countries. As a pioneering technology provider, Hitachi is leading the effort to replace carbon-based energy with renewable power sources around the world.
But due to supply chain disruptions, the demand for infrastructure has risen higher than the capacity to build equipment. Hitachi is on the front lines of this challenge. The company’s sales team frequently faces difficult conversations with clients due to longer lead times, supply chain bottlenecks, and rising prices for materials and manufacturing.
This means sales professionals must thank clients for their business while delivering unwelcome news that promised ship dates will not be met, and prices have risen since the order was placed. Hitachi knew it was putting their sales professionals in an uncomfortable position every single day.
Joe Bigler, NAM Customer Success Director, Transformers at Hitachi Energy recalled, “It became very taxing. It was exhausting to wake up each morning thinking, ‘Who am I going to disappoint today?’”
Blinking Red on Customer Satisfaction
Hitachi takes continuous improvement of the organization very seriously. In addition to tracking transactional and relational Net Promoter Scores (NPS), the company requests feedback via customer surveys.
Over the past year, surveys revealed that the company was not doing as well as it wanted to on responsiveness, ease of doing business, and customer communication. “We were in the red on all of these things,” said Bigler.
The sales team needed a professional way to share unwanted information and the skills to build and maintain long-lasting trusted advisor relationships.
Tailored Solutions Meet Customer Needs
Hitatchi engaged The Brooks Group Sales Consulting Services for a solution. Since its founding in 1977, The Brooks Group has been recognized as a leader and innovator in the sales training and performance industry. The effectiveness of its training delivery and sales process methodology is proven by continued customer success and positive reviews.
Using a customized, consultative process that included psychometric assessments and extensive discovery, The Brooks Group developed a comprehensive program of content, messaging, training, roleplaying, and coaching that was tailored to the company’s specific needs.
Assessments Improve Customer Communication
Using a customized, consultative process that included psychometric assessments and extensive discovery, The Brooks Group developed a comprehensive program of content, training, and coaching tailored to Hitachi’s specific needs. The Brooks Group also worked with Hitachi to revise its messaging so that sales professionals and customers became partners rather than opponents in a difficult situation.
“We partnered with Hitachi to understand the issues. We found out what was important to them and provided them with insight to solve for that, developing content that represented real interactions,” said Dan Markin, VP of Sales Strategy & Consulting, The Brooks Group. “Their results improved, and they got the quantifiable ROI they were looking for.”
Back in the Green: Building Long-Term Relationships
Hitachi Energy made a wise investment in its sales force that will pay off for years to come. Since working with The Brooks Group Sales Consulting Services, client survey results have flipped from red to green. The company now has a defined process for addressing client feedback, steps to communicate corrective action, and messaging to handle tough situations.
- Participants reported 96% overall satisfaction with their training experience, 96% satisfaction with training facilitation, and 92% satisfaction with content and materials.
- Team Dynamics program participants reported an average skill improvement of 17%.
- Conversations With Confidence program participants reported an average skill improvement of 12%.
“Now we have green on responsiveness, green on ease of doing business, green on customer communications,” said Bigler. “We've been able to turn things around since we've had the training on difficult discussions. It's worked out great. And the proof is in the data.”
The Brooks Group received a Gold Stevie Award for Sales Consulting Practice of the Year and a Gold Stevie Award for Best Use of Thought Leadership in Sales at the 19th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.
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