The Hot Seat
We’ve been working with Kinnarps UK, providing roleplay services as part of the ongoing development of their sales team.
Kinnarps is Europe's 3rd largest office furniture manufacturer. Founded over 60 years ago, its Swedish origins have helped develop a culture where ergonomics, quality and care for the environment are a natural part of everyday life. Kinnarps prides itself on being far more than just an office furniture company. And while listening to goals, challenging constraints and presenting inspired space-planning ideas are central to its work, that’s just part of the story.
Crucially Kinnarps' focus is on people, creating environments that inspire, motivate and care for their well-being. To do this effectively requires a lot of skill, particularly in terms of face-to-face contact with customers. Say, for instance, a potential customer is interested in an ergonomically-advanced chair and they schedule a meeting to discuss cost. While all they may want to know is what the chair costs, there may be a whole raft of issues underlying the need for an ergonomically-advanced chair that may unearth potentially far-greater business and solve more of their problems.
In that situation it’s all too tempting, as a sales rep, to list your company’s credentials and product lines and wax lyrical about what fantastic value they represent. However by asking the right questions and listening to the answers, a sales person can paint a clearer picture of a customer’s needs and provide a far more effective — and longer-term — solution.
To that end, Kinnarps instils in its sales team the importance of a coaching approach, and on a recent development day used CentreStage roleplayers in simulated sales meetings. Delegates were faced with a buyer — played by a CentreStage actor — interested in making a small order. Handle it well and they would uncover a catalogue of internal issues and the opportunity to pitch for a large pan-European contract. Handle it not-so-well and they might sell a chair or two!
The exercise was fun and a valuable opportunity for participants to practise in a risk-free environment.