Sales Transformation
How a mining company turned engineers into sellers
As a global leader in tech-optimized mining solutions, Hexagon Mining wanted to improve the efficiency of 23,000 global employees and ensure their safety.
After a series of acquisitions, Hexagon Mining needed a fresh approach to sales. But its sellers, who were trained engineers, struggled to focus on more than the customer’s immediate problems. After implementing Korn Ferry Sell, Hexagon’s sales team now takes a more strategic, long-term view of buyer relationships.
The challenge
Expanding relationships across the software sector
Hexagon Mining wanted to build its sales pipeline. But with a small potential customer base — 2,000 large mines around the world owned by eight major players — there were few new accounts to be captured. In order to grow, Hexagon needed to expand its existing customer relationships.
Over the years, Hexagon has added solutions to its portfolio by acquiring companies and brands in the industrial software sensor sector. With each acquisition came new cultures, new workflows and new salespeople protective of their customer list. This led to a fragmented, individualistic approach to sales.
As a result, Hexagon recognized that its sellers needed to rethink how they approached selling. The company wanted to encourage its veteran sellers to become more familiar with their new offerings. Its sellers also needed to take a different approach to extend relationships. Instead of proposing point solutions to address an immediate problem, they needed to take a holistic approach to customer challenges.
To do that, Hexagon had to transform the mindset and skillset of its sales organization. It needed to shift from an informal sales process to a more consultative process. Rather than focusing on the first need that prospects articulated, sellers needed to consider customers’ longer-term needs. Hexagon also realized the value of building a common language for discussing deals and reinforcing its sales methodology.
Upskilling the sales team was a significant challenge. Selling in the mining industry demands industry expertise, so Hexagon recruited knowledgeable engineers, not experienced sales reps. This meant the company had to embed new behaviors and competencies, particularly softer skills, in its sellers. Hexagon also needed to transition away from an informal sales process to a formal, measurable one.
The solution
Strengthening selling and understanding the buyer journey
To address these challenges, Hexagon looked to the Korn Ferry Sell application, which is grounded in Miller Heiman’s sales methodology, integrated into their CRM and powered by the Korn Ferry Intelligence Cloud. Hexagon created learning journeys to help sellers learn the fundamentals of how to manage an opportunity and an account. The company also offered classroom-based sales methodology training for its reps. With a geographically dispersed sales team, the company found the bite-size learning embedded within Salesforce especially powerful for reinforcing important concepts from training sessions.
Building an effective team through coaching and collaboration
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A more effective sales force backed by a consistent, consultative sales methodology
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Enhanced targeted sales coaching and reinforced learning
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Deeper insights into the sales pipeline and improved forecasting
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Greater collaboration among the sales team and stronger relationships with buyers
Results
A structured sales process and increased opportunities
Today, Hexagon’s sellers are relying more on their CRM and using it to build additional structure around their sales process. Sellers have strengthened their ability to evaluate opportunities before meeting with their sales directors. In addition, sales managers and leaders have more meaningful insights into their sales pipeline and are better equipped to coach sellers about opportunities. With the ongoing adoption of Korn Ferry Sell, Hexagon is projected to see a 20% or more increase in win rate and 13% higher quota attainment.
Hexagon’s sales force also better understands the buyer journey and knows what questions to ask to engage customers. Sellers no longer jump to address the first issue that buyers raise. Instead, they think about the entire buyer journey and plan how to build customer relationships over the long term.
Additionally, the connectivity and communication among the sales team have improved markedly. Everyone speaking a common language around a consistent sales methodology streamlines discussions and increases collaboration. As cross-team relationships continue to grow, sellers are sharing best practices and pushing each other along the learning curve. They are also starting to leverage each other’s connections and relationships. As a result, sellers’ relationships with their customers are deepening and expanding.
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