Antalis Achieved a 25% Uplift in Competency After the First 12 Months

The Aim

Antalis is Europe’s leading distributor of paper, packaging solutions, and visual communication products.

Antalis’s Board developed a strategy to push back against the margin and revenue pressure being caused by the pricing policies of competitors. As part of a companywide client-focused strategy, the sales organization was challenged to develop a sales force able to compete on value, and not just price and volume.

After an extensive selection process, Imparta was selected to deliver consultative sales training to over 2,000 salespeople in 24 countries and in 17 languages.

The Solution

Imparta developed a customer-centric sales training curriculum based on the Creating Client Value sales methodology for Antalis’s 2,000 salespeople, along with additional coaching skills training for 300 sales managers. The curriculum was developed centrally in collaboration with Antalis’s senior management and L&D teams. The design of the curriculum was informed by an extensive 180° capability assessment of the sales organization. The programs were then translated and localized to meet the needs of each of the 24 countries. Launch events were delivered in five European regions, along with extensive communications to prepare and motivate the sales teams.

The Sales Management community was key to the success of the program. Sales Managers were required to coach their salespeople on a regular basis, to ensure the change to a more consultative, client focus approach was embedded. This was particularly challenging as previously there had been little in the way of a coaching culture in the organization. To monitor and ensure the coaching took place, an online survey provided data and analysis on both the quantity and quality of coaching sessions across the sales organization. Within 8 months of launching the program, over 60% of the sales force reported they were receiving regular coaching sessions from their manager.

In support of their strategic objectives, we are also asked to design leadership and management programs to support change in the wider organization. The program ‘DNA – Deliver the New Antalis’ was developed around 7 core leadership themes and introduced tools and techniques to help leaders and managers operationalize the new strategy.