Stevens Rowsell fight back against the recession through staff development and skills training



“Having experienced a sales decline and an increasingly cut throat market place throughout most of 2009, Stevens Rowsell quickly recognised the importance & need to revise their business strategies and tactics to combat the effects of the recession. Key to this was the need to ensure that key staff learnt quickly from their experiences and counteracted the harsh realities of the downturn with more vigorous tactics to ensure the business and its people “survived & thrived” going forward.

In early 2009 the need to make strategic and operational changes became of paramount importance as the Company fought with its back to the wall to protect against the alarmingly swift momentum of the recession and the resultant decline in sales orders. Whilst most companies buried their heads in the sand and froze expenditure in the hope to ride out the storm Stevens Rowsell embarked on an immediate recovery plan which involved carefully designed training aimed at specific key personnel associated with the sales function.

Through the use of various sales consultants’ and business specialists such as Business Link, MASSE and 1066 Enterprise; Stevens Rowsell targeted precise personal development needs in areas that could directly address the effects of the recession allied to the aims & objectives of the Company’s business & sales plans.

The team of 6 production engineers undertook advanced training in selling skills, negotiation, pricing, customer service & telephone techniques to help them operate more effectively and successfully within the harsher business climate. The training took 3 months and involved no fewer than 8 days of dedicated training and follow up reviews but as a direct result Stevens Rowsell have seen an immediate improvement in business performance through increased quotation conversion rates, increased number of new clients and increased sales turnover. On top of this the Company has experienced individual & team performance improvements – most notably in increased confidence, improved levels of self motivation and a higher degree of ownership which are combining with great effect to the overall resounding success of the training packages delivered and the recovery of a business in the thick of sub contract manufacturing.

Stevens Rowsell is currently 50% up on sales turnover from where it was at its lowest point in the summer and 15% up on successful quotation conversions. A resounding success in the face of stark difficulties!

2010 promises to be a stronger year for the company and its staff. The engineers are bedding in their new found skills and will be involved in dedicated account management training in the spring which the Company hope will further develop and build upon the skills learnt in 2009.

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